The last day of autumn is December 20th so perhaps I can get this in under the wire?
We live in New England, the best place to experience the joy of autumn. This year was warmer and dryer than usual, but the leaves still displayed those deep colors of autumn providing us with visual delights.
One of my annual fall traditions is applesauce making. I am not certain how many years this tradition goes back? My grandmother and mother always made applesauce from scratch and at some point it became my tradition. Ceci loves my applesauce and inquired if she could make some with me. OF COURSE! I use a variety of apples, including Granny Smith. I always leave the peels on the sliced apples, cook them in a small amount of cider and then use a food mill. The color of the red peels makes my applesauce “rosy.” This year we added a new gadget, an apple peeler/corer as added fun for the kids. The downside is that without the peels, there is no color in the sauce. Solution – we used the corer/peeler only on the Granny Smith apples.
Ceci puts some muscle into the food mill.
The applesauce was delicious!
A late September road trip took us out of Connecticut to Maine to visit with Sam & Kayda and John & Carol.
One of our favorite things to do with Sam and Kyla is a visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Sam and Kayda volunteer there so we get our personalized tour.
From Sam and Kayda’s we moseyed northward to visit John and Carol with a brief stop at a couple of specialty yarn shops (Love the handcrafted yarns form small mills.)
Our October weather was on the mild side allowing outdoor activities.
On the left, the Milford crew chose a dual theme of Lord of the Rings (Gandalf and who is Ryan?) and Beetlejuice (Lydia Deetz and Beetlejuice.)
On the right, the Canton crew chose Harry Potter (Hagrid, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall
We made another road trip, this time south to Pennsylvania and Delaware. We timed our visit for my Class of 1974 50th Reunion. Fifty years – hard to believe! I have not seen my “gang” from college in over 40 years so it felt like a big step to go back.
The trip to Pennsylvania also included a visit with my sister and Jeanne.
And then it was off to Delaware to visit Alicia and her family.
Our fall festivities included the four states of Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Delaware where we enjoyed the company of friends and family, near and far.
We are ever so thankful for all of our family and our dear friends.
Burt & Prue Preston
You certainly had a busy fall, even if it didn’t include Kindred Spirit. We wish both of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
watsons
We just had a lovely but small snowfall here this morning, making it feel very Christmas-y.
Merry Christmas to you and Bert!
Ellen Margel Seltzer
Loved the pictures…so different from the boat BUT where was the ice cream? I did want a piece of birthday cake though…so glad you enjoy your grandkids so much. It’s beautiful to see. Happy holidays.
watsons
Ahhh, Ellen, look closely at the picture of me, Addie and Al sitting on a bench. They both have their ice creams in hand. 😉