Isn’t it amazing how a scent can instantly take you to a special place and time? Making our Apple Bayberry soap the other day filled the soap room with the scent of bayberry and delicious, ripe apples! It brought to mind some of my favorite memories.

For me, taking a trip to the apple orchard with family or friends has always been a welcome fall adventure. The ride in the hay wagon out to the furthest rows, bumping over the grass on bails of prickly straw; the running free-for-all to pluck the first apples; the sweet fragrance of the fruit drifting out to meet us as we come to the row of trees, loaded with beautiful fruit. Competition to pick the largest or the reddest or the funniest shaped apple is always fierce!

The kids mostly run around and play chasing games under the trees while the grown ups talk and laugh and pick way too many apples. We wander down to the huge cider press where some of our very own apples are made into cider and bottled to take home. Relaxing together at long picnic tables, we gorge on apple donuts, apple pie, apple strudel, apple crisp, hot apple cider and caramel apples on sticks!

After the “weighing and paying” and rounding up children, with the long rays of the rosy autumn sun warming our backs we head with our bounty in large red wagons to the car. Tired and happy, we drive home with our treasure of apples and memories.

Love and Joy,

Catherine