Ice Cream really does cure the blues!

The day after I began this blog, my children requested that we go strawberry picking at our favorite berry farm. I was in a bit of a slump and wanted nothing more than to lay in bed all day, or at most sit on the couch. Now for those of you with children, you know that they don't slow down just because you do. For those of you who don't have children, I will just say that they don't require any less attention or care just because of flu's or blues.

Around ten in the morning, we collected our baskets, put on our berry picking shoes, and sluggishly I drove the fifteen miles to Gizdich Ranch in good ole Watsonville, California. Before I knew it I was back in Mom-mode without a care in the world. We were in the sunshine, in a field of strawberries that were absolutely perfect for the picking and it was just the three of us.

Blues? Gone.

So now we have about seven pounds of fresh strawberries that will go bad in the next day unless we do something with them. Not even Sam can eat that many strawberries (and the kid can eat A LOT of strawberries). It has been at least a year since we've broken out the ice cream maker, so we decided that all we needed was a good recipe. Thanks to the ever-amazing world wide web we found one, and once the kids went to sleep I plopped myself down in front of the television and hulled about three hundred strawberries. An hour of alone time in front of the TV is nearly impossible to come by anymore, and it was just what I needed. I didn't watch anything good- I think I was actually watching an episode of "Hoarders," but sitting on the floor with a bucket of handpicked fruit in front of me, all alone, was pretty much heaven.

Right now, as I type, I am listening to the whirling of our ice cream maker and am patiently (yes, patiently) awaiting the fruits of our labor: homemade fresh strawberry ice cream. Such a simple task with such sweet rewards. The kids got out of the house and visited one of their favorite places, my blues were instantly gone, and now we have a delicious treat to share with friends after dinner tonight.

Moral of the story? Get outside and get your hands dirty. Create something, and enjoy!