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A chill in the air, finally!

There is finally a chill in the air and I for one am so relieved. I thought for sure we were going to spend the autumn in tank tops and shorts. I didn't realize how seasonally dependent I really am. I felt almost panicked when it was the middle of October and not a frost in sight. On the way to school this morning, R asked me "Why do the leaves fall off the trees?" My response was that the leaves fall off the trees to make a blanket for them for the upcoming winter. "Why?" she asks. Hmmm. "So that we can have springtime after winter," I respond. "Why do we have to have spring ... and winter?" she counters. This made me think about resting, and how very important sleep is for us. I explained that although we get to rest every night, so that we are refreshed each morning, that trees and flowers and grass do not get to rest. The fall is preparation for Nature's rest, and winter is the big sleep. After the trees etc. wake up in the spring, there will be new grass and flowers and buds on the trees. "Hmmmm" she says.



That reminds me, has anyone planted bulbs yet this year?

Goodbye chickens - hello coq au vin !

Even though I'm trying to be matter of fact about the demise of the chickens, I obviously wasn't as cool and calm as I thought - look how shaky the last chicken picture is.

They are being "processed" as I write and will be ready for the table in just a few hours.Thank goodness we don't have to do it ourselves ; in the nick of time we found a farm which will kill, pluck, eviscerate and bag the chickens,i.e. " process"them. Chicken barbeque anyone ?

Maybe the chickens should have engaged this artist to escape their fate ?

BYFG

We belong to the Backyard Fruit Growers, a wonderful organization which promotes fruit growing by sharing information, know-how and an exciting annual apple tasting. There were about 80 different varieties of apples to sample, most of them old varieties which cannot be bought in a store any more. The members and their guests munched and sampled and made notes, so they could vote for their three favorite varieties at the end of the day.


There was even a table with exotic fruit - jujubes, kiwis, cactus pears, paw paws, persimmons, pears, both Asian and domestic, and some nuts - all grown by the members of the group. I had my first taste of wild persimmons and loved the flavor until my mouth puckered horrendously. Apparently that's the typical aftertaste of a persimmon and can be quickly remedied by a slice of cheese, which had been thoughtfully provided.

There was homemade cider as well and apple butter made entirely without sugar according to an Amish recipe. Cider is boiled down and reduced by half, thus concentratin g the sugar in the fruit and then the peeled apples are added and boiled until they make applebutter. At this point it can be left as is ,or some spices can be added , such as cinnamon, cloves and allspice. I was told that the Amish make this in a big copper kettle and as soon as one batch is finished , the kettle is passed on to the next farm - it is passed on so fast, that the kettle never even gets rinsed out! I'll definitely have to try to make some of this yummy applebutter here at home .

And which apples were Number One in my taste test ? Tioga, Ashmead's Kernel and Swarr - did you ever have a taste of any of them ?

Local ? yes Inexpensive ? No !!

Well, here is the breakdown for T's fish dinner.

Fish, caught by son-in-law $0
Fine for parking in a Handicapped Parking Spot $ 202.00
Towing car to impoundment lot $ 204.00
Fee charged for using a credit card to get car out of hock ( what the...? ) $ 24.50

Total $ 431.00

R' s new hairdo and sad expression - priceless !



And yes, the car is ok and back home in the garage - phew !!!

Raw juice

Well, I didn't have raw meat yesterday, but I had a big glass of raw juice - just pressed apple cider, that is. And it was amazing and yummy, too, BUT it had consequences !! Terrible stomach aches and the feeling that I had just swallowed TNT which was rapidly expanding in my stomach. Not good. This went on all afternoon and evening. Who knew !?!!!Hope your raw meat experience didn't have the same consequences.
And to top it all off, T called that night to tell me that my car had been stolen ! He had gone to the city for dinner, parked my car in a wonderfully safe spot and when he came back 4 hours, later it was gone. Called the police, who did not show up until 5 hours after the first call, by which time everyone had gone to bed exhausted. This morning T and son-in-law are combing the impoundment lots, hoping that the car was towed instead of stolen. Why aren't they calling the impoundment lots on the phone ? Because they have been busy for hours and don't answer. Maybe they're talking to the police and that's why they can't show up at the scene of a crime in a timely fashion ?



Where are you, little red car ???????

Raw Meat Specialists

Today R and I ate at a delightful local Korean restaurant for lunch and had raw meat mixed with egg. Amazing! Was it local? Not sure...But it was fantastic!