Sunday Stroll

Every Labor Day weekend, my town celebrates the blackberry with a festival down on the waterfront. In the 6 years we've been here, I've watched it grow from a few booths in an old parking lot to a beautiful gathering on our fancy new pier and boardwalk area, all in the shadow of new waterfront condominiums. Today we walked down, and I managed to resist the blackberry cobbler, scones, and "slugs" - a heavenly blackberry jam-filled pastry thing that the festival is famous for. We did sample blackberry soda, a new addition to the event, and tomorrow I'll go back to buy blackberry wine for my dad. I might have some cobbler, too. :-)
Haleigh and I had so much fun browsing around outside that we decided to extend our walk for a Sunday Stroll. They say black cats are bad luck, but I don't believe it for a second about this little sweetie! We found her lounging on a garbage can beneath lovely roses, and she and Haleigh became fast friends.

Could it be? Just down the street we found this fun little shrub beginning to show signs of fall already!

Our walk took us over an old bridge not far from home, and this was the view down over the marina.

At the opposite end, we found a cozy little spot to sit and watch the boats go by. I think we'll have to plan a picnic soon.

And, naturally, we stopped to take a picture of this weekend's guest of honor. This cluster shows the different stages of ripening. When I was a little girl, I could hardly wait for them to be ready, so I snacked on MANY red berries in my impatience. Haleigh shares my love for this berry, too, but she prefers them very ripe and enormous.

I hope you all had wonderful Sundays!