picking, pressing, and a new friend

apple picking.

one of our favorite fruit providers, the king tree.

not only the best apples but also a great climbing tree and so photogenic.

she said that we need to put handles all over this tree and then she would climb all over and pick every apple for me. hmn. big smile. i love little moments like this. i used to record more of them in this space. i want to try and get back to that. what fun it is to look back on recorded memories.

pear pressing.

my two little tag alongs and i. the pears were a bit overripe. as you can see, they squished out of the press pretty bad. i had to strain all of the juice with cheesecloth and then i pasteurized and bottled it. 

i think next time i will try to press them when they are still a bit green. isn't that a beautiful press? my mother in law traded fresh fish for it. she's always making the most amazing trades.

our new friend.

i found him wandering our road with no collar. our road is full of blind corners, cars that drive much too fast, and this time of year... huge logging trucks. he was so sweet and beautiful. i couldn't leave him. so i brought him home, called the animal shelter, put up "dog found" posters all around, and in the mean time... we started to fall in love with him. we called him "woolie bear" since we didn't know his name. he was such a snuggler. he slept right outside the little ones bedroom as though he was guarding them. he ate ALOT. then pretty quickly we got a call. his name is ezra. he lives fairly close to us. at his house he guards sheep and goats on a spread of 80 acres. his owner was a kind old man who had recently had hip replacement surgery and was staying in the valley with a friend while he was recovering. another friend of his was checking on ezra and feeding him while he was away. i believe he said this was the first time ezra had wandered. i offered to dogsit any time he needed someone. he said he just might take me up on that. i hope he does. we really miss ezra.