I’m missing my blackberries this year. By last year they had so overgrown our property, that Hubby mowed them all down to give us some breathing space. Well, I can’t find enough to make a pie this year. In previous years I had been able to walk out in the yard and munch on handfuls of blackberries any time I wanted for at least eight weeks. They were my truly seasonal beneficial food I always counted on.

Hubby and daughter are on another motorcycle weekend. You know what that means? Yup, I’ve had liver and onions for dinner the last two nights. Yum, yum!! They are coming back a day early today. I guess they aren’t having as much fun as they thought they would.

I have one more trip to take this week. I’ll be going back east to visit family and celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. She’s doing pretty well for that age. She still takes a two-mile walk most days. She doesn’t follow the B diet, of course. She practically lives on peanut butter and popcorn. I assume she is a secretor and my father was the non-secretor. He died at the age of 75 from many illnesses like heart disease and emphysema. She manages to keep going with the help of many medications.

Anyway, I hope after this trip that I don’t have to get on an airplane for awhile. There have been too many airports in my life the past few months. I don’t know how some people can travel for business as much as they do. It would drive me bonkers!

We got back from the motorcycle trip last Sunday evening, but it has been a horrendous week of trying to play catch-up with everything. Yesterday was the first day I felt normal from the time zone changes. Hubby got sick the last day of vacation. It was some sort of horrible virus in his chest. He has spent the entire week at home sick as a dog. I’ve really never seen him so ill. I was worried it might turn into pneumonia, but, of course, he wouldn’t go see a practitioner. Yesterday he tried to go into the office, but the walk out to his car was almost too much for him, so he waited 20 minutes and walked back to the house (about 75 feet). Today, I drove him to Costco and I think he is done in for the day. At least he is able to carry on a conversation now. Nobody could talk to him for five days.

Anyway, the trip motorcycling through the Alps was FANTASTIC! We traveled through five countries. I felt like I was on one continuous amusement park ride for six straight days. The first two days were pretty scary. Hubby was getting used to the bike and learning how to drive all the hairpin turns up and down the mountains. He dumped the bike on the first day while making a slow turn, luckily we weren’t hurt, and there was just a little scraping on the bike. (Though it didn’t do much for my confidence.) By the third day we were settled in and riding like pros. We’d go up one mountain, and down. Then up another mountain, and down. I got the hang of taking photographs while riding….and not needing to hang on to the bike. We were in a group of 27 folks (20 bikes) plus the tour guides, who were three wonderful, patient German and Austrian men. We made some new friends. The others tourers were from Boston, a couple cities in Texas, Orlando, Pennsylvania, and a twosome from Edmonton, Alberta.

Besides the riding, of course, were the food and beer. The food is just as wonderful as I remember from 25 years ago. For the most part, when given a choice, I chose the beneficial or neutral foods. In fact, I had a marvelous venison stew for lunch one day. Had goulash soup a couple other days. There were a few evening meals when the hotel only served one entrée, and it would be pork. I didn’t stress. I ate. A buffet breakfast was always provided at the hotels. As the days progressed, my choices digressed. There were all sorts of meats and cheeses and copious semmel rolls (sigh). I ate.

And, I think hubby and I tried to drink all the beer in Europe. Probably no less than three half-liters per evening. You can’t get beer like that in the States. No way. We hardly ever have a beer at home. It was all good.

And the best part is….. I only gained two pounds! (One of which is gone already.)

As our friend Edna would say, “Woo-huuu”!

This seems to be the summer of eating trials. Tomorrow hubby and I are leaving on another trip. This is the one we have been waiting a long time for. We’re going on a motorcycle tour of the Alps. We haven’t been to Europe for about 25 years, when he was in the military. I wonder if it’s the same as I left it or really different.

Of course my tummy has been in knots for days. There is so much to prepare for here so that the business can get by without us for the ten days we’ll be gone. I’ve been checking the weather reports for where we will be touring. It was looking like all rain for awhile, but things are improving. We’re, of course hoping for warm and sunny weather, but we’ve packed all our rain gear just in case.

I’m afraid I’ll be somewhat at the mercy of the food gods as to what I’ll be eating. I know I’m going to be tempted by all sorts of things. But, I think I learned a lesson from my trip to South Carolina that my gut doesn’t absorb foods that it’s not used to eating any more. (Hmmm, could I be getting older, too?? That’s another blog). I hope I can find a happy medium. There’s nothing like suffering on the back of a motorcycle!

Anyway, it will be an adventure both riding and eating.