{JEI} Autumn Fun

{JEI} is Just Enough Information.

Basically, I answer 3 simple questions and linkup my answers to Fishbowl Fortune.  Read my answers and then meet other bloggers by following this link.

{JEI} - Autumn Fun

1.  Best Fall Flavor - Apple or Pumpkin?

Boy, this is a hard one.  On the one hand I love the aroma of freshly picked apples, especially when I have 8 or 9 boxes of them strewn about the garage.  The dang raccoon ate all but one off the trees this year.  Pumpkin is just plain old delicious when mixed with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  And it brings back a flood of baking memories - me sitting on the counter stirring batch upon batch of harvest loaf for Christmas gifts.

And then there's candles.  Technically not a flavor; I try not to make a habit of eating candles.  I tend to opt for the spicier scented rather than sweeter scented candles.

The winner is.....PUMPKIN.

2.  The leaves are changing colors, and the air is crisp.  What are you looking forward to about fall?

What's not to look forward to?  Sweaters, scarves, tall boots, cranberry harvest, turkey dinners, hunting seasons of all kinds, hot cocoa, football Sundays with nachos.

3.  Do you decorate for the season (and which is it:  fall or autumn)?

I dream about decorating; the kind you'd see on Pinterest.  But, I don't keep a neat enough house, the kids are always messing with decorations, and I hate the way decorations look amidst newspapers and magazines, toy cars and GI Joe dolls.  I do my style of decorating which means I line up a few pumpkins on the front porch, add a couple of autumn-hued mums, hang a fall quilt in the dining room, and call it done.  

I love the sound of autumn, but I'm a midwesterner and fall has always been the word.  I switch back and forth depending on my level of sophistication that day.

This is a Link-up.

More About Cranberry Harvest

I mentioned yesterday that we're 50% done with harvest.  Yeah!  When the end is in sight, everyone pushes a little bit harder, works a little bit longer, and smiles a little more often.

My October folder of pictures is brimming to overflowing so it's about time I unload a pile of them here on the blog.

My attempt at showing the family farm side of cranberry harvest in Wisconsin.

These pictures are in order of how I took them last week; I'll give a brief explanation if needed.

First truck loaded.

Sam and Stephen figuring out the trash trailer.  Now a full week in, I bet they can't believe they ever struggled with hooking it up.

Floating cranberries - almost flooded enough for booming.

Uncle Dan and the little boys.  This is what my farm boys wait for all year, a chance at hanging out, up high on the dump truck with Uncle Dan.

The beginning of the berry cleaner.  Cranberries are forced to the cleaner by water pressure and the tightening boom.  The green paddles grab the berries and carry them to the pressure washer.

Fruit moving through the pressure washer - the leaves are getting washed away.  From here they are elevated into the dump truck.

In the foreground - berries floating
In the background - the flood is coming up and pipe is being pulled

Looking on - assessing the situation

Like father, like son - looking on, assessing the situation.

And yet another bed of floating fruit.  I guess 20 years worth of cranberry harvest pictures isn't enough.

Notice the almost black cranberries.  These are Hyreds.

And here we have the variety Stevens, and next year's bud already.

Joseph keeping track of harvest from high up on the dump truck.

Taking the trash trailer to the next bed.  Harvesting cranberries creates a huge amount of leaf trash.

Unloading the trash trailer with a 4 year old helper.

If bugs aren't your thing, stay away.  Tons of beetles, tons of spiders.

The crew raking trash.  The leaves float/are blown into the edges of the cranberry bed.  Then the crew rakes the trash into piles on the dike.

Oops!  Peter got in the way.

Somehow an extra rake surfaced.  Amber demanded I help out instead of taking pictures, which gave her the opportunity to take nearly 50 pictures of me raking trash.

Here's one for Instagram.  Shoe pic : )

Never too old or too much a boss to get out of pulling pipe.  He does it all.

More trash to haul away.

After the first few beautiful days, we ended up with a cold and rainy day.  But, that's enough for now.
You just experienced your first cranberry marsh tour from the comfort of your home.  I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.

Have a blessed day.

Cranberry Harvest - {Early Varieties}

The most and least anticipated time of year is upon us.  Cranberry harvest.  This early harvest is kind of a tease.  It's only a few days compared to the later harvest which will be a full 2 weeks, even longer if you count in all the days of prep, pipe pulling, water checking, and bed raking.

These harvest days are exciting for the little kids.  All morning they were begging to go out on the marsh, but first we had to pick beans.  Yes, the plants are still producing.  Another 14 quarts canned today.  We picked the last of the tomatoes and a pile of cucumbers.  I think Joseph ate 4 or 5 huge cucumbers today.

Finally, I announced it was time.  After a scramble for socks and boots we were off.

Joseph's exercising his 2nd amendment right....with a toy gun, of course.

Amber and Sam, 15 and 12, working together for their debut cleanup round booming.  It may not seem like that big of a deal, but if you've ever experienced after supper dish washing with a teen and preteen, then you can probably understand the significance of this event.  Teens and preteens don't naturally agree on many things, and they definitely don't want to be in each other's space.  Booming the cranberries involves getting in one another's space and working together.  Kuddos to them for making it work!!

Booming is the lingo we use to describe corralling the cranberries at one end of the cranberry bed and pulling them to the end where they'll be loaded into trucks.  More specifically the clean-up round involves blowing every last cranberry out of the grass to be corralled.

And there's Warren booming his side alone - that's what happens with years and years (and years!?) of experience.

This post was started last week, which is when the actual harvest took place.  I've been slow at blogging - as if you haven't noticed.  We're in week four of school; it's been a whirlwind of activity that's keeping me away from the computer.

I still have an August recap in the drafts file to finish up, and all too soon September will be in the past and I hope to share a recap of the birthdays and duck hunting and homecoming.  

Teaching reading has taken center stage here.  I have so much to say about All About Reading and All About Spelling.  I've been doing a rhyming activity with Joe that I'd like to share.  And hallelujah!  Praise Jesus!  I started teaching Peter to read using All About Reading Level 1 and it's looking like he's a typical learner (whatever that is).  B's and D's - no problem!  Remembering to sound out from left to right - no problemo!  I introduced the word "the" and he believed me when I said you have to memorize this word and never try to sound it out.  I point to "the" and he says the.  It's been 10 years since I taught reading to a typical learner and I am SO ready for this.

I wish you all a happy & blessed fall.  I'll be back soon.

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Autumn Beauty

True autumn in Wisconsin lasts only a few short weeks. First we have the cooler, yet sunny, weather which feels wonderful after a hot August. But to me that's not real autumn weather because everything is still so green. Then all at once the leaves start to change, the days become still cooler with a few more clouds. We marvel at all the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows as we look across the marsh or drive to town. We plan all kinds of outdoor activities to help celebrate the season and "get it all in" before the cold of winter sets in.....and then, all of a sudden we wake up one morning and the leaves are blowing in the wind, collecting in piles along the fenceline and edge of the woods. The trees resemble stick figures with a few last crispy leaves hanging on. The air has more of a bite than just a week ago. Harvest is in full swing and there's no time for any of those earlier planned outdoor activities. That's where we are today. The wind was bitterly cold, the trees are mostly bare, the leaves underfoot are crispy and their colors dull. Another autumn is ending. Sure it'll be a while before any measureable snow falls and the daytime highs never reach above freezing, but for all practical purposes true autumn, colorful autumn is quickly fading away.

Just yesterday I snapped a few more cranberry harvest pictures. Enjoy!

And Little J

Happy Autumn

Each day's weather is completely its own. Yesterday it was warm, slightly humid - we turned on the whole house fan. We woke to thick fog and dewy grass. The sun poked out a few times, but mostly it was overcast. The Asian lady beetles took cover and we were able to come and go through our door as we pleased, much different from yesterday when the sun was beating on the front door and lady beetles were crawling everywhere. Later in the afternoon the winds picked up and then the rain came and came. Now at 10:12 p.m. the radar shows clear skies for awhile. As we drove home from violin tonight, Grace and I noticed just how dark it is at 6:45 p.m. Each week the drive is darker and darker. Autumn arrives and the feeling is bittersweet. No more afternoon swims in the reservoir, Popsicles loose their excitement, winter will soon set it. The sweet part is ever so sweet. The brightly colored leaves flitting in the breeze, the crunchy leaves on the roadside waiting to be shuffled through, pumpkins peeking from around every tree, crimson colored cranberries dipped in caramel. All signs of autumn; all evoke beauty and comfort. As we took a walk around the yard today I snapped a few pictures. My digital camera basically stinks, but I can't help posting a few photos from autumn in my neck of the woods.

beautiful fall colors across the marsh

edible rubies