Persimmons

It is that time of year.  When it gets cold and grey out I look for a relatively warm, sunnier day and finding one,  take off into the woods. I keep my eyes peeled for bare branches with little balls hanging from them.  Finding that tree, my search takes to the ground.  The best persimmons have already fallen.  They are usually unattractive and  mushy which might scare off those who are used to perfect looking fruits and veggies offered at grocery stores.  That is fine with me because those folks grab the pretty looking persimmons on the tree, bite in and find a bitter tasting fruit that quickly gets spit out.  I won't have to worry about them taking my tasty treats.  I have been eating them and painting them throughout the last couple of weeks.  This is the latest one.

To bid

After a Walk in the Woods

We took a nice walk in the woods two days ago when it was about 55 degrees out and then worked on this the next day when it didn't get above freezing.  Surprisingly we found a tree full of persimmons long after the season was over.  Every tree in the woods was totally vacant of persimmons EXCEPT one and it was absolutely full of them.  We have had several hard frosts and an ice storm which should have cleared every tree.  Don't know how this one held on so long.  Anyways the persimmons, having been through those extreme weather conditions, had turned a very interesting shade of blue, almost like a blueberry.  I just had to bring some home to paint.  Later in the day we found a tree that had dropped a bunch of acorns too and the squirrels hadn't found them yet.  I have been meaning to try to make some acorn flour and these were so big and meaty that I couldn't resist.  When I started to make the acorn meal and boil it, it smelled just like molasses.  I called my husband in and asked, " what does this smell like?"  to which he replied, " Molasses."  I am excited to try some bread made from this flour.  Perhaps a loaf of banana persimmon bread is in order.