Golden Light

The light has definitely shifted.

The sun comes up later and goes down earlier,

this combined with the smoke from fires

in SW Montana and in Idaho

and with the foliage color changes

contribute to this soft golden glow

that we are experiencing.

It is stunning.

It imbues a feeling of gentle softness and comfort.

Here is some of the bounty of the community.

People have walked in off the street in my tiny town

bearing these offerings from their trees.

Our office candy dish is full of pears right now and my desk

and the kitchen counter are loaded with these

gorgeous gems, italian prune plums.

mmmmm!

I don't have to pack much for lunch.

Rosh Hashanah & Onion Bouquets

I had an abundance of eggs so I made several egg dishes over the course of the weekend.

This lovely loaf of challah was one of them, and just in time for Rosh Hashanah!

Some onions from the garden

hanging to cure.

I will clean them up and store them in the pantry.

I got a whole bunch of very small onions.

I thought that I had harvested everything and then when I started to till

prior to adding loads of manure, I found all kinds of little onions out there,

shallot sized. They are delicious! I just cleaned them up and used them right away

or stuck them in the fridge to use really soon.

Harvesters

Well, to start off,

note that the post title is plural.

I was piddling about on a little painting when

 I got home from work last night,

thinking that I really ought to be outside

enjoying the day and doing one of a thousand

yard/garden chores that need attention,

when I heard a weird noise.

I looked up from my drafting table

and saw the makers of the noise,

a mama bear and her 3 babies!

3 babies!

They were all fluffy and shiny and quite healthy looking.

They were all hanging out under the apple tree

that you were introduced to in yesterdays post.

The apples were already harvested by us.

But one little bear managed to get WAY out on a limb

and find one or two we were unable to get.

I ran out with the camera, they didn't see me.

Then I got thinking about that whole protective mama thing, and I went back in

 and observed from the window.

Mama and two babies wandered off leaving one baby in the tree.

I went out again; then tree baby started making baby bear noises

I didn't know what they meant, so I went back in

just in case it was saying,"hey ma! There is some human here

near the tree and I am scared, come save me!"

The family wandered off.

I heard them in the trees near the creek

and then nothing.

Mike got home.

We went and looked at the trees by the creek to see if

they had damaged them.

They hadn't. They didn't eat the apples either.

So Mike picked them.

I went to the garden for some dinner.

Here is what I found.

We had rice with brocoli and gilled planks of zuchini

drizzled with garlic infused olive oil and balsamic

with a grilled neighbor grown pork chop on the side.

I made applesauce while Mike cut up the remaining whole apples.

One more night of apple processing and we will be done with the transparents.

We have 3 more trees to harvest, but they are late ripeners,

so we get a break.

They are "keepers" too, so we just pick them and store them

for eating fresh.