Food I'm Eating: Blackberry Pie

I took a walk around Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake today, to collect blackberries. The bushes were heavy with them. Although picked over, we managed to bring home a couple pounds of fruit. I'm in the process of making a blackberry pie as I write this. I've made the dough and rolled out a crust (now in the oven baking). I've made custard. When the crust is ready, I'll line it with custard, then berries and then throw the whole thing back in the oven. An excellent excuse to try all three of the ice creams I brought home from Whole Foods today.

While collecting berries was my purpose, I managed to see quite a few birds while walking. Besides the usual--Mallards, Canada Geese, California Towhees, Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, California Quail, Scrubjays, Red-winged Blackbirds, Snowy Egrets (many of these), Great Egrets, and a Great Blue Heron, I saw what I think may have been a female Wilson's Warbler and what was definitely a Black-throated Gray Warbler, a first sighting for me. He was in the willow trees between the path and the water about thirty yards before the eastern end of Lake Ralphine.

I ache from the work yesterday of re-setting the nets on the grapes in the backyard and raising the electric fence around them. Those dastardly raccoons are still stealing fruit. Last night nothing disappeared, though. I think I may have finally thwarted them.