"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad"... Edwin Way Teale

Well....Where to start? The summer went by to fast. My garden was the highlight of my summer! It was so much fun and an incredible learning experience. The work was hard, but the fruits of my labor were amazing! I learned how to can. I made pickles, pickled peppers, banana peppers, and more pickles. The kids have started school and have finally settled into the new schedule. I am feeling the urge to quilt again! I love the long winter days, bound to the house, hot coffee, and a great quilt to work on. Somehow in the past week I have ended up with a ton of apples. I canned some plain janes in a light syrup (for my apple cake) and then I started canning apple pie filling. Wow! It is soooooooo yummy! My kids like to eat it straight out of the jar! The first 19 lbs I peeled, cored, and sliced by hand....ouch! Then I invested in a peeler, corer, slicer! What a huge difference. The buy of the year in fact, well besides my Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker. I have canned over 20 quarts of apple pie filling and a dozen or so pints of plain apples. I thought I was done, when someone left 2 huge bags of apples on my door step! So tomorrow I will be canning. I really like canning, at first it was scary and weird, but I got the hang of it. My mom told me to use the peeling and the cores to make apple jelly....she is getting me the recipe for this and perhaps I will try it. I tried to make some jam, but I over cooked it and the sugar caramelized and it was as hard as a rock, like candy! I had to throw it out, jars and all! It was a really good summer! Fall is here for sure, the leaves are all falling off the trees, the colors are brilliant, its cold in the morning, the days are so short now, and the combine dust is heavy in the air. Oh and my allergies are killing me!