Update

We have been so busy these weeks. That made me slow to update my blog. We had a very big event last weekend. The event meant a lot for us and was pretty much emotional too. I will write it down here about that event when I am ready to handle it. So I am going to update about general life around myself today. I cannot believe it is October already. But it is October. The busy holiday season is just starting.

We went to another apple orchard for our second apple picking. My kitchen is filled with a lot of apples again. We got several different kinds of apples. This time we had Johnathan, Mutsu, Empire, Red and Golden Delicious.

 

Last time I baked an Irish apple cake from my favorite recipe book I brought from Japan. This time I baked  two apple pies from the same book. The book is featuring the English sweets' recipes written by a Japanese woman who has lived in England for long time. In Japan, all purpose flour is not common at all. I don't know what people use in England, though the recipe instructs using cake flours for everything. for the first pie I used cake flour and it tasted just right. Then the second one I ran out of cake flour so I used all purpose. It didn't turn right. The crust was too hard (my husband liked it though). I still have plenty of apples. There are many enough for making four more apple pies. Well, I think this is a good opportunity for me to learn baking apple pies and build up my own family recipe.

I started crocheting. It is going to be a large market tote or something. The cool weather always makes me feel like crocheting and knitting. I wish I had more time to play with yarns. If I had two more free hours everyday, I would make scarves or hats for all the family members for Christmas gifts.

In this country, I don't see the custom that people admire the taste of seasons from wild plants growing in the corner of your back yard or on the shoulder of the streets. (I am sure there are many people love wild flowers in the nature in America :)) Many Japanese like to enjoy looking at some plants in the nature which are regarded as weeds. In Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement ) and Sadou ( Tea ceremony ), those kinds of plants are cherished very much.

 I got this weed from my backyard. This is called "Yama-gobou" in Japanese. And I just found it is "Pokeweed Inkberry" in English. In this season the berries get dark purple.Its beautiful. I love this plant. Sadly my husband thinks of them as weeds. So most of them were cleaned out in the Summer. But they are obstinate! That is the ground of they are regarded as weeds! I am glad that I still am able to see the berries in my yard.

And I show you my recent finds from antique mall.

A crockery of the dairy company in Wisconsin. I often see this company's pottery around here.

And a children's book about the life of 1960's.

We like Mid-century style homes. Our home is build in 60's and we are collecting furniture and knickknacks from that age. The reason I bought this book is not only it was our taste. The stamp on the first page says 1964. That is our (my and my husband's) birth year!

The pictures in the book are so pretty and it is fun to imagine  how my husband and my In-lows lived in those days in this country. I am sure that Japanese people in that age were eager for living like these American people in the book.

 

I hope you enjoy the cooler weather in your place too!