Today's haul from the yard: Nearly a quart of wild blackberries and almost 2 quarts of wineberries (a wild, invasive raspberry relative) As I was picking the blackberries I was reminded of the game Operation. Reaching carefully into the brambly tangle trying to avoid not only the blackberry thorns, but the wild climbing rose, the greenbriar and the poison ivy as well. Not all the dark red juice dripping off my fingertips was from the blackberries.

Daughter delivered this neat pie box yesterday. The lid slides off and guess what was in it. A fresh wild black raspberry pie! We sampled it immediately, with ice cream of course.

These are the 'slave huts' on Bonaire (Dutch Antilles). These are less than 20 feet from the water. Fortunately, hurricanes are rare in that part of the Caribbean, so the slaves were not in danger that way. Originally, the huts had thatch roofs, updating in recent years included a more permanent roof.

The 4th of July festivities have been so much fun in Philadelphia. Here's the Philadelphia Orchestra playing live to cheering thousands at Penn's Landing. It was fantastic! Spectacular fireworks after the show Happy early birthday America!