Apple Cider

We have several apple trees and usually end up giving most of them away.  There are only so many apples two people can eat!    This year we bought an apple press and decided to make cider.  We had the grand kids over, the weather was perfect and boy was it fun!

First up - picking....  

....and carrying them back to Papa in the garage.

Even their dog, Rusty, got in on it....though he was more about fetching and eating!  :)

Back in the garage grinding and pressing.  We ended up with 8 gallons.  Hubs and I pressed another 4 gallons on a different day.

Sent several gallons home with the kids.   Reduced a half gallon down to 1/2 cup and made apple cider caramels with it - soooooo good!  And the rest went in the freezer. 

Oh and a week ago a mama black bear and two cubs came and ate all the apples that had fallen on the ground!  Got to actually watch them do it...such a treat.

Living My Memories

My Dad's side of the family has owned a camp on Indian Lake in upstate New York for about 100 years.  It started as a hunting cabin.  Not exactly sure when it became the family residence during the summer but I know that's how it was for my Dad growing up.  I was lucky enough to get to go for a vacation most years growing up...though never for an entire summer.  I LOVED my time on the lake.  "Camp", as we have always called it, holds fond memories for me...all happy ones. 

Here is Camp as it was in 1988:

Time stood still on vacation. My brother and I played from the time we woke up to the time we were sent to bed. We played in the woods, swam, canoed, water skied, caught frogs, worked on puzzles, visited at neighboring camps, cards & board games, read in the hammock, fed the chipmunks....so simple but unforgettable.

Me with our dog Charlie out for a canoe ride:

Me water skiing for the first time at age 11....still "got it" many years later as an adult:

My last visit to Camp as a child was at age 14.  My parents divorced and we never went again.  That is until I was married with kids of my own.  1988 was when we had a small family reunion at Camp with my Dad, Edie and my brothers family.   I was thrilled to introduce my kids to what was my favorite place on earth.

Here they enjoy canoeing (same canoe) with their grandparents:

We were able to take them back to Camp two more times after that trip.   Flying across the country was much harder to accomplish than a drive.   Who knows if my grand kids will ever get to go.  I hope so.

For now, hubby and I rent a house on Lake Cavanaugh here in WA and invite our family to come spend time at the lake.  The area is different, the "cabin" is a huge modern home, the lake is more crowded....but the lake is still a lake.  Our grand kids might not get to experience canoe riding on the same lake as their ancestors have but they CAN experience it.   And I get to live my memories all over again.  

A few pics from this years lake visit.

Jenn, Faith and David learning the fine art of summer relaxation:

David and Liam playing with dominoes:

Puzzles...gotta complete a puzzle:

Thank you Lord, for happy memories past, present and future.   :)

Fall Fun

I love fall! The leaves haven't fallen much yet but its the thing I remember most about fall. As a kid I used to make forts with my friends at school with the leaves on the playground. Also it was fun to try to burn them with a magnifying glass.....safely, of course.

Jennifer and Daniel liked their leaf playing too......as you can see in the picture above.

Nowadays what I see in the yard full of leaves is WORK. Our big leaf maple puts down a ton and it takes quite a while for hubby and I to rake them all. Isn't it funny how many childhood things we loved are work for us now as adults? :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I know its a bit self-serving to write a post about ones own birthday....but I thought my family would enjoy seeing some old pictures. :)

48 years ago...cute as a button with a great smile, if I say so myself:

This is me at 5. Wassup with the hair, Mom? Such grownup hair on a five year old. :) I remember very fondly getting to have my hair up in curlers. I would have had my Mom do it every night if I could have convinced her. Dunno what's with the fake smile....must not have liked the photographer.

This is my 7th birthday....with my precious presents. See that tiny cash register on the left? That's a bank and I still have it. I loved putting coins in that thing and pushing the lever down and seeing my new total. The bank would only open at $10 increments. So sometimes when I wanted the money badly my parents would have to put quarters in till it hit $10. It sits empty of money now...on our dresser...but full of memories.


This is me on my 9th birthday. And this really is how I remember birthdays......on vacation. The trouble with a July 2 birthday is vacation time! Seems like we were always on vacation when my birthday hit....which meant no big parties with all your school friends and all those presents they'd bring. I would be so jealous of my brother (October baby) who'd have his whole class over. Poor me! LOL!
Looks like I may have started my love of purses at this age.

Time to dig out some more pictures and reminisce.

ABC Wednesday -- B

Time for “B” hobbies….and I’m late in posting, as usual. Guess my ABC Wednesday posts will really be Wednesday night posts! I’m trying to use my own photo’s for these posts…thankfully we’ve dabbled in many things over the years.

Basket Making

This is Jenn and Dan’s first basket making attempt. They turned out nice. Jenn made more later when Tracy, her 4H leader, did a basket project. Those were much nicer. Helps when the person teaching actually practices the hobby and isn’t just reading directions off the internet.

Here is a tote she made that I still use:


Bird Watching

We put up our first bird feeder when Jenn brought one home from a class she was taking. It was a plastic milk jug! The birds didn’t care so long as it contained food…and thus began our delight in watching birds. We had our trusty Petersons Guide and binoculars handy so we could keep a journal of what we saw….sure wish I had kept that. Besides the little visitors to our property we also hiked in many places in hopes of seeing more species. On one hike we actually were able to feed some wild jays – too fun!

Collections

How many of you collect things?

(Here is someones collection of beautiful Nicholas Mosse Pottery)

I have always wanted to be a collector of something. As a young girl I had tons of collections. Only problem was that they were all collections of one. Yes, I said one. See I’m one of those people who just can’t decide! Do I really want to collect pencils? What if something better comes up and I’m stuck with dumb pencils? When I became an adult I admired the collections of my friends…no, envy is a better word!
When I became a mom I decided my kids were gonna have collections even if they didn’t want ‘em! There was going to be no adult yearnings for them. So pencils it was! Yeah, we’re cheap. :)

And then one magical day at Christmastime years ago, I was in Hallmark shopping for ornaments when I saw this table of cute cuddly animals and a crowd of women hovering all around pawing through them. What on earth? I was witnessing Beanie Baby fever. I asked a few questions and discovered this was the new collecting craze. Did you say collecting? Oh yeah baby. I love cute cuddly stuffed animals….they’re only $5, works for the cheapster in me…and I can always give them to grandkids some day if I decide I don’t want to collect anymore. And so it began. I collected those little darlings for several years and yes, friends and loved ones did think of me when they saw Beanie Babies and bought me some. It was heavenly. I had bears on bookcases, dogs on counters, birds on shelves…they were taking over the house. It became time to stop. I think I ended up with about 200, can you believe it? My first ever collection is in a bin now. And guess who gets to play with them? Yep, you guessed it…my precious jewels.

I have been cleansed of envy. I now longer covet others collections. I am content with my bin of Beanies. And I take joy in adding to my other collection of --- fabric!

Make Me Laugh Monday

Hubby and I saw this sign many time while we were in Scotland. Made us laugh every time. No messing around there....no polite "please clean up after your adorable little doggy"! No way. Call it what poop is....foul! LOL!
Read more Make Me Laugh posts here.

Anne, I have loved you as long as I can remember. I need you.

Anne of Green Gables is one of my all time favorite stories. I have to confess I have never read the books….gasp, I know. But I love the show. We must have watched it a dozen times while the kids were growing up. It’s the perfect love story...the perfect coming of age story…the perfect family story….just the perfect story. One of my favorite quotes is “Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it”….can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that to myself as I was going to sleep at night. We all need to hear it when the day is just crappy!

Yesterday hubby and I went to Seattle to see “The Drowsy Chaperone” at the 5th Avenue Theatre. It was an interesting show….a musical within a comedy; the playbill said….a type of show we’ve never seen before in our years of attending. How does this relate to Anne of Green Gables, you ask? Guess who was the main character? Jonathan Crombie…or better know to Green Gable fans as Gilbert Blythe. Oh the memories. I’d say he has aged well, don’t you?

Bowling Memories

One of my fondest memories is going bowling with my family. My parents bowled league and my brother and I often went along. Oh the glories of having free run in a bowling alley when you’re a youngun’. I loved the sound of the ball hitting the pins, of adults laughing, teasing and hollering! Some times my brother and I got to bowl. I loved duck pin bowling the best. Little ball….little pins….perfect for kids.

Just walking into an alley…the sights, sounds and smells….bring me back to being a little girl with freedom.

Bowling is still a favorite past time of mine. My body doesn’t cooperate like it used to…12 pound ball that feels like 50…careful of throwing the old back out…joints that start aching…..blah, blah, blah…but I manage to always make a score over a hundred…though just barely.

(I'm Gerty...hee, hee)

Now that we have grand kids I can always sit out a game...letting the old body rest...while watching them bowl and remember being young myself. Making even more bowling memories.