Weekend Best Shots . . .

This was a beautiful fall weather weekend . . . warm sunny days with beautiful cerulean skies.  The Trees here in Western NY are just starting to change colors in some of the hills and valleys.   We did a lot of around the house work most of the weekend.  The boys participated in Xylems I Solved Water Program and won first place for Water Quality which came with a 1000K prize for the Robotic team.  I  made a road trip to nearby Fingerlakes town for a Grape Sundae and Crumb Top Grape pie as requested by the family.  Some Spring Bulb planting and moving perennials around- adding a few things by our new Pond but mostly planting that will wait for the spring time.  Spinach salad, Kale chips, Roasted veggies, fresh green salad and a few last fresh green beans.  So much yumminess this time of year.  Today is another drop dead gorgeous day but most of my work is inside- having a hard time with that.

Natures Art

NATURE is what we see, 

The Hill, the Afternoon-

Squirrel, Eclipse, the Bumble-bee,

Nay-Nature is Heaven.

Nature is what we hear,

The Bobolink, the Sea-

Thunder, the Cricket-

Nay- Nature is Harmony.

Nature is what we know

But have no art to say,

So impotent our wisdom is

To Her simplicity.

_ Emily Dickienson

This is what I saw on an early morning run this past week- captured with my phone so- not great quality but none the less a great masterpiece of Nature.  There is no substitute for time spent in nature -  it anchors us in this world full of rushing and electronics.  It calms us in a way that nothing else can. I just love being outside, in the yard, the garden, the woods! 

Late Summer at Chestnut Hill

I know once again I disappeared . . . but I have been busy sending kids off to college and high school, Getting back into the swing of things- but really not much routine swing left it seems. Every day and week are full.  work, Appointments, house and car and body Maintenance.   All very time and soul consuming.   We have in the past week - had mice take up residence where they do not belong and that also takes up time. Needing to determine the exact location of their doorway such that I can then put a lock on it and throw away the key if you will.   Everything has such a Golden hue this  time of year. The sun rises later and sets earlier. The Shadows are getting longer while it is getting quieter outside.  We are still working on a new project- a pond we have created but I will have to save that for a full post later.  It has taken no tie for it to fill with life- frogs, bugs, dragon flys - all so much fun to watch and enjoy.  The flowers in the garden are fading but we are busy trying to get some bulbs set in.  The vegetables however are rich, full, and  plentiful.    Enjoy the late summer days for they are Fleeting - Fall begins here tomorrow I believe. 

Art in the Garden

The garden, historically is the place where 

all the senses are exported.  Not just the

 eye, but the ear - with water, with birds.  

And there is texture, too, in plants you

 long to touch

William Howard Adams

Several years back I painted this canvas to put in the Garden.  I sprayed it with a UV resistant spray to protect it from the elements and I must say it has done very well. It has endured buckets of rain, sunny hot days.   It adds color to the garden on dark days or in between flowering plants.  This year I added the piece of metal the my son was practicing on welding. It is a pretty cool looking piece of Art I think.

 

Tiny Gardens . . ..

Growth takes time. Be patient. and while your waiting pull a weed.

Emilie Barnes

This cement trough my mom gave me a while back- we plant it up each year- somethings surving our rough winters and some do not.  Each year it has new Character, a new path and perhaps a new story.   This year it has several Turtles visiting it. See if you can find them both!

Change . . . is in the air . . . .

Oh how I can feel all the big and more importantly little changes that are lurking out there.  Fall is I am afraid creeping up on us.  Everything always changes with August 1  . . . . These long light shadows are at 6 pm . . . The Cricket song that has taken over for early morning birdsong, the birds that have already left on their long trip  to the south.  Joe Pye Weed and Jewel weed are in their Glory.  The wild parsnip and Queen Annes Lace is fading on the roadsides.  The gardens are filled with Black-eyed Susans and Tomatoes are starting to grace the dinner table. Everything outside  is starting to soak up the sun, to feed upon the earth to prepare the beds and nests for the long winters rest.  Spring and Summer oh they are a fleeting.  Nature brings such joy and color and sound,  it pushes us to explore with all our senses and teaches us about the cycle of life.  The Golden Rod and Nettle lift their flowers to bloom and tower over us.  it is as if all the outside world is getting ready for a great trip.  So don't miss these changes, enjoy and take pleasure in each and everyone of them.  Get outside and soak up the sun, the wind, the sounds that fill the air and all the big and small beauty there is to behold. 

Mud Creek Farm CSA

Pick your Own Flowers!

In front of me

Behind me . . .

Ground Cherries- in the Tomatotillo family - sweet/sour - new for us

Fresh basil - making lots of Pesto!

So we joined a CSA- Community Supported Agriculture.  Every week we go to the farm to pick up our share. There are pre-picked things that we go through a line and collect and then there is pick your own out in the fields- so like flowers, Basil, Beans Ground cherries are Pick your own.   As with any growing things we are at the mercy of Nature for how much we get. Will it be hot, Cold, rainy, sunny.  We have had a lot of Swiss Chard, Kale, Kohlrabi.  I would love Beans and squash every week right now- but not really happening. I love the concept, not sure if this is the right place for us or not- need to do more research.  Meanwhile trying to stay on top of eating Fresh from the Farm to our table.

This last week that I went out after work, it had been a heavy rain- torrential downpours of like 2-3 inches in less than an hour.  The  Fields lived up to the name of the farm Mud Creek. While out picking flowers my feet got stuck on more than one occasion and when you are slipping on the mud- it can catch a bad back just off guard and ouch!  The bAsil has been brilliant this year and my freezer if filling with Basil for those winter moments when you just need a little more summer.