Pork Chops and Applesauce

Do you remember on The Brady Bunch when Peter decided to get a new personality and began to imitate Humphrey Bogart? He told his family they were having "Porckschops and Appleshaush" for dinner. My good friend the Divine Debi who is mother to The Fabulous Miss M shared some lovely apples with us last weekend so we could make applesauce. Dean is always such a good sport to help with my projects. We canned 45 pints of fresh, delicious applesauce. It is sure to be a wonderful treat on an upcoming cold winter's evening. Thank you Divine Deb for your generosity of spirit and apples.

Start with some freshly picked yellow gold apples.

Put them in the "boilin' pot" until soft.

Ask your favorite hubby for a little help.

And like magic...the strainer separates the crud from the applesauce.

Bottle them up and process for 20 minutes.

I have really enjoyed doing some canning this summer.

Maybe I am a squirrel storing my nuts for winter

or

maybe I am just nuts!

Funny Funny Pooch

In no way does this picture of Izzy have anything to do with her

appearance at school last week. Just having fun putting

a new funnel I purchased on the pooch's head.

I wuv you Izzy...you are such a doodun!

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Cassandra entered kindergarten at St Johns Lane Elementary when we lived in Ellicott City Maryland. Ever since that day, I have sang a familiar but taunting melody to the children "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Most people sing this at Christmas but we sing it when it's time to go back to school. The children love it...not! It always gives me such pleasure to watch them scrunch up their faces and groan. What are Moms for, anyway!

Cassandra's first day of First grade at Wilson Elementary.
I remember when the girls loved dressing alike...

One of my favorite "back to school pics" ever! This is during
Dione's red cowboy boot phase. She wore them nearly every day
of kindergarten that year. Miss Palmer even brought red shoe polish

to brighten them up every now and then. Jocie was not old enough
to go to school but insisted on having a backpack and pretending
she was.

Jocie's first day of kindergarten at Mountain View Elementary
in Parker Colorado. This was actually my favorite kindergarten year,
because in Colorado students attend 2 full and 1 half day of school.
We really liked this schedule....more time to play!

This is Chet's first day of 2nd grade at Wilson. This was before
the boy hated getting his hair cut.

And how about the first day of high school... nothing

like a grown-up "My Little Pony" t-shirt to show how

mature she's become.

Which brings us to "back to school" pics 2009 with Chet.

This begins the 7th grade for the boy...sporting his new Line Skis

t-shirt for the occasion.

The face right after I sing the song to him.

And a special occasion this year...Izzy was invited to

attend science class with Chet. We gave her a bath, put

on a lovely pink bandanna and brushed her fur extra nice.

Chet took a science personality test and scored high in

"nature smart". His assignment was to bring along

a prop to help describe his gifts...so Izzy came to school.

We tried to go visit Principal Monson, but the school secretaries

were grumpy, told us he was busy, and had no sense of

fun at all. Come on ladies...lighten up!

...

As I think back to a year ago at this time, I am quite certain the thought of singing never even entered my weary head.

Photo Shoot

Because we helped Dione move to a new apartment yesterday... I thought she might owe me one. It couldn't hurt to ask, right? So I talked her into helping me with my last photography class assignment. We had our own photo shoot right around town. It was fun to photograph my girl, she's such a good sport. These were the 4 final pics I liked. Dione said..."Wow Mom, it's just like senior pics all over again!" Same girl, same attitude, different day! Love you Dione!

I loved the texture of this wall.


The sun was peaking through some
leaves and I kept getting weird lighting
spots for this pic, but I still like it.

This is the photo I turned in for my
assignment. I think it shows her great
personality.

I loved this close-up, pretty girl!

A Honey of a Day

Saturday was the day...Dean could hardly sleep the night before. It was the day to reap the rewards of the bee's labors. And our girls Caroline and Steve did very well. It was so fun to learn the process from our friends the Firths and the Winwards. Thanks for sharing and for a very fun day. We ended up with 7 gallons of honey from the first harvest which is about 84 pounds of honey. Can you believe Caroline and Steve were able to pull that off their first year being queen? Awesome!

This is what has been happening at our house

all summer long!

Here is a perfect frame of honey fresh from the

hive ready to be spun out. The honeycomb extends

out from the frame, is filled with honey and then

capped with wax when it is cured.

Fascinating...Caroline's frame on the left was almost
a golden yellow. Steve's frame on the right was nearly

white. The honey spun out golden and white just like the wax.

The taste from each hive was also completely different.

Cool huh?

Spring was up early and still in a happy mood...

nothing like a little honey rush in the morning!

Leisa showing us the correct way to remove the

wax cap on top of the cured honey.

Dean with perfect execution on his beloved honey!

Bob showing us how to spin complete with his

"I'm so sick of honey" face. They had spun

all their honey the day before. Ah...thanks guys!

The frames must spin 100 turns in each direction.

Also, don't forget to balance them...inside joke!

Getting ready to see the final product inside the canister.

And the moment we have all been waiting

for all summer.

Thanks Caroline, Steve, and the gang!