Minnesota Memories

We did it again!

Somehow in the midst of crazy fall schedules, all of our kids were able to join us for several days in the North woods of Minnesota.

Why does it seem almost miraculous to have everyone together?

It was a gift to be treasured.

We shared picnics with laughter.

Rainy days snuggled in the cabin playing games, eating like lumber jacks.

Long hikes that lead to incredible views.

Really incredible views!

Views so beautiful they took your breath away.

And made you praise the awesome God that created it.

Views made even more special because of the dear ones that shared it with us.

And the laughter we shared along the way.

Waterfalls.

Lake Superior.

Palisades.

Baptism River.

Tettegouche.

Mount Baldy.

The vibrant colors of fall becoming more pronounced with each new day.

Days so warm we could ride the waves on Lake Superior.

And mornings so cold we snuggled in our hoodies, sipping hot coffee.

Precious times.

And even more precious people.

We made some truly beautiful Minnesota memories.

Don’t Have a Hurry in Me

To say that we have no sense of urgency since the wedding would be a bit of an understatement.

You could say that our “get up and go has got up and went”.

We just can’t find a hurry.

But then, when you consider that in six months we’ve had 2 graduations and a wedding – all pretty major life events – in addition to 3 extended family trips, county fair, and VBS that I planned and directed, it’s understandable.

All we’ve done is plan, hurry, plan some more, hurry some more.

But there’s some things about fall in the country that demand a bit of urgency. Important things like fencing and preparing the critters for winter and bringing in the last of the garden produce while cleaning up the garden.

And there’s storm doors to install, cold frames to plant, and I should really make a path through the basement and put away wedding things.

This gorgeous weather has lulled us into a false sense of complacency.

Maybe this lovely, lingering autumn will never end.

Maybe that late frost will forget to come.

After all – my flower beds are beautiful and I’m still harvesting green beans and peppers from my garden.

But then we turned the calendar page to November.

November!

That’s the month before December.

In a few short weeks we’ll be eating turkey with stuffing and doing Black Friday, and putting up a Christmas tree!

Hallmark is already showing Christmas movies!

Vacation is over.

Time to get busy!

Winter is coming!

And I’ll get started right away – just as soon as I finish this chapter and check email.

I wonder who’s on Facebook…

Apple Cider?

We took a good look at the boxes filled with this year’s apple harvest and said, “These look like cider apples.”

Mostly small, misshapen, and spotty.

Too many to eat fresh. Wrong variety to can or freeze.

Yep. These were cider apples.

But we no longer have access to a cider press. It was sold with the rest of the Amish store when the Mast sisters left and we don’t know who bought it.

Bummer.

One second thought – maybe not a bummer. After all – that cider press was a lot of hard physical labor to use.

And I do have a juicer.

An ACME juicer no less – (Wile E Coyote fans are chuckling right now)– bought at a thrift store.

But this leads to a dilemma.

If it is made on a juicer is the finished product juice? Or is it cider since it’s made using the same principles as the cider press?

And does it really matter? Because that juicer puts out some pretty tasty apple stuff!

Seriously yummy.

Nope. Life’s too short to quibble over labels.

We’ll just call it delicious and enjoy all we can drink fresh. The rest we’ll freeze in plastic containers for winter.

Oh – and that Christmas mug in the picture? I know it’s only the first of November.

But hey – life’s too short to quibble!

Squash-kins and Other Oddities

Remember how desperate this garden season was? How it just kept raining and plants kept drowning?

There for a while I wondered if I would have any produce at all!

So when I noticed a few volunteer squash plants growing in the garden – I let them stay. After all, at least I would have something from the garden – right?

I knew better.

Squash likes to cross pollinate.

In the back of my mind I was remembering the volunteer squash a few years back that looked like dinosaur eggs and was quite prolific. It took years to totally rid the garden of that useless and ugly ornamental.

But I was desperate this spring and I allowed them to stay, mentally glossing over the fact that they would probably go rogue.

This week buddy helped me harvest these volunteers.

And they are interesting.

We have spaghetti squash like pumpkins.

Pumpkin like spaghetti squash.

And my personal favorite – sweet dumpling squash pumpkins.

They’re like a sweet dumpling on steroids.

We’re calling it a “squash-kin” and think it’s kinda cool.

They’ll sure make interesting fall decorations and some unique winter eating!

Maybe going rogue isn’t so bad after all.

And We Were Thankful

We did Thanksgiving.

Two days.

Two hundred miles.

Two sides of the family.

Two sets of grandparents.

Two complete turkey dinners with all the fixings.

Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Babies.

Shopping.

Snow.

Laughter.

Games.

Memories.

Twas a glorious time.

(be) Happy (in your) Thanksgiving!

The girls and I decided early in November that we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving all month.

That’s right.

Totally Thanksgiving all month.

We tried, really we did.

But there aren’t many Thanksgiving carols to play.

Or Thanksgiving movies to watch.

I soon realized that Thanksgiving isn’t really a month long celebration.

It really isn’t a celebration at all.

It’s more of a time to pause.

To savor.

To reflect.

To give thanks.

Thanksgiving stands as a rock of remembrance at the end of November.

A time to recount the blessings we have.

To quiet our hearts.

To adjust our attitudes.

To change our focus.

And as I did, something amazing happened.

I found great joy.

And peace.

And contentment.

I discovered that a thankful heart is a happy heart.

So dear friends, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

Which is to say, may you be be happy in your Thanks-givings today and everyday.

Frost Drill

I’m still gardening.

Isn’t that crazy?

Here it is the last week of October and I’m still picking green beans and peppers!

Not that we haven’t had our close calls. We had a couple of mad dashes to the garden at sunset to cover plants, pick remaining produce and once to cut back all the sweet potato vines – just in case.

Plants got nipped both times – but we’re still gardening!

The melons, squash and pumpkins are done.

I’d say we did pretty good!

Take that you varmint squash bugs! I won this year!

Now to try every pumpkin recipe known to mankind to use them all up.

The sweet potatoes were dug for the first time ever.

They too were numerous – and in some cases – monstrous.

Like this one…

It almost looks like a human heart! It’s actually several grown together because our soil was too clay to give them room.

It made a massive amount of sweet potato fries!

And remember those cabbage, broccoli and kale plants I put in for a fall crop?

They’re still alive! And growing!

We had kale for several meals and fresh lettuce again. The cabbage and broccoli are making nice heads – but they need a little more time.

I’m not sure we’ll get it though – the forecast calls for a killing frost Friday night.

Grow little broccoli and cabbage – grow fast!

Maybe my amazing husband can engineer some cold frames or hoop houses?

Or maybe I should just let the season end – thankful it was the best garden we’ve had in years.

Or maybe I should make another new pumpkin recipe while I decide.

Yes, definitely that one.

Of Bridges, Parks and Puppy Chow

My niece Sarah came to visit.

We love her.

We love spending time with her.

We love going to thrift stores and antique stores with her. She always finds the craziest things.

Like the same creepy cupid print in every place we shopped. It was following us.

We love driving back roads with her and soaking up the beautiful fall views.

And laughing.

Lots of laughing.

And puppy chow and pot de creme and raspberry scones and pumpkin cheese cake muffins.

And silliness.

And long walks and deep talks.

And beautiful parks with bridges.

We love our Sarah.

Come back again.

Soon.

Summer Memories

The weather is changing.

We’re digging out jeans and hoodies.

Math books replace video games.

Suddenly fall is here – the apples and pumpkins and pears are ripe.

But wait a minute! Where did summer go?

What happened to all those amazing blog posts that were floating in my head but never quite got written?

Like the one when Pedro and his sweetie went to the amusement park and he was so twitterpated that he forgot to secure his almost new iphone.

They found it in several pieces under the Tornado roller coaster.

That was a costly mistake.

Or the amazing posts about all my garden produce.

Green beans. Zucchini. Yellow squash. Cucumbers. Sweet corn. Melons. Tomatoes. Peppers. Kohlrabi. Lettuce. Radish. Broccoli.

And the one about my flower garden. Yes – I have a flower garden! With beautiful flowers that make my heart happy.

An actual garden – not just planters. And the sweetest rain gauge ever.

But those posts never got written.

And now summer is over.

Gone in a whirlwind of work and play.

Loads of laundry on the line.

Yummy meals on the grill.

Miles of lawn mowing.

Adventures with friends.

Hours in the garden, planting, weeding and harvesting.

Making memories with family.

County Fair then State Fair.

Hundreds of jalapeno poppers.

Good books on a hot summer afternoon.

But I blinked and it’s over.

Gone in a heart beat.

Packed to the brim and running over.

But it was all good, my friends. Really, really good.

The Night Before the Killer Frost

Twas the night before the killing frost,

and all thru the house,

not a creature was stirring,

because they were all outside frantically picking apples!

And jalapenos and tomatoes and green beans.

But mostly apples.

Red Delicious. Golden Delicious. Red Rome. Granny Smith.

It was a bumper crop – limb breaking actually.

We filled every box and bucket we could find.

And still we had apples.

We’ve been slowly picking apples for the last two months, picking a box or bag as needed. There are several bags in the freezer, several quarts of apple pie filling on the shelf, and many, many crisps and pies consumed.

I see many, many more pies and crisps in our future.

But not tonight.

Tonight I want a hot shower, and a big cup of tea.

And maybe some chocolate.