autumn apples

Catch-up time. I've been MIA thanks to crazy work sucking up my energy, among assorted other things that I won't get into. Last week I actually wrote a long post about some of the specifics, but it seemed a bit whiny/boring so I scrapped it. Because reality is, life is good, just a bit hectic these days. I do tend to be a bit gloomy when fall arrives, just because summer will always be my favorite season and I'm sad to say goodbye to the long days and balmy temperatures. But lately the weather has been amazing ~ clear blue skies, warm sunny days, crisp mornings and evenings. I admit that the flashiness of fall does have ways of charming me when it flaunts its dazzling tints of red and orange leaves against the remaining green trees and the brilliant blue sky. And Virginia certainly has plenty of foliage to display the colors of autumn in all their glory - not to mention the rolling hills which make for a very pretty backdrop.

So instead of getting all verbose again, I'll just share some fun pictures from recent fall adventures in apple picking. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather last weekend to head to the local orchard atop a mountain, which turned out to be absolutely packed. We braved the crowds and wandered through the trees in search of the perfectly ripened fruit. It was great to be out enjoying the weather and the views and of course, the apples!

(what am I doing here? apple bowling? not sure.)

(someone was hungry.)

A lot of the apples were only left way up high in the trees. We used some creative methods to grab some that were out of reach :)

Success! We were able to come away with 10+ pounds of apple goodness.

Now just to figure out delicious ways to use them all! I've tested one recipe so far... stay tuned for details!