An abundance of apples

October 18, 2006 at 3:41 pm | Posted in country living, faith, family, food, free knitting patterns, Knit Alongs, knit-a-long, knitting, yarn | 14 Comments

There is an abundance of apples all around us … in huge apples boxes filling up local barns, in baskets and boxes and on tables at road side farm stands, hanging heavy from rows and rows of trees in nearby orchards, and even here in our home. A few days ago my husband and I went to a farm a few miles west of our place and bought a bushel of apples for twelve dollars. Crisp, beautiful, glorious apples in several varieties. The sun porch I use for my art studio is not insulated and therefore has already become quite cold; we are storing the apples in there to keep them fresh. The apple season will end about the end of October, so we expect to go back and buy another bushel before Halloween. They will last into December for fresh eating and for apple pies in November.

On Sunday morning I, along with several ladies from our church, participated in a charity walk to benefit breast cancer research sponsored by The American Cancer Society. A few of the ladies from our church are breast cancer survivors and we were proud to walk side-by-side with them.

The walk was held at a large nearby apple farm so we got to walk amidst their orchards, smelling the apples and enjoying a very cold and cloudy autumn morning. We were encouraged to grab an apple off a tree if we were so inclined, which was a very inviting touch to the 3K walk.

As the walk began one of the survivors, Jean (she is in her 80’s), turned to the rest of us and said in a firm no-nonsense voice, “March, march, march!” I said, “No wonder you survived breast cancer … cancer was afraid of you.” The group got a good chuckle out of that and I am sure I saw a grin on Jean’s face as she turned forward to begin walking.

A few minutes into the walk I noticed Jean was no longer with our group, so I looked around for her and saw she was lagging behind. I dropped back to walk with her, so she wouldn’t be alone. The ground was still soppy and muddy from the snow last Friday, and she was struggling with slippery rubber boots she had borrowed from her newphew. She had to take small, careful steps and doing so tired her out faster than normal walking would have. Before long, all of the other people on the walk passed us by, so we happily took up the rear. It was nice walking along with Jean, chatting and enjoying many views from within the apple orchard.

At the end of the walk a few of the ladies wanted to stay for breakfast at the farm; they serve a Sunday brunch at that farm which is quite good. Normally we would have all been at church services that morning, but the service was held in the evening so that as many people as possible could attend the walk. Our little church raised $750 for the breast cancer walk, which I think it wonderful for a congregation that only consists of about thirty-five or forty people. The congregation is mostly elderly folks who have lived here all their lives. They all sort of adopted my husband twenty years ago when his father died at an early age. They are dear, strong people with warm smiles and hearts of gold who welcomed me readily when I moved here last spring after we got married. (Note: Two or three hundred people attended the charity walk from nearby farms, villages, and towns. In all, this one walk must have raised more than $10,000 I believe, and our part of that was $750.)

This coming Saturday evening they are putting on a hayride … that ougth to be sweet fun. There will be corn chowder and hot apple cider, hot cocoa, popcorn, doughnuts, and plenty of cookies. It will most likely be very cold, so I am quickly knitting up a hat for myself from more of the Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn I bought in Lavender Mix. The design for this hat formed in my mind after the snow on Friday, and I have not been able to get the mental picture to leave. I figure I need to knit it up not only to keep my head warm, but also to get the picture to ease on out of my mind when I am trying to go to sleep at night.

It will match my Lavender Scarf but will have special features too … oooh, a mystery for you to wait for! The pattern will be posted on Monday along with photos, so do come back to check on that.

If you are participating in the Knit Along for Jinny’s Vines … I have not abandoned that project, just taken a brief break to make the Lavender Hat. I’ll be back to the blanket by Sunday. I put up a link on the sidebar for quick access to the knit along, in case that is helpful. Plus, you can find a link to it on the Patterns page link in the top navigation.

Time now for me to get to work on some projects for clients. Thanks for stopping by; I hope you had something warm and cozy to sip while you were reading. Have a wonderful day.

~firefly