More than one way to pit a cherry!

"Hey, did you keep your parents' cherry pitter?" "No, I think it went to the thrift store."

Oh well.  I got out the paring knife and pitted my first cherry.  Hmm.  There must be a better way.  I knew I'd find some alternative ideas online.  I watched one person smash the cherry, one use my paring knife method, one use a paperclip, and one DIY pitter made from a bent fork.  But somewhere in the back of my head ... the straw....  Not sure where I heard about it, but it worked well!

Thanks to a student's family, we had cherry cobbler this evening! Yummmm!

Guess what hubby turned up in the basement while looking for something else after the cobbler was cooked...  Yup!  What timing!

Pine Tussock Moth Caterpillar

 Dasychira pinicola   

Found this furry fellow while nibbling berries.  By the time I'd identified him via Google (here) and went back for another look, he'd disappeared.  Not sure why a pine moth would be on raspberries... Not sure where the closest pine is.

First raspberries

We ate our first handful of berries from our yard today.  I was worried when an offering of berries appeared in the Idaho kitchen, and then on our way home in my sister's kitchen... was I missing my berries at home?  No, they were still waiting for my return before ripening.

Idaho Suzuki Institute

Here we are ready to start for home - proving how much we can fit into the Outlander!  The cellos fit into the back seat area, along with our lunch bags and other sundry items.

Thankfully, my partner in cello and travel did manage to keep her eyes open while it was her turn to drive on our 14 hour road trip home!  Thanks, Connie, for taking our picture outside our dorm!