Applesauce!

Friends, we made (and canned) some applesauce!

Contrary to what this picture would have you believe, it was not a solo effort.

Every blessed one of us spent a good part of the day working on it.

Washing apples (reserved for the 4-year-old)

Cutting apples (Mom and kids)

Cooking apples (Mom and Dad's job)

Putting apples through the food mill attachment on the KitchenAid (mostly older 2 kids)

Re-heating and seasoning applesauce (Dad's specialty)

Filling jars and running hot water bath canner (Mom's specialty)

Phew!

I always have to kind of gear up mentally for applesauce day.

Every big bowl in the house, every cutting board, every large pot & saucepan, every kitchen surface: utilized and requires cleaning up later.

Don't get me wrong--there's a lot to compensate for the colossal mess.

For one, your whole house smells like apple cinnamon deliciousness.

All day long.

Fresh applesauce for lunch is hard to beat!

[Whoa weird, didn't plan on everything matching for the photo!]

Also, seeing as how it's an "all hands on deck" sort of experience, you get some quality family time together--with built-in snacks!

I am so glad my husband and kids are the sort to pitch in when its applesauce time!

The reward:

21 quarts

In case you're wondering why they're outside:

for big jobs like this, I usually set up the hot water bath canner on our camp stove that lives out on the deck. Then I set up the card table to put them out on once they're done.

We still have around 15 from last year, so here's hoping this lasts through until next fall!

p.s. I was a canning maniac last year!

We still have at least 12 cans each of peaches, pears, and cherries left, too!

...which is good, because all I've done this year is jam and applesauce.

Guess I've got more priorities straight, anyway. Ha!

October Bloom Day

Hello friends!

Welcome once again to my Eastern Washington state (USA) garden.

Well, we finally had a hard frost this past week, so a good number of the blooms that were left are now residing in a jar on my counter.

Since then it has been raining almost every day.

Par for the course around here--fall and spring are just rainy, rainy, rainy.

I'm ready for some sunshine!

I love how the foliage really comes forward in the fall. The various shades of green, orange, red, and even the brown of dying plants, create such a beautiful tapestry of color.

Out front:

If you look closely, I've got a couple of roses blooming, and a section of mums there on the right.

The dark green in front are English laurel bushes--I love the contrast they provide with the lighter shades of the bearded iris and bellflower foliage surrounding them.

Front, far corner:

On this side, I do have a few guillardias blooming, and the catmint is still going strong despite the frost. The brilliant red on the bottom left is my neighbor's strawberry patch.

Back flowerbed:

Ninebark changing to golden yellow, and the sedum along the back have changed from light pink to this dusty coral color.

Still a bloom here and there from my 'Abraham Darby' rose, with more sedum in back and peony foliage in front.

The vegetable garden:

As I mentioned, most of the white cosmos you see here, and the orange snapdragons there in the front on the bottom have all been cut for my frost bouquet.

I'm starting to get the rest cleared out, but compost bins and trash can were full, so I've got to wait until next week after trash is taken.

(Note to self: Must find bigger space for compost!)

Now for a closeup of the top left corner of the garden:

Love seeing all those colors in one area!

What else is on the slope?

Hmmm... there are ALWAYS aspens.

Weedy aspens on the slope--hey, at they turn least pretty colors in the fall!

Finally, the shade bed and back apple tree are putting on a show this year, as well!

Red-twig dogwood there in front.

I love this time of year!

I hope the rain doesn't make all the leaves fall too fast!

I want to just savor it all as long as I can.

Head over to May Dreams Gardens for a glimpse of other gardens around the world!

Time for Pumpkins! 13 Picture Books to Celebrate Fall

Are your kids excited that it's October? We haven't started talking costumes yet, but I'm sure that conversation is coming soon. I do not make my kids' costumes. We rummage around in the costume bin downstairs until they come up with something that they like, and go with it. Occasionally I may make or purchase a needed accessory. (I'm pretty good at headbands and spots. The rest? Eh...not so much.)

I am always amazed when I read the sewing blogs and see the fantastic homemade costumes put together. That... is not me. However, coming up with some great seasonally appropriate books to read? I'm on it! Count me in! Good thing there are all sorts of talents in this world. :)

As I was reading stacks of pumpkin books, I realized something.

There are 2 sub-genres in the pumpkin picture book world:
1. Life cycle of the pumpkin--endlessly fascinating, apparently, because SO many books do this!
2. Pumpkins growing out of control. Not sure why on this one, but there are several with this theme.

Whichever is your favorite, I hope you and your kiddos enjoy these (gasp--unlucky!) 13 picture books!

Apples and Pumpkins, by Anne Rockwell
Illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

A little girl goes with her family to Mr. Comstock's orchard and pumpkin patch, where they pick apples and find the best pumpkin of them all.

* * * * *


A good one for younger children or beginning readers. Short, simple sentences described the family outing. Many 2-page spreads were just 1 sentence on the first page, then a full illustration on the second page. A good introduction to the season for the littles!

How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor

What would happen if you grew some giant pumpkin seeds? Would your pumpkin block traffic on the interstate? Would it be too big to hide behind the capital dome?

* * * * *
A tour of the United States, with all differently-carved giant pumpkins for tour guides. This would be another good choice for younger kiddos, as the text was very short--1-2 sentences per page--and every page had a pumpkin peeking out in silly places to keep things lively.

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Mr. Tiffin's class has another challenge. This time they are trying to figure out how many seeds are inside each of 3 pumpkins: small, medium, and large. They also have to decide how to count the seeds. One group decides to count by 2's, one group counts by 5's, and Charlie counts by 10's. Charlie is the smallest boy in the class and he gets to count the smallest pumpkin's seeds all by himself. At the end of all the counting, there's a surprise for Charlie!


* * * * * *
I learned something about pumpkins from this book! I never realized that they form seeds along the lines on the outside--hence a smaller pumpkin with more lines will have more seeds. Of course we had to count the seeds with each group. Nice way to sneak a little math in there!

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, by George Levenson
Photography by: Shmuel Thaler

"The pumpkin seed makes the pumpkin plant, and the pumpkin plant makes pumpkins."

* * * * *

Bright full-color photographs, including some neat close-up shots, complemented the rhyming text; all about the pumpkin life cycle from seeds to plants to pumpkins.

Pumpkin Hill, by Elizabeth Spurr
Illustrated by Whitney Martin

There once was a pumpkin,
a lonely only pumpkin
that grew on the brink of a great green hill...

Who would have guessed this one pumpkin could be the beginnings of an orange avalanche of pumpkins?

* * * * *
Rich text, including phrases like "whirly, swirly" and "unruly roly-polies." The mayor's speech adds some great vocabulary words (all starting with the letter 'p')--spelled out by syllable in the text, such as: "pre-pos-ter-ous," and "pleth-o-ra."

Illustrations done in acrylics, with whimsical insects and animals adding to the fun.

The last page had instructions for growing a giant pumpkin, and a recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Jack, by Will Hubbell

The story of Tim's carved pumpkin, named Jack. After Halloween, he throws him out into the garden. Jack starts to look different. He gets moldy and flattens out. By spring not much is left, so Tim throws some dirt over Jack. Then a new sprout appears! The cycle begins again.



* * * * *
There seems to be a whole sub-genre for the pumpkin life cycle! This one stood out for its realistic-looking illustrations. I also really liked the descriptive writing. Little phrases, like when Tim carried Jack to the garden, "which was filled with the brown ghosts of last summer's plants," and the next fall after a frost: "The frozen plants seemed changed to pale blue glass."

Pumpkin Pumpkin, by Jeanne Titherington

Jamie plants a pumpkin seed and watches it grow until it is time to make it into a jack-o-lantern!


* * * * *
Yes, another pumpkin life cycle book! The simplicity and short text of this one make it just perfect for younger kids. I loved the illustrations, each showing Jamie in the pumpkin patch, always with a little animal of some kind. This was one of my go-to books for fall storytimes, back in the day, and I just used it for Joy School (home preschool) last week.

Pumpkin Soup, by Helen Cooper

Duck, Squirrel, and Cat live together in the woods, in a little white (gourd-shaped) house. They make music together and every night they eat pumpkin soup. Cat cuts up the pumpkin, squirrel stirs in the water and Duck adds just enough salt. Everything is great. Until one day, Duck decides to stir. Boy does he ever! He stirs up a big fight among the three friends, which ends with him leaving in a huff. Will these 3 friends ever settle their differences?



* * * * *
This was such a great little story--one that anyone with siblings (or children) would be able to relate to. All was well, until one person decided to rock the boat. Then---watch out! The illustrations were enjoyable, as well. I don't know that I've ever had pumpkin soup, but this book made it sound delicious--and that little white house looked so cozy!

Pumpkin Town, by Katie Mcky
Illustrated by Pablo Bernasconi

Jose and his family grow pumpkins. One fall day they throw out the extra seeds at the edge of the field. The wind picks up those seeds and sprinkles them down over the town below. That seems to be the end of it. Until next spring, when those vines (and pumpkins) start to grow and grow and grow!
When the brothers realize what's going on, they decide they'll have to do something about it!

* * * * *
I especially liked how the brothers decided to help out the townspeople--they took responsibility, even though they could easily have looked the other way. They were humble, too! When their Pa asked them what they had been up to, they simply replied, "We just helped the townspeople with their harvest."

The ending made it easy to continue telling the story. In fact, when my oldest read it, he actually went back through later and wrote the sequel, putting in watermelons for pumpkins.

The illustrations were interesting, too. They looked like a mix of photographs (all the hair), painting, and possibly cut paper.

Pumpkins, by Ken Robbins

Beautiful full-page photographs and simple text illustrate the pumpkin's life cycle.

* * * * *
Another one of these pumpkin life cycle books!

I loved that photo on the cover; I would frame it and hang it in my house. The other photos showed the farmer (a woman this time-yay!) planting her pumpkin seeds, then the closeup shots as the plants grew and produced the pumpkins. Like many of the others, it ended with carving Jack-o-lanterns on Halloween.

Ready for Pumpkins, by Kate Duke

Hercules ("Just call me Herky!") is the pet guinea pig in Miss MacGuffey's 1st-grade classroom. He has a good life. One day, during a classroom Jack-o-lantern project, some pumpkin seeds stick to his fur. He carefully saves them. Later on, when Miss MacGuffey takes him to spend the summer on her dad's farm, he plants the seeds. A rabbit named Daisy helps him. Together they wait for those seeds to grow and nurture the little seedlings. Poor Herky has to return to the classroom before picking any pumpkins. That's not quite the end of the story, though! There's a surprise delivery in October.

* * * * * *
Herky told his story in first person. The illustrations were a combination of regular picture book and comic-book style, with speech bubbles for the characters.

Here's my favorite quote: "A garden is not a place to be angry in." That's right.

The Runaway Pumpkin, by Kevin Lewis
Illustrated by S. D. Schindler

When Buck, Billy, and little Lil Baxter head up the hill, what do they find? An enormous pumpkin! The brothers cut it loose and it goes bounding down the hill to the Baxter farm, smashing through gates and stys, until Papa Baxter uses his head and plows a pumpkin bed.

Then of course, it's time for Granny to get busy making all sorts of delicious pumpkin food!

* * * * * *
This rollicking book was just plain fun to read. Every other page or so there's a catchy refrain about the "thumpin', bumpin', round and roly, runaway pumpkin!" Schindler's illustrations added humorous details to the already lively story. Grandpa's costume on the last page is my absolute favorite!

Too Many Pumpkins, by Linda White
Illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Rebecca Estelle has hated pumpkins, ever since she was a girl, and poverty-stricken family had only pumpkin to eat for an entire month. One fall day, an enormous pumpkin falls off the pumpkin truck and smashes all over her yard. She refuses to touch it or even look at it, and immediately buries it.

The next spring pumpkin vines sprout up, and despite Rebecca Estelle's best efforts those pumpkins keep coming back. Finally she decides to just ignore them completely, certain that they will wither away and die from neglect. However, when she goes out to rake leaves one fall day, she finds her entire front yard covered in pumpkins! Oh dear. Now what is she going to do?

* * * * * *
I'm sensing another theme here! Apparently, it is very easy to grow a whole lotta pumpkins!

Engaging illustrations and a straightforward story. My kids knew right away that just ignoring those pumpkins was going to be trouble, so that made them even more interested in the outcome. A warm ending made it all worth it.

* * * * * * * *

What are some of your favorite pumpkin books? Any must-reads for me?

Frost Bouquet & Late Fall Chores

 The light frost 2 nights ago was just a warning.

Forecast predicted a hard frost for last night.

It was time to bring in the last of the flowers and veggies.

Making a frost bouquet is easy--you just cut everything you possibly can!

I did not get to all of the cosmos, and I left some things that are a little tougher than most--the salvia and catmint, among others.

The other thing to bring in were the last of the tomatoes and squash.

I was surprised how many little squashes there were.

I've still got one small patch of carrots out there to harvest, but that's about it.

Sure enough, we had a hard frost last night.

The garden's looking pretty withered and sad this morning.

It will be time to start clearing out the vines and plants that are left, now.

As much as I love the vegetable garden, it's always satisfying to me to get it cleared off and "put to bed" come late fall. 

Other late fall chores to do:

** Empty flowerpots and put away in the shed.

Although it's the more expensive route, I always dump all the dirt from the flowerpots into the garden and start fresh the next year. I don't usually add fertilizer to my flowerpots over the summer, so the few times I've re-used the dirt, my plants did not thrive; the soil was too depleted. 

** Put deck chair cushions away in the shed, as well.

My kids have a clubhouse in the top of our shed--they will be delighted to have some nice soft cushions to sit on up there! The trick is catching a long enough break in the weather so that they're all dried out before I put them up there.

** Empty hoses as much as possible and put them away in the shed.

** Blow out sprinkler lines and turn it off (we get someone to come do this for us.)

** Weeding or last transplanting.

Ready, set, go!

Taking in Fall

Breaking news!

We had our first frost last night!

It was a light one--grass and windshields frosted, but nothing blackened that I can tell.

Better get out there and bring in the rest of the veggies today.

Okay, back to our regular programming...

:)

Fall is just so beautiful.

The richness of the color stirs my soul.

I went on a walk last week to a little park close to our house and brought the camera with me.

Even weeds and grass look pretty in the fall!

Staghorn sumac, you are so gorgeous!

Once I took the first picture of grass (below), I began to realize how many different kinds of grass there were along the trail, all beautiful in their own right.

(Are cattails considered a type of grass?)

I love this time of year!

It's like everything pulls out all the stops for one last show before frost.

Now if I can get just get my kids to wear long pants and sweatshirts.....

(For the love! It's 45 degrees outside!)

There is beauty all around.

Indeed.

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

We just finished reading this one together last week. It took awhile!

I had actually never read it, myself, so I didn't really know what to expect. The most I knew about it was that a toad and some friends went on some kind of adventure down the river. (I know! And I call myself a children's librarian!) I was partly right. There is a toad...and a river.  They never really go all together on the river, though, and while Toad does venture from home, the other 3 do not. It's much more about their life in the English countryside through the course of about a year, than it is about any grand adventure they set forth on. Toad would be the exception to that, as he creates adventure wherever he goes. So--in case I am not the very last soul to have read it, and you were wondering--there you go.

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
Illustrated by Michael Hague

3.5 stars: Some parts we loved and some that really dragged, but overall a positive experience.

Mr. Rat and Mole live together in a home in the riverbank, Mr. Badger lives in the Wild Wood, and Toad lives in Toad Hall. So these animals are English gentlemen. Mr. Toad is the impulsive troublemaker, with the silver tongue, charm, and money to talk his way out of his escapades (usually.) The others do their best to squash him regularly, so that he doesn't get too conceited and make a nuisance of himself. Mr. Rat is a very practical and straightforward chap, friendly to everybody and eager to solve problems. Mole is a bit timid at first, but eventually comes into his own. Badger does not suffer fools gladly (Toad!) and is known to be quite fierce, though underneath he has a loyal and soft heart.

It's a meandering sort of story. Their adventures are of the more genteel sort--getting lost in the Wild Wood, searching for a lost otter pup, trying to keep Toady out of trouble (which proves to be impossible), finding Mole's old home and staying in it for awhile. We find out how Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole meet and decide to become friends and flatmates. We go along on the fateful picnic when Toad's obsession with driving fast in a motorcar first besets him. Toad has some high times by himself, because of his own rash decisions and muddled thinking whenever he comes near a motorcar, and eventually the friends are all reunited to restore Toad Hall to its rightful owner.

Toady is so naughty, but somehow loveable, too. Like this:

"Toad sat up slowly and dried his eyes. Secrets had an immense attraction for him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to." (p. 182)

You just feel that he does need a good squashing--regularly! Good thing his friends provide it for him.

* * * * *
To be completely honest, I wish we had found an abridged version--which are abundant, by the way. Goodreads has pages and pages of them. Many of the events in the story were fun or thrilling or exciting, but then there's also long paragraphs talking about the beauty of the light falling across the grass, or the habits of migrating animals. I found myself summarizing quite a bit after yet another long soliloquy on some topic or another. The chapters with Toad in them moved along the most smartly. One of the very slowest was when the Sea Rat came through and told stories to Mr. Rat, almost convincing him to give up hearth and home for a life of adventure.

Perhaps now that we have all heard the original and know the story, the kids will be able to pick up an abridged version on their own, and jump right in with delight. At least, that's my hope. I would love to hear it on audio, read with a proper British accent.

I can't finish without mentioning the illustrations by Michael Hague. They were utterly charming. There were around 5 per chapter, including a mix of smaller ones, full page, and full 2-page spread. They really brought the story to life for us. In fact, they were the reason I picked up this version over the other 3 right next to it on the library shelf.

* * * * *
Do you have a favorite version or illustrator of this book? What classics have you never gotten around to reading?

Flowerpots: Saved by the Autumn Rain!

This was going to be a post about how the flowerpots are done for the year.

The 3 in front were moved to the back deck to accommodate the house getting painted, and admittedly, I have only watered them once or twice since then.

They were looking pretty sad.

As I was trying to remove some of the dead leaves and such, a couple of entire branches broke off at the base. Yep, it was time for the Great Yanking.

Then it started raining.

Saved at the last minute by the autumn rains!

They've perked up a little--enough to grant them a few more weeks, anyway.

The 2 that were already on the back deck, though, may be beyond saving:

This blue boat already looks like the flowerpot that time Mom forgot.

And...I don't know that rain is going to be able to do much for this poor thing, either.

At the next break in the clouds I will probably empty these 2 pots into the garden & compost bin, and get them into the shed for the winter.

Meanwhile, the asparagus fern over on the shed porch is looking as vibrant as ever.

These lovely plants store water in their roots and can take more drought than most--which I can attest to, since it hasn't been watered since sometime in August.

They do well as house plants, too.

In fact, this is one I had in a pot last summer, then overwintered in the house.

(If and when the individual fronds die off, they do leave those tiny leaves all over whatever furniture you've got them on--just FYI.)

I need to decide if this one's coming in for a second year or not.

If not, I may give it away, so it at least has a chance of living on.

This geranium just keeps plugging away.

As you can see, the petunias and other filler flowers that were in this pot with it are long gone--they didn't make past July. Somehow, though, this keep on surviving.

Now that's my kind of plant!

It adds a cheery spot of color over here by there shed.

Hey, 5 out of 7 isn't too bad, right?

Frost will come in the next couple of weeks, I'm sure.

Just knowing that they've only got a few weeks left makes it seems pointless to spend too much time and effort keeping them alive right now. Sad but true.

Our neighbors have pots that still look full and gorgeous right now.

(Apparently, they don't have the same aversion to watering in September that I do.)

Are you one of those amazing and consistent waterers that can keep a pot thriving all the way until frost?

Or are you like me and at some point just let them peter out?