I picked the quince the other day and made some quince butter...not unlike apple butter but with a definite zing ! I also saved some juice to add to my 'Paradise Jelly' that I'll be making this week. It is a great source of pectin. The garden is about finished for the year. I picked the last of the tomatoes the other day. Have made sauce, juice, casseroles, and Tomato Spice Jam. Have a couple green ones left for another meal of fried green tomatoes. The beets did well although I didn't plant very many. Cukes have given up and the zucchini too, finally. Last week cousin Natalie came down from Mt. Holly with a kettle full of 'grindings', the zucchini, onions and peppers needed for a batch of relish. We put our kettles-full together and made up the final batch for the season. Our pole beans are just beginning!! After thinking we had nothing but lovely leaves and huge vines, along come the blossoms and we have had about 3 pickings now. I really wondered if they would make it to beans before the frosts came.
This week Den and I celebrate our 56th wedding anniversary. I put together a hard cover 'Mac Book' for him on my computer and had it printed. The title is "A Man Of Many Hats" with a sub title, 'A pictorial biography of Mr. Fix-It'. It came out really well and when it was delivered to the door the other day, I couldn't wait to give it to him to see if he liked it. He was delighted ! Here's a picture of the cover collage.
Included are pictures of his hobbies, inventions, interests, some Fix-It Shop activities and around home doings. As his son in-law says, he is truly a man of many hats, literally and figuratively! Looking through the completed book, I counted 10 different hats! It was a fun project.
Now I must start to focus on 'migration' time and all the things that need to be finished up here and need to be making lists of things I want to take along this year... like winter projects or little things I've set aside for the Fl. house. It should be a very interesting trip this time as we plan to take our sweet little Miss Lizzie kitty along. She is not fond of riding, at least not in her little 'go-to-the-vet cage! We will be taking her for a few short rides that don't end up there just to get her used to the car. NOT looking forward to the trip but it will be nice to have her with us all winter. She wasn't a happy guest last winter with her former 'people'. Our daughter in-law has another cat and a very active, playful little Boston Terrier and Lizzie wants to be with a family where she is the only pet. She has us trained very well!
Last week we went to the World's Fair in Tunbridge where we met friends and spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the sights and eating our fill of our favorite fair foods. Pretty healthy choices...fresh roasted corn on the cob, homemade apple crisp with ice cream, and spiral cut beets and sweet potatoes that were deep fried like french fries. Yum! And then there were the not so healthy choices... the fried bread dough nuggets ( count me out for this one) and the 'everything burger' that was way more than I could eat! We are always drawn to the sounds of the old pump organ in one of the display buildings where someone is playing good old hymns. We just gather around, provide a choir and sing along to a few hymns before moving on...it's a tradition! This year there was a magician performing under the big tent and I love to watch a magician in action! My favorite act out of all his bag of tricks was the 'floating table'. He had a boy of about eight years come up to help him, gave him a pair of goggles like Harry Potter would wear and then he proceeded to take hold of the linen tablecloth and as he lifted it, the whole little table rose from the ground and just floated around where ever he seemed to steer it with the tablecloth. The boy kept a close eye on things and looked under the cloth to no avail, nobody knew how he did this amazing act.
Then on to the exhibits. So much talent here in the hills! The art exhibit was great, the photography being the largest. Floral displays, quilts and other sewing projects. The young people's room was full of things the kids had made. Lots of canned goods and baked goods to be judged. The largest pumpkin this year was 675 lbs. (plus or minus a few as I can't remember numbers that well). It seems like last year it was a 700-something pounder. In the gazebo musicians entertained with really good music. Of course, the animals the 4H kids raised and cared for were all so clean and healthy looking. They'd take turns leading the cows down to the river to give them a drink. This truly is a wonderful country fair. All this on a beautiful autumn day with pure blue skies and a gentle breeze, no humidity and about 75 degrees. We drove up in the Gypsy Wagon so after the fair we spent the night up on Darling Hill and slept so, with full tummies and tired feet. Natures alarm clock awakens us at around 5 something in the morning.... the hooting of the owls! They were quite vociferous this morning!
Enjoy these lovely fall days!
"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" Micah 6:8
It was great meeting you at the fair and that you could come up to the hill and sleep. Yes, the owls were certainly lulling us to sleep (and awake). That book is so nice. I'm glad Denins liked it. It is good, knowing Lizzie will be going South with you this year. She'll be so happy once she gets there.
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