So, we have been having rain, rain, storms, rain, more rain, and still more storms and rain....for weeks. The ditches are full of water, the rivers are high, there are flash flood warnings galore, and I found algae growing in my back yard (no joke). Donna is starting to twitch and has developed a nervous tic (and mayyyyyyyyyyyy be getting a titch grumpy although I will deny saying that to my dying day) because she can't garden and weed. However we are still much luckier than our farmers in Southern Iowa who have had even more rain than we have. Like, crops molding/dying in the field bad. :( And when the sun does come out - HOLY HUMIDITY! Yesterday (after our morning storm), the sun came out and we had temps at about 100 with a heat index of 106. NOT PRETTY. We Iowans are getting a little grumpy!!!

In other news.

 it is mulberry season!!! I hope to get out and pick some today. Do you have  mulberries in your bit of the world??

Mulberry pie (this makes me wish I could make a decent pie crust!)

Mulberry liqueur (or spice it, perhaps?)

Mulberry Jelly

Mulberry Wine (sweet or dry)

and I think Mulberry Vinegar would be a really fun and interesting treat; it would be great in an old-fashioned switchel recipe (I always wonder why health-conscious exercise type people drink artifically colored, high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweetened drinks such as gatorade? Switchel or lemonade is my idea of a drink, if I need something other than water!). But I didn't find any recipes I liked online, so, here is how you make mulberry vinegar.

Take a clean class jar (pint or quart mason jars are my container of choice), and loosely fill with mulberries. Cover with vinegar. You can use any kind, but I prefer an organic apple cider vinegar, as it's less harsh than regular white vinegar and has extra good stuff for ya. Cover, and let sit in the sun (or wherever..) for a week or two. Longer is fine. You can tell when the vinegar is "done", because it will be a rich berry color and the berries will look kind of colorless and sad. Strain out the berries and compost them; rebottle the vinegar and label. Yum!