An Orchard of Apples

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible. ~Welsh Proverb

When #2 son comes home from school one of his jobs recently is to take the days worth of apple skins and cores up into the woods to share with the deer and other animals. Maybe some time in the future an orchard might grow from these scraps. And I feel like we have peeled an orchards worth of apples this week. Even with a Dr's appointment and sitting at a friends house while an electrician did some work we still did an amazing amount of apples. We got 10 1/2 quarts of applesauce with red hots (a fav of #1 daughter's), 25 pints of apple butter and 35 quarts of apple pie filling...and there are still apples left which have to be made into cider. The equipment is all set up but the kids and I haven't found the time yet.

Last night #1 daughter came down to help do some work in the house today. We ended up making more apple pie filling instead of laying bathroom tile because the man was afraid the cool damp weather was not conducive to this. So he is getting heat in the house tonight. Tomorrow #1 daughter and #1 son are going to help, so we can lay the tile in the bathroom, tiles behind and under the woodstove and prime the walls in the kitchen and living room. I am looking forward to having all my children working together. Sounds like the start to a beautiful weekend.