Bouffant Blonde

"Oh, no," Mama exclaimed. "I can not believe it!" Little Guy and Sunshine rushed to Mama's side. They stared down at the small patch of strawberry plants. Mama reached down among the leaves and came up with a deep, red strawberry. Little Guy thought it was beautiful. Then Mama turned it over. Something had eaten part of Mama's strawberry. Uh-oh! Sunshine immediately started searching for the culprit. Little Guy didn't know what to look for. Mama reached down and got another strawberry. Something small and slimy was eating it. Little Guy looked closely at it. He'd never seen anything like it. "Snails," Mama said with disgust. "I'm not going to put up with it! I've worked too hard to let them eat all the strawberries." "What do we do Mama," Little Guy asked. "Snail bait," Mama said firmly. She turned and marched toward the laundry room. The laundry room has really tall shelves. On the ver...

I love strawberries. They taste great. You can eat them plain. You can blend them with a little sugar and make a terrific sauce for ice cream. Strawberry Pie is yummy. Fruit salad just isn't fruit salad without strawberries. I could go on and on. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who likes strawberries. Last year my dad bought several strawberry plants and tended them. He got bored I guess because they require a good deal of work and yield very little at first. He thought all the plants had died. This year I uncovered a few surviving plants. The key word here is uncovered. They were hidden by an old gate and lots of grass and weeds. I removed the gate and carefully pulled the grass and weeds away. I've been watering and tending. And I was so surprised! Lots and lots of blooms. Then lots and lots of strawberries. I waited patiently for the berries to ripen. And just as they would turn that brilliant red, they would disappear. My mother suggested the culprits could be the...