Attack of the Giant Blackberries

Monday marked the beginning of my last week as a Harrisburg housewife...the official start of my career as a registered nurse comes on July 18th.  It's bittersweet, really--I sure have been enjoying the time off, having my days completely free to do whatever I please.  On the other hand, I'm going a bit stir-crazy and realize the importance that my career plays in my life (and our checkbook!).  I'm excited to meet my new colleagues and embark on yet another new journey.  That being said, I decided that much of this week should be devoted to getting out of the house and doing a little more exploring of the city and surrounding area (not just cleaning, organizing, and grocery shopping)!!

So...I spent Tuesday morning tinkering with my camera just down the road at Italian Lake; what a cute little park nestled just blocks off of front street in Harrisburg! The surrounding area has some unique architecture that we've spent time exploring while walking around the city.  What follows is a sampling of the photos I snapped--it's too easy to take hundreds of pictures with a fast camera and a 2 GB memory card!  As I begin to take more photos to continue blogging, I realize that I should probably learn at least a little about the modes and settings of our camera (mind you, we've already had it for over 4 years and know little to nothing about it...but both Mike and I can work the automatic mode like professionals, hahaha).  Mom & Kels--that's where you guys come in, you should probably teach us a thing or two :)

Geometric hedges line one wall of the park 

I did not bring home a pet duck.

Central sculpture and pedestrian bridge

Close-up

Hot & sunny morning in the park

Looking south

Pretty sure this was the google earth car or something similar! You can just barely see it by the street sign.

Looking southwest

Nearby homes 

I was waiting for a frog ;)

According to the sign, not much IS allowed!

Japanese-style pedestrian bridge

By mid-morning I headed to check out the farmers market in the parking lot of the PA Farm Show Building, just a short drive from our house.  We've been eager to find an open-air market here but they don't seem as common (or I just haven't found them).  There are a few large, well established and continually running markets that have, over time, built permanent structures to house their market activity.  Heading inside a semi air-conditioned building to shop a farmers market just seems strange to me.  I don't know about you, but there's just something special about perusing a farmers market from tent to tent with the hot sun beating down on the pavement--it just makes the fruits and veggies look that much better!  It was a small market with plenty of produce choices...everything looked delicious, I wish I would have taken a few photos while I was there...but I didn't, so you'll just have to settle with the few I took when I got home!

I haven't been able to get enough black raspberries since we arrived...they've become my new favorite, by far! One of these days, I'm going to have to do a little investigation and perhaps make an attempt at homemade jam (sounds like a hefty task so if you have any tips or tricks, feel free to share)--although, if I run across a jar or two between then and now, I might just cheat and say it's homemade :)

Can't get enough of the black raspberries!

These are some monster blackberries, maybe they're on steroids!
They're HUGE but oh so fantastic!!!

One of these weekends, we're going to head down to Lancaster which is about 40 miles to the southeast.  I hear they have a fabulous city market--The Lancaster Central Market--that we have to check out.  I also hear the city has some great restaurants, outlets, art galleries, and other attractions; perfect for a weekend day trip!

Feel free to leave any questions, comments, or ideas for future blog posts that you may have.  I'm totally open to suggestions as Mike and I continue on this blogging journey...ideas to keep the posts fresh and fun would be appreciated, I certainly wouldn't want to bore any of you! Happy Wednesday, enjoy your day :)