Honeycrisp apples from my tree

 I picked my apples a few days ago after the first light frost (sept 27th).  I picked 31 and we have picked at least 5 more before this.  There were 2-3 that had blemishes and had started to go bad.  I am SO HAPPY with my apples!!!!!!!  It was a bit early to pick them as they were not really ready to come off on their own but with being away I could not leave them on the tree any longer.  I have put them in the garage against an outside wall and they should keep well there until I get back home.  I will them eat them fresh until they are all gone!!!!!  If they start getting too soft I will cut them up and either freeze them or can them.!!!!!!!!  They are about 3" across and very crisp and not too sweet!!! Therese

A new zipper for my backpack

I managed to put a new (to me) zipper in my backpack today.  It has been sitting in the sewing room for a while waiting patiently for me to get to it.  I have in the meantime been borrowing Brian's which has lengthened is time in waiting.  I unstitched the teeth and pulled them from the fabric and removed all the thread which left the fabric of the zipper intact.  I then just sewed the new double zipper to the fabric of the old zipper. Worked really well. I did add a bit of hand stitching at both ends where the sewing machine could not easily catch the fabric  Worked really well and I am glad to have my back pack back!!!  a good fix!!  Therese 
 

Zuchinni and yellow beets in the freezer

I picked my last zuchinni this week and it was less large than I had expected from the quick I took earlier.  No problem!  I peeled it and then grated it so I could freeze it for muffins or soup later.  I got 3 one cup bags. 

I also picked my yellow beets which were very small but I added to them the ones that Paula gave me and got three cups of cooked yellow beets for the freezer as well.  I expect I will be adding them to soup.  Therese

 

Honey crisp apples almost ready to be picked

I am so happy to see the apples on my tree this year!!!! They have grown quite a bit in the last month and it is time to pick them!!  I wanted to pick them this week but they are not really ready to let go yet so I will pick them on Monday before we go.  It will likely freeze hard before we get back from our trip and that would just ruin them - so better a little early rather than lose them!!  I have 24 of them - we have picked three - two had damage and the other came off when I picked it the other day.  Therese

 

Fabric for my birthday

 I received this beautiful embroidered cotton fabric (from China) for my birthday. There is yardage so I will have to consider what I might be able to make with it.  The weight is medium so I expect it could be a shirt or summer dress. I love the colour and the flowers and leaves!!!!  Also some bright floral fabric - about 1.5" wide - a whole roll!!!  And some beautiful ribbon - velvetty with silver accents.  So fun to get a gift with such creative possibilities!!!!  Therese

Visit to Calgary for Suzanne's birthday

We visited with Suzanne for her birthday yesterday in Calgary.  We took her out for lunch at one of her favorite Vietnamese places - Vietnamese Palace in the Creekside Mall.  We had visited with her and Sal at home and had a good visit over good food at the restaurant.  After getting back to her house Richard texted that they were going to pick up Selina at school in a bit so we headed over there and joined them.  She is in Grade one and exits the school into the school yard/play ground behind the school.  We walked back home and visited until supper time.  Richard grilled hamburgers and we had brocolli salad and Taber corn.  All good!!!  Suzanne texted that they would like to come over and take a family photo.  We said sure so they arrived shortly afterwards with ice cream for dessert.  After ice cream we all went outside for our photo.  Richard took some photos on his phone and better ones on Stephanie's phone which she forward to us on Whats App.  Here is the best of the bunch.  It was a great visit and we look forward to doing Thanksgiving at the end of October when Richard is back in town and we are back from our trip.  As we hugged Richard good bye Steph was snapping photos so we just kept adding to the bunch.  Totally fun!!!  Therese

 

Dancing at St. Andrews

 We went to the dance at St. Andrews on Sunday afternoon.  The crowd was all older than us and the music was a jam session put on by local talent.  They eventually got the bugs in the audio system worked out and they started to play.  Some older slow music but then played a few rock and roll.  The was one couple who danced most of the dances.  We were up quite a few times to the music we felt was fast enough for the Lindy Hop and did a couple of polkas after we relearned how to do that one having watched the others that were dancing doing it.  We shall see how it goes over time.  We will be away for the October one (3rd Sunday) so will check it out in November.  No cost - 50/50 draw.  Potluck lunch at 3pm.  We had not brought anything but in the end had lunch before we headed out at 1:30pm so really did not need to be eating anything.  Therese

Picking apples

I have picked some apples over at Donna's as she is not going to be doing anything with them this year.  I picked a few earlier and she brought over a small pail full that her and her grandkids had picked while they were visiting a few days ago.  I have since picked 2 pails for Paula and one each for Suzanne and Steph which we brought when we went for a visit yesterday for Suzanne's birthday and to see Richard while he is home.  They are really nice.  

Therese
 

Picked the tomatoes from the garden

I picked the tomatoes from the garden this week as we are headed down east next week.  I have only three boxes of tomatoes off of 12 plants.  Not much of a harvest.  The above are the yellow ones - PEI yellow on the left and Mango Minsink on the right.  Below there are Bush Beefsteak on the left and Manitobas on the right.  Brian had one for lunch today.  They are just barely ripe enough to be really tasty.  I will put in the freezer what is ripen when we leave and ask Alison to take home or put in the freezer any that ripen while we are away.  Therese

 

Picked pimbina

I picked just over a half of a honey pail of pimbina this week.  I cleaned them and put them to free on cookie sheets so I can put them in a ziploc and make syrup with them later as we are leaving on our trip next week.  

Therese
 

Hydrangeas are beautiful

I cut some hydrangeas for the table last week. They are simply beautiful!!  they are fading a bit so I will cut another bunch today.  Therese
 

Bread and butter and dill pickles

It was time to make some pickles as the cucumbers were plentiful in the garden.  I made 3 jar of dill pickles and then a jar of bread and butter.   I processed the dills for 10 minutes and put the jar of bread and butter in the fridge.  They should last for a few weeks.  Therese

 

Honey Crisp apples on my apple tree - about 2 dozen this year

Can you even believe the apples on my Honey Crisp apple tree!!!!!!!!!!  They are so awesome and they have grown so much.  I have put my hair in little baggies near them in an effort to reduce the chance that the deer will come and eat them!!  So far so good!!  They should be ready by the end of September which is coming fast!!!  I am so looking forward to eating these with old cheddar cheese as a snack.  

Therese

 

Raspberry jelly

 I also came home with a container of raspberry juice.  The raspberries had been frozen and their was too much juice in comparison to the fruit so we drained off some.  I was fortunate to bring it home.  I made some jelly for Brian.  I have made raspberry jam for him in the past but he does prefer jelly that has no seeds.  So I used the Ball Low Sugar Pectin and made up 5 jars with another half jar in the fridge.  I have downloaded the document for proportions and instructions.  I had 4 cups of juice.  I dissolved 4.5 tbsp of pectin in 1 cup of water before starting.  I put the juice in the Creuset dutch oven and gradually added the dissolved pectin then brought it to a boil - hard enough that you cannot stir it down.  At this point you can add up to 1.75 cups of sugar - I chose to add 1 cup of honey and then you bring it back to a full boil and boil for one minute stirring constantly.  Then removed it from the heat and filled my hot jars.  I processed them in the canner for 10 minutes.  Therese 

Canning - apples

 On Monday I went and helped make pies for our upcoming Bake Sale at the LMC next week.  We were blessed to have a couple of ladies come from Ponoka with their Pie Press - what a slick piece of kit!!  There is one at Gaetz as well though I have never seen it.  I expect it is very similar.  A ball of dough becomes a pie crust in one press - perfect and ready to go!!  Change the die and you can make the top nice and round and flat!!  We made 44 pies ( we are freezing them ) for next week along with 11 apple crisps.  We had apples, rhubarb, cherries and raspberries.  There were apples left over so several people took some home.  I took home one bag and managed to can 7 liters for Suzanne.  

Therese

Vegreville - Pysanka Park

We stopped in Vegreville on our way home from up north and checked out the large Pysanka  - Ukranian Easter Egg.  It is in a large park area where the Tourist Information Building is which includes washrooms.  They also had hard ice cream to we treated ourselves.  We walked a bit of the park area and I checked out the red Caboose! Very cool!!  A good memory from childhood - waving to the guy in the caboose as the end of the train went by!!

They also have a Mini Putt and Paddle Boat rentals and a campground.  There is an extensive trail system in Vegreville and they have many amenities including an aquatic center, a golf course and a spray park.   A place worth checking out on another day.  

We visited the Pot of Gold second hand store.  Small but well stocked and great staff!!  Everything was 50% off!!  I bought an everyday jacket and Brian bought a glass measuring cup for chemicals.  

It was a good trip and it was good to be home again!!  Therese

 

Blueberry picking up north in Moose Lake Provincial Park

We headed up north on Tuesday, August 25th with the trailer to pick blueberries with Madeleine and family.  We parked the trailer at Vasseur's lot on Moose Lake which worked really well.  We had good weather and the blueberries were plentiful but so were the mosquitoes!!  

We picked several days in a row and I managed to get the better part of 3 pails. 

 I was hoping for 2 pails so I am very happy to have wild blueberries after a couple of years of not getting any due to the very dry conditions up north.  This year has been very much wetter and Madeleine's garden is very wet and will likely not yield much.  

The weather was quite nice and fall colours were showing up everywhere.  We visited with Gregory and Courtney and the boys.  Greg is off work due to a concussion.  Douglas and Esther spent one night and Esther came and picked blueberries with us one afternoon.  She did really well and picked her share and also cleaned blueberries once we got back to the cabin.  We watched the lunar eclipse between several card games.  It was such a good place to be for the eclipse.  No stray light and a clear night sky!!!  It was a great trips and it is always great to be with family!!   Therese