The circus comes to town (aka bean harvest)

Dane was so thrilled when the neighbors began combining their bean field that borders our place this afternoon.  Nora was a bit intrigued as well.

 Even cousin Morgan caught some of the "entertainment."

 Our kind neighbors later offered the kids rides. Nora took a quick spin with Casey in the combine.

 Dane rode in the tractor with Corey for a while before spending nearly a half hour in the combine with Casey.

 Our place from the half-harvested field.

They worked well into the dark, so the previously golden field will likely be dirt when we wake in the morning.  And Dane's desire to be a farmer continues to grow...

Fall is here!

 Dane started Kindergarten Connection classes 2 weeks ago.  He goes Wednesday and Friday mornings to the school where he will start kindergarten next fall.  It also happens to be the same school that his daddy attended through 6th grade and his grandpa graduated from 45 years ago!

Both kiddos love to ride their little bikes.  Dane is a wee bit faster than his sister!

 Beautiful fall morning at Grandpa and Grandma's new house.  They had a bountiful pumpkin harvest this year!

 They have waterfront property after the heavy fall rains!

 Grandpa and his baby Elsie.

 We made a trip to Menomonie this weekend and got to catch up with my Uncle Delmar after 6 years.

 The Smiths were there too!

 The fall colors were beautiful in Wisconsin!

 This morning was a bit foggy around our place.  The fall colors are kind of pretty here too!

 The view out our bedroom window.  These two crab apple trees are pretty now and even prettier in the spring with their pink blossoms.

 The view out our living room window. The previously green soybean field is now quite golden.  Tomorrow morning it will be just dirt (see next post).

Just to pick apples...

Our apple tree is loaded this fall, so I have been busy picking apples and making everything apple that you can imagine.  I have picked off most of the apples within my reach, so today I decided to get out our step ladder so I could pick more.

Thus began my farmyard tour.  I first headed over to our detached garage.  Not there...

 How about in the little red shed that Mike made as a high school shop class project?  Not there...

 Not likely to be the the "Grandma house" (Mike's Grandma Myrtle's old summer kitchen turned play house), so I didn't look there.

 In the garden shed?  Nope.

 How about the "House of Relatives" (dubbed by Mike's parents, and the name has stuck)? Not in there...

 In the old car garage that now houses all the kids' bikes, tractors, trikes? No luck...

 Didn't look in this building either, for obvious reasons... (did you know it's a two-holer?)

 The hayloft of the barn had 3 larger ladders, but not the step ladder.

 In the grainery turned 4-wheeler shed?  Guess not...

 How about the M&M shed (just take a wild guess why it got that name!)? Not there...

 Well, it must be in the machine shed.  Or not...

Frustrated after looking in all these out buildings, and covering a lot of ground in doing so, I called Mike at work.  "Did you check the old milk house?"  Nope, but I guess I should have...

Yes, we have quite the collection of buildings here on our place.  I love the character they add.  And talk about storage space!  Both Mike and I have family tendencies to "collect" stuff, so we'll have to make extra effort to keep the clutter to a minimum!

So back to the apples.  I have been spending lots of time in the kitchen with my faithful corer/peeler/slicer my hubby picked up for me at Fleet Farm.  The end result?  Frozen apple slices, apple pie, apple crisp, apple muffins, apple cheese pizza, crockpot apple sauce (to die for), this sinful creation, and fresh apple cider that I

was making in these pictures.

The weeks go by...

I am getting a bit behind with some of the pictures I should have posted long ago.  I took these of Nora over a month ago, right before our neighbor cut the alfalfa.

Doesn't she look like a little mommy? Baby over one shoulder, blanket over the other, and phone in hand!

My parents came the last weekend in August, and my mom kept our kitchen busy the whole time!  Fresh grape jam and juice, fresh salsa, and candied crab apples.

Matching aprons custom-made by my cousin.

Little mommy again!

These cats are so forbearing...

The wildflowers continue to bloom along the roadsides, and my hubby often brings me a bouquet.  Lucky me!

My brave Mike tackled painting the cupola of the barn a few weeks ago.  I hope he doesn't have to do it again soon- I don't think my heart could handle watching much more!

Nora decided that a little green pumpkin might taste good, so she took a bite or two!

"Daddy, are you sure Mommy's not home?  You know we'd be in trouble if she caught us!"

And Grandpa and Grandma got a new baby this week.  Meet little Elsie, an adorable golden lab about 7 weeks old! (Thank goodness they never get online, or Grandma might scold me for posting a picture of her in her rollers!)