At The Orchard

 

Our "Orchard Grl" is back at it! xo 

A Splendid September

 

September brought with it Grace at Old Sturbridge Village for Mustar Day, setting up for a new Sunday School year (in which we introduce FCC to the prayground) and a return to life as a homeschool family! Many thanks to the McCarry family for the sweet musbroom house mugs to welcome the girls back to life as homeschoolers! Grace worked at the famr and Emma worked at the orchard this month. I just love that they both chose jobs where they work outside and are connected to nature and the land. xo

Today At The Orchard

 

We stopped by to visit Emma today and discoveered she was working at the bakery window! xo

A Perk Of The Job

 

A sweet perk to Emma's job is that she gets to bring home full bags of "rejected doughnuts"! This is both a blessing and a curse! Thank goodness I am not competing this fall!  xo  

Baby's First Job

 

In which somebody started her first (paying) job today! 

Catching Up

 So here it is, mid-August and I have been remiss in blogging! My blogging has definitely changed now that we are no longer homeschooling (😓). Our days are different, though there is still a lovely rhythm to then. We have worked very hard to keep our family culture (our "Waldorfy-ness" as I like to call it) while growing and changing as we move through each age and stage. This summer has been the re-set that we needed and we have all done alot of talking and envisioning and sharing what we want for ourselves and as a family. It has been lovely! 
 

Shortly, after the girls got back from camp, I took Grace over to Hudson High to let her try driving. She did great, though was surprised by how fast five miles per hour felt!

Gretchen had fun exploring Clover's house. 

Redcoats and Rebels returned to OSV for the first time since the pandemic shut everything down and just in time for the heatwave. Grace, thankfully, was not in the gardens that day, but instead was inside one of the houses where it was definitely cooler than it was outside! 

Dave, Emma and I went to the Village a bit early and walked around while we waited for Grace to finish up. Though I did not take any pictures of her over at the Bixby house, I did manage to snap a few of other goings on that day. 

Last week I worked half days and then spent the afternoons doing fun things with the girls. Those half work-days/half vacation-days are the best and truly make it feel a little more like summer break. I have missed homeschooling and the slower pace of our days so very much. Along with that this summer I have really, really missed being a classroom teacher with her summers off. Having a few weeks of half work-days and half vacation-days has definitely helped make things a bit better! 

Our week of fun afternoon adventures began with Emma interviewing for a job at Honey Pot Hill Orchard follwed by a trip to the mall to do some back to school shopping! 

Tuesday was ice cream sundaes at Meola's. 
We all agreed, next time, we'll get one to share! 

Wednesday evening, while Grace was at dance, Emma modeled the latest "Aunt Gail apron" (though in this picture it looks more like a dress) while we baked some chocolate chip banana bread! 

We were all super grateful that Mother Nature had blessed us with some much cooler weather. 

Clover was thrilled to have her window back open again! 

On Saturday the girls and I went to Salem. The weather was perfect and I have been wanting to take them to the Salem Witch Museum for a couple of years now. Though we wish that David could have joined us (it was his weekend to work) we couldn't pass up a stellar weather day for a road trip to Salem! We had a fabulous time visiting the museum, going to lunch, walking around and stopping by the Witch Memorial to pay our respects before heading home. It was truly a splendid day and a fabulous way to cap off our week of adventuring! xo 

{This Moment} Emma And The Pony

{This Moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you all a lovely first weekend of September, and for those celebrating Labor Day weekend a wonderful holiday. xo 

Late Season Apple Picking

 Friday evening a got a text from our neighbor Erica letting me know that Honey Pot Hill Orchard was going to be holding free apple picking this weekend as a way to thank the community for their love and support over the years (especially this year when there was a hail storm and heat for the apple crop to contend with). With how lovely the weather has been, and with being in need of apples for the week, we scooted over to the orchard  yesterday after we completed our Scouting for Food route.

We arrived expecting the orchard to be rather crowded, and were pleasantly surprised to discover that was not the case at all. We made our way to the apple trees and quickly filled our two bags. With our now full bags we made our way back to the car to drop them off before stopping into the orchard store for some apple cider and a bag of some of the best cider donuts around (and they were still warm, too)! We munched on our donuts, paid the resident animals a visit and then returned to our car to head home with full hearts and bags and bellies. What an absolutely lovely way to spend the first part of our Saturday. xo

{This Moment} In The Apple Orchard

{This Moment} - A Soule Mama Friday ritual. A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you a delightful weekend!

A Day At The Orchard

It was a glorious autumn day.  The perfect kind to spend at our favorite orchard with some friends.  Animals were visited, tunnel and hedge mazes explored, cider donuts eaten and a hay ride taken.  It doesn't get more fabulously autumnal than that!