Nommy-Nee makes elderberry jelly

[vaneramos]

Wild elderberries anyone? I have some to give away.

I was in luck this year. Last September I searched the Eramosa River in vain. The birds had eaten them all before I got there.

On Monday I paid my first visit to the river since July and found a huge bush where I hadn't even noticed it before—festooned with ripe black clusters. I wasn't taking any chances. I went back with a bag right away. The branches were so heavy with fruit that I didn't even have to move from one spot to gather about ten pounds.

While I knelt in the shade of those boughs, a couple cedar waxwings squeaked from the nearby trees. I'd be the last one to steal from them, but the bush still had enough to feed a flock of hundreds. I was just glad to be in the right place at the right time to snatch a few for myself.

Quite a few, as it turned out. Tonight I pulled two quarts off the stems and made a batch of elderberry jelly. Another five cups went into the freezer for pies. That's as many elderberries as I can use.

I still have enough bunches for at least four more quarts of berries if anyone in the area wants them. I'll be driving to Toronto midday tomorrow, and will bring them along if anyone wants them.

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Elderberry jelly reminds me of a character in the children's book, Pookie, by Ivy Wallace. Pookie is a little white rabbit with wings. His family teases him so he runs away to find his fortune. He ends up living in Bluebell Wood. His best friend is Nommy-Nee. I can't remember whether Nommy-Nee is an elf or fairy, he looks somewhere in between, and he lives in a toadstool.

In the sequel, Pookie Puts the World Right, Nommy-Nee makes elderberry jam.

This all comes from my early childhood. The books disappeared many years ago, and even Mom doesn't know what became of them. We thought they were published in Britain, and probably long out of print.

Tonight in memory of Nommy-Nee I did a web search and found that the books have recently been reprinted (the first publication was 1945). I hope it is as wonderfully illustrated as I remember. I had to have a copy of Pookie, so I did something I've never done before: ordered from Amazon.

Blame it on the elderberries.