The backyard in Casco was covered in white-throated sparrows and juncos today. That’s a pretty good sign that winter is really on the way. We saw a couple of (undoubtedly southbound) palm warblers, some yellow-rumped warblers, and some other sparrows, probably chippies and a field sparrow though we were hoping for a white-crowned, on a walk around the block. Also lots of witch hazel in bloom on the other association’s road.
There were no apples at all on the red delicious tree when we got here. I’m disappointed not to have tasted any at all from that tree this year. There are still a lot on the heritage tree. After we came back from walking and warmed up with some hot chocolate I went out and picked enough for a pie.
It seems a little like cheating, when the point is to use up some of the apples from our own trees, to add the juice and grated rind of a lime to the apple pie, but it sure makes a good pie.