Apples & horses on a sunny winter's day ❄️

There is a field not far from our house where apples have been left on the trees presumably because they are too small to be sold, so this week we picked a whole bunch more in order that we can make fresh apple juice every morning with the new juicer we bought today! The tiny apples you can see in the shot above are crab apples and we have been using them to make apple cider vinegar. I will show you the process for ACV at the end of this post.

So, here we are! Cold but happy :)

These trees have a net which you can see tied up along the top. In the summer the net is unravelled to prevent birds from feasting on the juicy sweetness of the fruit.

There were hardly any red ones left. And most of them pretty soft. Though incredibly tasty! Check out these two which look so much like giant cherries ;)

The green ones were plentiful and one does not have to work hard before they have more than they can carry.

Esteban enjoyed using them to test his throwing abilities. Normally I wouldn't be happy about this, but most of these apples will go to waste, so why not?

Don't be fooled by the sunshine, it is still incredibly cold here. Grass which hasn't yet been touched by the sun remains frozen.

Which makes children want to lick it apparently!

On our way home we said hello to a friend's horse.

She is such a beauty, we really love her.

Hello Belle :)

Esteban offered her an apple but she didn't seem interested.

In fact, horses prefer if you stomp on apples first. Easier to eat with those big jaws of theirs.

I noticed these wonderful 'flowers' on the walk home. Such an energetic display of life.

And then I spotted this tree which felt like a perfect example of death and the inevitable cycle for everyone & everything blessed enough to experience life. I noted too how the ivy was still thriving, despite the evident 'death' of its host. Of course, nothing ever really dies. It just recycles.

So, here are the apples we ended up with, tucked away with a few other things in the winter tent in our courtyard.

These ones were too soft or too eaten by birds for us.

But obviously there is no waste in this house so these apples were used to make ACV.

Apple cider vinegar

All you have to do is cut up the apples you don't want and throw them cores and all into a glass container.

Add one tablespoon of sugar for every cup of (filtered) water and fill the vessel once full of apples.

Leave with a breathable cloth attached to the top and give it a stir with a wooden spoon once a week. After one month filter off the apple pieces and you're done.

Drink a little bit of your ACV (mixed with water) every day for optimum health.

So, that's it.

I have many other things to tell/show you but will save for the next post.

Love & Light everyone 🥦