Hi, everyone!
Now that we’re having more cold and cloudy days, James and Thomas are spending more time playing inside. Last week, they were building forts with the sofa cushions! Their most ambitious structures didn’t last very long! Grandma has her sofa back together now. Uncle Steven let Thomas bring another big GI Joe toy upstairs from the basement. He only gets to have one upstairs at a time! After all the things I’ve been doing outside, Grandma decided I needed a bath! It took a while for me to dry out because there weren’t any sunbeams to lie in!
The first weekend in October was busy! It rained both days in the morning, but then it cleared up. On Saturday, Aunt Kara and Grandma took James, Thomas and me to the Scarecrow Festival on Main Street in Fairport. Local organizations make scarecrows to put along the sidewalk! They were a little soggy from the rain but still fun to look at!
The Fairport Fire Department was holding their open house right around the corner from the Scarecrow Festival! James and Thomas really liked the inflated slide in the shape of a fire truck. It filled one of the fire truck bays right up to the ceiling! I could watch James and Thomas through the fire truck “windshield” where sliders landed.
While James and Thomas were sliding, Grandma took me to see the rest of the open house exhibits. There was a fire fighter’s hat that was about my size, but the turnout coats and other protective gear were all too big for a little lion! There was a lot of special equipment on the fire truck, both inside the cabin and stored in special compartments on the outside!
When James and Thomas were done sliding, they dressed up as fire fighters and looked at the fire truck, too! Then we walked back to the Scarecrow Festival. There were places to get lunch north of the canal, but James and Thomas were too tired from sliding to walk that far. So we had ice cream instead at Moonlight Creamery! James found the same flavor of ice cream that he likes at Brain Freeze in Alton!
On Sunday afternoon, Grandma invited church friends out to Sodus to pick apples with us! Grandma planned for us to go to Crackerbox Palace again this year, but their orchard was closed when we got there. So we went to Burnap’s Farm Market instead! The u-pick apple orchard there has small trees, so it was easy to reach the apples to pick! There were a lot of different kinds of apples! Grandma made sure we picked enough Crispins to make apple pies. Thomas especially like the “purple apples”. James wanted to get some apples of every kind. We mostly lost track of which apple was what kind! After our apple bags were full, we visited the goats and played on the playground.
Then we all drove back to Grandma and Grandpa’s bay house for dinner. I made sure there was enough chili for everybody! Thomas and I sat with the big boys for dinner and watched the football game. My friend Veronica-chan was the only girl who came this year!
The day after we picked the apples, I helped Grandma make six apple pies! We made the crusts two pies at a time, then Grandma peeled enough apples for one pie. We used Thomas’ “purple apples” as well as the Crispins. I helped by turning on the food processor to slice the apples, then I mixed the filling. Grandma did most of the crust rolling, but I made sure the top crust was lined up properly over the pie! When the top crust was crimped, I cut the steam vents in it. We put five pies in the freezer and baked one. It was yummy! We still had a lot of Thomas’s “purple apples” left, so Grandma made applesauce with the rest of them. Now we just need to figure out what other kinds of apples we have and how to use them!
Grandma had trouble finding room for five pies in her freezer, so Uncle Steven turned on the refrigerator-freezer at their new house. It’s brand new and didn’t have anything in it! After we baked one pie, Grandma and I went over to visit the others in their new freezer location. There had been a lot of progress on remodeling since my last visit! The kitchen cabinets and flooring have been installed and there’s new tile in the bathrooms. All the wallpaper in the entry and stairway is gone, too! We stayed long enough to greet James when his school bus dropped him off. It was a warm day and he was thirsty!
A while ago, I helped Grandma make soup for the Election Day Bake Sale. Last week, I helped her make the gluten-free scones. They have to be made in advance, packaged and frozen. Otherwise, they would get regular flour all over them in the church kitchen when we’re baking!
After church last Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa and I and Uncle Steven and Thomas all went out to the bay. We needed to get the boats ready for the winter! This year, they all had to be out of the boat house and off the deck because we’re getting work done on the shoreline. Last year’s high water eroded the bank so we need a protection wall! I helped Grandma clean the kayaks so they could go into the house. The sailboat is on a trailer, parked in the yard. The powerboat was hauled out onto its trailer for the first time since we launched it. It is spending the winter in a big storage shed at a marina.
The leaves are really falling now, both at Sodus and in Fairport. The remaining leaves are still green, but it’s going to be raking time very soon!
Love,
Lion-san
We all liked the scarecrows but different ones. It is nice you got to visit the Fire House in Fairport. We liked the slide, too. Apple picking was good too. Thomas did get a lot of apples, as did James. We enjoyed ourselves even though we didn’t pick any apples. Thomas and James got enough for us too. I’m glad you made a bunch of apple pies and applesauce. And you still have enough to eat! They keep well in the basement all winter. You have been busy making soup and baking scones, be sure to rest your paws for making pies and baking on Election day.