This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

A pup named Bronwyn

This past weekend while we were apple picking at Liberty View Farm, we passed a yard sale.

The Hubs saw the sign for a dog and wanted to stop.  The sign read "Free to a good home, 10 month old half boxer, half coon hound." I wanted a little time to think about a new dog.

That Sunday we were back in the area (not really but somehow we "magically" ended up over that way) and he wanted to just see the dog.

Yup we are the proud owners of that half Coon Hound, half Boxer 10 month old puppy.  She is such a sweet dog!  Her name is Bronwyn.

Unfortunately our Bronwyn is not quite a whiz yet....She is not housebroken or trained.  This is very frustrating!

But how could you not love that face!  And her nubby little tail!

Our other two (yes two, we are crazy I guess) dogs are taking it okay.  Bronwyn is full of energy and is ready to play all hours of the day! She is going to begin obedience training starting next week.  I really hope this helps us be able to deal with her overly energetic self.  After all she is just a puppy!

Apples anyone?

I love October, the smell of the crisp clean air, the foliage, pumpkins, and apples....Yes I am once again blogging about apples!

We went apple picking this weekend.....I am now up to my eyeballs in apples and I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Little Bug.....

A good motto to live by.....

We leased an organic apple tree from Liberty View farm. It cost about $70 but everything on the tree was ours!  We got about 75 pounds of sweet, juicy, organic apples from our tree. That's a little less than a dollar a pound for apples!  Farmer Billiam is just a sweet, wonderful person, I am really glad we found this farm. We are definitely leasing a tree again next year!  If you are interested in leasing a tree just follow the link above. 2012 is not up on the site just yet but I am sure it will be as soon as their busy season is over!

I can reach this one.....

We call her "Two Bites" Little Bug!  Such an apple waster!!

I already put up about 11 cans of applesauce and made an large pan of apple crisp and I still have two bags of apples left!  I am thinking about making some apple pie filling and apple butter as well!!

We filled up three of these bags!!

Little Bird is crazy about bees too!  Liberty View has bee hives, along with goats, pigs and chickens, so they were hanging out by us the whole time we picked.  She was very excited that this little honey bee, along with many others, landed on her apple!  She has such a great respect for bees because she knows that we wouldn't have food if it wasn't for these little guys!  (No bee nor child was harmed during this picture or while picking!)

Little Bird and the honey bee

We were also invited to apple pick with the Hubs family on Sunday. We picked a few apples but we were just there to get some pumpkins.....

The Hubs, Little Bird and Bug trying to find a nice pumpkin!!

Yes my children dress up to go to the farm.  We had a lot of fun picking and talking with everyone!  We don't get to see each other that much so it is extra fun when we do get together.  My niece and nephews were just so cute!!

M, eating apples when your front teeth are missing is kind of hard!!

K loved eating apples!!

T with a bag of apples!

And to top it all off the leaves on the top of the mountain have begun their transformation.  If you live in the area and get a chance take a ride over the mountain on Rt 44-55.  When you get just past Minnewaska State Park I promise you won't be disappointed!!  Mother Nature has surely done some beautiful work this year!  I am hoping to get up there and take some pictures soon!

I can do it all by myself... 

Disclaimer- All of the opinions regarding Liberty View Farms are solely my own.  Liberty View did not compensate me in any way, shape or form to write this raving review.  They are just an awesome farm!  Mother Nature on the other hand bribes me all the time!  Haha!  

This Moment

I know I started a "Hooray for Friday" but I found this over at SouleMama and it is just a sweet way to end the week.......Enjoy!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Knitting.....

I have found I love to knit. Mind you I am not a seasoned pro, I have only been knitting for a month now and it is my new favorite way to relax.  I love to try and find just the right type of yarn.  There are so many different types of yarn, wool, synthetics, novelty and specialty. The textures, the colors, I could spend hours trying to find just the right skein of wool.  I am by no stretch of the imagination a pro.  I have so much to learn.....

There is such a sense of accomplishment from finishing and giving something handmade!  I love handmade gifts so much more than something bought at a store.  I think homemade is so much more personal.  

Here is a sneak peek at a scarf I am making for the Hubs, don't worry he already knows all about it!  He works outside all winter, I want him to be warm.

It's just a basic knit stitch, grey scarf.

I love how relaxing knitting is........

I could do it for hours and hours.......

I am so eager to learn new techniques but I am trying to not get ahead of myself.  I just want to finish this scarf for the Hubs.

I am sure he will love it! 

The last Kindergardens of the season....

Wow!  Kindergardens has finally come to an end!  It felt like this summer just whizzed on by!  It was great seeing other gardens and watching our children learn about how to tend a garden.  Even though it was hard work, we had so much fun in our garden this year!  We are not quite done harvesting yet!

I was so excited to find that 2 of our pumpkins were ready to be harvested.  The other 2 are still green and small but there is still hope they will turn before it get too cold!  This was our surprise harvest. We never planted pumpkins they germinated all by themselves from last years pumpkins, which we threw over the deck once they went past their prime!  Surprise! These will be our carving pumpkins for Halloween!

Our  pumpkins Jack and O' Lantern! 

We have been trying to get out to pick the tomatoes as well as the rest of the garden, but this rain!  We may have to build an ark soon!  20+ inches in two months, CRAZY!! A lot of my cherry tomatoes have big splits in them and if I remember correctly this means that they were over watered.  Sigh....oh well, the chickens have been eating them so I don't feel like they are completely wasted.  I am trying to pick them green and ripen them inside to see if this helps a little.  We did find a late zucchini and were very happy since the deer got into most of the plants!

Little Bug helping with harvesting!  

As for the chickens, no more casualties yet and no eggs. Thank you to everyone who emailed me with advice on how to keep a handle on this!  It was so appreciated!  We have been trying to find someone who has gals already laying eggs for sale.  We thought we found a guy up in Tannersville, we had some conversations but then he never wrote me back to schedule a pick up. Then a friend (and fellow chicken owner) offered to get a phone number for her friend in Gardiner (which is much closer), I will see her today and hopefully she will have the number!  So hopefully in the next week or so we will have chickens that actually lay eggs!

It is almost the end of the summer growing season, what are you happy to have harvested.  Did you have a surprise harvest like we did?