Fall is in the air and it’s by far my favorite time of the year. I love fresh pencils and clean notebooks. I love soccer season and the busy-ness of practices and games and even the massive amounts of shin guards and shorts I have to wash every week. I love the piles of dried leaves on the ground and the smell of rain coming. I love beginning the planning process of sewing projects and Christmas gifts. And most of all I love to jam my cupboards and freezers with homemade food.
In Spring and Summer I’m a modern woman. I use the microwave, frozen food section, and McDonalds as our main form of sustenance. I buy gifts rather than make them and I live in tank tops and flip flops. But come Fall, I travel back in time and start baking dozens of loaves of bread, canning jar upon jar of fresh goodness, and sitting by the fire to sew and crochet at night.
So this weekend was my internal kick-off to fall. I could feel it hit me like morning sickness. I woke up Saturday morning, determined to harvest our apple and pear trees. With a little bribery, (promises to give hubs a manicure/pedicure….a guy after my own heart) we picked 5 gallons of pears and 10 gallons of apples.
I learned a few lessons this weekend too. The first is not to stand UNDER the tree while someone is yanking the apples off the branches.
Don’t worry; I hear black eyes only take a few weeks to go away and I kind of look good in yellow.
And the second is just how much work is required of me, once the apples are picked.
My kitchen has been a disaster area and I’m sure I’ve used every dish, bowl, and pot in my cupboards...TWICE! Plus my poor dishwasher has been going non-stop for the last 48 hours.
But last night, as we bit into the first apple pie of the season I could almost feel my hair roll into a bun and my bonnet straps pull tight under my chin. My hot pink sweat pants and white tank top morphed into a calico skirt and blouse and I had this urge for hubby to pull out his guitar so I could smile sweetly while the kids did a jig around the kitchen table by lantern light.
Of course the whole out-house thing and no electricity is a real deal breaker for me, but other than that, I AM CAROLINE INGALLS!
In Spring and Summer I’m a modern woman. I use the microwave, frozen food section, and McDonalds as our main form of sustenance. I buy gifts rather than make them and I live in tank tops and flip flops. But come Fall, I travel back in time and start baking dozens of loaves of bread, canning jar upon jar of fresh goodness, and sitting by the fire to sew and crochet at night.
So this weekend was my internal kick-off to fall. I could feel it hit me like morning sickness. I woke up Saturday morning, determined to harvest our apple and pear trees. With a little bribery, (promises to give hubs a manicure/pedicure….a guy after my own heart) we picked 5 gallons of pears and 10 gallons of apples.
I learned a few lessons this weekend too. The first is not to stand UNDER the tree while someone is yanking the apples off the branches.
Don’t worry; I hear black eyes only take a few weeks to go away and I kind of look good in yellow.
And the second is just how much work is required of me, once the apples are picked.
My kitchen has been a disaster area and I’m sure I’ve used every dish, bowl, and pot in my cupboards...TWICE! Plus my poor dishwasher has been going non-stop for the last 48 hours.
But last night, as we bit into the first apple pie of the season I could almost feel my hair roll into a bun and my bonnet straps pull tight under my chin. My hot pink sweat pants and white tank top morphed into a calico skirt and blouse and I had this urge for hubby to pull out his guitar so I could smile sweetly while the kids did a jig around the kitchen table by lantern light.
Of course the whole out-house thing and no electricity is a real deal breaker for me, but other than that, I AM CAROLINE INGALLS!
Day 1 : Jars of applesauce and pies for the freezer....plus the nummy pie we ate for dinner that night.
Day 2: MORE applesauce and apple fritters for dessert....or what's left of them.
I still have 5 gallons of apples left and all the pears! I think I don't want to see another apple again as long as I live!
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12 comments:
Loved this post! I can totally relate. Something about fall makes me feel ready to prepare the nest for winter too. LOL
Homemade apple fritters??? Oh, yummy!! I think I'm drooling :)
Oh how I want a slice of that pie!! I'm so impressed, Becky Homecky!
"I could almost feel my hair roll into a bun..." you had me laughing out loud.
Looks delish! Why are your pies so pretty? Mine always look like a blob. A yummy, carb filled blob. ~Karlie
PS. When are you going to drive up and visit me??? I'm serious here.
You go girl! So much to show for all your hard work. I can almost smell those pies!
Oh how I'm missing the pacific northwest fall weather. Here in Texas I do believe it will be 100 for another three months! Sigh...what I wouldn't give for a some cool, crisp football watching weather. It is just not as much fun watching football when it's blazing hot outside. There's just something wrong about that. I guess we could jack our air conditioner up and pretend. Boise State has their first game on Thursday. Now that is going to make me homesick for sure.
Ang
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... I want Fall.
no fair! jumping up and down.
100 degrees here yesterday.
How in the heck am I 'posed to think of fritters and sweaters and anything else cozy that ends in "ters"?
waaaaaaa. Must. write. poem.
steamy weather
100 plus
the bad mood it does bring
So much so
I can't think about
Canning ANY thing!
:-) enjoy your harvesty stuff.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh
You actually made my mouth water. My hubby's dream woman is Caroline Ingalls, which is my deduction, not something he has actually admitted to. He would be too scared to say anyone but me. Anyways, I loved the pie pics. Apple is my fave. You go girl!
You are awesome!! What a great post. My oldest loves fall "when all that hot weather and sunshine finally retreats." Sigh. Me, I'm up for summer for a few more months. Ha!
You did a wonderful job with your picking and canning and baking. I'm coming over for a visit! :)
Duckabush Blog
This is great!
I love apples.
I love pears too - what are you doing with them?
Wave that freak flag higher - I can't see you from here!
All of it looks sooo good! Why not come here and show my how to make those homemade apple fritters!!
I always enjoy your blog! :)
I can smell those fresh baked apple pies now. Fall is such a great time of year. The cool air makes me feel great. Can't wait for it!
Am I ever going to be "bit" by the Caroline Ingalls bug???
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