Happy Halloween!

Thankful Thursday….errrr, Friday!

Ok, so my latest installment of Thankful Thursday is happening today instead of yesterday, but better late than never, right?

We spent yesterday on the road, and I am thankful, once more, for safe travel.  We had to replace the radiator in the van while we were gone, and I’m thankful that we found out while we were there and NOT while we were on the road!

I’m also so, so thankful for moment like these.  Grab them while you can, my friends.  They are SO precious.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

Aaaaaaand - here is is, our first installment of Thankful Thursdays.  I'd really love for you to help me think of a better name, too.  Glimpses of Gratitude? Grateful and Glad? Thankful and ....Therrific?  .... Yeah, that's why I need your help.  Send me some ideas - please, if not for me, for your own sake - so you limit your exposure to my cheezy ideas!

All jokes aside, the things I am truly thankful for this week are...

• Safe Travel - We drove to St. Simon's today.  Every time we get on the road as a family for a trip like this I am keenly aware of how blessed we are to make it to our destination safely. (and how glad I am that our old van made another trip without something needing repair!)
• Family vacations.  We don't get these often enough (does anyone?), but I so enjoy them when we do.  The camp guy is actually working for part of this trip (it's work trip that we've extended to make into a vacation), and of course, the boys and I will be doing school work, but Mimi and P-pop are joining us the day after tomorrow and we're going to make lots of time to just have fun together.
• My family.  All of them.  They drive me crazy sometimes, but when it comes right down to it my family rocks.  I'm so, so lucky to have them.

What are you thankful for today?

Love Y'all!
Jean

Gratitude

I got a few more apples processed today.  Still have lots left, but I’m whittling them down a little at a time.  It’s harder to do a large batch in the middle of the week when we’re doing school and, well, you know – life!

While I had a moment today, I read an article in the latest Mary Jane’s Farm magazine, about a couple who have built a whole business around the idea of gratitude.  It struck me, because of the content of the article, but also because I had just read another article about changing your attitude from one of questioning to one of recognizing things to be thankful for. I love this idea, by the way – the notion that we, ALL of us, have things to be thankful for, if only we take the time to recognize and identify them.  Not that everyone’s life is just peachy every moment of every day, of course.  It’s just that, in the midst of even the worst tragedy or the most difficult times, there are small comforts, or people who care for us, or even just beautiful sunsets that we can appreciate and for which we can give thanks.

That’s why I thought I’d start a new weekly feature!  From now until the end of December, we’ll be celebrating Thankful Thursdays.  Every Thursday, I’ll list the things I’m most thankful for that week. I’d love for you to join me, and list what you’re most appreciative of that week as well.

Even though is isn’t Thursday yet, I’ll go head and tell you that I’m ALWAYS thankful for you!  I don’t know why you listen to all my ramblings, but I’m so glad you keep coming by.  Thanks for supporting this hectic eclectic girl.

Applesauce Prom

It’s apple season, y’all!  This week we went on a field trip to an orchard, and Mom and I came back with  apples.  The lady that we spoke to was kind enough to show us the “2nd grade” apples that she uses when she’s making sauce.  For $12/bushel (vs. $26 for the ones with no blemishes), we decided on three bushels of Mutsu, Golden Delicious and Winesap for applesauce and canning. 

When we got started on our project today, my Nana said, “You know… there’s this company called Motts…” which of course the Camp Guy thought was terribly funny!  I have to tell you, though, with no ill will to Motts, they never had so much entertainment in the kitchen as we do!

Here are some of the Mutsu and Golden Delicious in Mom’s sink.  You can see some of them have a few have spots, but even though we were not shy about cutting them out, we lost very few apples.  I will definitely go this route again next year!

  This is my apple peeler, corer, slicer.  I don’t know how to tell you how much I love this thing.  Many, many thanks to Aunt Jane for spending so much time working on it today.

Here is small portion of the apples we did, soaking in a lemon juice solution, waiting for their turn in the pot.

After cooking and a trip through the food mill, here is… TA-DA – Applesauce!  At one point, as I was stopping again to take another picture for you we started joking about posing, to which I replied, “It’s not prom!”  Aunt Jane immediately declared that yes, it was indeed – Applesauce prom!  I have no idea what that means, but being a bit giddy from hours in the kitchen makes many things funny, thus Applesauce Prom was born.

We ended up the day with 22 quarts and 7 pints of applesauce, plus a gallon size bag of apples that went in Mom’s freezer.  PLUS, I still have just under half of the apples left!  Guess I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow…

A little visitor

showed up in the yard the other day.  The camp guy obliged the two VERY curious boys and caught our lucky (unlucky?) visitor, so that they could get a good look at him.  He’s now back in the woodpile so he can keep hunting. Quite a fine specimen of a garter snake if you ask me – very handsome in his yellow stripes and checks. 

Autumn's Spell

The moon tonight is a somber, orange sliver of itself.

There's a wisp of a cloud in front of it,
making it look as if the man in the moon is speaking.

I imagine he's speaking to me -
some ancient wisdom of fall, of leaves and harvest
and crisp, cool weather.

His voice soothes and enchants me. 

It mingles with the music of the coyotes, singing in the distance.

Once again,
 I am under Autumn's spell.