Fall Is Here

Well,officially,Fall is not here for a few more days yet,but the fact that one could see their breath a tad this AM at the bus stop tells me it is here now!The leaves are changing faster,and Tuesday when I was coming back from grocery shopping, I saw a flock of geese flying south,in their V formation. It was the first flock I have seen of the season. When I see them going to warmer climates,that means ( to me) that Fall is here.

Another thing that tells me Fall is here is we take stock of our woodpile. Though we have plenty for the season,we still wanted to get more for the future.Wood needs to be seasoned in order to burn properly ( ever try to burn fresh cut wood?). This year, instead of ordering pre cut,we got tree length,which,though it requires the extra work to cut and split it,winds up costing less in the long run. Pre cut wood can run upwards of $200 a cord.

We were pleased that they delivered our wood within a few days of ordering. It was neat to watch the truck operator lower the arm,the claw pick up a few logs,then place them on the ground. He left a few minutes before Zach got out of school,which was a bummer. He would've loved to have seen it.

We made sure to tell Zach not to climb on the woodpile,but Rick wanted a picture of Zach on top of it to give an idea of how big the pile is. Rick carefully checked each log to make sure it was sturdy enough,and he helped Zach climb on up.There are oak,maple,black cherry,and several other hardwoods. Hardwoods are best for burning,because they burn longer and hotter than soft woods,such as pine. Out of this pile we should get at least 7 cords of wood,possibly more. Another sign of Fall is apple picking. We have just started apple picking in the last two years. Last year I went with My Dear Friend Michelle during the week,and I do admit I enjoyed that because it wasn't busy.This year,the apples are earlier due to the hot dry summer we had,and I really wanted Zach to go.He doesn't have any days off from school until Columbus Day,and I was concerned that the apples we wanted to pick would be either past prime or gone by then,so we went on Saturday. Rick has never been apple picking,before, so it was a nice family activity.

We picked McIntosh and Honey Crisps ( Honey Crisps are my favorite!)
Zach picked the lower apples and could squeeze into the branches. Rick could pick the ones higher up.I picked a few,but wanted the boys to have most of the fun. ( You can see Rick having a good time!)Though Zach's expression doesn't show it,he had a grand old time. He was so excited to walk up and down the rows,trying to find the right kind of apple. Each row is marked with a sign,so one knows which type of apple is in the row.

If you haven't tried apple picking,you should. It's a great way to kick off the Fall season...plus... the pies are wonderful!!!