Hi, everyone!
It’s getting colder! One morning when I got up there was frost on the back deck benches! Thomas brought home a skeleton friend, so we started thinking about Halloween early!
One day, Grandma did a baking marathon! First, she made a flourless chocolate cake for her church dinner group. Then, I helped her make two batches of biscotti to take to her friend Rita-san. Then Thomas asked for more oatmeal raisin cookies, so Grandma made some of those while he was at nursery school. We got out lots of bowls and equipment to do all that baking!
Thomas and James made pumpkin patch trips on the same day, but they went to different places! Thomas and Aunt Kara went on a school trip to Wickham Farms. It was cold and rainy and there was even hail! James and Uncle Steven went to Powers Farm Market later in the day when the weather was better! Everybody brought their pumpkins home for me to see. We’re starting to get ready for the Election Day bake sale, too! I helped Grandma make a big batch of spicy Mexican peanut soup. That was the last one she needed to make to feed the bakers on Election Day!
The third Sunday in October, we made all the apple pies for the Election Day bake sale after church. James and Thomas and Aunt Kara helped peel the apples! My friends La Vache’s grandma and Veronica-chan peeled apples, too!
In the kitchen, I saw all my crust-making friends! Uncle Steven helped roll out pie crusts and Grandma Sue showed me how to crimp top crusts. Lots of my friends worked to make the pies and we ended up with 161 of them!
Every time we drove down Marsh Road in October, there were lots of cars and crowds of people at Powers Farm Market. One day we had another rainstorm that turned to hail! When it was over, Grandma said it would be a good time for me to go to the pumpkin patch, because the weather would keep the crowds away! There were still a lot of pumpkins, but not as many as I remember from past years. I guess a lot of them had already gone home with other families! Grandma took me in the teepee to see the jack-o-lanterns and spider webs and skeletons. I wasn’t scared in the dark at all!
Before we left the farm market, Grandma took me to visit all my animal friends. There were some new friends there that I hadn’t met before! I’ve never seen chickens with feathers the colors of the ones at Powers! Do you suppose they hatched from dyed Easter eggs? When we got home, James and Thomas wanted scones for an afternoon snack. Grandma and I made a batch just for them!
Grandpa has been doing more work on the boathouse at Sodus! He had to clean out the back area so he could shore up the floor there. He found old pumps and lots of trash! It’s a good thing he was working inside, because it’s been cold and rainy most of the days he’s been working! Some of the trees at the bay are turning color, but there are still a lot of green leaves overhead!
James and Thomas carved their pumpkins after school on Monday. Thomas did his first with Aunt Kara. He thought scooping out the slippery pulp in the middle of the pumpkin was lots of fun! Grandma found a candle, so he could put a light in his pumpkin when he took it back outside.
James and Uncle Steven got home a little later and carved James’ pumpkin. James didn’t like feeling the slippery pulp, so Thomas helped clean out James’ pumpkin. Uncle Steven had to finish the job! Then James and Uncle Steven put a face on their pumpkin and it went back out to our private pumpkin patch! The pumpkins glowed at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for two nights, then they went to the new house for Halloween! Meanwhile, Grandma dried and roasted the pumpkin seeds as a snack. They were yummy!
Yesterday was Halloween! James dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog to go trick or treating. It’s a good thing his costume was roomy, because he had to wear it over his jacket! Thomas went as Batman. Aunt Kara had to help Thomas pull his costume over his jacket. Batman Thomas looked like he had extra muscles! I stayed home with Grandpa to pass out our candy, but we only had two trick or treaters come!
Love,
Lion-san
You had quite a Halloween. It looks like that pie making was fun. And all the room that Grandpa made was great! I like having a lot of room. Carving the pumpkins looked like fun too! Nancy-san has to take the seeds out of a pumpkin to make a pumpkin pie but we know she won’t bake the seeds like Grandma did.