autumn

wonderful autumn, it is a busy time of year, especially with whole days spent back in school! though the apples are ripening and that is wonderful, we will have a bit of a harvest. not much at all, but i'm looking forward to fresh sweet cider, on wednesday is the afternoon to collect those apples.
last week i was out there to gather what was on the ground and those apples are being made into dried apple slices, a wonderful treat for everyone wandering through the kitchen and grabbing a hand full.

and then this morning i was wondering what was going on behind the house, not seeing anything right away but hearing lots and lots of birds. the starlings are gathering and doing this right there on our old apple tree, above the chicken coop, singing and shouting at each other. a wonderful sight. and still i shushed them away, as i would want to gather up those apples too within the next few days and feed the traveling starlings...
we also have some trouble with our chickens, one of them is a particular "bird", she prefers to fly and climb up into the hazel tree (or is it a bush?). we have to call her down each night, she has learned to recognize my voice or the childrens too, and then comes down and she easy hops into the coop, but it's that extra care, that just can't be forgotten...