I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend. We continue to carry on as if it’s summer here and throughout much of the West, but as close as Flagstaff, the weather will be changing. They will be flirting with freezing night temperatures and my sister, Susie, who lives in Colorado Springs, will get her first taste of snow for the season. I think she had snow in June too, so a short summer for them.
I have mentioned before that I think of Phoenix’s fall as “Summer Lite.” Sometime around Halloween it hits me that we’re full into autumn and I still have my house decorated for summer. Of course, we all wear summer clothes around here until we absolutely cannot.
But.
This year, I’m going to start adding some autumn décor throughout September and enjoy a few things before I have to put up Christmas. I won’t go crazy, I’m just easing into fall around here.
Home Goods had these pretty seasonal leaves so we picked them up and I was able to use them in two different olive jars. I really like how the colors highlight our pretty clock over the bar.
And.
This is going to be a budget seasonal re-do. You know I always drink from the Pottery Barn glass of Kool-Aid, but this year I want to shop my house and use some things I already have and haven’t used in a while.
In fact, that olive jar is a perfect example. It’s over ten years old and I still really love it. Using it for the first time in months and months feels like seeing an old friend.
I have some other ideas for my entry way and my living room. A couple of budget-friendly purchases is what I plan, and I hope to get a big bang for my buck.
I hope to be able to share my ideas with you over the next couple of weeks.
How can you ease into fall without enjoying apples? When we lived in Reno, we regularly visited Apple Hill, not far from Lake Tahoe in Northern California’s gold country. Apple Hill is to apples what Napa is to wine.
There are over 50 farms serving up everything from apple ice cream to apple donuts and beyond. They have done a fantastic job of taking a struggling agricultural area and turning it into a family destination.
I’m not sure what’s going on there in this crazy year, but I know that literally, busloads, of folks visit the area and enjoy autumn with warm days and cool nights. I won’t be visiting there this year, but I have so many fond memories.
What I’m Eating
I saw this recipe on Instagram for The Best Apple Bread Recipe and decided I had to try it to kick off the season in my kitchen. You know my love (harhar) for baking, but I decided to give this a try and SUCCESS.
It was delish and not hard at all. A couple of details. I used two Granny Smith apples and I cut the sugar down by about ½. When I eat apple desserts, I like the tartness and I feel like too much sugar detracts from that. The sugar and cinnamon topping (I used the full amount of sugar for the topping) made for a treat that was plenty sweet and very delish.
We did have to make a trip to the store for the green apples, but we had everything else and John got to use the apple peeler/corer. Another score!
What I’m Reading
I finished Red Knife, part of the Cork O’Conner series by William Kent Krueger. Krueger is such a good writer and Cork is probably beneath his skills, but it’s a guilty pleasure nonetheless. It only took a few hours out of my life and it made me happy. So that’s the review for you.
On audio I finished Norwood by Charles Portis. You might remember how much I raved about True Grit earlier this year, also written by Portis. I found this one on audio narrated by David Aaron Baker, one of my favorites. Oh, the only bad thing about this book was when it ended. This post is getting long, like they tend to do, so I’ll write up a review on Goodreads, and keep this short, but you NEED to read (or listen) to this wonderful tale.
What I’m Doing
Ok, I might have eaten and drank a little more than I should have this weekend. Oh, boy, but was it a fun weekend.
We met DFs for social distancing dinner and pool evening on Friday.
On Sunday we celebrated DF Barb’s birthday during brunch after pickle ball. And my contribution was…… The apple bread. It went so perfectly with DF Evon’s contribution of champagne. Barb said it was her best birthday ever. So happy we got to enjoy it with her.
In between we spent a lot of pool time keeping cool and getting a bit of exercise. Honestly, I think my DNA shows I’m one-half prune.
Our community’s pools have been the saving grace of this crazy year and I’m so grateful they’ve stayed open and we’ve had a place to go. That has allowed us to keep up with friends outdoors and to regularly see our tribe.
I look forward to having a more moderate week than last week and recover from my excesses. The temperatures are cooling down enough to enjoy morning walks (maybe even one little run) and I’ll be drinking lots of iced tea and eating lots of vegetables.