Bring on the Berries...

I need a vacation from my vacation. It was so great to see old friends and family, but I got back on the plane wanting more. I wish I had planned a longer stay.  I had forgotten how beautiful those Keweenaw summers really are. Although the Keweenaw days are long, they are much longer here in Alaska. There is no sleep to be had during the Alaska Summers,  there are berries waiting for me.  As they say, "Make Hay while the Sun Shines". I can't think of anywhere that saying is more fitting.

I hadn’t held out much hope for Cloudberries this year. In previous years we have had tons of flowers, but very few berries. This year I thought I would probably be away on vacation when they finally showed up. Somehow, this year everything aligned and I made it back just in time. I’ll be getting back to real cooking soon, in the meantime I’ll be out berry picking, and digging out the canning jars, and turning these beauties into jam.

At first I had them tied to one tree, but Arrluk managed to pull the whole thing down and come running down the boardwalk with Brody still attached. During blueberry and cranberry picking I let them roam free to eat berries. Cloudberries are too few and far between to have them eaten and stomped on by the dogs.
They forgave me after they got a big swim on the way out.