Susan, Todd, Reilly & Jay (whole flickr set is here)

Yesterday, we spent a sunny, warm autumn afternoon at Hyland Orchard & Brewery in Sturbridge, MA, with Su, Reilly, Susan & Todd. What a great time! The music was loud and rockin' when we got there, and the bebe danced up a storm - it was hard to believe that you couldn't feel him from the outside. The rest of the crew sampled the local brew and fed the animals before we took a little tractor-drawn cart up to the appoos. We wandered up and down aisles of granny smiths, cortlands and other names I ignore since all apples are apples to me, alternating between crunch-crunching and saving some for later. We heard a rumor there was an apple-eating red cow, so we trekked all over the place looking for him, but without much luck. We wrapped up the day with dinner at the Dogwood Cafe in JP. Best gourmet pizza ever. Mmmmmmmm.

I'm supposed to be grading and planning for this week, but really, those apples just needed to be baked, so we're waiting for my attempt at apple crisp to finish up in the oven. I'm avoiding all things TV, since Jay is flipping back and forth between the Sox and the Pats, and I have enough heartburn as it is without local sports adding to it. It's almost 80° outside, one of the last warm days, I imagine - so I think it's worth it to take their papers outside, kick back on the deck and enjoy it while we still can.