a bushel and a peck

wonderful afternoon at the skytop orchard in flat rock, nc.  what a cool place.  majestic views and miles of trees dotted with shades of red and green and gold.    we packed a picnic and the kids ran for hours, picking apples and rolling down hills.  everyone crashed once in a while into a big dog pile of love.  i had heard that this was the tourist place and in years past we have visited smaller mom and pop orchards.  i will say however, that i was pleasantly surprised because the prices were good, the apples were beautiful and the scenery couldn't have been better.  everywhere you turned was pure magic and you could walk for quite a while without seeing another human being despite the packed parking lot.  it seemed to me to be the perfect romantic getaway...don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me, anyone else but me....  we got ourselves a good variety of our favorites:  galas and pink ladies, grannies for cooking and whatever else we could grab for apple butter.  i have got big plans for these beauties.  big plans.   stay tuned for more on canning.