Confessions of a Grandma

I may have shared this recipe before.  It is one I pull out every year during apple picking time. It's good.  It's simple to put together.  And it was given to me by I woman I used to work with and I hear her voice as I read the recipe.  6-8 apples peeled and sliced 2 tablespoons of sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon Put these three ingredients into a pie plate. 1 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 stick melted butter Mix flour, sugar, egg and butter into a bowl until goopy. Using a spoon plop dough onto the top of the apples. Bake at 350º (F) for 50 to 60 minutes.

My grandson noticed snow on Mt. Mansfield (VT's tallest mountain) and wanted to take a ride to see if could find some snow on Friday.  He had the day off from school so parent-teacher conferences could be held all day. We took a ride through Smugglers' Notch . There were signs warning that the road would be closed for the season on Saturday.  There was snow, although not that much.  We explored a cave or two, but it was already getting dark.  We made a plan to return next summer and spend a full day climbing on rocks. Actually we started a whole list of things we want to do and explore next summer. For Dane, it will be the summer between elementary school and starting middle school.  I really hope he will still be interested in doing things with his old granny then! I of course have no worries about having the stamina to keep up with him. I take my vitamins.

Just when I was so frustrated I was about to give up blogging altogether I got a reply from Blogger Help.  i thought that I was commenting on some blogs but then I noticed comments I thought went through were not showing up -- even comments on my own blog.  It seems that the problem is with my browser.  If I am using Safari all my comments disappear.  When I switched to Chrome, it seems I can make comments.  It seems Safari has some kind of problematic filter.  I don't know if it is worth trying to figure out how to "fix" Safari or not. My technology learning curve is dauntingly steep.

My friend Ginnie and I went for a ride to see the fall colors and then have lunch at a country restaurant.  After I dropped her back at her place, I took another scenic route back to my own home. I went through my old town and my old house in the process. The grass is still very green.  It really was a pretty day, lots of sunshine. But the colors are definitely not as vibrant as usual. This is a photo from several years ago, the same place as the one above it.  You can see it has more of the "bowl of Trix cereal" look about it. The reds are conspicuously absent this year.  A subtle political message from our friends, the trees. I stopped in the parking lot for the walking trails behind my old house.  I hope the new owners are happy there. (Still frustrated in my efforts to comment on many blogs.)

Summer 2018 is not gonna give up without a fight. A couple of days ago I was getting out my winter coat to go out for the evening.  Monday was pleasantly warmer so I thought I had better take advantage of it and put away deck furniture and clean the deck. My garage is small.  I hung the deck chairs from the rafters.  Good that I have a small car. And then the temperatures shot up.  It's 78ºF today with a slight breeze blowing.  I would not be likely to go sit outside, even if i just took out a folding chair.  There are way too many bugs around. These guys, box elder beetles, and also the Asian lady bugs are knocking at the back door, wanting to find shelter for the winter I suppose.  Well, I am not welcoming them in. I did get out for a nice walk in a large field.  This property is located between the interstate highway and an industrial park.  The airport is a stone's throw away. Traffic and seven or eight planes taking of...

I have been able to comment on a couple of blogs by re-entering name and a URL, but some sites do not give me this option so I cannot publish comments.  I am still reading and not ghosting on purpose, but how to fix this is beyond me.

I don't know what is going on with Blogger lately.  None of the comments I have made on blogs are showing up. I might be on some kind of Blogger Blacklist. And what is this webroot thing?

We are having a rainy week.  And cold.  The temperature today was in low 50's. Time to turn on the heat.  I am wearing a long sleeve tee, a sweater over that, a fleece jacket over that. That's to be indoors.  I put my rain jacket over all when I had to go out to the grocery store.  The damp is right down to my bones and my fingers are freezing.  Just would be hard to work with mittens on. Since I felt more or less housebound today, I made an attempt to decorate for the season.  I have a fall leaf decoration hanging on the front door. I dragged this out. Since I don't really have a wall to hang it on, I put it on the table. I put the owls and pumpkins I made on the mantel. I made these decorative lanterns out of card stock for my grandchildren. They have a battery/fake votive inside to make them glow. Kristen likes cats. Dane likes Halloween. I try to do a week long diet cleanse in the spring and in the fall.  I am...