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Hop on over to Blane Jr.'s blog and look at these great videos! Thanks for posting them Blane...

Rattlesnake Orchid

This may or may not be exciting to those of you reading our blog, but I really love God's creativity especially in nature. I really enjoy looking at the details of plants and trying to identify them.

So I noticed a small group of leaves amongst all the dead, dry leaves at the beginning of Spring this year. They were bright green when nothing else was and they had such a striking pattern on them. I determined I would keep an eye on them and see if any flowers bloomed.

Finally some did this past month and I started looking to identify them. It took some searching, but I finally found it: Rattlesnake Orchid or Downy Rattlesnake Plantain. From the little bit of information I've found about it, it's kind of rare. It's endangered in Florida, according to the USDA.

Here's a little more info about it.

Independence Day Blueberry pickin'

So, some friends of ours told us about this place in Marion where we could get Blueberries.

Since my dad was off today, we planned to go.

And, boy, was it worth the trip!

We got there around 10 and left just before 12. 

Even though you could get in the shade, it was still pretty hot. 

The enthusiasm was beginning to wane...

 And all for donations!

We were able to pick 4 1/2 gallons in 2 hours. 

And here is our July 4th dessert: a cream cheese/whipped cream pie topped with fresh Blueberries, Raspberries and Raspberry puree, in a shortbread crust.

More Raspberry pickin' pictures

Headed up the hill for the Raspberries and Blackberries

Stopping to say 'hi' to the horses on the way up

A neat old tractor just covered with Blackberry briars

Beautiful, glistening bunches of red Raspberries

Natalie-Rose being a piggie

The amazing view from the Raspberry briars

Headed home

 We are so blessed to live here

Had to stop at the Blackberry briar on the way down

Saying 'hi' to the cows on the way down

Two partial buckets of Raspberries and a few Blackberries

Preparing to freeze them

Our reward for all the picking: a fresh Raspberry pie.