Hilda's 88th

Terry grew some amazing pumpkins this year. The variety was Cougar, something he hadn’t grown previously. He liked that they were not only large, but all grew with flat bottoms. Given that they grow on their sides, that’s pretty remarkable that ever single on stood up straight after they were picked.

Jane came up Sunday afternoon for pumpkin carving. Here is the kitchen table, ready for action.

Carving at the kitchen table

The oil cloth on the table dates back to 1984. I bought it for my first apartment when I started teaching in Mukwonago. I needed something to cover the card table that served as a kitchen/dining table until I had enough money to buy real furniture (as I recall, at least a year). I think I may have borrowed the card table from my parents. As long as I’ve digressed down memory lane, I remember that my brother asked if I wanted the old barrel vacuum cleaner that my folks had from when they were first married. “It still sucks,” he said. Ha!

Jane and I carved happy pumpkins. Terry went for a mournful look, and I think he succeeded.

Left to right; Jane's happy pumpkin, Terry's mournful pumpkin, my happy pumpkin

We lit out pumpkins that night while we watched football. Halloween is just around the corner. It’ll be Christmas before you know it.

Our pumpkins lit up

Today was Hilda’s 88^th birthday. It worked out well for me because I had the whole day with neither classes nor appointments.

I was just getting dressed after my shower when the phone rang. It was Hilda, asking if I would like to collect the eggs this morning. I knew something was up. Sure enough, there in one of the nest boxes was a pullet egg! The first one! We were surprised it was brown because we haven’t observed any squatting from the Dominiques. It was also good news to have a blue egg, as the Americauna have been really slacking off since we combined the flocks. Carmella was in the nest box when I went out, but these were the only three eggs we got today. Carmella will lay blue eggs when her time comes. She's got to be getting close.

Carmella in the nest box with two hen eggs and one tiny brown pullet egg

The whole family went to Edward’s Orchard for lunch. Most of us had pulled pork sandwiches. Dad had a piece of apple pie. It was pleasant enough to eat outside. Really a nice day!

Lunch at Edward's Orchard

After we got home, I finished Hilda’s birthday cake. One of the things I fretted about in the middle of the night last night was how I was going to color chocolate frosting. When I was fully awake this morning, I thought, “Well, duh. Make white frosting.”

Hilda with birthday cake

Hilda made Boeuf Bourgogne and homemade noodles for supper. I made a loaf of sourdough bread for sopping up the delicious sauce. And I ate too much. Oh well. Mom will only have one 88^th birthday!