Where the hell are the Apples?

This past weekend we had our annual apple pickingpalooza. The usual people were there:

Moo – bossy as ever

Hippy Chick – I may need to change her name to kodachrome

Freak Show – need I say more?

CR – he can leap tall trees in a single bound

Cheese Please – who did her best not to khill me when I was describing the last episode of Avatar that we saw

My boys –

The trees at Honey Pot seem to be VERY picked over. Not that it stopped us from getting perfect apples.

One of Spotty’s favorite things to do when he is here are the mazes and this year Honey pot unveiled a new one “The green monster”.   When we got to the green monster it was about 4:30pm and the sky had turned from blue to black. After Spotty and Boy Toy went through Moo overheard the attendant say “I know what time it is, but I just didn’t want to say no.” Apparently the big maze is supposed to close at 4pm. Spotty would have been so disappointed if he couldn't go through it. I love running across teenagers in jobs where they have the ability to help kids out or toe the company line. Sometimes it’s at arcades where someone will give the kid a prize they really want, even if they don’t have enough tickets. Sometimes it’s at a place like this where perhaps they recall what it was like to be a kid.   I always think “thank God there is hope for humanity.”  

There was also (we think) an air show going on. We got to see some pretty cool planes.

Once the apples were picked and the mazes were mazed we headed back to Moo clans fortress of dorkitude. Where they fed us great food, and let Spotty entertain them with his death defying circus act (that I took no photos of whatsoever…I think I hate my camera). Moo and Spotty went on a nighttime hunt of things to put on pizza, like Basil, chives, peppers and…strawberries. We were also sent home with cans of LOVE. Peach marinade and peach preserves, and PEAR STUFF!!!! Moo makes this pear sweet liquid gold that this time is actually a jelly and I bet is just as good as the liquid gold although Moo doesn’t think so. There were a bunch of other canned goods that I will have to take a look at. My brain stopped working after I saw I got a jar of PEAR GODness.

So Moo said we complained about the trees last time we went, and that may possibly be true as last year’s trip seemed to be the same weekend as this year’s trip. So apparently we need to go apple picking in September…perhaps before labor day? Which to me seems like an abomination…I guess we will have to see. We did get pears this time and approximately 20 bags of donuts. Spotty has decided that he likes them, but not the sugar ones (whose son is he?) As long as there are apples in September (Moo also says that we used to do the apple picking in September, but I do not believe her, I can find no September evidence) and the Moo clan we will be fine.

Apple Picking at Honey Pot

Over the weekend we went apple picking with Moo, Freak Show, Hippy Chick and Cheese Please. Boy Toy was invited but it was a pretty miserable drizzily kind of day and Boy Toy declared “I am in wet trees pretty much every Fing day of my life, I am NOT doing in on an Fing weekend.” So Spotty Chop and I headed off ourselves.

At first I thought it was going to be one of those trips, you know the kind, every frelling photo you take just isn’t right.

 But then I got these

I used to get incredible photos of Spotty Chop apple picking, but last years photos blew lemon scented chunks. These were ok

But this would have been Fing awesome.  KHAN!!!!

I took this photo just for Boy Toy

Here is Freak Show HURLING apples at his beloved oldest child

LOOK at Hippy’s face – that is FEAR PEOPLE he is so mean

And this photo? This sums up Moo up perfectly. She is just like her mom, queen bee who expects to be obeyed.

This photo? Everyone who is Anyone has been on the receiving end of this look…although Freak Show has clocked more hours than anyone else

I just liked these

But my favorite is this

This is Moo and Spotty Chop’s relationship “Auntie MOO can I tell you something?” Auntie Moo , drops whatever she is doing and focuses on Spotty “TELL ME!”

Not only did we get to pick apples, but we had 100’s of donuts, convinced other people that they must have donuts, went through mazes, fed goats and piggies and went through even more mazes and then had even more donuts. But then? We got to pick up Boy Toy and head down to the Moo compound where Hippy and CR made us pizza, and let Spotty borrow some wacked out Japanese PS2 game, and Moo sent us home with more canned goods than the Ingalls had on the prairie. I also got an applesauce recipe that was so simple even I could do it!

Apple Picking

I feel bad that I have neglected the blog for so long. Especially since i have photo evidence that we have been social.


We went apple picking with Moo, Freak Show,Hippy Chick, Cheese Please, CR and  a friend of Hippy Chick's, Amazing.


The sun was bright, and it wasn't ten thousand degrees which it usually is because Moo came up with the idea of going early in the season as opposed to late. We picked apples, sat in the sun and went through mazes. Spotty Chop has a freakish sense of direction. The boy ran through the hedge maze making only 2 or 3 wrong turns. He then ran back out, I was hard pressed to follow. Spotty wanted to go again, so Boy Toy gave him a walkie talkie and sent him on his way. He called when he first entered the maze, when he got to the center and then when he came back out. THANK GOD he doesn't have my sense of direction. I would still be wandering around if left on my own.

 Yes it's a photo of Hippy Chicks butt...it made me giggle

I wasn't very happy with the quality of photos i took, but as luck would have it, quality people made it ok

Apple Picking - Climb a Tree

We went apple picking today at Honey Pot orchards. We have been picking apples here for the past 5-6 years. We were going to try to go somewhere else this year. We love Honey Pot, but it is so popular and crowded that it hasn’t been as much fun as it could be. We searched and searched and got…nothing, places either had no apples or were ridiculously expensive (yes I am talking about you lookout farm). Moo had called to see if it was crazy busy and they said no so that’s where we headed.

We had a blast with Moo, Freak show and the kids, cheese please, hippy chick and the hips boy friend henceforth to be known as CR or cradle robber. Moo’s sister "Little Sis" came with her hubby The Teacher and their three kids. We picked more apples than anyone should ever pick and I will be running out to get some pie making stuff soon. Spotty chop is in love with green apples but will not touch the red ones. I hoped that if he picked his own he would at least try them. I was correct. The boy had to have 3 or 4. All different types, he loved them all. Between picking apples and rolling down hills his day was complete. We went through the hedge maze and I can not freaking believe it but I let Spotty choose how to go and not only did he get us to the center of the maze, but he got us out again too. I am so overwhelmed by this and am hoping that this is a trait he keeps as I can not function without my GPS in any way shape or form. Speaking of which…On the way to the orchard the sound stopped working on Tomtom. I won’t say I was paralyzed, but pretty darn close. I am now so used to him telling me when to turn that it doesn’t dawn on me to check the screen anymore. Luckily his voice came back on the ride home.

We got donuts; they have awesome home made donuts. Spotty was so tired by this point that he just wanted me to lay down so he could rest. So I did, but then the kids were talking about the animals and he perked up. So we watched the animals, fed the goats and then saw pumpkins. Spotty wanted to pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch so boy toy and I chased him through the patch till he found the one he liked. We felt we had done everything there was to do; Spotty had just about passed out, as we were walking back to the car when we walked by…the hot dog stand. He needed a hot dog, but when we got to the car decided he just wanted the bun and a juice box. He fell asleep on the ride home, we plopped him on our bed to finish his nap. I fell asleep on the couch. Boy toy fell asleep with Spotty. We just had some chicken and left over Chinese food. I have emailed everyone photos from today, some were really great. Now Spotty and I are eating pop corn and watching Monsters Inc. Boy toy is watching…Red Sox? Bruins? Patriots? Somebody. OK it’s the Red Sox, I think it’s an important game.

A good time was had by all.