I used to talk to myself and say things like, "God, I wish all the blueberries in this whole area (and then I'd visually scan an area) would just jump up and I could run around as fast as I can and scoop them into my bucket..." And then I'd wait, just in case God decided to grant my wish.
Yes, she does go berrypicking in a tiara...
But He never did. Instead, he made it easier and easier for me to see the berries so I could bend at the hips and pluck them off the two inch bush myself. Except in the sun, I can't see berries in the sun, which made yesterdays excursion not too fun.
Except that I cheated.
And yes, while it's sunny you can get awesome iPhone photos, but if you can't see the berries and are sort of impatient, then its not too fun at all.
My contraption of choice? Something I picked up with my Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card I got for Christmas! (I know...but we don't have a BB&B here and I always forget it on my Anchorage trips...)
Cheater picking uses the best $19.99 I've EVER spent to help me pick berries. I mean, I've seen them being used and always gasped in a hushed voice..."How could they!?" And then in the same train of thought, "what a bunch of lazy bums..."
Oh, I know, they have lots of laundry piled on the couch and still have to clean the kitchen and put away all the from-town goodies they bought and don't really have time to pick berries one at a time, so they simply scoop them up and pour them into their buckets... That's how they could. And I am proud to be a lazy bum who is taking care of her new berry picking machine! (I'm gonna clean it and oil it and call it George!)
And that's how I did. I LOVE this thing. I mean, in the time that my master-berry-picker mom picked her two quarts, I had done the SAME thing AND had time to goof off and even eat some.
Heaven I tell you...heaven. Except that I couldn't see berries in the sun so we didn't get that many. But today...today it's foggy and rainy, a PERFECT day for berry picking!
And for all of you who are in need of some hunting season eye candy...here are three new knives my husband of Siksu's Knives made. Go on over to the Facebook Page and LIKE it. We're giving away some t-shirts next week to all the "fans!"
Enjoy.
7 comments:
Hey....let me know where you are going to pick berries and I'll mullik. I have one of those things too but can't figure out how to do anything with it except fling berries all over the place.
Hey, let me know where you are picking and I will mallik. I have one of those too but I can't figure out how to do anything but fling berries all over with it.
I'll ask you what I've asked just about everyone - what on earth is the name of those contraptions??? :p I know they're iqvarcuun, "cheaters", or imkuciq (:p) but not what their 'proper' English name is. I usually just call them 'scoopy thingies' and mime a bit when I try to talk about them, and people generally get the point.
Did yours come with any name on the side? This has been driving me nuts. (or berries! :p)
I'll be doing more than going to Facebook to like it! Those are pretty!
Cheating or not, YUM!
I have no idea what the English name is. In Inupiaq its either Qallutaqtuun, or Patkutaqtuun, depending on where you're from I guess.
I'm just aksaqtuNa though! (a cheater)...and proud of it!
Oh, and they don't ruin the berries for next year, I was a bit worried about that, but I grab the berries in the same manner as George does and I barely get any sannik in my berries when I do that. :)
Very nice knifes.
Heading over to the site now to take a peak.
Post a Comment