A Day at Apple Hill

Last Sunday we got a phone call from our daughter-in-law. She was heading up to Apple Hill for the day with the Beans, our grandchildren, and wanted to know if we could drive over and met her there. She was already in Folsom.
 We had been picking our own pumpkins and doing some garden chores so we both needed showers. We cleaned up, put the dogs out in the back yard and left.
It was a beautiful Fall day... warm, breezy and a great day to take a drive to Placerville.
Apple Hill is an Association of Ranches that are in the foothills, east of Placerville and west of Pollock Pines, on the north side of Highway 50. It's open all year long but right now it's apple harvest time and all of the farms are opens for business.We met at this farm and they were waiting for us.

We met them in the parking lot. They had been here before. They knew the routine. Mom got a bag for each of the Beans. The rule was that they would carry their own bag to and from the orchard so they were only to fill the bag about half way.

The apple orchard was beautiful. 

The boys went to work finding and picking the apples.

 The trees were filled with apples. This was the Fuji apple section.

 Big Bean got right into his work. He disappeared into the branches.

 and carefully examined each apple to be sure it was "Perfect!"

 "Papa, are you eating one of the apples?

The Prospector was caught red handed. He had no excuse except, "It was laying on the ground."

Little Bean said in a low voice, 

"Papa, you not suppose to eat them yet."

 The Bean just shook his head.

 Then, they went back to some serious apple picking.

 Papa helped reach the perfect apples that were out of reach. The Bean watched Papa to be sure he didn't eat any more apples.

 Little Bean is 5 years old. He loves to clown around. "What big eyes you have, sweetie."

 "Are the bags half full yet? What a minute. Papa is carrying the apples. Did we forget the rule?"

That's a high, and low, five going on there. Someone is making "deals".

"Oh no, this one has a worm in it."

So Papa carried the bags of apples back to the  farm and the Beans went off to play on the tire swing

 under the very tall trees.

 I guess grandparents can change the rules once in a while.

We ate lunch behind this barn and then paid for our apples... plus one, that was missing in action...inside Papa's stomach.

 Little Bean found a pumpkin that was bumpy.

 and different from the others. 

"Look Noni, this one has bumps on it."

 Then we packed up and drove to Abel's Acres.

 This is a big commercial farm that has lots of things to see, do and BUY. The Beans got free balloon hats... and swords... and sword holders Wow! The lady who did this was amazing. She just asked them what they wanted and then twisted and blew these balloons into anything.. Amazing! The Beans were pirates and they had a balloon sword fight that looked pretty authentic and didn't hurt anyone.What fun!

 They ran though a hay maze for a while and wore themselves out.

 Looked for the perfect pumpkin... again.

And, finally, sat down with that glazed look that said, "We're tired. It's time to go home."

We said our goodbye's, gave them the pumpkins we had grown at home with each Bean's name etched into them and drove off in different directions.

It was a really great day spent with our grandchildren and their mom. 

I will be down at their house on Halloween. It's tradition.

Can't wait!

Wild weather, pumpkins and a table, Oh My...

All those clouds that I showed you last night decided to do a "cirque du soleil"  light show for us last night... with thunder and lightening and rain... ALL NIGHT LONG. It was really exciting.
The Prospector has been gone this week, so I was by myself. This storm woke me up three times in the middle of the night to let me know what Mother Nature can do when she really tries. It was amazingly beautiful.
I'm sure this is common stuff for those of you who live in the East and the Midwest but for a native, bay area Californian this was quite a show. I was somewhat nervous, but the rain ruled out lightening fires and logic told me that the odds of getting hit my lightening were pretty slim. But all the same, I chose not to touch my iron bed the whole night.
I didn't take any photos of the lightening, but three separate times, I sat in up in bed and watched this display through the window. Once, I heard Cutter whimpering in his crate. I told him that it was OK and he was safe. He must have listened to my voice because he settled down. I never heard Carl complain at all.
The strikes were so close and thunder shook the ground, but all went well and in the morning...

this was the beautiful aftermath. This photo was taking at 5:45 this morning. The storm had moved to the east and I could hear a few distant rumbles. It was so lovely.
I made coffee, let the dogs outside and... DIDN'T HAVE TO WATER THE GARDEN.

After breakfast, I went to the vegetable garden to see if there was any deep watering to be done or veggies to pick.
The tomatoes are doing well. These are the Tomaccio sweet raisin tomatoes.

They are the cherry tomatoes that can be dried and eaten like raisins. I don't find them any sweeter than "sweet one hundreds" but I'm letting them stay on the vine longer to see if they get sweeter. Maybe they just "dry" better. We'll see.
The pumpkins are thriving. The vines are beautiful.

And look... I will have pumpkins to take to the Beans for Halloween. The Beans are my grandchildren, as most of you know. I think that the pumpkins are big enough to carve their names in now. It's a fun thing to do. The names will form a scar as the pumpkin grows.
Yep, it's time to scratch the names in.

This one started green and is just now turning orange. The others on the same vine (I think.) started out orange. Strange. I'm going to have to check again and see if it is the same vine.They are so intertwined that you have to really look to see which is which.
This photo, below, shows the rain on the leaves. There was quite a lot of rain. I love the huge leaves with rain on them.

 I should have taken a closer photo of this. The rain drops are not as obvious in the post photo. But, those leaves are wet. Gloriously wet.
*****************

Since my sister and my friend "C" left, I have been working on one project that I promised myself I would complete while the Prospector was gone.
I'm refinishing the kitchen/dining table.
This was the old finish.

The clear finish was worn, nicked and had some dried Mod Podge (among other things) on it from my careless use of craft work supplies. And it was just kind of 1990's "blond".
So I sanded what was left of the finish.

Then I applied the first coat of Minwax water based stain... and had a heart attack. It looked awful.
After I had a good cry, I put a second coat on it and perfected my technique, it was much better.

This is not as simple as the directions say it is. When the Prospector called last night. I think I said something like, "This kitchen table is 30 years old and I was trying to save it, but it's not worth saving and I'm tired, and life is too short to go to all this effort." And then I started to get tears in my voice. He didn't say anything at first. That was probably wise.
When I settled down, he said, "We can buy another set if this one doesn't turn out. Sleep on it. I will be home tomorrow." and then, "Did you use a tarp?"
That did it. I told him to drive carefully and I would see him tomorrow. I hung up and put everything away. I fixed myself some dinner and watched an old movie. The table was sitting their looking,well... unfinished.
After dinner, I felt refreshed, so I put a final coat of stain on it and look...

Not so bad. I worked with a brush and finessed the light and dark areas until I was seeing "American Walnut" stain in the back of my brain.
I will probably never stain anything again. The legs and the chairs are going to be PAINTED... painted with a solid, creamy, forgiving latex paint that will cover up all the age related skin damage that this old table is showing. I'm NEVER going to STAIN again. Mark my words. NEVER!

The Prospector arrived this afternoon. I'm glad he's home. I missed him. He caught a thousand fish and had a good time.The dogs were so excited to see him. He didn't mention the table except to ask if we were going to eat at the coffee table tonight. I said, "Yes." That was the end of it. We will all sleep better tonight.
Tomorrow I will put a clear finish coat or two on the top of the table and start painting the legs.
It looks OK. I didn't show you a close up of the finish. It's not perfect and, obviously, neither I'm I. I think I better stick to knitting and felting for hobbies... although when my friend was here last week we made "yoyo's" Do you know what they are?
Tomorrow I will tell you all about them. Right now, I need a good night's sleep.

Lettuce all be happy... even the chickens.

Got the pumpkins planted this morning.

With help from the Prospector, I got the beds ready and sunk those little seeds into the new mixture of soil.

Now, all I have to do is pitch a tent and sleep down there for a month or two so I can ward off the birds and critters that want to steal the seeds and eat the delicate plants as they come through the soil.
Note the absents of a Fig tree at the other end of the planter. We had to pull it out last fall because after the goats trimmed it through the fence, the foxes (here's the story) broke all the branches while eating the figs. I loved that tree and it's gone.
 I think I need a secret garden with a fifteen foot stone wall around my vegetable garden... and a wire mesh cover over the top. It's a constant battle to protect the garden from those critters that think we planted all of this for them. Maybe I need to build a dog house down there and bring home a pitbull mix from the animal shelter to guard my garden. Do pitbulls like vegetables? I don't know. I'm such a softy though, that I would end up sleeping down there anyway, to keep the pup company.
Our other raised bed is doing well. The tomatoes are planted...

 and all the lettuce is coming up.

Even the Irises that I planted, late, are loving the rich soil and growing faster that weeds down there.

One of them is going to bloom. I didn't think, when I planted them, that they would  bloom this year. The smaller plants in between  are romaine lettuce that blew in from the upper bed. I didn't plant them with the Iris. Either the birds rearranged the seeds or the strong winds of last month blew dirt and seeds over into the lower garden. It's all a mystery.
I picked some lettuce and took it back up to the house. I've been thinning it and giving the pickings to the chickens, but now the leaves are bigger and so it is as with all things in life, the higher order of species gets the good stuff. With what the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called the Will to Power, I have asserted my."dominant hierarchy" and the lettuce is mine.
I cleaned it.

 Drained it.

 I ate some.

Then I took all the roots and leftovers out to the chickens. They seems OK with what they got. Chickens are hard to read... but I'm trying to understand the subtle differences in their attitudes.
I let them out to free range for the day. They seemed really happy (I guess) about having a day of freedom from the coop. Squeaky was the first through the door.
I went inside to have a salad for lunch...
and enjoy the lettuce of our labor.

Halloween Magic

The transformation began.... It was a bright and sunny afternoon.

The pumpkins were slowly turning into Jack-o-lanterns....

Noni and Mommy helped, but Daddy did most of the hard work....
 
The Bean showed Noni some of his school work, which was, of course, brilliant..... and then he climbed  the Mock Orange to show me how amazing he is at scaling anything that he can get his hands and feet onto. The "silly's" hit and he couldn't control his face muscles.... so he stood on his hands and looked under his legs at me. "Hey Noni, look at me." and he giggled himself into super silliness. I knew we were getting close to the magic transformation.
Baby Bean was showing amazing restraint but he had taken a nap earlier. He checked his pumpkins many times and tried his costume on.

He had a bit of trouble with the hood on his costume but finally with a little help, he got it . It's important to see where you are going when you're packing all those muscles... in the dark.....
...and it WAS getting dark out there.
Then a small dog named Lizzy made a strange low growl and retreated to another room. She knew it was time. Mommy and Daddy were ready. As we turned toward the front door ..... it happen. 
My sweet grandsons had become big scary creatures.... 

The transformation was complete. They were ready for anything. The big night was here.


"Backward, turn backward,
Oh time, in your flight
Make me a child again
Just for tonight!"
~Elizabeth Akers Allen~ 




What a world.....
What a world.....
What a world....  
       

Halloween Joy

I'm missing this.. and this house.... and these little beans....

So, tomorrow I will pack my bags and go down to Pleasant Hill to visit with my family for a few days. I will give out candy for Halloween while my grand babies go out trick or treating with their Mommy and Daddy.
I just love this holiday! No matter what anyone says about the implications of this night and how we are worshiping the dark side, etc, etc, etc. I only have to say..... Lighten up. It's the one time of the year that your children can dress up and be someone else.. and you can be a kid again. Let your child see the generosity of others. If you think that it has to be productive take a little box with you and collect change for UNICEF or some other worthy cause. But, go meet your neighbors. Say hello, introduce yourself and give the evening a chance to work it's magic. Show your children what "neighborhood" is all about. Show them  less fear and a lot more "lets have a little fun". Life is short. Being an adult is a long journey.
When was the last time you were this excited....

When was the last time you carved a pumpkin?

Does that pumpkin look evil to you? I think not....