apple picking

We went apple picking on Sunday. Last year we tried to pick apples at our favorite spot, Dowse Orchard in Sherborn, only to get there and have the orchards closed for the season. Going early this year meant trees laden with Macs and the promise of going again in early October for some other varieties.

I made a big pot of applesauce, enough to last us through the first half of the winter, hopefully. We recently got a new refrigerator and moved the old one into the garage.  The main problem with the old refrigerator was that it was overly aggressive, freezing most items instead of just keeping them cool, a great feature for a garage fridge.

In the last few weeks I've been cooking and freezing lots of our very abundant CSA share.  Pints of salsa verde, eggplant spread, pesto, and tomato sauce, along with loaves of zucchini bread, are in there with the applesauce now. It's going to be a yummy winter.

If you've been following me on Twitter you know that my beloved Bernette 330 is in the shop for repair. It began making an awful growling noise on Saturday night and the needle refused to turn. It's been cleaned, but the repairman says it is skipping stitches. Another guy is looking at it this morning, but I'm afraid it may be dying.

I bought it in 1989 and it has been a workhorse for 22 years.  If  you think about it, that's pretty amazing for a home appliance.  If it is indeed on its last legs, I am going to buy an old Bernina. I am really resistant to getting a computerized machine. I'm used to a very basic, simple, hardworking machine and that's what I want again.

In the meantime it has been awfully hard to unwind at the end of the day, looking at the empty spot by the window where my machine is meant to go. I feel out of sorts. It has put into stark relief just how much my happiness and feeling of contentment is reliant I on creating every day.