(In mostly short sentences, with largish pictures and a link or two.)

I went here.

Instead of taking 880 to 17 to the always impossible 1 interchange, I took 101 down to 152 and west over the Hecker Pass; a winding road with redwoods and parks and a winery or two and some wonderful vistas when half the state isn't on fire and the vistas aren't obscured by smoke.

It's a bit better today, but still pretty hazy, so I didn't stop to take pictures.

At the Gizdich Ranch, I bought two olallieberry pies (one for us, one for a neighbor), one raspberry pie (for my neighbor across the street) and, having called ahead (which means these were picked just for me after I called), two flats of these:










Well, first I stashed them in my trunk, then stopped at the grocery store for sugar and pectin and jars (because most of my canning jars "disappeared" the last time Tim cleaned out the garage - *sigh*).

Seven hours later I had sixteen quarts of this:





I will buy another couple of flats of strawberries and do this again. I will also buy a couple of flats of raspberries when they hit their peak in a week or two.

Tired now. Very glad the temperature dropped, which meant my kitchen wasn't totally unbearable with batches of jam and the canning kettle going for several hours. I smell like strawberries. This is not a bad thing :).