Have I mentioned my backyard apple tree? And how blessed I am? Yeah, I thought so.
Well, it had lovely pink/white blooms in the spring, emitting the most wonderful fragrance. Then the flowers fell, and the tiny green orbs began their growth.
All summer long, the fruit grew and changed color. Some fell to the ground, their mission accomplished long before necessary. The worms and bugs had done their destruction. Other apples swelled with the good rains and warm sunshine.
The tree was beautiful! Branches hung heavy with plump red offerings. Each day some of them dropped and I, because I am here instead of traveling this autumn, picked them up. Each day since the middle of September, with a few exceptions, I made a "mess" of applesauce. It's really not a "mess". More of a "nectar". Have you ever had warm applesauce, pink and fragrant from the food mill? It's "to die for". As long as the preparer has used enough sugar, which I always do.
So, now I have disposable dishes with snap tops full of pink applesauce adorning my freezer. I have also used some this year for applesauce cake and applesauce bread and applesauce crisp. I wouldn't recommend the crisp. It's too mushy. But it is pink and tasty.
Now the tree has about 4 apples left on it. And all its leaves. I wonder if, as long as there are apples to nurture, the tree keeps all its life systems intact. And finally, after all the apples have fallen, it then shuts down and lets its leaves drop and gets ready to hibernate for the winter. I should find out in a few more days!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
sshhh
"Mom".
He whispered and nudged her. She turned her big eyes on him. "What?"
"What are those noises? It's still dark out."
She whispered back, moving very slightly. "It's the Two Legs. This is the time they come to our woods. They have long noise sticks and they are trying to find us. If they find us, the noise sticks 'blam'. Sometimes one of us doesn't get up again. Don't stir. Stay where you are."
He wanted to ask "But WHY?"....but he didn't. He had learned well to obey his mother implicitly in every situation. It would serve him well this day.
He whispered and nudged her. She turned her big eyes on him. "What?"
"What are those noises? It's still dark out."
She whispered back, moving very slightly. "It's the Two Legs. This is the time they come to our woods. They have long noise sticks and they are trying to find us. If they find us, the noise sticks 'blam'. Sometimes one of us doesn't get up again. Don't stir. Stay where you are."
He wanted to ask "But WHY?"....but he didn't. He had learned well to obey his mother implicitly in every situation. It would serve him well this day.
Friday, October 15, 2010
"thunk.......creeeeeeeak"
Last night I heard a door creak.
I was just doing stuff around the house. Funny thing is, we don't have a creaky door.
I called my husband in his meeting that was already over just to let him check the basement door whe he came home. I wasn't going to do it, at 10:30pm.
And, of course, there was nothing amiss. I got to thinking after I went to bed....it sounded like the outside door to Grandma's cellar. I could almost smell the old potatoes and apples and dusty, musty aroma.
That got me to thinking about my dad. He always seemed to have the job in the spring of "rooting" the taters...taking the long shoots that had grown from them off. Grandma always used up her old potatoes before she would eat new ones. We had a lot of little fried potatoes when we stayed overnight at Grandma's!
Good memories. Wonder if that's why I "heard" the creaking door.
I was just doing stuff around the house. Funny thing is, we don't have a creaky door.
I called my husband in his meeting that was already over just to let him check the basement door whe he came home. I wasn't going to do it, at 10:30pm.
And, of course, there was nothing amiss. I got to thinking after I went to bed....it sounded like the outside door to Grandma's cellar. I could almost smell the old potatoes and apples and dusty, musty aroma.
That got me to thinking about my dad. He always seemed to have the job in the spring of "rooting" the taters...taking the long shoots that had grown from them off. Grandma always used up her old potatoes before she would eat new ones. We had a lot of little fried potatoes when we stayed overnight at Grandma's!
Good memories. Wonder if that's why I "heard" the creaking door.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Cold Sparkles
"brrrr"
He picked his front foot up, hating to put it back into the print on the frost-encrusted grass. Summer was on its way out, whether the little deer knew it or not.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the grass became green again and the apples regained their distinctive aroma and taste. But the mother knew the signs, and she encouraged her children to eat much and play less. They needed to be in good physical shape for the days of leanness to come.
They also needed to learn about the different gun sounds. The ones they'd grown up with, living close to the shooting range, were harmless. It would be the sharper cracks of the hunting guns that the deer should fear.
A hard time for all was soon to come.
He picked his front foot up, hating to put it back into the print on the frost-encrusted grass. Summer was on its way out, whether the little deer knew it or not.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the grass became green again and the apples regained their distinctive aroma and taste. But the mother knew the signs, and she encouraged her children to eat much and play less. They needed to be in good physical shape for the days of leanness to come.
They also needed to learn about the different gun sounds. The ones they'd grown up with, living close to the shooting range, were harmless. It would be the sharper cracks of the hunting guns that the deer should fear.
A hard time for all was soon to come.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
What?
"What's that?"
Mom looked up from the lush green grass.
"What?'
She nervously glanced to the right and left.
"The hummng sort of thing that's over there."
He indicated across the hard path.
"Oh, that's a Mover. When Two Legs want to go a long distance, they get in a Mover and it hums and takes them."
They both watched as the conveyance flashed a light and turned down the hard path.
"Wow! Does that mean we can go get apples, now that Two Legs has gone away?"
"We'll watch and wait. Sometimes there is another one left after one goes in the Mover."
They continued to graze, keeping close watch during chewing stints.
Moving toward the apple tree, they finally arrived at the tree.
"Yummmm!"
Mom looked up from the lush green grass.
"What?'
She nervously glanced to the right and left.
"The hummng sort of thing that's over there."
He indicated across the hard path.
"Oh, that's a Mover. When Two Legs want to go a long distance, they get in a Mover and it hums and takes them."
They both watched as the conveyance flashed a light and turned down the hard path.
"Wow! Does that mean we can go get apples, now that Two Legs has gone away?"
"We'll watch and wait. Sometimes there is another one left after one goes in the Mover."
They continued to graze, keeping close watch during chewing stints.
Moving toward the apple tree, they finally arrived at the tree.
"Yummmm!"
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