We’re going for the full Fall experience this year. Last Saturday was leaves in Algonquin; this Saturday we went apple picking.

Julian, Bec, Glen and I headed west out of Toronto to the Big’r Apple Farm. We were surprised that just on the edge of Toronto you can find a bit of the countryside. We arrived at about ten, apparently not the only ones keen to go apple pickin’.

We each bought a sturdy plastic bag for 25c then climbed aboard a makeshift people mover pulled by a tractor. We were deposited at the far end of the orchard amidst Cortlands, Spys and Macintoshes. The trees were laden with red ripe apples, and the ground littered with ones that had either fallen or been dropped because they weren’t considered up to standard.

Glen eagerly filled half a bag without delay and then we took a while to fill up the other half. There was no need to climb ladders or each other’s shoulders as the trees weren’t that tall. We ate as we went along, meanwhile I was wondering what we were going to do with 10kg of apples.

Sure, you think apple pies, apple crumbles, stewed apples, apple sorbet and more but then you also think of the sugar, flour and butter. Since going picking I’ve eaten one Apple. I hope they won’t go to waste.

Despite the concern about what we were going to do with them, it was a fun experience. I could imagine taking kids along and being there for hours. There was also a pumpkin patch so we picked up a few to carve for Halloween. They were only $4 each and they’re pretty big.

We have one more autumn activity to do: corn mazes. Can’t wait!

From the lovely outdoors we made our next stop at Costco. The place was heaving with people, though it’d be ten times worst at Christmas (which isn’t far away). We happily stocked a shopping trolley between the three of us. We often exclaimed how cheap it was to buy giant boxes and bags, never mind how long it would take us to use it all. $400 later we drove to the Lindt shop. They were having a sale. It was an expensive consumer driven day spent with friends.

In the evening I made pizza dough. Julian and Bec came for dinner (the pizzas turned out great). Julian made an apple tea cake and I whipped up some custard. We had wine. Later Glen, Julian and I went out for some drinks and a bit of a dance. It was cold outside. Winter is coming.