Apple sauce

Tonight Allie and I made some apple sauce and carved pumpkins. Not quite as many pumpkins as I'm used to carving at home, but it was satisfying.

Here we are in the midst of peeling and coring apples. I've taught Allie how to make apple sauce and she just loves it! And a good thing too, because we made a ton!

Out for Halloween!

Last night was the big night to dress up and go out for Halloween. I went out with Allie and some friends to check out the night scene. I think dressing up is more fun now for adults than it was when we were kids. Of course, there is a sense of innocence and excitement for children that adults seem to have lost...



I wore my galabayya from Egypt, with a few added pieces although everyone thought I was a gypsy. It doesn't matter though, most costumes are completely overdone anyway. There were some crazy costumes out there and it ended up being an okay night.

Here are some random shots of Vermont during one of our days. Sarah and I next to Lake Champlain. On this day, Sarah and I did a short hike in Red Rocks Park, right in Burlington.


Many covered bridges here, all around 100 years old or so. Of course some have been rebuilt or touched up with fresh lumbar!

Ausable Canyon

This was last Friday, Sarah and I headed on a ferry over to New York to check out the Ausable Canyon. It was a very crisp but clear morning!

This is a really narrow section of the Ausable River, a little tourist attraction that stretches about two miles along the river.

More from Montreal

This is my favorite church in Montreal, the Christ Church Cathedral built in 1859. This church is right downtown, in between much more modern buildings.

It was gorgeous inside!

My wonderful friend Sarah just came and spent about a week with me here in Burlington. The first day off from work I had we drove the hour and a half drive to Montreal, Canada to check out the city. We literally walked around the whole city that day, only using the metro (subway) once. It was a cloudy day and a little chilly out, but the rain held off and we even got a nice view of the city from Mount Royal.

This building is Montreal's largest shrine, Oratoire Saint-Joseph, a massive structure with a very modern interior. Second only in height to Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. We were both excited to go here but a little disappointed when we saw the inside.

Now this building, Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, was awesome inside. It was built between 1824 and 1829 and has a huge pipe organ that was being played while we were inside. More to come on our vacation...

Finally...Fall foliage.

The peak weekend of Vermont Fall Foliage has finally arrived. The hotels are full, the sky is blue, sun is warm, crisp cold nights, and tourists all over the road, so don't be in a hurry to get anywhere! A rich array of colors from deep reds to bright, almost fluorescent yellows. The wide variety of colors can be found on almost every road, hillside and neighborhood. No chance of hiking a trail alone, other hikers are pouring out in the numbers to enjoy the fall. And of course, so am I. Just finished my work week and an extra shift to top it off, and I am tired. Today was the exhausted day, so I just drove around, found numerous country roads, trying to get the "perfect pictures" and to just enjoy the scenery.



These are the best colors to see on a tree!



The hillsides are really gorgeous all lit up in color. I feel like I took about 500 pictures, but only one or two really show the great colors. How many pictures can a person take of trees??



Here is a nice trail full of leaves and the feeling of fall.