Dreams, Dresses and Haskap Berries?

Oh the joy of June as thoughts turn to the end of the school year, preparations of prom and graduation, processing the bountiful harvest of strawberries and anticipating vacation at the lake with lots of books, day trips and playing with the grandchildren.

Sarah, our fourth beautiful daughter, completed her 13 years of public school and graduated with honours on June 27. It was a special night and we are so proud of her. Her only grandparent (Grampie N.) made the long trek from Yarmouth to be a part of this and she really appreciated the effort that it took for him to be here. I know it meant a lot to her to share this special time with him. It seems as we get older, time marches on just a wee bit faster and we try to create memories that will last a lifetime for our children. I have paused this month to reflect back on Sarah's life and how she has matured into an amazing, smart woman, who has the potential to be and do anything she wishes. Her dream for the last couple of years is to pursue policing and we are not sure where that will lead, but she will be starting along that path this fall at St. Mary's University, enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Criminology degree.

As she journeys into this next phase of her life, my prayer for her would be that she remains strong in her values and morals and stay true to herself and  to the One who created her. Here are a few pictures of prom night and graduation.

Sarah and her boyfriend, Tanner, before the prom. So lovely.

Funny moment - probably after Tanner had to change his navy socks to black ones.

Three of our five beautiful daughters - such awesome girls. 

Cousins, both born in March, graduating together.

Friends in the Irving Centre - Sarah's dress was very outstanding.

Waiting for the walk across the stage to officially finish grade 12.

Accepting her diploma.

Receiving her scholarship from St. Mary's University.

Three generations - proud of our girl.

On a kitchen note - Andrew has been supplying me with the annual harvest of strawberries and we are all enjoying the new variety 'Laurel' that he named this spring. The jam production is going strong with 7 batches done and in the freezer. In December we certainly love the taste of summer we are putting away now. Today Andrew and I ventured up to the research station to do some grape work (he hasn't had Canada Day weekend off since he began work here 30 years ago!!). He then wanted to show me some haskap berries (this link will give you a bit of information on them) that they are experimenting with. There seemed to be a lot of berries ready to pick, so I suggested we do a batch of jam. After some tedious picking we managed to get enough for a batch and voila - delicious jam. It wasn't the coolest night of the year to make jam, but again, it will taste yummy in the middle of January on a piece of toast.

Our pan full of haskap berries.

And voila! Very tasty and rich coloured haskap jam. So delicious!

And I'm not sure what to say about these.

Today, we picked up Anna in Truro, where she spent the last 10 days involved in a leadership camp sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion. I am hoping to talk her into doing a guest blog for me after she gets some rest and debriefs a bit. She is a very tired but changed girl.