We got a couple of special deliveries this past week. Our farmer friend Jan harvested honey and beeswax from her hives recently and was kind enough to share some of what she got with us.

This big jar of delicious local honey is a little like liquid gold to us. The honey helps keep us healthy during cold and flu season, and it tastes great on our toast and tea.

I was also thrilled that she gifted us with some wax from her hives this year, which we used to make some homemade beeswax polishfor our toys and also for blocks we colored, sanded and polished last week as part of our wood-themed homeschool pre-school class.

I’ve got some other big plans for these great local gifts, but I also thought it might be a good time to look  back on last year’s “Honey Week,” when I spent several days talking about our farmer friend Jan and all things honey:

• Honey Beauty Recipes
• Honey and health
• Apple Blackberry Crisp, with honey

Hope you are enjoying a little of the sweet stuff where you are!

You’ve probably picked up this week that I love apples.

I love fall, and all the cinnamon recipes and crunchy leaves that go along with it.

Which makes me a sucker for apple orchards.

One of the wonderful things about our non-traditional schedule here is the time is allots for apple orchard visits during non-peak hours. We try to go to one each week during the fall.

(And that’s the beauty of the Midwest, of course — anyone with two Jonamac trees and a cow can start an orchard and people will just follow the delicious smell of doughnuts.)

A quarter for the animal feed at the petting zoo; a quarter peck of apples for a pie.

That’s all we need one week.

Maybe the next week we need caramel apples (because sometimes you just do).

I love the mums and the honey displays, the endless packs of soup and dip mixes.

I never buy the soup or the dip. But I like that they are there. Someone wants, them, I’m sure. Someone somewhere just bought one for her sister-in-law, or her kid’s teacher.

I love taking the wagon and walking up and down the rows of trees, side-stepping bees, always wondering how long it really takes for an apple tree to mature. Surely if I planted one today …

There is something that makes me grin as I walk hand-in-hand with my kids down paths covered with fallen leaves.

It feel special. It feels right.

It always feels just like fall.

 I cook my apples in enough water to cover over medium-high heat until they are tender and slip off a knife. I add frozen berries (any berries work well) during the last few minutes of cooking. We like to mash the mixture in a bowl, or take it for a spin in the food processor, and serve warm.

How do you like your applesauce?

We love our library.

Every week, we pack up the books to return in our bags, and bring our (long) list of new things to look for.

We have friends at the library –  people we see each week who know all of my kids’ interests and favorite authors and topics.

It is one of the happiest and easiest places to go for us; I don’t have to say no much, and there is just so much to discover.

But what we discovered last really put a smile on my face. Our library has opened a coffee shop, and that coffee shop is doing some really great things (please forgive the blurry-ish phone photos!).

They are buying local!

They are cutting down on waste!

They are providing treats for people with food allergies and intolerances (and are the only place I can think of in town to do so!!).

Man, I love a day at the library! And I love how places that buy local, bake gluten-free and recycle are slowly becoming not so hard to find!!

Do you have a shop or restaurant that you frequent that is making green changes and updates?