Autumn Picnic

Saturday, Colette planned a fabulous autumn picnic for our whole family!  We discovered a u-pick orchard with a picnic table, and that’s the location we settled upon.

I bought a half peck of apples from the lady who owns the orchard, and she told me that her father bought the property in 1943 from it’s original owner.  The apple varieties she sells are: Paula Red, McIntosh, Cortland, Empire, Macoun, Delicious, and Baldwin.  She custom-mixed my half-peck of apples with varieties that make a good pie.  (Just made it tonight…quite tasty!)

Just had to share a photo of the house across the street from the orchard and it’s beautiful trees!  Isn’t it gorgeous?

The picnic food was gourmet sandwiches (made to order), organic grapes, red potato salad, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and assorted beverages.  It was served “boxed lunch”-style!

Fun family times!

Strolling Historic Deerfield

I took a lovely day off from normal responsibilities last week.  The ONE thing I really wanted to do this autumn was stroll the streets of Historic Deerfield and snap pictures.  I haven’t been there for quite a few years and was longing to go again.  Historic Deerfield is an interesting place.  It is partly a museum with historic homes that belong to the museum and are open for touring.  It’s most infamous event was the Indian raid of 1704.  I’ve read the diary of the minister who was taken captive by the Indians, and it is fascinating reading.  Max is about to read it for school too.  It is called “The Redeemed Captive”, and I highly commend it to your reading.

It’s also partly a neighborhood where people live in privately-owned historic homes.  And it also contains an exclusive private school, so students and their visiting families can be seen strolling the campus and streets everywhere.  Here’s a view of part of the campus, but I took this shot mostly so you could see the beautiful autumn foliage in the distance.

This time, I opted not to buy a museum ticket and just stick with my original intention of strolling the leaf-strewn streets.

As usual, it was the front doors (so beautifully decorated for autumn) that captured my attention.

This home belonged to an officer who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and there was a touching tribute etched on a mill stone nearby that said “…his descendants cherish his home”.

Such a beautiful, autumn day!

Now I’m thinking that I need to go back when there’s snow on the ground and it’s decorated for Christmas!

Pumpkin Patch

This week, Colette and I met Felicity and the kids at a local farm stand to admire the pumpkins!

We instructed him, “Give your sister a hug,” and this is what we got.

This one came home with us!

New Ventures

Colette is opening an Etsy shop!  She will be selling Christmas stockings too!  Her shop is dedicated to the spirit of New England and is called Northeastern Nautical.  (Click here to visit!)  Some of her stockings reflect the nautical influence here.  And others convey the ruggedness of our mountain ranges with their lodge look.  Here she is with an armload of vintage blanket finds about to head off to the dry cleaners with them before turning them into some fabulous stockings!

Cider Pressing

Last Sunday, we were invited to a friends’ farm for a cider pressing!  And on the first day of autumn too!  Couldn’t get any better than that!  It is a gorgeous farm!  And so alive with plants and animals and friends and generosity!

First we picked apples…cartloads of apples.  Then they were hauled to the pressing area and dumped out on a large tarp.  Then they were washed.

Then came the pressing!

Hee!  Pig in the orchard!  That was one happy pig!

Then it was time for a hayride!  Oh joy!!!!  As though apples, sunshine, fresh-pressed cider, and friends weren’t enough on the first day of autumn…a hayride too!  Be still my heart!

And this hayride was taken with violin accompaniment…hymns and singing!

Through the pasture, past the piggies, through the woods, and over the hill we went.

What generous friends to supply us with such precious memories!

Farm Stand

Today, Colette and I made a quick trip down to our favorite farm stand for some Indian corn for the front door.

It’s a great place any time of year, but never better than in the autumn.  I’m sure we’ll be back again, hopefully with Felicity and the kids, to take more pictures.  But here are our pictures from today.

Such a pretty location…with the sunflowers, the apple orchards, and the white steeple of a church in the distance.

The farm stand is just starting to brim with seasonal delights.  Pumpkins were coming in from the fields by the truckload and being unloaded by a jovial group of seasonal Jamaican workers.  Late summer corn, tomatoes, and peaches were sharing space with gourds, squashes, and Indian corn.  It was tempting to take about a thousand pictures, but these were my two favorite scenes from today:

Birthday Celebration

Today was Colette's birthday!  Love this girl!

Her day started with a near sell-out at the farmers’ market.  The surprise of the day was when the whole market, vendors and customers alike, sang “Happy Birthday” to her, and then the musicians came over to her tent and did a personal concert for her.  What a treat!

And her day ended with chocolate cake and ice cream and a blaze of candles!

Progress on the Garden Shed

Technohubby's been spending many nights working on the garden shed in the basement.  It’s getting closer and closer to completion!  Last weekend, the guys sited the place for the shed in the yard.  The plan is to build it on four granite cornerstones, the way they used to be.  But the almost-flat-looking ground turned out to be wildly uneven, so this little project’s going to require some adjustment.  We’re not really certain how that’s happening…yet.

Picking Time

Since everyone was here for dinner tonight, it was time to pick the watermelon!  I’m so tickled with this watermelon.  First of all, it was my first attempt at growing watermelon.  Secondly, watermelon like heat, and we succeeded in growing one during a very rainy summer.  God be praised!  And this one weighed in at 16.5 pounds!  It was juicy and tasty!  But mostly, it was fun taking Theo out into the garden to pick it!

Back from a Busy Break

Well, that was a really abrupt and long blogging break.  I really had the best of intentions to blog about why I’d be gone, but life was just so busy that I never got to it.  This is always the busiest time of year for me with the garden exploding and begging for something to be done with it all, school needing to be planned and started, and more.  And this year Colette and I added in a trip to California to attend a wedding.  I’d love to share all 600 pictures with you, but I won’t.  Aren’t you relieved?!?  But here are the highlights…

What happy faces!  The girls were glad to be together again!  They are headed out to feed the horses the morning after we arrived.

Colette helped with the baking for the dessert buffet, making several dozens of her famous chocolate chip cookies.

The beautiful wedding location beneath the spreading canopy of aged oak trees.

All dressed up and ready for the wedding!

After arriving by horse-drawn carriage, the groom’s uncle piped the bride down the aisle!  Such a triumphant entry!

So beautiful!

Man and wife!  What a happy couple!

We felt so blessed to be able to attend this wedding!  Many congratulations to the bride and groom!

More consistent blogging in the days to come, as we settle back into “normal” (whatever that is) around here.