Can't beat the price...

I can't always hide behind my job, and today was one of those days.  Instead, I had to go with my wife to one of her friends houses to help pick cherries.  Bing's this time instead of Benton's, which are smaller, and a little tarter. 

Prior to today, I really had no idea how many cherries could really grow on one tree.  We took about 17 pounds of cherries off this tree today, and you could barely tell we had been there.  Which is good...but it also means we have been invited back to help remove more cherries...which means more picking, cleaning, and pitting. 

It also means more jars of Sweet Cherry Jam and Cherry Pie filling.  And, all for just a little bit of time, a few hours, most of an afternoon and all of an evening.  My wife's friend doesn't can, and her family can only eat and freeze a few pounds of cherries.  The rest that we don't pick will just end up on the ground. 

Things don't get much better than free...if only I didn't need to get my hands sticky with cherry juice, things would be perfect.

That's about 1/3rd of the current batch.