Oh, October.

I'm back, Estate Sale behind me, (yay!) and most of October with it.  I've been busy as a bee, getting ready for the holidays and winter. I know most people do their major cleaning in the spring, but something about the idea of being trapped inside for the winter makes me want to redo everything. Everything!

So along with trying to get things cleaned up and ready for cold winds blowing, we have also been enjoying another good apple harvest. Our wild crabapple was loaded with beautiful little apples again this year and we made a big batch of crabapple jelly using this recipe. It is sooo good! I am not usually big on jams and jellies, but this stuff is the bomb and my favorite way to have it is on fresh home made bread, slathered with warm brie. Something about the tart flavor of this jelly just sets off the creamy richness of the cheese in the best way imaginable.

 We had 14 jars of the clear, ruby red jelly so we made some of my Honey Wheat French bread, got a wheel of brie and added a jar of the jelly for each of our pastors.  It is pastor appreciation month you know. 

 If you haven't told your pastor you appreciate him/her, you still have 4 days to do it in October. Of course don't let missing it in October stop you. Appreciation can be expressed any time. :)

 Finally, look at what we passed last night on our walk. Just look!  It seemed that every tree was in its full glory, each one prettier than the last.

 There was that spicy scent of leaves in the air, could someone just bottle that? Please? I left the path just to hear the crunch of the fallen leaves.

The air was cool and crisp, the setting sun shone through the leaves like stained glass, and I couldn't help but think how fleeting this all is. It has to be breathed in and soaked up and stored in memory until it happens again next year.
Enjoy your October, I'll see you in November!