August flashback

 After living all my life in the fruit belt of Ontario and then marrying someone who can eat a whole jar of applesauce in one sitting, the shock from the price of apples out here made me quit making applesauce for one entire year. ;)   But then I had to buy it, which was also another thing to add to my list frequently so this year I kept my eyes peeled for someone who was offering their free crabapples to people (and contary to my previous notion, crabapples are not sour, they are just tiny apples). I found an ad online and jumped on it which turned out to be very beneficial for our pantry:) 45 minutes of picking and I got over 30 quart jars of gorgeous, delicious applesauce.  One thrilled lady here:)

 It only took a few hours to make since I had so much help from these good lads. Many hands makes light work.

Andy took good care of our lawn this entire summer. It was soft and manicured.  All that was not without effort though, and it needed to be cut twice a week.  Even then often it still needed to be raked.  Sometimes the helpers were willing, sometimes it was a struggle.  Either way, it was always beneficial.

 And then Tristan turned SIX! Our dear, happy, silly, full-of-overflowing-enthusiasm cheerful little man. He had a little party and a delicious cake to celebrate.  He got spoiled with some pretty amazing gifts too!

His new rubber dingy - for using in the pool!!!  ;)

A geology kit.

And then Miss Abby, she turned 8 months, and wants to stand and walk soon. 

And then last but not least we were blessed to have Uncle Clarence and Aunt Diana and a few of their children visit for a weekend.  Uncle Clarence is my dad's brother and has always been in the "one of my favourite uncles" category;)  We enjoyed supper on Sunday at the Forks in Grassy Lake with a little fire.  The kids played wonderfully with Daniel and Megan exploring, fishing and looking for bones hidden in the coulees.  Their son Brad stayed behind to work out here and learn about southern Alberta farming and is now boarding with us in the guest house which is fine for now since we have no company coming in the foreseeable future.   It was special to have them over and even though it had been close to two years since we had visited it felt like yesterday.  I'm so glad they could come see this neck of the woods (minus-the-trees-neck-of-the-woods).

Tristan with a piece of a "dino" bone. (What it really is we'll never know, but we let our imaginations go wild).

Early morning farewell!