The Sounds of Autumn

strawbry_wine — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:57:38 +0000

Our black cherry trees began losing their leaves in late July. After a wet spring which drove them into over-production of the too-small-to-do-anything-with cherries, they were ready for the break from growing. I’ve never seen them so productive. The birds, especially the Orioles, were thrilled and gorged daily. The horses, chickens and yes, even the dog, couldn’t resist their seedy sweetness.

Today I stepped out on the front deck for my morning commune with the sunrise and an icy cold Coke, and the crickets were faintly singing of the change in the air. I’m not ready for summer to go…I’ve spent it buried in computer work and feel it’s passed me by this year. One of the joys I miss from my shoeing days. Working outside puts one intimately in the midst of the weather, and no nuance of the changing seasons escapes you. The drinks in the cooler go from Gatorade to hot coffee. Teeshirts give way to layers of flannel and fleece. Bugs disappear amidst the snowflakes, a very welcome relief for the horses!

Fall is coming. But before it does, I think I will get away from the computer and enjoy the bit of summer that’s left!

Sunday Chicken for Dinner

strawbry_wine — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:59:39 +0000

I love fresh eggs for breakfast, especially fresh eggs from our own chickens. Not only do our chickens provide the fresh eggs, but entertainment too! This lady always comes begging for scratch at the back door every morning:

Tomatoes

strawbry_wine — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:03:00 +0000

We won’t starve for tomatoes this winter. Joe has been busy putting up the abundant harvest. When we “over” planted our market garden in the spring, it was with the intention to continue selling our organic produce at the curb market in Greensboro. But alas, the more-profitable web work got busier and busier until I couldn’t spare the time for the farming. And with Joe in the midst of the busy shoeing season, he, too, did not have the time to not only harvest, but to spray and weed, too. So he wades into our jungle of weeds to harvest the survivors who are doing quite nicely despite our neglect.

Which…left us with 400 tomato plants in the ground. Oh the soups we’ll have by the woodstove this winter!