Sarah, Tosh, and their friend Dan arrived last Sunday evening. They were here until Tuesday evening. It was great having them here. They brought us a load of good things – a box of apples, all sorts of baked goodies, and a new car, a 2001 Honda Accord. Unfortunately we hardly saw Tosh and Dan the whole time they were here. They spent most of the time working on the car. We appreciate so much all they did.
On Monday I got to stay home and spend the day with Sarah. We spent most of the day in the kitchen – of course. We made tomato sauce. We started a batch of sauerkraut. Sarah made an apple pie. We used some of my celery, onions, carrots, and cabbage to make a gallon of vegetable stock, which we then froze for future use. It was fun working together and talking together.
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| Sarah making pie crust. |
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| Pounding cabbage into the crock for sauerkraut. |
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| Sarah's apple pie. |
Tuesday evening we picked up a bushel of grapes from the Amish. We spent Wednesday evening canning grape juice. We ended up with three gallons.
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| Grape juice. |
On Wednesday Josiah’s senior class went on a field trip down to Mannheim, Pennsylvania, to the Renaissance Fair. They left the school at 4:00 A.M. and got back at 8:30 P.M. The students were offered extra credit if they dressed up. Josiah and Stacey came up with a costume for him. He had a great time.
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| Josiah's Renaissance costume. |
Thursday I didn’t get called into school and I was glad. I have so much to do at home. I’m at the point where I’m running out of good days to work outside. Luckily, Thursday was a beautiful day. It started out foggy, but by 11:00 the fog was gone, the dew had dried, and it had warmed up to 65°. I spent the morning painting until it cleared up outside and then spent the rest of the day in the garden. I planted my spring bulbs, and worked at clearing the flower beds and the two vegetable gardens.
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| Foggy Thursday morning. |
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| Foggy Thursday morning. |
On Saturday Stacey and I went to the temple in the morning. The drive through New York State to Palmyra was gorgeous. I had my camera with me. I think the leaves are at their peak right now. We had some wind and many of the trees are almost bare already, but the colors have suddenly grown brighter.
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| The temple on Saturday. |
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| On the drive home from Palmyra. |
This morning we had frost again. I think the frost intensified the colors of the leaves. On our way home from church we took the back roads from Genesee through Ellisburg and over Cobb Hill just to see the glory. The changing of the trees always seems like a miracle to me. Although I’ve read the scientific explanation for how they change, it seems inadequate to me. I like to think of it as God’s way of letting the trees say good-bye as they go to sleep for the winter. He could have made them so the leaves fall green or shriveled to gray dust, but he made them blaze and dazzle us as they go dormant. It is a gift to help us as we brace ourselves for the long cold months ahead.
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| Sunrise this morning. |
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| Sunrise this morning. |
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| On the drive home from church. |
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| On the drive home from church. |
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| Heading up Cobb Hill. |
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| On the drive home from church. |
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| On our way home from church. |
