Learning Something New

I guess I'd forgotten how fun it can be to learn something new. I've been laying the groundwork lately to be able to update the flower shop's website - something I don't know how to do!

I started with figuring out what software I needed, then getting it. After that I had to track down all the right user-names and passwords for our site and our web hosting account, and then came figuring out how to actually use the software and do it. I really didn't have much of an idea at all, but I did some research and spent a bunch of time on the phone with a friend who was willing to help. I started piecing things together, called for "back-up" a couple of times, and, ta-da, I updated one of our pages today!

To someone who knows how to do it, what I did was probably not very significant and wouldn't take much time, but for a total beginner... well, I'm pretty excited about it. I left work pretty pumped that I'd gotten a page done and actually understood most of what I'd done. How fun to learn something totally new!

Osage Orange

If you were reading my blog last year you might remember when I discovered and fell in love with hedge apples. Well, it's that time again. I have been thinking for a couple of weeks that they were probably about ready, and this past week I had the opportunity to get some. I was so excited to bring them home and smell the delicious smell! I keep wondering if they can make a candle smell like them. I would burn it all the time. I collected enough to have three bowls of them in the house. The smell is just amazing, plus they're so neat!

Jeff posted a pic of one on his facebook and a friend commented that they're called osage oranges. Makes sense, since the smell is citrus-y. She said they can be used medicinally. I had never heard of osage oranges, but when I Googled it there they were! Amazing. Learn something new everyday. They will probably always be hedge apples to me though. :)

Why didn't I think of this before?

Each fall I want to make lots of apple pies. We all love them, especially Jeff. And apples are cheap. But, I only have so much time (and definitely less of that this year) and never get around to making more than a few.

I bought a bunch of apples on sale last week, then was surprised by old friends from NY who brought us 1/2 a bushel of baking apples when they visited this weekend. That's a lot of apples. :)

I couldn't let them be wasted, and came up with an idea I can't believe I never thought of before. I peeled, cored and chopped a ton of apples and bagged them with the correct amount for a pie in each bag. Then I filled them, assembly-line style with the other filling ingredients. I then sealed the bags, tossed them to mix, labeled them and put them in the freezer. I now have eight bags of apple pie filling to use whenever - all I have to do is the crust!

YAY!!!