Sunday Afternoon

The afternoon on Sunday turned bright, crisp and sunny.  One must savor these beautiful early Fall days before the weather turns cold and wet.

I got Polly ready to go for a ride and a walk, and we ended up at Brightwater, just a few miles down the road.  Brightwater is a sewage treatment facility built a few years ago (amid much controversy as to the final location), and it's located on a large, wooded piece of land that has been developed as a park, walking trails, and an interpretive center.  There are tours, classes, and gardening in large raised beds. Surprisingly, it's one of the prime walking trail areas around.

Polly loves to go there, and we get in a good mile or two on the nice paths.  Here's Polly sitting on a large log on the way up the trail to an elevated area where you can see for quite a distance.  On our way down, we stopped at the interpretive center and toured the dahlia gardens.

 

 

 

 

The Front Porch of Crabtree Cottage

They say that the entrance to your home tells visitors a lot about who you are and what you love.  Do you agree?  Here's my Autumn front porch.  Welcome, all!

Pumpkins!

We took the truck to the Maltby Market yesterday to pick up corn stalks and pumpkins--big pumpkins, small ones, orange ones, and white ones. I decorated the front porch, the back deck, and the pergola leading into the pasture.  Polly the Dog wasn't sure what to do with the pumpkins (this is her first Autumn with us).  I got this shot of her saying, "This doesn't look like a dog biscuit to me!".

Putting Away Summer

This was the last weekend of September, usually saved for putting away all of my summer decorations, outdoor furniture, and for dismantling my garden.  It's a bittersweet time for me--I know time and seasons move on, but I am reluctant to let summer go each year.

It was the best summer of my life this year, having quit my job in April and then having all of these months to plant a garden, savor each and every lovely day, and get control back of my life.  Retirement is a wonderful thing, and I'm so glad I went ahead and dove headfirst into The Slow Life. Permanently.

Here's the deck with its Autumn decorations--everything from dried hydrangea blooms to sugar pumpkins and seasonal pillows (oh yes, and a dog!).  It looks inviting out there, and I know I'll still have some days ahead to enjoy crisp and sunny weather, bundled up in a warm sweater and sipping a spiced apple cider. 

 

 

Apple Pickin' Time

We finally finished picking all of the apples yesterday!  What a huge crop we had this year--all of the sunshine and warm weather increased the yield of just about everything.  The Liberty apples had the largest yield of all--we filled two large wooden apple boxes.  Here's the final box, filled to the brim.

 

 

Liberty Apple Pie

Today we tested our first of the 2014 batch of Liberty apples in a Caramel Apple Pie.  Liberty apples are much drier than the Gravenstein we have been using from our earlier crop, but the pie tasted very good, and we won't change the recipe at this point. We will continue to bake Liberty apple pies and applesauce to get more information about the various flavors and spice combinations.

We also solicit feedback from people who receive a free pie from us, so that is helpful as we move forward with our permanent recipes for the holiday season.  Maltby Pie Company is ready!

Golden Raspberries

My neighbor Roberta called me the other day to let me know she has a bunch of Golden Raspberry bushes for me if I'll come by and dig them out.  Today was the day--at 9 a.m., it was pouring down rain, but I put on my old jeans, boots and hooded jacket, and drove down with the truck and a big shovel.  It only took about 10 minutes to dig out 8 nice-sized plants, and I drove them home.

Tomorrow, I am adding compost to the new raspberry patch I'm creating for these, and I'll get them in the ground.  It will be fun to have two varieties for next season.

Here's some info about this variety.

Golden Raspberries (Rubus) are a mutant version of the popular red cultivar and have all the same planting, growing, soil and sunlight requirements. There are several different varieties, including Fall Gold, Golden Harvest and Honey Queen, all producing a light yellow sweet berry. I am planting Golden Harvest berries.