appley ever after
One of the things that's feeling a little stressful in this busy busy time is the couple bushels of apples sitting on our kitchen floor. For whatever reason, despite the drought this was a great year for apples. It wasn't anything I did; wild crab apple trees are coming out with bumper crops too. But we're benefiting, because we have way more apples than we've ever gotten before. Three or four times more! Lots of them are far from perfect, of course—most of them we pick up off the ground—but all the ones we bring inside are good for something. More cider is in our plans, and jelly. There are more than enough solid northern spies to make a few good pies. And even amidst the bruises and insect damage there's a goodly number of beautiful, perfect apples, that feel like an amazing gift: apples that when you bite into them juice drips down your chin. It's the life, I tell you! Now if only I didn't have anything else to do so I could deal with them with the attention that they deserve!