Wednesday, October 5, 2011

On Presents and Apples...


What's that now? Why yes, that is a stack of awesome birthday presents... including a Canon Rebel DSLR!! Chris and I picked it up after my birthday breakfast dinner on Thursday. Mr. Ross also surprised me with little treats hidden around our house... a box of Zebra Cakes here, a copy of Bridesmaids there. He's so cute. Natalie and Duane gave me a copy of Wildwood, a children's novel written by the Decemberists lead singer Colin Meloy and beautifully illustrated by Carson Ellis. Grace Bonny's Design*Sponge at Home, was a little gift to myself. And it is glorious.  

On Saturday, we took a drive over to Corey Lake Orchards for some apple picking and to test out the camera. This was my first orchard trip and I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. Almost every apple was in season, and we were able to sample the varieties straight off the trees before adding them to our bushel. My personal favorite was the sweet, crisp, and slightly tart Cortland variety. We purchased a half-bushel of mixed varieties for $8 and ended up with 23 pounds of apples. Yikes. Feel free to pass along any apple recipes you may have... apple crisp is the only thing I've mastered so far.

My little niece Adalynn and her parents also joined us (this was actually her second trip to the orchard) and as you can see, she has fully perfected the baby smirk. I can't believe how fast she's grown... she's almost six months old! Her sweet, friendly personality is definitely starting to shine and I love how much she's chunked out.


I'm excited to start experimenting with my camera... I need to brush up on my Intro to Photography notes before attempting any manual settings just yet, but I definitely look forward to using something a little more advanced than Instragram on iPhone (as much as I love it.) Needless to say, I had a wonderful birthday.

7 comments:

Abbyblujay said...

oh man. i am jealous of all your presents. they are AWESOME.


bring design sponge. the end.

thriftychick7 said...

My roommates and I made apple butter a few days ago! You should try it: http://homeiswheretheholmansare.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-18T06%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=20 (it's a little ways down the page)

Jenna Griffin | Gold & Bloom said...

this sounds perfect! i am dying to go to an apple orchard this fall. love your photos. xo

Sharon Telschow said...

OH MY WORD!!! What lovely presents you received. I must admit I am experiencing camera and book envy. And apple picking envy and niece envy. SHE IS SOOOO ADORABLE! I'm super glad you had suck a loverly birthday.

Unknown said...

Congrats on all the wonderful gifts! I am impressed with your husband: a Canon Rebel what what? Excellent gift. now your blog is going to be EVEN better than is already! yessss

Unknown said...

Look what I found! Thought you'd like to try...

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/10/apple-cinnamon-coffee-cake/comment-page-1/#comment-252061

and

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-applesauce-69127

DELISH.

Katherine Ross said...

Ooh thanks Michelle! That apple cinnamon coffee cake looks FANTASTIC. I love Joy the Baker so much.