Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fall begins

I just spent twenty minutes typing a long overdue blog post. Ignoring lunch dishes, laundry, bill paying, and pear butter making to do so. And it was all lost, with the tap of a wrong button! So I am trying again, with fewer words- maybe that is a good thing! I went for a brief walk this afternoon and enjoyed seeing the signs of Fall all around me. The sky is a beautiful blue, the sun warm, and it is hard to believe that the rainy, cold, grey season is just around the corner. The raspberry bushes look a lot different than they did just a few weeks ago, when they were still a lush, overgrown green.

Pumpkins! Here is a sure sign of fall! Lots of lovely orange pumpkins, a field full of them. I picked up two or three little pie pumpkins as I was in the field, with the idea of making a Pumpkin Bourbon cake for dinner tonight. Then common sense came to me rescue; I have to leave at six this evening, and before leaving I need to clean the kitchen and make dinner and so the list goes. The cake will have to wait until I have free afternoon. It sure sounds good though, doesn't it? I am looking forward to the pumpkin patch being open this year!

The pumpkin field! It looks lovely with its green leaves sprawled all over the place, but by the time the season is in full swing, those leaves will be gone, leaving a tangle of vines snaking its way across the field. I actually look forward to the leaves dying off, as I can then see the pumpkins more easily. It is also a reminder that this, our last crop, is almost done, and the cozy, lazier winter days will soon be here!

More potatoes, almost ready to be dug! I love potatoes, and am so happy that our they did well this year. We have been enjoying huge pans of roasted potatoes, with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, kosher salt, and cracked pepper. I also made a big pot of lentil soup for lunch yesterday, full of potatoes and carrots from the garden. I also made bread, and it was coming out of the oven right at lunch time. These are the things I love about fall!

The last roses of the summer smell especially sweet. It is as if all of summer's warmth and sunshine and joy have been captured to give us one last taste of summer. As much as I love Fall, I am surprised to find myself missing summer-already. I miss sun warmed fruit, lunches eaten outside with good friends, warm evenings playing cards outside of our favorite coffee house, morning coffee in the garden, naps during the heat of the day. However, in the spirit of learning to be content whatever the season or circumstance, I realize that there are things to look forward to as well! Things like knitting by the woodstove, snow (please, please let it snow this year-lots), barn parties and hot apple cider around a bonfire, and the smell of fresh bread and soup simmering on the stove on a cold, cold evening. So! That said, happy Fall! Enjoy these last weeks of sunshine and warmth!