Blackberries Anyone

I've been meaning to write this post for months. In August the blackberries in our front side yard are ripe for the picking. You have to pick them in stages so you can have enough to make jam. While all the boys were busy I slipped outside to pick some. I just put them in a colander so they are ready to wash when I go inside. Well, when I got inside the boys needed my attention so I hid the colander of berries behind some items on the counter-where I promptly forgot about them. Not such a big deal as they were hidden from view. But things got shuffled around the next day, not by yours truly, so the colander was now sitting in front of the toaster in full view. I was in my room when I hear S2 yell, "MOM!!!" I walked into the living room to see S1 up to his elbows in blackberry juice and bits, laying on the living room carpet, waving his arms like he's making a blackberry carpet angel! Immediately I got him up and into the bath. Cleaning off the TV was no problem, but it took over an hour with the help of Spot Shot to get it all out of the carpet. Yes, it came out! Then I had to go and clean up the kitchen where S1 had massaged the berries in the colander so the juice had leaked out everywhere. Thank goodness for Comet with Bleach. I guess we won't have any blackberry jam this year.