October World

"I'm so glad I live in a world where 

there are Octobers" by Anne with an E!

Trying to focus on the good things to be thankful for this October,

in spite of what is happening in our October world!!

Like fun dips in the spa with these sweet humans ...

Airing the freshly washed quilt to make room for cozy duvets and comforters ...

A visit to a local buggy making shop on a very interesting

"Up the Nith River" Amish history bus tour led by the amazing

Fred Lichti...

Helping at our church's annual church beef bbq supper ...

2nd year as "drive thru take out". Worked so well!

Inspired by my cousin Fran to make Mom's old fashioned

concord grape pie - seasonal for sure

and so delicious!

Here's the recipe:

3 Cups Concord Grapes – washed, stemmed and drained

1 Cup Sugar

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 Tbsp. butter - melted

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Pastry for 2 pie crusts (one for the lid - or just use crumbs for topping)

Remove skins and simmer pulp for 5 minutes.  Do not add any water to pulp.  While hot, press pulp through a sieve to remove the seeds.  Combine strained pulp with the skins.  Combine sugar and flour and add to grapes.  Blend in the lemon juice and melted butter.  Pour into pastry lined pie plate.  Cover with top crust or crumbs.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Makes 1 - 9” pie.

To make crumbs, rub together 3/4 Cup Flour, ½ Cup Sugar and ¼ cup melted Butter.

Went on a quick little bike ride on the GtoG trail

with my friend Jan to see a newly installed bench ...

 And off we went to a great ABBA revisited concert with the Leis gals ...

Some sour dough baking whilst figuring out how to change a leaky

kitchen sink sprayer hose! Thanks Google for your help.

An awesome day spent with my little love while his sis played hockey

in her first season opener tournament...

Trains, Mexican Train games, stories, McDonalds lunch, and spooky skeletons.

Neighbourhood "under the sea skeletons" - eek!

Oh, and one more thing.

My infamous butter lamb got a wee mention in Marlene Epp's

recently launched book - "Eating Like a Mennonite"!

"From zwieback to tamales and from sauerkraut to spring rolls ..."

Congratulations Marlene!

And that, dear readers, was the rest of my October!

Till next time .... November be gentle!

Oktoberfest - Wunderbar!

 

A special weekend of unexpected joy and friendship!

One short week ago

a road weary "Musikverein Elchingen" very talented music group, from the Neresheim,

Baden Wurttemberg region of Germany, came to our small town of Milverton, Ontario.

They had just finished a tour to our Nation's Capital - Ottawa,

Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto.

They unloaded their luggage and musical instruments

and performed a beautiful mini concert prior to being properly welcomed

and fed BBQ hamburgers, salads, butter tarts and beer!

All the arrangements were done by an uber efficient 

Perth East Twinning Committee.

Congratulations to you all!

I had signed up for billeting and was delighted

to taxi 4 beautiful young women to my home in Stratford.

They were tired and cold and welcomed the hot tub,

lingering as long as possible.

Katharina, Isabell, Roswitha and Silke

It was evident right from the beginning that this was going

to be a very fun filled weekend

in spite of the weather and my very poor German vocabulary...

Thankfully they all spoke English very well.

On Saturday the group was given a quick tour of our area and

later that evening they performed for a "sold out" Oktoberfest

crowd at the Perth East Recreation Centre.

Many people remarked how wonderful it was to have such

a large crowd gather once again since all the Covid restrictions in past years.

Celebrating, dancing, eating the most delicious German Food,

and enjoying this professional musical group was truly awesome.

They played on and on for many hours ... amazing!

On Thanksgiving Sunday the group was able to have some "down time"

to relax with their host families.

This was another opportunity to get to know each other,

eat together, nap and refresh.

Oktoberfest is not new to our region with the nearby famous

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest and it's many Fest Halls and

celebrations for well over 50 years!

"Our" special guests marched in the large parade!

They rose in the wee hours of the dark and cold Monday morning,

we said a tearful "Auf Wiedersehen" to our new friends

and hoped to see them all again someday!

Here is a short clip gleaned from the early morning parade TV broadcast.

They should be so proud - a totally professional and delightful group!

Following the parade, their bus took them to see

Niagara Falls before heading back to Toronto for

a flight back to Germany the next day!

Memories forever ...

In the meantime, 

a family dinner was enjoyed at the farm on Thanksgiving Monday afternoon

with left-over pie, and roasted chicken with all the fixings.

Thanks Becky and Patrick!

This was one of the most memorable Thanksgiving weekends I've ever had!

My heart is warm and full - not to mention my tummy.

Unforgettable new friends!

Thankful for you all - God Bless You and Keep You!

You are loved!

Till next time ... remembering a very special Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend shared

                                                   with new found friends from Germany!

Prost!