I've only just begun.
Peeling apples, that is.
But the end result is so tasty and even more comforting with each and every spoonful of cold, lumpy applesauce.
Plus, it's good for people with troubled digestive systems.
Applesauce is one of the four foods suggested when people have flare-ups with gastrointestinal problems.
Preparing the sauce also reminds me of my mother who taught me how to make applesauce when I was growing up on North Boyer.
We had a row of delicious apples along our driveway between the house and the front pasture.
One of the trees produced yellow delicious apples while the other three were red delicious.
The yellow delicious, which was closest to the road, was our favorite variety for eating.
We also had a tree down in the pasture west of the hay field. I don't recall what kind those were, but I know that we picked them and often shook the tree to get as many as possible.
With all those apples, we enjoyed lots of apple pies and applesauce.
Mother always quartered the apples for sauce and sliced them for pie.
Mother's sauce was lumpy, and that's the way I've liked it ever since.
Like my mother, I never measure sugar or cinnamon when I throw it into a pan of boiling apples.
Most of the time, my guesses work out. The key is to add sugar and cinnamon to taste, not to regret overdoing it at first.
Anyway, the first batch for this winter went into the jars last night. In addition, a bowl of the fresh-made sauce went into the refrigerator.
My apples are relatively small, so peeling them is a tedious, time-consuming chore. Nevertheless, they grew on the Lovestead, they're bigger and more plentiful than usual this year and they're worm-free, so that makes the winter supply of sauce all the better.
So, I'll keep peeling away.
Annie recently had the opportunity to listen to Thomas Dambo, the Danish creator of this and other wooden trolls made from recycled wood throughout the world.
Dambo, who hails from Copenhagen, was in Seattle for the launch of a temporary exhibit of twelve trolls which will be available in selected spots through Jan. 2027.
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"The launch of his ambitious "Trail of a Thousand Trolls" project in the early 2010s marked a significant turning point.
"This global initiative aims to create one thousand trolls from recycled materials, hiding them in natural settings for people to discover.
The project transformed Dambo from a local artist into an international figure, with each troll serving as a unique guardian of its environment and a catalyst for adventure."
He's an amazing artist, as you'll see by clicking the following link.
In reading about Dambo's works, I realized that, if we had had more time on our last day in Ireland, we could have seen a sample of his art in a lovely forest park called Gortin Glen, which we visited while driving through Northern Ireland.
Guess we'll have to go back sometime.
This troll in Ballard is one of six residing in Dambo's permanent Northwest collection.
Most are in the Seattle area, but one lives in Portland.
Sounds like a good time to head to the Seattle area and follow the trails of the trolls.
For those of us diehard fans: a comforting and reassuring perspective on Gonzaga men's basketball
Spokesman-Review sports reporter Theo Lawson writes:
I'll have lots more about Gonzaga's eventful offseason in our college hoops preview section on Nov. 1, but wanted to pass on this quote from asst. Stephen Gentry on how the Zags may have actually improved their roster – and backcourt, specifically – despite offseason departures.
"We faced a ton of obstacles throughout this unique offseason,
but I think it really strengthened our staff and our program in a lot of ways
and obviously we’re still navigating those curveballs and everything but I
think golly, we upgraded at so many spots this offseason which is amazing to
think with the curveballs and situations we were in.
"But we feel like we totally upgraded at the guard spots and actually came out of this with a better, stronger roster. We think not only the pieces individually upgraded, but I think the pieces fit together extremely well.
Today's photos mark pretty much the final act for "Fall Color 2026."
Our red maple has just a smattering of leaves yet to fall, especially after yesterday's full day of bitterly cold wind.
I mulched most of them and have more yet to do.
It's always a sad time to go through this process, knowing that we'll be waiting months for vibrant colors to return.
Yes, snow does help heighten up the scenes, but it's a whole lot more fun enjoying them when you don't have to fight the snow.
It's pretty gloomy out those windows this morning, and a light rain is falling.
This weekend marks the "fall back" transition so we literally have dark days ahead and will have to depend on elements other than Mother Nature to maintain some good attitude.
Maybe the upcoming election will do that.
It's all in the perspective.
Happy Tuesday.
