An Apple Harvest

A couple of years ago, I posted about our apple tree which my son grew from the seeds of an apple that he had eaten.  Each fall I keep an eye on the tree hoping for a good harvest.  To my delight, this year I have had just that.  The other afternoon I went out to the tree and started picking, and filled up an entire large basket, as well as part of a plastic bag.  Now to many of you apple harvesters out there, this might not seem like many, but to me it was a lot.  To actually be able to go out to my own tree, pull up a ladder, and pick more than a dozen or so apples was such a treat. 

After picking the apples, I immediately went inside and started making a pie with them.  And of course the pie was to be for my son, now grown up, that planted those little seeds so many years ago.  He came over for dinner and I was so happy to be able to serve him a pie out of his very own apples.  We all took a bite, and to my disappointment the pie really wasn't very good.  The apples were still quite firm, and there just wasn't  much of the good juiciness that usually comes along with an apple pie.  The problem was that I have no idea what kind of apples they are; because really, who would keep track of the type of apple when your 7 year old son wants to eat an apple and plant the seeds to grow his very own tree.  And who really expects that the tree will someday actually grow and bear fruit.  But I'm not giving up, I have enough apples to experiment with them, and plan on trying another pie by cooking the apples first (which I have a recipe that calls for just that), and there is always applesauce. 

A New Friend

I have a new little friend.  He is a squirrel that sometimes makes his little presence known around our front yard.  I don't see him very often; but occasionally when I go outside to sit in the sunshine, I will hear him scampering through the tree above me.  One afternoon after hearing him scurry around the branches, I decided I should befriend him by leaving him little treats.  So each morning (well I really try to remember each morning, but some days I do forget) I place 6 unsalted peanuts in various spots amongst the branches of his tree.   He found them in short order, and they were all gone without even one little shell left behind.  I think at first he must have thought it very unusual to find peanuts growing from a maple tree, and so he took them all home to add to his winter stash.  But now, he sees that those peanuts just keep appearing, and sometimes I see a couple of empty peanut shells on the grass where he has decided it will be okay just to taste one before he takes the rest home.  He will not allow me to take a photo of him just yet, but maybe some day.  I need to give him a name, any suggestions?

Random Gifts of Cookies

One of my daughters recently had a birthday that fell on the same day as one of her volleyball games.  I made cookies for her so that she could hand them out to her friends after the game; however, in the rush of everyone wanting to leave after the game (it was an "away" game, and the hour had gotten late), the passing out of the cookies never happened.  So we brought home the cute little packages of cookies:

Another daughter placed them all in one of my red mixing bowls so that we would have a place to keep them until they were eaten.

I found that having the cookies pre-wrapped as little gifts was actually a wonderful thing to have around the house.  So many instances came up where a random gift of a little cute bag of cookies was the perfect thing to give someone to brighten their day. 

I had found these little plastic food container bags in the Wilton baking section of I think WalMart.  I don't know exactly how many came in the package, but there was a very generous supply.  Combined with two cookies to a bag (I used the Originial Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookie recipe), and some cute ribbon that we just happened to have, they were so easy to put together. 

I think I will be laying in a supply of these little cookie bags, and make it a now and then habit of making cookies for the sole purpose of passing them out to others just to see them smile.

Dishcloths

This time of year I find myself with bits and pieces of down time while watching volleyball games, sitting at the orthodontist's office, or even waiting for my daughter to finish one school subject so we can begin another.  During those moments, I enjoy working on a quick and easy knitting or crochet project.  It is sometimes amazing at how much can be accomplished when you only work on it 2 minutes here, or 4 minutes there.  Dishcloths are one of my favorite little projects to work on because they don't take much time, and before you know it, you have a cute little pile of functional items either to give as gifts or to replenish your own supply.  There are a wide variety of free patterns all over the internet.  I'm not sure exactly where I found this pattern, but it is one of my favorites.

Volleyball and Apples

Volleyball season has begun at our house.  This will be the second year that my youngest daughter has played, and she really loves the game.  She works hard at her practices; and in her down time at home, she loves to work on her serves out in the back yard.  And it just so happens that I have a small apple tree in this very same back yard.  My neighbors gave it to me several years ago, and it has never produced any apples.  However, this past spring I counted 25 blossoms on it which gave me great hope that it might bear fruit this year.  When the blossoms withered away, we counted three apples on it.  But one day during serving practice, the volleyball headed directly toward my apple tree, and promptly knocked off two little apples.  I think this was such a fluke that even if I had told my daughter to aim for those little tiny apples, she never would have hit them.  But in the big scope of things, I would never have traded seeing my daughter out working hard at improving a skill and enjoying herself for those apples.  Besides, I still have one left on the tree, and now I know that it actually can bring forth apples ----- maybe next year.

Seeing the Unexpected

A couple of evenings ago, I was heading outside to turn on my sprinkler.  It was getting dark, and as I came out my front door, I noticed what I assumed to be a medium sized black dog in our driveway.  You see, it was just dark enough where you can see close up, but some things just appear as shadows.  I told the supposed dog to go home, but as the shadow came closer and more into view, I couldn't believe what I was looking at running loose in our neighborhood, and actually in my driveway.  It was a pig!  A small black pig!  At first I was quite speechless, and when it spotted me, it quickly ran on through my driveway, and out into the road.  I had to follow it because I was still a bit dumbfounded.  As it ran next door into my neighbors' yard, I heard someone calling, "pig, pig".  I realized that obviously this was a pet, and not a wild pig of some sort.  I whistled towards the calling, and told him his pig was over my direction.  He soon was at my house, and explained that somehow the pig had escaped from its pen.  He then called the pig once again, and it was so funny to see the pig running very fast towards its owner.  Apparently they have two little pot bellied pigs as pets.  I didn't have my camera with me, but this is what it looked like:

The Annual Chocolate Contest

If you read my previous post, then you know that the beginning of our local fair started at somewhat of a downturn for me.  However, I know that along with lessons needing to be learned in painful ways, God also blesses us with victories.  So this week when I entered my annual entry into the Mayor's Chocolate Extravaganza Contest, I was happily surprised with a first place ribbon.  Apparently they liked my mini chocolate spice cakes.

Lessons Learned

Today starts the beginning of what we call "fair week".  Technically our local fair doesn't begin until Wednesday; however, for kids in 4H it has already begun.  The fair to the 4H kids is like the culmination of all of their hard work they have put into their projects over the past year.  They get a chance to enter exhibits of the different things they have learned, and receive ribbons recognizing their hard work. 

This past year I decided I would help out in my daughter's 4H club, and offered to lead a gardening project.  Besides my daughter, there was only one other girl in my class, which actually made it easier for me as a first time leader.  It gave me the opportunity to get my feet wet with two familiar faces.  But as it turns out I not only got my feet wet, but basically sunk to the bottom of the lake as a leader this year.  I had read the requirements for a different gardening project than the one I taught the girls.  So yesterday when exhibits were to be entered into the fair, they had the wrong exhibits for the project they were entering.  You can imagine how terrible I feel.  They were still able to enter the exhibits, but will only receive a white ribbon as they obviously won't get all of the points since they entered the wrong project.  Fortunately my daughter laughed and thought it was funny.  So I think perhaps I am the most disappointed since I was the one that technically "led them astray".  But fortunately, I have a very dear friend,  who just happens to be the mother of the other girl in my class, that was extremely forgiving and understanding.  She reminded me that this will just give us something to laugh about in the years to come.  At least this wasn't the only project that the girls entered, so they have other chances to enjoy their successes. 

I also realize that I'm not the only one in the world still learning lessons.  So I thank my God for all of the lessons He teaches me, even the ones that have to involve other people.  And while I am learning my lessons, the world keeps on turning, and the sun still continues to shine.

Glory in the Morning

Outside my front door, I have two built-in planters that I like to fill with zinnias.  And tucked in with the zinnias, I really like to have some morning glories growing.  They are usually volunteers, but over the years, I encourage them to "volunteer".  They just seem to fill in any blank spots, and besides that, I am simply fascinated by morning glories.  A delicate flower, blooming profusely in the morning, yet when the sun gets a little hot for them, they close up tight until the next morning. 

This morning I thought they were so lovely that I had to take a few pictures.  I love the way it appears that a bright light is shining right through the center of the flower, even though the picture was taken in the shade.  God's glory can certainly be found anywhere we look.

Trailer Cuteness

This past weekend, the Funky Junk Sisters held one of their famous Junk Salvation shows right here in my hometown.  It was a very fun show, and I ended up coming home with a couple of vintage dress patterns and a set of vintage dominoes -- they are a necessity don't you think?

As this was my first Junk Salvation show I was surprised by what greeted us outside the building.  Three very tiny vintage trailers all decorated up very cute.  This one was my favorite:

Of course I had to step inside, and this is what I found:

I thought this was so cute, and immediately thought how I might do something like this in my vintage Airstream; however, I just don't think the boys in my family would quite appreciate all of the frill.  So for now, I will just enjoy looking at these pictures.