The Makings of a Sunday

Sunday was a gorgeous day, here in western Pennsylvania! The sun was brightly shining...but the air was cool, proving that autumn has really set in! We attended a church service for the dedication of our one niece to the Lord...her parents promised to raise her to love Him and guide her in His ways. It was quite lovely.
Following the service, we had fellowship with family and friends at the pavillion with a picnic. We had a delicious meal of sliced ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls (that was my contribution), and an array of desserts to choose from!

Some of the men-folk went off to play horseshoes, to burn off all those calories eaten, I'm sure! ;)

Look out yonder (below)...do you see what caught my eye? That lovely barn-red spot in the trees...isn't it beautiful? One little patch waiting for the other leaves around it to catch up! I have every intention, as more leaves turn colors, of making one of THESE fantastic jars. Oh how I love the autumn changes as the cooler weather settles in.

Madelyn, enjoying time on the swingset...

Normally, after a filling lunch and time of fellowship, everyone would head home to enjoy a nice, relaxing Sunday with their family. This particular Sunday, however, had quite a different agenda! It was apple-cider-making-time! The family's fall festival is coming up this weekend and our fresh-pressed apple cider is a favorite among townsfolk who come and visit! 

We begin with lots of apples!!!

We needed some pears too, as they just add the right bit of extra flavor to the cider. There's my Christopher, monkey that he is, up in the tree picking pears...

Here's a sort of *Where's Waldo?* puzzle...except this time, it's *Where's Xavier?* (like father, like son...monkeys ~ *both* of them, I tell ya!) Can you find him?...

Others got in on the pear-picking too...

Then it was time to press every ounce of juice out of those lovely fruits...

Yum, look at all that beautiful juice, freshly-squeezed...

The leftovers...

Cider, ready to be put into jugs...

I stayed busy, for a bit, putting labels on jugs. We had a lot of help there...so I even got to squeeze in some time holding my niece from Chris's side of the family!

The juice was strained again, then placed into jugs...which were lidded and wiped down...then placed into the cooler!

Finishing up...

The sky was just breath-taking as the sun set...

It was an exhausting but enjoyable day! Do you like apple cider? I love it! If you are local, stop by the festival on Saturday...anytime from 9-5...we'll have good food, face painting, cider, craft booths, a hay maze, buggy rides and more! If you *aren't* able to come, I will be sure to share pictures of the day, here, for you to see! We are praying for good weather! 

Yesterday, I awoke at 4 in the morning with a terrible migraine. Thankfully, after much rest and prayer, I was feeling much better by the time the afternoon rolled in. Today, we are making up the schoolwork we weren't able to finish yesterday, due to my headache. We have accomplished some but have more to go. I best get going...Thank-you for visiting! :) 

"You will always have joy in the evening if you spend the day fruitfully." 

~Thomas a Kempis

"When I think upon my God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit."

~Franz Joseph Haydn

Warmly,

Katy

Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

1 Peter 1:2b

Apple Cider Pressing!

It's that time of year again...pumpkins, mums, cider...it can all mean *one* thing...it's fall festival time! :) We are super busy bees when preparing. One big thing we all get together and do is make lots (and lots) of apple cider. We sell out of it *every* year...so each year we try to do more...and each year, we sell out *again*! ;)

While the *guys* were getting the presser-thingy-ma-jig all together and ready...my SIL's mama, Madelyn and I all worked at getting the labels on the new jugs! (My sweet nephew Isaiah helped too! ;)


Jaxson...showing you his new haircut...handsome lil guy he is! ;)

Madelyn and Xavier down gathering pears from my mother-in-love's pear trees...squeezing some pears with the apples makes the cider even better! :)

Lots and lots of apples...


And the pressing begins...

Many family and even some friends come together to lend a hand!


While the men pressed the juice...us gals bottled all the juice! We filled many gallon jugs and half-gallon jugs...hours and hours of work! (I know my children and I were down there for 6 hours to help...others, like Chris and his mama were there even longer!)

Jaxson working *hard* shuffling stones around!

Chris (in the blue) and his brother working the pressing-thingy-ma-jig! ;)
And at the bottom of the photo, there are all the peels and such. This trailer kept getting filled up and they would have to go empty it to put *more* peels in there!


Delicious apple cider...

My dad (although it looks as though he has quite the scary face in this picture...he is actually quite loving and gentle) and Jaxson, who is giggling! ;) **And X taking his turn getting to hold his cousin!**


My sweet nephew...growing so quickly. I just love this little guy!!!

Madelyn found a toad!

A very tiny amount of the actual number of jugs of cider we bottled!

The fall festival is coming up on Saturday...it will be one extremely busy day...but a lot of fun too! :) I hope to be able to share it with you! :)

And as I see the clock is quickly approaching 10pm (way past my bedtime)...I know I need to quickly wrap it up and head to bed. I have prayers to continue lifting up (if you could pray too...lift it up as an unspoken that I have...I would really appreciate it. God knows what it is for).

While out today, the children were picking apples with the older couple who are our neighbors....and they were very excited to find a bird's nest! :) Although it's a fun find, it quickly found it's way back outside and I hurried my kids in to wash their hands. You never know what can be lurking inside those delicately woven pieces of grass, hay, string and dirt! (For some reason the picture came out so blurry. Some days they are great...others they turn out blurry...I will get it figured out...eventually!)

Goodnight and thank you for visiting. If you are local and will be in the area...stop by on Saturday! We would love to see you! It's an all day thing!

Warmly,
Katy

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
~Numbers 6:24-26

Making Apple Cider

In preparation for my family's fall festival coming up this Saturday, we made apple cider to sell! This is an annual experience...as you can see HERE. After church, everyone gathered at the meat market to work together and press apples. We all truly work as a team. The children fill the apple buckets, the men-folk press the apples and then women strain and bottle the cider. It takes up the whole afternoon and into the evening. It's super-exhausting ~ but also a good time full of cherished memories. We get a lot of fellowship in with each other and that is such a blessing!

Jaxson with the boxes of apples...

The cider coming out of the press...

If you are local ~ I hope you can make it out to the festival. It's always such a great time! We have even more vendors coming this year as well! *And* as of right now...the weather looks like it should be perfect!!! :) 
For those of you that can't make it, I will do my best to take pictures to share! 
Quickly...on another note: today is Chris and my 13th wedding anniversary! I'm so thankful for the blessing of being married to this man. I can't even tell you how much...there just aren't the words. 
Today is also our first day of our homeschool co-op for this year! I have been up since 4 and getting things ready. I will head to spin, run home to shower, finish making lunches and get things together and then we will be off for the day! It should be a wonderful time! :) 
So many things going on...each one of them *such* a blessing. :)  Hope your day (and week) are fantastic! 
Kindly, Katy

Making Apple Cider

Sunday afternoon, after church....we all headed to my inlaws' meat market and started making cider for the fall festival they are having this Saturday! I tried to snap some pics in when I could...but for the most part...we all were sticky from the cider! :) Above is a pic of my sister in law's (who is married to Chris's brother) dad and Jaxson. :)

Below a pic of Chris and our brother in law, Dan making the cider. They were working really hard! There were others who helped who aren't pictured, also.


The kids helped some too! Madelyn and my nephew are here, helping to put the cider into the jugs. It's quite a process...from the *smooshing* of the apples, to straining all the juice a few times and then filling the containers, wiping the containers and then putting them all in the cooler.


After helping a bit...the kids were soon off to playing. They rode bikes, played with cars and just had a fun time together!

Xavier, enjoying some cider!

The guys, again, *smooshing* the apples... ;)

YUM, and a pic of the fresh juice being squeezed from the apples....

We have a good amount to sell at the festival on Saturday. It will be a long day. We are praying for good weather! I will probably be the *cashier*...when people come and buy chicken dinners, or hot chocolate or hotdogs or cider etc....I will be the money collector/change maker. :) We have been doing this for....hmmm...5 years now..? *I think* and each year, we all learn to make improvements about things and also where we are best suited to help. :) I'm really looking forward to it! :)

And...just a quick picture...my kiddos rode in a local parade on Saturday with our church. The parade was celebrating our local firemen's 100 year anniversary! Our church put this float in and the kids sang and had a good time! :)

Wishing you all a cozy and enjoyable day ahead. :) Thanks so much for visiting! :) I hope you enjoyed seeing the cider making!