Frosty colors

For those of you getting tired of nature photographs, I apologize. It's just that the colors are what I like best about autumn, and since I don't like autumn very much at all because of what comes after it, I try to suck up as many of the colors as I can. Which means you will have to suck it up. Sorry.

This is what it looks like now around here, going into the second week of Movember. Yes, that was deliberate. No-shave-Movember, remember? To be used to promote awareness of guys' health issues and reminders to make those yearly checkup appointments. That's your PSA for the day. Go call. Then come back to read more blog. I'll wait.

Done? K.

We have a large pretzel container in which we keep all the kitchen compost mess before it migrates out to the compost bin or the heap by the creek. We asked Carrie to go dump it, please, and this is how she showed up, all prepared to do the job right. The "light saber" is actually a flashlight as it was already dark when we asked her to trek out to dump it...

Good old Darth Vader to the rescue!

Why I don't have time to exercise #879135

Otherwise known as "when life hands you lemons apples," you make stuff!

Our apple trees are coming into production in a big way. Guess the times Dada spent pruning and spraying haven't been in vain! Now, naturally, the "oh-no-what-are-we-going-to-do-with-all-these-apples" and "why-can't-chocolate-grow-on-trees-cuz-I-could-really-get-behind-that-kinda-processing" dilemmas are in full swing.

So. One hangs out one's laundry and returns to the house with a laundry basket of apples (not full, mind you; one only has two hands) and finds a colander and bowls and peelers and a fun contraption from our friend Theresa that will peel and core and spiral slice said apples and perhaps lemon juice and...

fruit flies.

Holy cow, fruit flies.

Anyway, with all the apple processing to make dehydrated apple chips:

 

And apple crisp:

 

 

And apple bars:

 

 

You need a lot of these:

 

 

for inspiration (and for cursing what you forgot to buy the last time you were at the grocery store, never mind that it was on the list), and then you'll end up with a ton of this:

 

 

because all those apple peels and cores and eggshells have to go somewhere. So you'll think, "well, we've always wanted to start to compost. Now is as good as time as any since I have all this mess..."

 

Which leads to a day over a weekend when Dada drills holes in an 18 gallon tub with a lid and we add dried leaves, coffee grounds, banana peels, melon pulp, lots and lots more dried leaves, apparently every fruit fly in the tri-state area, and "oh my, this isn't all going to fit in there so let's just start a pile back there by the creek, why don't we?"

 

And apple peels. And apple cores. And apple pulp and more coffee grounds and shredded paper and more eggshells and the coffee filters themselves and now you officially have a:

 

Mess For Grownups.

 

And fruit flies.

 

Oh well.

 

Next year our garden will be happy.

 

I guess I do get exercise after all!

 

The end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fickle Spring and Fickle Kids

It's me again. Pictures still aren't working. That bums me out, because instead of snowy, icy pictures, there could now be beautiful blue skies, green grass, budding trees, spring flowers, and spring fevered kids in photos to share. Oh well.

What have we been up to? Adjusting to the ups and downs of the fickle Spring temperatures. Right now I'm sitting in my swim suit top, soaking up the sunshine that is pouring in through the sliding glass doors as I write this. The kids' tent is up in the backyard, though there have been two failed attempts to sleep through the night out there. Frizzering kids have come back in during the wee hours of the morning, declaring through chattering teeth that it's just too cold. No, they knew better than to try last night when it hit 33 degrees, supposedly. They tried over the weekend, but the lovely Ohio wind was knifing the wrong direction and slicing through the tent instead of hitting the house first. That's life!

Apparently there are less than 30 days of the school year remaining, though I don't know how that's possible as it feels like they've only been IN school for 30 days since the New Year. I suppose now is the appropriate time to begin panicking at how much work around the house I have to do before all 3 of them are home...

Karate continues to go well. They are comfortable and focused in class. It's great to see them doing so well and learning so much. I particularly love that they do jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups, while cheerfully hollering, "one, sir, two, sir, three, sir" and, less cheerfully as they're tiring, "getting stronger, sir" as they get into push up position. I think Uncle Jeff would get a chuckle or three out of watching them.

Damon is only quiet when he's sleeping or playing on the iPad. This usually means I have to delete about 100 pictures when I get the iPad back, as he loves to hear the button clicking as he takes a picture of the ceiling and the top of his head over and over. And over. And over. And over.

The big kids rediscovered their roller blades in the garage we cleaned out this weekend and have been gleefully stomping all over the driveway with them. Damon, naturally, is crushed that he can't be out in the driveway with them, but as I can't make dinner, get ready for the Y, AND watch that he doesn't get run over, he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. It's hard being small. Hence the iPad.

Carrie aced her science test, getting a perfect 16/16 after her dear, sweet teacher physically brought over a packet of study materials when Carrie realized she didn't have hers and the test was the next day. Insert adage about it being a good thing one's head is attached to one's body for fear of forgetting it here. A certain fifth grader has been known on more than one occasion to plug in one half of her cord to her computer to charge overnight, never mind that the plug is not attached to the wall on the other end. I suppose that's why God invented mothers.

Work's been going well for Dada. He actually enjoys his job and his coworkers, which is such an incredibly huge blessing. I bet that's in the Bible somewhere: Blessed is he or she who has a job and a boss and people to work with and something to work on that is to one's liking. I can see how it can make or break you!

We're planning out our summer and who's going to be where, when. We will not be at camp all summer long this year because we have a million small things to do all over creation, including the redoing of the kids' bedrooms. Believe it or not, Care Bear starts middle school next year and is moving into her own room this summer while we bunk the boys together. She wants her room to be green with black accents and the boys want yellow (Liam, naturally) and choctit (chocolate, Damonese for brown). I really am going to think of yellow cake with fudgy icing every time I go in. I am sure I've said that before, but it remains true.

Carrie plans to attend horse camp through the Girl Scouts and Liam wants to do a week at Camp Lambec this year. Plus our usual OBX trip with Hin and Muggin and a weekend at camp for the 4th of July all makes for a busy summer. I want to paint some more of our white walls (we've been here for 8.5 years, it's about time, I suppose) and spend lots of time outside. The garden is started, seedlings are hogging the landing under the grow-lights, and a load of compost was delivered yesterday. I even went a little lot crazy buying flower seeds, but I got excited. I'm going to try poppies, lupine, and alyssum along the side of the house. I have some wildflower seeds and a morning glory mix, also. What can I say? It was a long winter.

My sweet Rita and her family have left for their India trip. They'll be gone far too long and I miss her already. Her dad passed away recently, and her mother will be coming back to the States with her. I can't wait to hug them both. Please pray that they have a safe trip and that the kids have no allergic reactions to any foods while they're away... And that I don't kill her plant while they're gone!

Okay, the Kitchen Fairy hasn't shown up, so I must go do her dirty work. Have a wonderful day. It's Worship Wednesday for those of us in camp mode, so count those blessings. We have millions. =)