My favorite folks ! :)

26 October 2009

I reserve the right to retitle this later

I'm rather amazed & amused when other folks "apologize" for not having posted on their own blogs for a few days. I guess i used to do that in grade school in my diary, but i find it amusing now. Anyway, i haven't posted for a few days. I am feeling better tho i've spent large portions of each of the days in bed. But it has been worth it over all as not much cough has developed. That is my weak spot & i usually develop a nasty cough that can continue for weeks. Maybe, maybe i've missed that this time by resting so much.

I mentioned Sis #3 & i went picture hunting last week. I never went thru the pics
last week however. Here are a few. Sis took quite a few of these with our camera (she forgot hers).

These last two i've added just because of the blue sky. The upper left corner of the last one is the color of the Big Bear sky quite often.

We've had a glorious fall here. Nights are quite cool, but the days lovely & it has given us lots of time for the trees to turn. Sadly, now a week later much of this color is gone. The trees that were brilliant a week ago are now brown. The wind has blown most of the leaves into drifts on the ground. The trees in our yard/garden have lost most of their leaves.

It wasn't a very good idea for us to leave the apples on the tree so long. By the time i picked them most had been partially eaten by the birds. We need to trim the apple tree back & use a bird net next year. Saturday i picked most of the apples that were left. I found a few that were whole (& we shared those with neighbors). The rest i cut off the bad parts & cooked down. I also got some organic green apples from the health food market & added them. I ended up with probably 1/2 or 3/4 gallon of applesauce, which i took to church for fellowship.

Sunday was Reformation Sunday & it is a particularly big deal in our church 'cause our pastor venerates Luther. (Our pastor has a habit, one that Duane & i don't care for, where he often uses the same hymn twice in the service. Yesterday we did the hymn "A Mighty Fortress" FOUR times ! ! ! All four verses four times! Plus the words were used in the liturgy AND he used the music during communion. Over the top.)

Anyway, Pastor wanted a "German Meal" for fellowship. I had been scheduled to help that day & so i was told applesauce would be good. It turned out well, & the folks who tried it liked it a lot. However, another lady brought a vat of applesauce (like almost 3 times what i brought) & so 3/4s of mine was left. Had she not done that, mine would have been eaten. I've a problem (i get irritated) sometimes with our potlucks as there is always so much food that i end up taking a large portion of what i made home. This time i thought, "Well, if i'm the only one bringing applesauce, at least it will get eaten!" Best laid plans of mice & men. However, one of the other ladies liked what i made so much she took most of it home with her. Duane doesn't like applesauce. What i have left is just enough for me. :)

The men thought it was a great spread & suggested we do this every week which garnered glares from many of the ladies. Some of them spent all day Saturday preparing for this. Pastor said, "I told them to do it simply." To which i replied, "A German meal simple???" And, of course, a German meal meant either flour or meat in every dish, including the potato salad. So i had some apple cider & some of the applesauce. I'm apple-d out for a while.

This is Sis #3 & her Friend before he left last Sunday.

I called Sis yesterday & said that we missed them, what had happened, they didn't come up?

And she said, " ? ? ? "

"I thought this was going to be a weekly thing," i replied.

"Oh, i am sorry," she responded. "I am so, so very sorry . . . that you are so delusional."

Ah, well. It was worth a try.

BTW, Amrita, some parts of our country do use a train or transit system. I used the bus system in Orange County for a while when i didn't have a car. (But i have to say it was a pain. What would have been a 10 minute drive in a car was over an hour on the bus.) I've used the train to San Diego several times & it is quite a pleasant trip. No trains come to Big Bear, so it isn't an option for us most of the time. I think they should build a train/transit from Corona/San Bernardino into OC & LA. Too many folks on that freeway! But you are right, most Americans prefer to drive.

Friday night we went to see Food, Inc. It is a movie/documentary i think everyone in this country should see. It didn't have as much blood & guts as i imagined it would. But it covers a number of excellent points about our current system, most importantly that the way our food is currently produced is far removed from what most people know & understand. It only touches on why this is contributing to our current problems with obesity & chronic illness, but it is an important part. This movie also provides hope. It has some folks who are trying to raise healthy animals & do sustainable farming. But, i was a bit disappointed because i expected the film to be 50/50 bad stuff/hope. No, more like 70/30. But still a good film to see.

Having read Mercola & other health websites for several years, now, there was not much in the movie i didn't already know. Except the tie between illegal immigrant farm workers from Mexico & American corn subsidy - that was new to me. However, this movie put it all together very well. I consider it only a starting point to learn about these things, but i will be buying it when it comes out on DVD & sharing it with everyone who wants to see it.

I was raised on a small piece of land. My parents had 10 acres, but we raised a large garden & had dairy & beef cows, sheep, chickens, horses, & later goats. I read a number of blogs that are folks living that way (tho usually with more acreage.) I support the continuation of small farms. The problems with the food system listed in the movie above is one of the reasons i switched to (mostly) vegetarianism. But another is the fact that these animals have personality. Someone posted how the steer they are raising for beef likes attention. I can't imagine eating my cats. To me (& i know not for others) it is essentially the same thing. But i also try not to be rude to others who don't agree with my point of view.

I've more pics for another day. And i will take pics of the knitting soon. BTW, i found a wonderful blog for crafts of all kinds: The Purl Bee. Found several knitting patterns there, but also crochet, quilting, sewing, crafting with felt (saw some mitten ornaments i want to make this year) & a lot of other things, too. Another blog i follow informs me that Christmas is 60 days away (i didn't really need to know that!)

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh -- some of these pictures are nothing less than stunning!
Cindy

Amrita said...

I liked your photos and description.

Applesauce must be sweet. I like sauces with a sweet-sour and chilli - spicy flavor. My sister got me a tin of cranberry sauce which I did not like, it was too sweet. We have a special tamarind sauce which we have with our snacks, its really yummy.

The German meal must be really hearty. I enjoy potlucks and then people just give away or exchange the left overs - so its fun - no one wants to take back the food they brought.

One hymn 4 times in a service...no I wouldn 't like that too. Too much repitition.
There are Lutheran churches in India, but we don 't have one in my city.

We are also mostly vegetarian because of health reasons and our meat products are more expensive too.

I have heard of special trains in the US which take you through touristy places too.

India has the the longest train system in the world.

Jena Webber said...

Beautiful photos! I love the white pine? with the tendrils spread out.

Linda said...

Hey some of your pictures look like mine that we just took in Missouri,...yet you are in California....isn't that cool!

I posted them today...so you can go take a peek. (I got carried away, and I even have more to post in a couple of days) Yikes! I just can't help it,...I LOVE TREES IN THE FALL,...and anytime really.

Homemade applesauce sounds good. Maybe I will make some soon.

Take care!
Linda @ Truthful Tidbits