Dit dat en de andere

[raxacorricofallapatorius]

It's that time again. Our apple trees are groaning with fruit, and I have only to give my hazelnut tree the slightest shake to bring a rain of nuts down on my head.

Despite the fact that it's still AUGUST, as far as the seasons are concerned, it's autumn. It actually started a couple of weeks ago weather-wise, with that lovely snap in the air that only comes toward September and grows progressively smokey by the end of October. So oday I gathered several pounds of nuts, and right now hubby is bringing apples in by the bucket. The pears are not quite ready, and neither are the walnuts, but that's something to look forward to.

Mmmmmm...fresh appeltaart tomorrow. :c) I might even add some of our rhubarb, and make it even more fabulous. I love this time of year.



In other, this-kind-of-shit-only-happens-to-me nonsense, I was in town buying school clothes for the kids the other morning when I spotted a Man Whose Ancestors Might Very Well Have Come From India (is that PC enough?) about 30 feet in front of me, staring at a spot that I at first thought was behind me, and pointing at his own forehead. As I continued walking, I realized that he was actually looking at *my* forehead, and he was walking straight toward me.

He asked if I spoke English. Yes, I replied. Then he told me that I was "a very lucky woman. You have an interesting forehead. You will live a long time." And he pointed again at his own forehead, at about the third eye spot.

I was, quite frankly, nonplussed. What do you say to such a thing? "Oh. Uh, thanks. Good to know."

"Very lucky," he said again, and continued on past me.

Now, as far as I can tell (and I'm fairly sensitive to such things), he wasn't trying to chat me up, and I didn't get any skeevy vibes from him. He seemed genuinely surprised and even a little awestruck.

So of course when I got to my car, the first thing I did was look at my forehead. All I could see were wrinkles, which I tend to think is more indicative of my present worries than my future lifespan.

*shakes head* I really don't know what to think of it, but it certainly was an odd experience. The way my life runs, it either means that I *will* live a long life, or that I'll get hit by a bus any day now. ;c)



And last but not at all least, big hugs and thanks to my wonderful friends on flist for all your comments of support while I bitched and moaned. It is getting easier in some respects, but not in others. Time will tell.

Comments

[drachemaedchen.livejournal.com]

I LOL'd at the forehead story. Hee!

Yum, hazelnuts...mmmm....we are still firmly in the grip of summer here...it 'cooled down' a bit this week to the mid eighties, and over the weekend our high will be 79 (F) two days in a row!! Amazing, lol. Gawd I can't wait for autumn. I loves it so. So do enjoy your brisk weather. :D

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Well, since we never got much of a summer, it's just as well that we're already into fall. I'm hoping that means a colder winter than last year! We had exactly ONE day of snow in March. Bollocks to that!

[drachemaedchen.livejournal.com]

Oh I know!! I've lived here for 15 years, and the past 5 years we have had CRAP for snow. *pout*

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

How cool about the man and the forehead-pointing :D

And enjoy the bountiful harvest of your garden! I can see our neighbours have a nice crop of pears coming...

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...pear and walnut salad with bleu cheese. I think I'm going to have to get back into the kitchen pretty soon and do some brainstorming.

Hey, how about a crap ton of apples as a baby gift? I've got more than I can use, I think. :c)

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Ooooo that's very lovely of you! :D If you've really lots left over, then we'd love to receive some. How would we arrange the transfer of said bounty? Would you and your family like to come over for a visit sometime?

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

We'd love to, assuming you can handle it so far down the line. :c) So far we've got a wheelbarrow full, and there's still some on the trees.

Wil jullie handappels of bakappels? Wij hebben ze allebei.

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm still up for it! :D This is probably a bit short notice, but how about Sat 8th September? Are you guys free to come over that day, say for lunch, or coffee in the afternoon or something?

Misschien een mix van handappels en bakappels? Dat klinkt heel erg lekker :D

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, maybe Sat 22nd Sept? (I just found out that Arni has football training on the 8th, argh, and then there's the EU Cup in Hamburg on the weekend of the 15th).

Is that too late? Apologies for the faffery!

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

I think actually the 22nd works better. Should I bring the family, or will that be too much?

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Cool! :D Your family are very welcome to come along too, if they'd like to.

Is lunch or afternoon tea good for you?

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Tea?? TEA??? We're DUTCH, girl! We only drink coffee. :c)

Marissa has zwemles Saturday morning, so after lunch works better.

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

PICKY, PICKY!!! Ok, afternoon KOFFIE it is then :P Um...about 2pm ok for you? I'll put on the poffie-kot :D

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

ps nice icon :D

[sylvadin.livejournal.com]

While your experience with the 'person of possible Indian descent' may have seemed strange, it really wasn't. In the cultures from India and China, they 'read' faces like we of European descent 'read' palms. Smile and accept his pronouncement the same way you would if a palmist had said 'Wow! You've got an incredibly strong and long Line of Life'.

Appeltaart? Is that the dessert that tastes like a cross between a buttery cake and an apple pie?

Gee, apples, pears, hazelnuts, walnuts... You actually get a fruit harvest? I'm rather envious. I have apple and plum trees...and each year I can tell when the fruit is ripe because I can watch through my windows as the local deer munch the fruit off the lower branches and the mama raccoons teach their babies how to strip harvest the top limbs. :-)

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. I was just so completely taken by surprise, I didn't know quite what to think, but hey, who am I to argue against the possibility of long life?

And yes, Appeltaart is pretty much like that. The crust is more cake-like in consistency than regular apple pie. You can use the crust dough to make sugar cookies with, too. :c)

This year's "harvest" was much better than last years. Last year the winds came early on and blew lots of the baby apples off the tree. What was left the birds ate. So I'm thrilled that we have so many this year. We don't have much wildlife other than that - unless you count the neighborhood cats.

How cool to see deer and raccoons in your yard!