Fall is finally here

This is the view out of our windows...you can see the "playground" of the school across the way. They have no equipment, just the tennis court which has no net and I think some basketball hoops. No wonder they just chase each other and scream their little heads off.
Here is the other view I always have...Mr. and Sparks' butt as they are walking in front of me.

How it turned out

School is still going well and I am busy, but now I have a little handle on it all. The class in the Bronx is really interesting- a little challenging. Mr. has grown a beard.

Here is how the garden turned out. The marigolds were sucky and the evergreen balls mysteriously died. Now we have the entire planter to deal with. The lower planter is really kind of pathetic and never grows well. Next year I am going to put in something like ivy for ground cover and begonias- cause they are the only thing that works...

Ooo, my cute baby!!! He is doing what he does best. Stealing socks for attention and then sitting on the bed to be petted.

Applesauce

So, no, I don't have a lot of free time. But this is really easy! And honestly, I usually don't care about applesauce. BUT, homemade applesauce is sooo good. You can only know how good it is after you make it and taste it.

So get a bag of local apples. Cut them and core them. I don't skin them....
Sprinkle with cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Pour about a cup of water in the bottom. Roast for an hour at 375...
Then I use my handblender and mush them to desired amount of smoothness......yumyumyum....

So I was listening to this really cool podcast...

So I haven't posted for about a month, as I expected. Tomorrow is my first day to teach a class of kids...in the Bronx. It is a voice class and I should be fine and this is an arts high school, so supposedly some of the kids actually care about art. But, I am awake and a little nervous- but there doesn't seem to be that much I can do about it. I also have a conducting midterm test tomorrow and a class presentation on Tuesday. So there is not a lot of time to sit around and freak out about a class of kids. By the way, I think to be PC, I should refer to them as students or young people. I mean, honestly, they are all going to be way taller then me- calling them kids seems dumb.
But about the title of this post! I do love podcasts! Like LOVE with caps...primarily cause they are free. I actually attribute my new love of learning to them. I realized I could listen to class lectures from UCBerkley and MIT and newsshows from NPR and APM all while walking the dog. I also checked out cds from the library called the learning series, or something and have been listening to world history, the operas of Mozart, and philosophy, all while walking the dog! I also love this new podcast about New York City history- the Bowery Boys. So here is how you do it. 1. Go to iTunes 2. Click on podcasts 3. there are tabs for iTunes U which is all colleges that post their classes or Education or type in a search. 4. click "get this" button and it ends up on your iTunes page and you can drag it to your pod. I have enjoyed the most- UCBerkley (their special events page is good) and MIT. I also listen to news, food, and environment on NPR and speeches on APM. But my two favorites are Radio Lab and This American Life.
So now when you hear, like Mr. does, the daily, hourly, momently comment "I heard this really interesting podcast..." you can check it out.

First year

Why is this a tradition? Here is the piece of wedding cake we saved. It has been in the freezer and made the trip to Catskills in the glove compartment- doesn't that sound sooo appetizing? But it was really tasty! We loved our caterer.

The cottage we stayed in was near these beautiful farmstands in the Schohairie Valley.
And we picked raspberries- yum, yum, yum. We had a raspberry bush in our yard when I was a kid and I feel really nostalgic when I eat them.

Cottage

This is the little cottage we stayed in over the weekend. There were hammocks, a creek, and an outdoor shower! Totally dreamy.
On Saturday morning everything was covered in mist. Sparks was in our faces at 6am, begging to go out and play.
It looks like the set of a fantasy movie...

Catskills

We visited a friend who has the most beautiful farmhouse. She has many fields, a huge garden and tater patch, and this pond. This is Frankie, her pup- she likes Sparks. He is really ambivalent about dogs, weirdo.
But he loves, LOVES to swim.
And he would drive too, if he were in London....