Home Again

Mike and I left California and flew back to St. Louis during the eclipse.  We never did see the eclipse but we did get caught in the eclipse traffic.  It was taking so long to drive home that we stopped and did some shopping.

We arrived back at the pond to find all chickens, ducks and dogs in excellent health.  (Thank you Bill).  We also noticed the mailbox was missing a door and my apple tree was leaning it was so full of apples.  So Mike and I got to work.

Mike spent a few days, well, five days, supposedly looking for the missing mail box door.  On the sixth day, I pointed out that there was a sale at the local farm and home goods store so he went to buy a new mailbox.  It took two days to get it up but we once again have a mailbox in which the mail will not get wet or fall out.

I have spent the last few days in the kitchen.  I have made one batch of apple butter, four batches of apple pie filling (enough for four pies or cobblers or some combination thereof) and have enough for one batch of applesauce and there are still about 10 or so apples left on the tree.  

That is quite an impressive haul from a tree that was way shorter than me when Emily and the girls first gave it to me.  I wish all our plantings were so successful but alas that is not so.  We replaced two thirds of the butterfly bushes around the gazebo right before the wedding and the half of those are already dead and the other half does not look to good.  While I was looking at those I realized the ceremonial sapling used in the wedding had not yet been planted.  Bill had kept watering it while we were gone though so it was hanging in there.  It is now safely planted in the ground but as our success rate with pecan tree sapling has been 50% up until this point I am not overly confident about the future of this tree.  

Anyway, it is nice to be home even if we do have a lot of chores.