So we took the kids out behind the Church on Friday and picked apples. The branches were loaded down and the neighbor said they were ripe, but I’m having my doubts. Anyway, Katie, Abby and (temporarily) Natalie got up in the tree and threw apples down (not at the rest of us, of course); Jess went up on the ladder; Dad shook branches to bring fruit raining down; Natalie chewed apples at random she found in the grass; and Jacob sat in his car seat and cried. (Emma and Becca are still at their grandparents’ house in Utah.)

This is the result: about 200 pounds of partially ripe apples. On Saturday Jessica got up and started apple saucing (she prefers to work alone in the kitchen, so I went outside and struggled with the wood shed roof again). At the end of the day she had 19 quarts of apple sauce done. She still has the majority of apples to process.

She’s headed into the big city today to make a Costco run and pick the kids up at the airport. She’s given me notice that if she sees fruit stands offering something she wants to can, she’ll be stopping. The canning season has begun!