My brother Hank moved to Idaho, and his kids live on the east coast, but he and Cindy still drive his pick up truck to Yakama and bring the apples to the family apple squeezing party.
Hank's two sisters supplied the rest of the tribe this year, gathering at my nephew Ben's house near Winlock, WA.
First we have coffee and doughnuts and visiting. I forgot to take a picture of the doughnuts. I was busy eating and talking.
Then we get to work.
Get the apples out of the bin. Where are those kids we used to get to do the job? I guess they have minds of their own now.
Ah, there's some of those kids. They got tall. Andy and his sons, Lars and Oliver.
There's Hank at the crank.
Father and son: Jake and Tom on a perpetual coffee break. Time for conversation catch up.
Cousins: Katie and Jill
Siblings: Laurie and Hank
Father and son, Troy and Hans, and center, Ben, our host.
Apples go into the hopper to be crushed.
Crank down the press to squeeze the juice out of the crushed apples.
Larson just enjoyed cutting, intricately.
The last apple! But still more squeezing to do.
Mother and son having serious conversation - about geology.
The Chief Inspector. Heidi passed quality control. Of course we ate - well. And of course I did not take photos of the food or the eating. I was busy, eating and talking, again.
As we were finishing up in the afternoon Katie organized group generational photos.
The kids: All but one of Laurie's grands and one of mine.
The kids with grandmas. The old folks; Cindy. Hank, Laurie, Linda, Tom
In loving memory of our mother Violet, who is pictured here at her last Cider Bee in 2011, our sister Ilene, who we lost this year, and Arnie, gone now close to two years, who was husband to Laurie and father and grandpa to most of this gang. We miss them as we carry on our traditions.
What a wonderful tradition! That's A LOT of apples! How many gallons of cider did it make? I remember a Kansas Episcopal priest and farmer doing that with apples, and finishing off with pears to crush. And some of the jugs turned to wine... Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteYou and your family do the most amazing things together. I can just imagine how delicious all that apple juice must be with the added loving touch.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this in past years and can almost taste that lovely cider! Thank you so much for sharing, and for all the great family photos that you will cherish forever. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures of family in action, this time producing apple cider!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos! It looks like it was a great day.
ReplyDeleteGreat family tradition to help keep family in contact with each other.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing tradition and it is good to see it is still functioning well--with just a few youngsters missing. Isaac in college, how did that happen?
ReplyDeleteA lovely family tradition.
ReplyDeletewhat a great family tradition...
ReplyDeleteLooks like sticky sweet work! Great family tradition. Love the perpetual coffee drinkers and the young, old, and middle generation pictures.
ReplyDeleteOh my, what a splendid post. I smiled throughout the reading. What a joy it is to carry on this type of tradition. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful family tradition! :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad I checked back. I love seeing your family together. Looks like such a fun time. Loved all the pictures.
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