It seems like just last week I was putting up the last of the Illinois peaches... but now it is totally apple season. On Sept. 11, a group of us from our church went to Eckert's farm in Belleville to pick our own apples. It was a little early, but that meant we got to pick Jonathons! They make great applesauce and pies, but they are even better as a lunch box treat.
Our group of intrepid apple pickers included, Mary, Madeline, Marty, Norm, Kim, DebE, Darrell, and little Annabelle. That's over 100 pounds of apples in those sacks!
Our warm weather persisted through most of the month, and even last Sunday, it was a challenge to keep everyone in the church sanctuary cool enough without air conditioning. (Thieves stole the copper from two of the church's outdoor units...and we are still replacing them, or rather the improved fence to protect the new ones.) Today we were hoping everyone would be warm enough. It's supposed to get to 47 tonight and although I'm not worried about the houseplants on the porch freezing, I know I have to start getting them sprayed and washed and moved into the house.
More signs that summer is over and fall is really here:
- Robins were flocking on the golf course this evening. Scores of them.
- Hummingbirds are still coming through, but the combative males are gone, and the remaining ones often linger a while and tank up before moving on. This morning I realized a feeder in the dining room window was empty after a hummingbird sat there and stared inside the house at Norm and me while we ate our breakfast. (Yes, we filled the feeder.)
- Buds on the chrysanthemums are showing lots of color.
- The tree frogs have finally fallen silent. Only the crickets give a night concert now.
- Spiders are starting to reappear around the house.
- Moles are very active, as are squirrels building winter nests.
- The furnace, which is set at 72 degrees, came on for the first time this afternoon.
- I wore socks with my sandals today for the first time since sometime last May.
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