Muddling Through Motherhood

Or ‘A bit of blackberry picking’

This afternoon, after Rowan’s epic nap and a hearty snack (he fell asleep before his lunch!) I decided the time was ripe (!) to go and investigate our local ‘fields’ and hedges for some blackberries, with Rowan in tow.

He got very excited when I suggested he might like to wear his wellies, and was happy to be going out for a walk (although he wasn’t too impressed to be walking away from the park). He loved being allowed to roam away from me (although I could pretty much always see him) as I was taking the opportunity to let him do a bit of discovering and he was, at times, vaguely interested in the blackberry picking

Things I learnt (I didn’t do all of these things wrong but was grateful for some of them, like long trousers)

• Wear decent shoes for treading on nettles
• Wear long trousers for avoiding nettles
• Wear long sleeves for avoiding nettles and brambles (and maybe take some gloves to get to those delicious ‘hidden by nettle’ unpicked patches)
• If you’re taking a baby or toddler think carefully about what sort of sling to use. We took a ring sling which was good in that Rowan could see what I was doing and eventually he joined in by popping the blackberries into the pot but had he been a bit grumpier he would have been better off on my back.
• If you’re going somewhere suitable, take a ball to entertain older kids as I reckon their enthusiasm for picking lasts about as many minutes as they are years old. Perhaps a few more if they really like eating blackberries!

In the 45 minutes we were out we had plenty of fun and managed to get a pound and a half of blackberries, which added to those in my freezer should make at least a couple of pounds. I think they’ll all go in the freezer and jam making will be happening at the weekend.