Apple picking

There's an apple orchard not far from where we live. And every fall, the preschool Kieran attends takes a field trip there.

Last year, there were no apples because a late frost in April had killed the buds on all the trees. But this year, the harvest was plentiful.

We got to take a walk into the apple grove to pick some apples. Kieran had his off the tree and was headed back to the store before I even got my camera out.

Cael was a bit more judicious in his choice of apples.

 And he needed a bit of help.

So I helped him.

Then we took the apples back to the store and put them through the washer and somehow figured out which apple belonged to which kid when they all came out the other end of the washer all clean and shiny.

Cael started munching on his right away but Kieran doesn't eat any type of whole fruit (except really, really cooked carrots--it's a texture issue with him; he will, however, eat certain pureed fruits such as applesauce) so I held on to his until it was time for each kid to take a turn with the apple-peeler-corer-slicer.

He enjoyed it. A lot. He kept returning to it even after everyone was finished with peeling/coring/slicing their apples.

And then there was the hayride. Last year, for some unknown reason, Kieran got freaked out when we climbed in the wagon for the hayride. He'd been on hayrides before and enjoyed them but that time, something clicked in his brain, and he cried throughout the entire ride. It was fun. After it was over, I told him he survived and he repeated that to anyone who asked how it went, "I survived."

This year, though, he hopped right on the wagon, went to the back with his teacher, Mrs. Mary, sat on her lap the entire time, held his ears, and did just fine.

Just another fun day in the country.

Fall colors

We suffered through a rather severe drought this summer and, as a result, I figured all the leaves on the trees would turn brown and fall off and we'd be left with a disappointing display of fall colors this year.

 

However, I'm happy to admit I was wrong.

 

 

While some trees began losing their leaves in early August thanks to the lack of moisture their roots were soaking up, the rest of the trees hung in there and have produced a beautiful array of colors these past few weeks. 

 

 

These pictures aren't fantastic since I have a simple point-and-shoot camera, which doesn't quite capture what my eyes are actually seeing. So you'll have to take my word for it that the colors really are nice this year.

I've started taking my camera with me so that I can catch some of the tree displays on our drives around our bucolic area.

The scenery on the way to Kieran's preschool has been especially nice.

And the Holler trees have also brought out their finest clothes.

I've taken so many pictures along our travels that Kieran has started saying, "Stop and take a picture of the leaves on the trees."

 Is it just me or is this one of the prettier autumns we've had in awhile?

Florida family: This post is for you.

Enjoying Fall

 Kitchen window, day 22

While the Northeast was being inundated with snow, we enjoyed a lovely sunny, cool Fall day in the Holler.

Seth had bought some oyster shells for the chickens to give them more calcium to harden their eggshells, and he and Kieran spread it around the area today. His theory is that the calcium will sink into the ground and come up in the grass the chickens will then eat, giving them calcium-fortified green stuff.

I don't really have a theory, so I just took pictures.

We also spent some time by the creek, tossing walnuts, leaves, and rocks into the water.

Have I mentioned it was a nice day to be outside?

And that we enjoyed every minute of it?

Tent city

Kitchen window, day 7

Wow -- it's been a whole week already? One week down, 51 more to go . . . .

Today, as you can see by the picture, was sunny but windy and a bit on the chilly side. We stayed inside for most of the day and amused ourselves with a homemade tent. When we started, I honestly didn't think Kieran would be interested in it, but once I had it together, he had fun going in and out. 

First, a disclaimer

Disclaimer: Seth is threatening to expose me as a blogging "fraud" because the banner picture I posted yesterday was not taken in the Holler. For some reason, he's under the assumption that all banner pictures posted here must be of scenes from the Holler. True, all previous banner pictures have been those I've taken at various places in the Holler; however I have nowhere said that banner pictures can only be of Holler-life scenes. In fact, I took this photo at a park we visited the other day and thought it was too pretty not to share. So tell, me is Seth correct? Or am I allowed some freedom on posting banner pictures?

And now, on to the real news of the day . . . this was the view when we arrived home after having Kieran evaluated for his graduation from First Steps into the next program. I'm planning on enrolling him in a preschool class a few days a week (are you gasping? I'll do a post on my educational philosophy in the future), where he'll have access to occupational and speech therapies. We still need to decide which preschool, so I'll be checking out those available in the next few weeks before he turns three (!!) in November.

Let's try this again

Kitchen Window, Day 1 

So, if you have a blog, you know that blogging is a discipline. Sadly, posts don't write themselves. And I don't yet have the software that allows my thoughts about a post to translate into an actual post. And so, because I've been busy with an almost-three-year-old and a five-month-old, in addition to finishing up the big project for my part-time job, my blogging has suffered a bit these past few months (just in case you haven't noticed--or care).

Saturday, as I looked out my kitchen window, I was inspired to try the "out my kitchen window" experiment again to encourage me to get back in the blogging habit. And so I snapped a picture and off we went to a local pumpkin farm to check it out.

They had a variety of animals in a small petting zoo to check out--cows, donkeys, llamas (or alpacas -- when I looked at Seth after I saw the alpacas, he said, "Don't even think about it"), miniature horses, goats, deer . . . .

I was pleasantly surprised when Kieran happily got on the horse for a ride and then held on most of the way around. (I've been thinking for awhile that hippotherapy might be good for him, so since he did so well on this (granted, the horse walked about 20 feet around an enclosed ring), I may persue this avenue in the near future.)

And Cael chewed on his lips, his hands, and and anything else he could get into his mouth while he took in the sights. He has two teeth coming in on the bottom, and the drool to prove it.

 So, here's to another year of experiencing life out my kitchen window . . . .

KWW -- Fall is upon us

This was the view this morning at about 8:30 when I meandered out into the chilly living room to check the temperature.

The unit registered a brisk 67 degrees inside.

And the outdoor thermometer was measuring 54 degrees.

As I stepped out to free the chickens from the Eglu, I smelled Fall for the first time this year. If you know of a place where the temperatures are in this range year-round and the leaves are in a permanent state of changing, please do let me know. I'd like to move there.

Battling the Curse

I realize that "weeds" aren't specifically mentioned in the curse God placed on His creation after Adam sinned; however, I think they're definitely implied:

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food . . . (Genesis 3:17-19).

On Saturday, I did battle with the "painful toil" aspect of the curse in my garden by weeding it. I had let my garden go to pot this summer. (Not that pot.) Combine the hot weather with little time and I've ended up growing weeds instead of vegetables.

On Saturday, thanks to the gorgeous fall weather and a husband who had the time to stay with Kieran, I set out to tackle one side of the garden.

This is what it looked like before I began.

While I was painfully toiling, this little guy stopped by to cheer to me on.

And this is what it looked like when I finished, three hours and a sore back later.

I trimmed the blackberry bush, pulled weeds from around the blueberry and strawberry plants, and then finished with a layer of stray to mulch it.

Next week, after my muscles have healed, I'll tackle the other side.