Yesterday was an apple-picking day. When we planned our orchard, we guessed at when some fruits would ripen in our own yard and hoped for a variety of fruits and berries that would be ready over the course of the entire season, not all at once. We began with 5 apple trees. We've now lost two of them and are down to an early, a late, and a very late apple.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been finding some of the early apples here and there on the ground in the garden, partially chewed then discarded by either raccoons or squirrels. Time to beat those little rascals to our fruit, even if they're still a bit green. So, yesterday I took the large stock-pot, 2 ladders, and a jacket with deep pockets out to the orchard. Luckily for me, I'm still able to keep my balance on the ladders. I climb, fill my pockets with apples, then descend to add to the stock-pot. I came away with an overfull pot of apples yesterday.
I did pretty well, only dropping 2 apples out of the whole bunch. When I realized I was getting tired and was likely to make a mistake or lose my balance, I called it quits for the day. This afternoon, I'll see if I can reach those last few apples.
The ripening of the early apples serves as a reminder that summer doesn't last forever and cooler weather is on its way. It's a bittersweet moment. I love the coziness of fall weather, but I love summer so much and know that I will miss it terribly until it arrives once again next year. This feeling serves as an impetus for me to get out there and do those summery things that I love, such as beach combing for sea glass.
Remember my wire-wrapping jewelry? Well, I'm working on wrapping some of the sea glass that I've collected over the years to make pendants, earrings, and beads for a necklace or bracelet. The learning curve isn't too steep for wire-wrapping sea glass, but my technique is still definitely an in-progress thing. But it's been fun seeing what I can do with my collection of glass pieces. Here's a piece of green sea glass wrapped in silver wire to use as a pendant.
Back to those apples -- later yesterday afternoon, I cooked a pot of caramel sauce for dipping apple pieces.
If you love the taste of caramel apples but are not keen on the precision for making a thick caramel coating for whole apples, an imprecise caramel sauce is just the thing. I like to cut the apples into wedges and place them around a pool of caramel sauce. This makes a delicious dessert or snack for my family members (and of course, for me).
And now, I'm back out to the orchard to get those last early apples. I hope you are enjoying these fleeting summer days!
