A Picture perfect autumn day...........

The weather could not be more perfect for this time of year. Clear, brilliant blue sky. Beautiful yellows, golds, oranges and reds dot the tree line. The colors closer to the house are beginning to dull as the weather turns colder. Our wood stove has been burning much of the week and we had ice on the water buckets the last two mornings. The animals all seem grateful for their straw beds and they are not overly eager to get out of them :)

Acorns are falling from the oaks and they are plentiful. They sound like machine gun fire on my Mom's metal house roof. A brisk breeze ushering in the smells of fall. When the wind is just right you get a whiff of smoke from a neighbor's wood stove. I love the changing of the seasons. I think it's the anticipation of what's to come. I am a fan of winter. I enjoy the "blanketing" of the earth with snow; it quiets everything for a few months. It means hopefully I've gathered enough nuts to see us through until spring arrives and new life begins again. Gathering around the stove, enjoying my tea and a good book or good conversation with a friend. I don't necessarily enjoy moving mountains of snow when we get a nor'easter every other day, but you take what you get in the Northeast :)

My boys have been busy this week. Five cords of wood has been neatly stacked in the woodshed. Before days end they will have a pile that needed to be split in the shed as well. I wasn't much help to them this week. The migraine bug bit me hard on Tuesday and I was pretty useless other than morning and evening chores. Friday morning I was back among the living and feeling like myself again.

Today Mom and I finished shelling all the beans and prepared the remainder of the carrots for canning while the shop was open. The turtle beans are dry and ready for storing. We have a nice variety of winter squash stored in the basement as well as leeks this year. We hope to pick a bushel of apples later in the week and can applesauce. That will be our last canning for this year.

This is the new flag that welcomes folk at the shop entrance. Isn't she sweet? I love decorating for autumn but I'm really looking forward to decorating the shop for the holidays, inside and out. We are developing a clientele of regular customers that come every week and it will be nice to share the holiday spirit with them and others who stop in to browse and shop.


Speaking of chores....out to the barn we go.

Have a great weekend everyone :O)