Crisscross Applesauce

We took lemons and made applesauce?  Sort of...

The day began with the boys constructing a lemonade stand at the end of our driveway.  We were not convinced that they would have much success (I mean, we do live out in the country) but they managed to make $6.55.  Not too shabby!  The boys were thrilled.  Thank you to our neighbours for supporting our budding entrepreneurs.

While the big boys were occupied manning their stand, Alistair, Ian and I got to work turning our apples into applesauce. Cut, heat, press, heat, can, repeat...

We kept the really nice apples for eating.
Maybe a pie is in our future.

Munch, crunch, munch.

I did not notice at the time but Seamus is standing
on the pile of sugar for the bees.  Ugh!

Halfway done!

After lunch, Ali went for a well deserved nap and Liam and I snuck out for an afternoon hike.  We headed off to explore Wesley Clover Park.  It was a blissful afternoon - full of sunshine, fresh air and wild raspberries galore!

We hiked the Nordic ski trails - in September - which meant
a bit of trekking through hay fields.  At least it was cut hay!

We found one educational placard on the Eastern White Pine,
Ontario's provincial tree.

The Eastern White Pine in the flesh (bark?).

We snacked on reams of wild raspberries the whole hike.

Crossing the tracks.

We found ourselves on an abandoned part of the Nepean Junction Mine/Quarry railway
(operational in 1917).   There were no tracks anymore but you can certainly
tell that there once were.

Wesley Clover Park used to be a sandstone quarry.
We read that the stone for the parliament buildings came from here.

The legacy of the quarry is very evident in the scarred landscape in the park.
Many parts of the park look very simply sad; like Mother Nature's bones were
 ripped from her flesh and she has the scars to prove it.

Some of the incredibly tall poplar trees were just starting to turn yellow.

When you go "Nordic skiing" in September
you end up bushwhacking a bit.
As Liam observed though - at least it was through wild flowers.

We found ripe thimbleberries!

We brought them home to Google them properly before
taste testing.  This is a new berry for us!
They were tart (in a good way) and delicious.

It was a very full and fabulous day.  We are all tired out but looking forward to tomorrow's adventures.