Summer Wrap Up

The leaves are turning and summer is ending.  What a fantastic summer I have had!!  So many awesome trips and fun visiting with family and friends, making some new friends along the way.

September brought me back to Ontario for the auction sale of mom and dad's household items.  The sale went well and the house was emptied.  After many trips in and out of the house over the past month, my sister has been working hard to ready it for auction on October 31st.  I was able to bring back a van full of treasures and memories, all of which have been placed throughout my house as loving reminders of my parents and grandparents.

My good friend Elsie came along for the trip providing lots of laughs and great company.

We hope to make this a yearly trip so we can load up on the fresh fruits and vegetables at St. Jacobs.  I bought a half bushel of baby cuc's for half the price I would pay here in New Brunswick.  If I had more room and more time once returning home, I would have bought more things but the dill pickles and pickled pumpkin we made will make a nice addition to our Thanksgiving and Christmas buffets.

I learned that Melody (she lives with Brooke) loves canning and was a great help.

 After the trip to Ontario it was time for Britni's vacation.  We ventured off to Nova Scotia, travelling the coast down to Digby then around to Lunenburg stopping at lots of roadside stands, gift and craft shops and antique stores.  Britni made lots of new friends and got to have lunch at The Salt Shaker restaurant where John Catucci from You Gotta Eat Here (one of her favorite tv shows) filmed.

Home again but not for long.  A beautiful Saturday beckoned us out into the sunshine to pick some apples.  We loaded everyone into the van and headed up to Gagetown, Charlotte's orchard to get some nice Courtland and Mac's to make pies, apple dumplings and applesauce with.  With many hands to help it didn't take long to pick a bushel plus another 20 lbs!

Brooke and I volunteered to make apple dumplings with homemade caramel sauce for the Community Living Center Thanksgiving lunch with some of our bounty.  Always nice to give back when we can :)

Brit celebrated her 30th birthday on the first of October, next is Thanksgiving, my birthday, Billy's brithday (big 55) on the 28th and then wrap up the month with Halloween.  Never a dull moment, we are so lucky!!

My mom is going in for her reversal surgery tomorrow.  We will be praying all goes smoothly for her this time and before she knows it she will be healed up and once again moving forward with her life. 

Cheers everyone and Happy Fall!!!!!!