Frosty Fields and That One Simple Word

         For the past few mornings we've awoken to a coating of frost over the fields.  After what was arguably the most humid, wet summer I can remember,  the cool dry air feels rejuvenating. 

   The colors are a little muted this year - Sometimes we experience a blaze of glorious color, and some seasons, it's just -meh.  The summer weather determines what we'll get. There have been a loss of many big old trees in our state this year also, so very sad to see them come down. We've lost a few here on the farm, and along the roads there are many dying, or that have already been cut down.   It's amazing and heart wrenching,  the hole left in a landscape  when a big old tree is removed.  The reasons are several in these parts - severe storms in recent years,  pests like the ash borer beetle and gypsy moth infestations.   I've always looked upon trees as our friends, and truly they are in so many ways - how many uses do we find for them, besides their important ecological value.  I see them as sentinels of the past, present, and future. 

      The ponies are growing their thick winter coats, the horses frisky from the chill in the air when turned out into the pastures each morning. 

      The chickens have slowed down their egg production, a natural process as the days grow shorter.  I used to leave a heat lamp on in their coop at night for heat, which left them with light all through the night.  I just don't think that's an awesome thing to do to them, so last year I discovered through another chicken keeping friend - the Cozy Coop heater - it works beautifully without disturbing their natural clock.  Here they are enjoying oatmeal with raspberries (although blueberries are their favorite)  which I give them occasionally on a really chilly morning. They love it and it helps them keep bodyweight on.  You'd be surprised how skinny layer chickens are under all those feathers.  They do not look like your Perdue oven stuffer roaster! 

      Eager to celebrate this favorite time of year, we've had our first fire in the fireplace and brought some fall decorations up from the cellar and in from the yard -   I've cut some hydrangea  and dried it - the fall hues are just a gorgeous dusty rose.  The trick to drying hydrangea blooms that will last for a while is to cut them when dry - not in the morning covered with dew or after rainfall.  Then, just prop them in a vase and don't touch them.   These will last for as long as we don't disturb them too much. 

 The kids have carved pumpkins and roasted their seeds, and I've pulled out the fall recipes and found a few new ones.  I always gravitate  to the comfort food favorites, like homemade mac & cheese,  beef stew, Turkey noodle vegetable soup with thick egg noodles, and the pies.. apple among my favorites.   This is not good news for my chubby self, who has yet to lose that extra 25 lbs.  UGH - the lack of willpower is something else entirely, I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself there. But - I'll soldier on, hoping to find that magically combination of will power and exercise, which I already do regularly, that helps me shed the extra pounds.   

ANYWAY... 

    Here's a  fun fall appetizer  on a blog I recently discovered.  I plan to make it this weekend for my daughter's birthday dinner celebration ...  Link to the blog/recipe HERE. 

   

  Fall also means cozy clothes - and BOOTS!  Which I love, but don't always love ON me, because short people and boots don't always look like they're made for each other - just sayin.  While I'm not a fashionista in any sense of the word, occasionally I find something that really excites me, like Freebird boots by Steven.    Yep, they're pricey, but they're made really well and are comfortable.. so they're an investment you'll have for a lifetime if you take care of them.   I just bought my first pair... the Stair Boot - and they are so comfortable and functional, with an edgy look.

    I'm also coveting these... my wallet? Not so much.  Maybe next year's birthday :-) 

   I hope you're finding more kindnesses than adversity,

more genuinely good people than those with darker intent. 

It's out there - look for the good

and encourage it where you can.

In this time of  political divisiveness I am reminded of

a very small word that if applied by all the powers that be,

and by each of us no matter what our myriad of differences,  

would solve literally all our problems.  

All of them. 

 Till soon, friends -