#header-inner img {margin: 0 auto 0 300px;}

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Moonflowers

Good things come to those who wait.”

moonflower9.11 033

All summer I have watched the moonflower vine growing and spreading. It wound around the small iron trellis and reached out for the porch light and nearby plants. It grew and grew and I thought the frost would claim it before it ever got one flower on it. But yesterday I was rewarded with not one, but three beautiful large moonflowers. moonflower9.11 001 It had rained last night and the drops were still on the flower. moonflower9.11 004 How beautiful it was.
moonflower9.11 025 The air this morning had a crispness to it proclaiming that fall was officially here. moonflower9.11 032 This dusty Miller has the look of frost. Soon there will be real frost claiming the flowers. But for now I will enjoy the last of their beauty. moonflower9.11 027
moonflower9.11 031

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Are you nesting?

everything you need~

Fall is in the air and the temperatures are in the low sixties with the promise of an even colder weekend with highs in the high 40’s. Meanwhile the nesting instinct has taken over my body and I’m finding that each day I want to clean and organize. Those of you who know me well will recognize that it is not my favorite thing to do. But today I went into our basement and cleaned…and organized…and felt darn good about it! It’s the time of year when you want to get your “winter” home ready and comfortable because you know you will be spending a lot of time indoors from now on.
   I’m making a list of little projects that need completed before winter sets in. There are outside things that need done..but I’m waiting for a warmer day to do those. Meanwhile I find myself arranging shelves and cleaning out drawers.
  Don is feeling better now since he’s on his second round of antibiotics for his bad cough. He fixed the drain in the basement today and helped me carry the garbage bags up the stairs. Every time I clean I throw away more and more “junk”. It’s amazing how much accumulates around the house that you really don’t need any more. If I keep this up someday I may actually be organized.
:)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Tag Sale


What a beautiful Monday it is here in Bradford. It’s 73 degrees and sunny. I’ve been busy catching up on household chores. For those of you without a scorecard I returned on Sunday from my trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia where I was spending the weekend with my sisters. It’s always fun when the 3 of us get together and this weekend was no exception.
   We decided to have a quick yard sale while we were there on Saturday morning. I took down some boxes of items that I’ve been wanting to get out of my basement for quite awhile along with those wonderful large folding tables that I have. We set up in the parking lot in front of Linda’s Curves. tag sale linda's 9.11 007
It was a great location and attracted a lot of customers/lookers. tag sale linda's 9.11 005 Although we didn’t have a lot to sell we made a little money. The best thing was that any item left over went directly to Goodwill on the way home. The only exception was a box of old girl’s and boy’s ice skates which I donated to Snow Creek Farm. The lady there uses them to make the neatest arrangements at Christmas time.
  We had a great time celebrating our birthdays..all of us were born in September. Lots of laughing and reminiscing.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hurd Orchard

At Hurd Orchard we first went out by the zinnia and flower beds. The owners told us a little of the history of the orchard. While they were talking girls passed around our appetizers….puff pastry with apples, cheese, crackers with spread, and a plum stuffed with an interesting cheese spread. hurd orchard 031 hurd orchard 033 hurd orchard 035
They even had a special garden of garnishes along with the annuals, perennials, herbs, and sunflowers.
Then we entered the huge barn. hurd orchard 039 what a delight! Our long table sat under a ladder with hanging paper lanterns. hurd orchard 042 The flower arrangements on the tables were outstanding and huge!
hurd orchard 044
hurd orchard 045hurd orchard 041 The first course was a beet and raspberry warm soup with creme fresh and an edible flower. hurd orchard 049 Our cider was served in mason jars with the lid to keep out the bees. hurd orchard 050 The main course was chicken breast with sauce, roasted tomatoes in a chutney and peaches and pears. hurd orchard 058
The food looked as delicious as it tasted.
For dessert we had warm applesauce with gingerbread. hurd orchard 060 It was a delightful day!



 

Hurd Orchard

Today my Red Hat group took a trip to Holley, New York to have lunch at Hurd’s Orchard. After a two and a half hour trip we arrived at our destination.
hurd orchard 014
Along the road was the fruit stand which not only had gorgeous produce..fresh peaches, pears, radishes, raspberries, plum, nectarines and many other things…but also was a feast for the eyes with all it’s flowers and herbs for sale. hurd orchard 016
hurd orchard 017hurd orchard 018 I have never seen so much jelly and jams for sale in one place. They make it right on the premises and combine the most wonderful fruits…raspberries and apricots or blueberries and peaches.
They also had herbed vinegars at the windows. hurd orchard 024
 hurd orchard 023 hurd orchard 030hurd orchard 029 The baked goods looked delicious..raspberry and peach breads, cookies and pies.

 

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Marilla Trail

It was a beautiful Sunday today with temperatures in the mid sixties. Sadie and I decided to be adventurous and walk the Marilla Trail. marilla 9.11 059 This trail winds around the Marilla Reservoir and is just about a mile long. marilla 9.11 002
It is a gravel trail and easy to walk with a view of the lake from all sides. marilla 9.11 008 There are benches along the trail to rest on. marilla 9.11 019
It winds it’s way through the forest.
marilla 9.11 024 marilla 9.11 032
There is even a gazebo.
marilla 9.11 048 At one end there is a dam wall and a covered bridge. marilla 9.11 049 Sadie and really enjoyed the walk and getting outside on this gorgeous day.
marilla 9.11 056





 

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Books

image

A room without books? I was in someone’s house recently and there wasn’t a book  to be seen. It felt sterile to me. The house was beautiful but where was the life? I’m a voracious reader and there are always books laying around. I recently finished Folly’s Beach and am starting The Devil’s Corner. I always take a book with me on a trip. Hell to me would be to be stranded without a book to read. Like at the doctor’s office where the only reading material is old Field and Stream magazines. Or Forbes. Every well put together bathroom should include a magazine rack.

Yesterday we went to York, PA to hear the Penn State Blue Band play at the high school halftime. Dan joined the band this year and we got to talk to him before the performance. I’m so proud of him!image

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Let me catch you up

If you’ve been to this site lately looking for a new post…my apologies. My computer has been running very slowly to the point that each page loads sooooo slow that it was hard to even surf much less blog. I am going to get someone in here next week to clean it up. Meanwhile right now it seems to be behaving so I’ll catch you up on what has been happening.birthday lunch 9.11 035 Yesterday my three friends took me out to lunch at the Beef and Barrel for my birthday. It’s always fun to be with friends. There was a little shopping involved, of course, afterwards.  
birthday lunch 9.11 013 I wish you could hear these melodic wind chimes. I used a gift card from the Tin Ceiling downtown and picked out this gift.
   You might also notice how bare the courtyard looks. It was so beautiful and warm outside the other day that Don and I spent our time taking down all the summer decorations, etc and carrying them down to the basement for storage. We left out the swing, table, and big table in hopes that we will still have some sensational warm days left.
birthday lunch 9.11 010 Aren’t these apples huge? They came from our crab apple tree out front. birthday lunch 9.11 017 You will probably remember that years ago Don grafted regular apples onto that tree. These make great pie apples and I spent the day today peeling and freezing apples for pies.
birthday lunch 9.11 019 The front door is decorated for fall. birthday lunch 9.11 022 Here’s a view you don’t often see. It was taken looking onto my breezeway.









  

Monday, September 12, 2011

I knew it would happen

I knew it wouldn’t be long before I gave in to the season and brought out my fall decorations. I carried them down from the attic today and now my sunroom fits the autumn weather.
fall decorating 9.11 003

fall decorating 9.11 005

fall decorating 9.11 006 fall decorating 9.11 010 fall decorating 9.11 019