Happy Fall Y'all!

Okay, so Autumn doesn't officially begin until tomorrow according to the calendar, but the apples have been ready for picking for about a week now, so I'm welcoming in Fall a day early with a whole lotta Apple talk...

... and not the iPhone 7.  ;)

There are many apple trees around our property and our neighbour's.  We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon out picking apples together, laughing as the grasshoppers jumped on Sammy's legs and Krista found the tiniest "baby apples".  Erin is now just about taller than me, so she's a blessing for picking those way up high apples!

Our collection of apples were a nice mix of sweet and tart... some of the things we made from them?  

Classic apple pie of course... about ten of these, and a large ziplock freezer bag of apple pie filling in the freezer!

Apple cider vinegar from the peels.  These are mixed with honey and water and left to ferment... That recipe can be found here.

I also made a few jars of this apple pie jelly using the juices boiled off from the skins and cores in place of the store bought apple juice in the recipe.  It turned out very nice - we had some on vanilla ice cream; it was like pie a la mode, but upside down and backwards.

The smaller apples were cut and boiled with cloves, cinnamon, water and a little bit of sugar to make apple cider.

And lastly, tasty apple fritters!  I doubled this recipe and prepared the diced apples in a syrup of white and brown sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg (much like apple pie filling) before adding them into the batter.  Very, very tasty.

 And that my friends is just one week and one and a half bushel baskets!  And let me be the first to wish you a

Happy Fall Y'all!

Jeanette

Connect with me on Pinterest to see more yummy apple recipes!





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Girls' bedroom re-vamping

Happy Sunday!

The mornings are cooler and the leaves are beginning to turn colours... my favourite time of year.   Changing colours was the theme for our labour day long weekend here around the homestead.

We LOVE our forever home, however, just about every room in our home is a shade of neutral light yellow.  After a year in their new rooms, our ladies were ready to swap colours for those more their styles... and let me tell you, there are fewer ways to appreciate your childrens' individual personalities than to go paint shopping with them!

Daddy came home from work on the Friday of the weekend and off we went to the home depot!  :)  What's with all the wood in our cart?  Keep reading!

We completely left the colour choice in their hands.. because after all, walls can always be re-painted later, right?

Nicole went with grey (turquoise accents), Erin went with light pink with gold and white accents and the littles... "dynamic magenta" - the real name on the paint chip.  There's those personalities SHINING through!

There were some drywall repairs to be done first.  Knicks in walls and the spot in the ceiling where Derek had recently removed a leaking sky light.  If one of the girls wanted to try their hand at drywall repair, we welcomed their help... even when it meant a whole lot more sanding than was really necessary. :)

The wood we purchased during our visit to the Home Depot was the makings of a loft bed for Erin.  She has so many collections and memorabilia that her room fills up quite quickly.  A loft bed would give her some extra living space - space for a desk, comfy chair and bookcase!

Derek had found the plans online and felt confident about the sturdiness of this bed.... that put my worries to rest.  :)  Erin was involved in every step of the bed construction!

Smiles all around!

The bed was made of "knotty" not "naughty" pine.  ;)  Sanded and spray painted.  We also refinished and painted the futon to replace Nicole's twin bed to give her room a more "teen'/"young adult" feeling.

With the completion of her bed, we were able to swap dressers, the two twin beds and desks between the girls' rooms to give everyone what they wished for.

 I was so hoping to post real after photos, but as soon as the paint was dry, the girls MOVED back in... its not a pretty picture at this time.  :)

Jeanette

Luigi the Tom Cat Pencil Case...

Happy first week of school Y'all!

We were all only semi-excited to return to school this week.  As much as I love Autumn, there is a pleasure in the slow, relaxing days of summer.

I am not a mom that starts the back to school shopping in late July when all the stores are teeming with academia supplies... no, we wait until later in August, get in and get out with only what we are sure are the basic supplies and wait to make our detailed list until after we meet the teacher.

This year, everyone found a pencil case that made them happy... except for Sammy... Sammy who is everything cats these days, especially her beloved TomCat, Luigi.

Feeling the itch to crochet but not able to pull myself into any project too heavy in the plus forty celsius temperatures, I figured a crocheted Luigi pencil case might satisfy both she and I.

And I'll just snooze here on the deck sofa while you work.  :)

Again, I should write up a pattern for what I have done, but basically I worked up two grey circles in single crochet for the ends of the case.  I embellished one with ears, nose, eyes and whiskers to look like Mr. Handsome above before working a stripey rectangle in single crochet for the body.  A closed ended zipper was sewn into place to make my rectangle into a tube and the circles were sewn to the ends to close it all up.

Luigi's tail was a stripey tube stuffed and sewn to the zipper pull.  :)  I thought it added a little charm to him.

Sammy went off to her first day of grade three with an extra little bounce in her step and Luigi went back to his place on his couch.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeanette