Apple of my eye

It was a half day of school for the Gloucester kids on Tuesday so we accompanied some of our favorite Gloucester schoolchildren on a trip to Russell’s Orchards in Ipswich to do some apple picking.  Now, I’ve never picked apples at an orchard.  Sad, but true.  I HAVE picked dead squishy apples up from the ground so my Dad could mow the lawn, but I don’t think that counts as apple picking even though we were paid the princely sum of a nickel per BUSHEL.

It was a lovely day to be outside and Russell’s has a great set up.  There’s a small per person charge to enter the orchard (which is credited toward the cost of the loot you bring out of the orchard) and an easy walk up to the trees.  The trees are well marked and LOADED with several varieties.  It took us very little time to get the apples we wanted, so then it was time to look at the pumpkins.  Kids and pumpkins.  You can’t really go wrong.

As we were checking out, I got an “emergency” call in request for a dozen cider donuts to be delivered to the dock upon our return to East Gloucester.  The store area was full of tempting aromas and the donuts were still warm when I purchased them.  I was there solely for the apple crisp, but – just my luck – none was available for the rest of the day.  Lucky for me, this means another trip to Russell’s in our near future.