Category: The Seasons

On Saturday we got up and headed down to catch the foliage train on the Hobo Railroad! It left from Meredith, New Hampshire, and went along the Pemigewassett River. We chugged through mile after mile of beautiful bright leaves, until we reached a deer farm.

Now I have always been a sucker for a cute deer, and so I set up and kept snapping! All the pictures taken were taken while the train was going between 15 and 20 miles an hour.

I think the deer must be used to the train noise because they didn’t run off and a few came right up to the fence and smiled for us.

The train took us slowly to Plymouth, New Hampshire where we stopped at The Common Man Inn & Spa. They had a hot buffet luncheon for all those aboard the train. They served Turkey, stuffing, butternut squash, mashed potatoes, rolls and hot broccoli & apple soup, which was surprisingly good. I admit to eating what was served and I felt guilty for about 5 minutes, and then I reminded myself that it was okay and that on Sunday morning I would get back on the diet.

Then we all climbed back on the train and went up to Livermore Falls, where we took a few pictures before heading back. In Plymouth, the engine unhooked, came around on a side track and hooked up again so that it could pull us back to Meredith, instead of push us!

The ride back was pretty and we  were chatting about the colors, when I thought I saw someone I knew. I stopped the man and asked if he was in fact Wes D. and he was! I’ve known him for over 20 years, but hadn’t seen him an a few. We were talking and I asked if he had seen a mutual friend named Sally recently. He laughed and told me that she was on the other end of the train! So at the next stop we actually got to see Sally and her new husband. Hubby has known Sally since he was in college, as Sally’s late husband was his fraternity brother, and I met her just after Hubby and I married.

So here is a short montage of our trip. I hope you like it.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is a picture of Me, with Sally and my Hubby!

As you could see, it was a beautiful day, followed by a wonderful evening with Mel, Ron, M. and Mandy at Canoe.

The day dawned bright, and far too early, as both Hubby and I went in for our bi-yearly blood work. We will find out on Monday the results, but I am not expecting anything too dramatic or exciting.

After this, we came home where we could finally enjoy some coffee and breakfast. Have you ever noticed how thirsty and hungry you can get when you know that you can’t eat? I swear it is the power of suggestion, but today my mouth felt like cotton, it was so dry.

I went around the yard later on in the day, as it was just a picture perfect Autumn day.

I looked across the lake and saw this breathtaking scene.

I’ve also been intrigued by the leaves on the lawn. In the afternoon the light hits them and they seem to dance!

Late in the day I noticed my head began to feel all stuffed up and I was coughing and sneezing. I think I have a small cold. I refuse to give into this, but I will try to get a little more rest.

I also made reservations today to go on the foliage train when my sister comes up here next weekend. I think by then we will will be at the peak of our Autumn colors up here and the ride will be a lovely one.

It’s a lovely day here in New Hampshire. The leaves are turning, with colors of orange, yellow, and red. There’s a bite in the air with a clarity that we haven’t felt since last winter. I just love it when the humidity drops and I can breath once again.

Friday saw Hubby and I Flu shot shopping. Many years ago, when we were first married, I had the worst case of the flu. I remember being in bed for well over a week. I can even recall the book I read in between shaking chills and delirium. It was “The Prince Of Tides” by Pat Conroy.

After that I was determined to never get that sick again. I have dutifully gotten myself into a flu shot clinic every year, and I have not had the flu since. It’s not that I haven’t been sick, but not like that!

Yesterday and today I have just been captivated by the colors. You see Autumn is my favorite time of year. The colors, the changes all around, yes, Autumn is wonderful.

I even got out my wool sweaters. I pack them up each year in a cedar chest to keep the moths from them. This year I had some dry cleaning freshener sheets and I tossed the woollies into the dryer on low with these sheets and everything came out smelling so fresh and clean! Now I am totally sold on Dryell.

Sadly, a few items no longer fit, and although I love them, I will have to say good-bye to the extra large sweaters and shirts. Ah well, onto smaller and cuter clothes, right?

Meanwhile, my dear Emily and her family have moved away. I’m sad that I won’t be seeing her every day, but I sure do hope that we will be able to get together from time to time.

I was outside walking Anneliese on Friday night. It was cool at 45 degrees, and the skies were clear. I actually had my jacket on.

During the day, as I drove around the area, I remarked on the clarity of  the air around me. I could see the mountains sharply, and the first glimpses of colored leaves graced our trees.

It made me think of an old John Denver song. It’s actually part of a suite of songs that are all put together to make, what I think, is one of the nicest pieces of music to herald the changing seasons.

Here are the lyrics that kept running through my mind. It made me smile, but it also made me realize that the older I get, the faster time seems to be flying.

Fall

Reflections on the water like shadows in my mind
Speak to me of passing days and nights and passing time
The falling leaves are whispering winter’s on it’s way
I close my eyes remembering the warmth of yesterday

It seems a shame to see September swallowed by the winter
And more than that it’s oh so sad to see the summer end
And though the changing colors are a lovely thing to see
If it were mine to make the change I’d let it be

But I don’t remember hearing anybody asking me

Lat night after dinner I walked the dogs and all was right in the world. The dogs were good, the sun was setting in pretty pinks and blues. Yes, it was a nice night.

We watched a little of the tennis from New York, marveling at the expertise of the competetors, and commenting also on how we miss the likes of Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Stan Smith and Rod Laver. Today’s players are great, but we do miss our old favorites.

At 9:30 I got all the dogs together for their last wee-wee of the night. This is usually a quick and totally uninteresting event, but last night when I turned on the back lights and opened the door this is what I saw.

Of course these were all taken the morning after when the sun came up, but I will tell you that I stood with Hubby in stunned silence staring at our Rich Haven Peach tree.

There is nothing that can be done to repair the damage to the tree, although we may be able to cut the tree back to the stump and see if it will grow a shoot over the next year.

The fruit? Well, we are leaving the tree as it is, for now. We hope that enough nutrients will get through to the fruit so that they will ripen on schedule in the next ten days.

It’s been a tough year for growing just about everything here, but I am not discouraged. After all there is always next year!

I’m starting to think that this summer never really happened. It seems we went from springtime to fall without any of those long, hazy, lazy, days of summer. It was so dark and so wet. Most of the gardens in our area are complete losses. I know that mine is.

It has been the summer of rain. How much rain you ask? Well here is a quote from our local television station.

***************

A LOT OF YOU HAVE BEEN ASKING IF THIS IS THE WETTEST SUMMER EVER. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN 7TH PLACE, AND STILL CLIMBING

**Numbers are for Concord, the only area where official records go back to the 1800s. These numbers vary greatly from place to place, but give a basic idea. *Records are for precipitation for the months of June, July, and August.

1. 1897: 20.49 inches

2. 1887: 20.08 inches

3. 1872: 19.33 inches

4. 1915: 17.92 inches

5. 1903: 17.13 inches

6. 2006:16.46 inches

7. 2008: 16.08 inches (as of 6am, Tuesday 8/26)

***************

We have been able to use some of the fruit that we have salvaged. Certainly the peaches are getting a lot of use in jams, ad we have supplied our friends and neighbors with copious amounts of fruit. Soon our Stanley Plums will be ready. I’m not sure how many of those will be suitable for anything other than jam.

Well, it’s time passing isn’t it? Each year, going along, some seemingly normal and others like this year, definitely one of a kind.

Since we have not had anything resembling summer this year, it is quite simple as to how I will spend my birthday in November.

I am going to go to the tropics for one week. I will slather on sunscreen and sit in the sun, romp on the beach, and play in the ocean. I may even wear a two piece bathing suit, as I hear that the laws against indecent exposure are less strict there, than they are here in the states.

I will dance under the moon light and have breakfast overlooking the sea.

Yes, we had rain again today.

I cannot believe the amount of rain that has fallen this summer, nor can I believe the hail storms we have had either. Until this summer I had seen a few hail storms in my life. This year, I have lost count on how many of them we have had.

Forget the gentle breezes, or the long lazy days of sunshine and heat, it has been one wet mess after another.

I want the sunshine. I want the heat that we only get for two maybe three months before it starts to get cold again! I want to be able to justify why I am wearing shorts when I go to Weight Watchers each week when the temperatures are in the 60’s, other than they weigh less than pants and I am trying to lose those last nine pounds any way I can!

Oh the sun actually did come out for a bit today. Just to tease us, I think. For just when I thought perhaps we might not have another day of rain, the clouds came back and the rain began to fall in sheets!

So, it’s simple. I’ll just make sure that for my birthday I have sunshine, warm temperatures and gentle tropical breezes.

Ah, excuse me while I go lie down and dream.

A few days ago friends of ours invited us to come and help ourselves to their blueberries. They have at least half a dozen bushes of blueberries and they were loaded! Hubby and I each brought a large basket and we began to pick. We picked and picked filling up our baskets in less than an hour! When I stood and looked at the area that we had been picking in I was shocked to see that you couldn’t even tell that we had picked any at all! And we had picked 18 pounds of blueberries!!!

We came home and looked at our bounty. What to do, what to do. We decided to make Blueberry Jam. We got out our canning books and found two recipes. The first one we made was a low sugar recipe and since Hubby has type 2 diabetes and I am a Weight Watcher, we thought this would be a good one to try.

So we measured everything out and got to work. Because I preserve things all the time, we have a good stock of glass jars, lids and rings to store our jams in. Hubby got all of those out and into their sterilizing pot, while I cooked the jam.

The first batch jelled so nicely and since we had all those berries we made a quick second batch. For the third batch we decided to try a regular jam recipe (more sugar) and that came out well too.

Soon we will have the plums and peaches to can and we will be very busy. The fruit on our trees, although not good eating fruit because of the hail damage, will make great jams and jellies. The apples I will make sauce with both for eating and for cooking with. Thank goodness for canning jars and for freezers.