Standing Watch

I am so dog tired today. It was one of those days where I didn't sit down for 8 hours. It was also one of those days where I look back and say "So what did I do all day?" For how busy I felt, it seems I should have more to show for it. I had spent this week doing some overdue cleaning in preparation for a visit from my Dad, sister and nephew in two weeks. Yesterday I washed the couch, recliner and pillows, and today I had intended to finish the sheets and blankets. But last night Ed ended up bringing home 5 Hannaford shopping bags full of apples he had picked from a coworker's orchard. If you can't imagine how many apples that is, well, it's a lot. So my job today was do something with them. I separated out a drawerful of the prettiest ones to put in the fridge for eating but that didn't seem to make a dent in the pile. In my opinion, the best thing to do with leftover apples is make pie but you can only eat so many pies at once. I found a recipe for canned pie filling so I set out to do that. It made 2 quarts and 8 pints but unfortunately the quart jars didn't seal. I think there were too many air bubbles and not enough liquid. We'll see how they turn out after being frozen. So that was done, and a large portion of the day was gone but there were yet apples. I made a pie for dessert tonight then started on apple leather. I've got 8 trays filled and drying but I still have two and a half bags left. At this point I'm willing to let procrastination set in and leave the rest until tomorrow. I think it will end up applesauce. We had intended to juice them (which is hard without a juicer) to make hard cider, or wine. Ed has already made a batch from our asian pears, which I think rivals any storebought wine (but then again I'm biased). Last night he started on a plum wine so I think we'll be set for alcohol. Although we've gone through quite a few bottles, sampling them ("I wonder if this bottle will taste different from the last one?" :)
Anyway, that was my day, along with feeding kids, breaking up fights, doing a mound of dishes that are now precariously built up like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the dish drainer, and sweeping the floor three times throughout the day (and at the moment it looks dirtier than ever). Ethan even went out with his grandparents for most of the day so I had less interruptions. I'm just glad harvest only comes once a year. I'm sure during the winter I'll wish I had more to do, but as for now I'm about to enjoy doing nothing. And eating pie. :)