Happy Columbus Day weekend! This is the start of Fall here at the beach. And this is, to me, a fun time of year. I'm so glad we still have Columbus Day, that our country has not become so historically and politically correct that we cannot enjoy the celebration of the ''discovery'' of our country.
And of course October is pumpkin time. Every year my friend L and I go to the garden center to enjoy their gorgeous autumn flowers and fun Halloween decorations---
pumpkins, apples and gourds galore.
We no longer have little kids to bring to the pumpkin patch, for that oh so exciting ritual, Choosing the Jack o'lantern. But we come anyway. Maybe we're a little sad, a little nostalgic but mostly we just have fun.
I look at the enormous-est, gigantic-est thirty pound pumpkins and wonder which my son would have chosen. He always wanted the biggest pumpkin on the lot.
This year the fall flowers are exceptional.
Fun ghosts and goblins...
Thee's always a display of baby animals...what a slim piggy!
Pumpkins...all sizes...all kinds.
I love the warty ones, especially if they're blue.
Even the fairy gardens are all decked out for Trick or Treat!
I like when they use full sized plants in the fairy displays. These are deep black/ purple??? begonias?
Beautiful local apples. Many varieties to try.
These called Opalescent, just glowed, almost neon pink.
I got a white pumpkin this year!
Afterwards, we went by Trader Joe's to get cheeses to go with our apples. I splurged on French Brie and a Camembert. Oh, look! Pumpkin cornbread! How delish with chili.
TJ's had the green squash, Kombocha. I haven't tried it yet, its description of ''earthy'' has put me off.
Instead I got butternut squash and parsnips to roast with garlic and corn and pumpkin seeds.
And I couldn't resist the tiny pumpkins on these branches. The label says pumpkin tree. Adorable. I hope Mo doesn't eat the little fruits!
Back home over the bridges. The marshes are turning amber now. [It wasn't a gorgeous day, too bad].
At the garden store at one point, I looked up into the rafters and saw the big flock of birds flying overhead. Just a mixed blackbird flock, starlings and blackbirds--but so perfectly Autumn! Eerie.
This weekend I'll put away my blue quilts and pillows and china. In with the brown, the sepia, out with the blue, for now.
Have a fun weekend. Did you buy your jacko'lantern yet? Large or small or--=humongous? Do you make a scarecrow or two, hang a wreath of gourds and bittersweet?
love
lizzy
gone to the beach...
Changing the subject....
Seen on our daily walks, a different small plastic lawn goose. She resides about 3 blocks from the Goose family. She always is dressed nicely. This week she is decked out for Halloween. At first I thought she was dressed up as, well, a goose. Hahahaha. But the next day her little pumpkin basket appeared and I realised she is wearing a ghost costume for Trick or Treat. So cute. Kind of?
.jpg)
I love the description of "earthy". Usually that means it tastes like dirt! LOL
ReplyDeleteThe ghost goose is hilarious!!
It looks like a fun fall outing!!
Yes! Exactly...tastes like dirt.
DeleteI LOVE when you go on your fall outing, because I love seeing all the pictures from the nursery and your trip! I'm so glad you and L continue your fun trip even if the kids don't want to go anymore. One of us is going to have to try the 'dirt' squash just so we can report how it really tastes, LOL! Did you get some of the pumpkin cornbread? What kind(s) of apples did you get? Get your favorites only, or did you get some new ones to try? When I find new ones I been getting at least one to try, have found a few new 'favorites' that way! Are the bumpy blue pumpkins actually pumpkins or are they Hubbard squash? Love that you've found a new goose in costume! I wonder if the ghost outfit is homemade?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your fun day with us!
Hi! I hope we re never ''too old'' to go pick out a pumpkin. I remember once being in Vermont, w my parents---antiquing. I was at least 25. My dad insisted on buying me a pumpkin at the pumpkin farm! He carved it in the hotel room, sent me back to to NYC with a jackolantern by daddy. He always made a scarecrow for his front lantern post and carved beautiful jacklantern, my mom would make a bittersweet wreath for over the fireplace.
DeleteI got the pumpkin cornbread mix. I ll make it to go w our chili when B comes in a few weeks.
I got the apples in the photos, the 565 [/]'s and the Opalescent. And a bag of Honey Crisp for a friend, who used them today to make amazing soup, w butternut squash. [recipe next week, maybe].
the goose costume does not look homemade...
PS Yes in that photo most or all are Hubbard squash but they also had warty blue pumpkins, and eeew, icky---allover warty ones, they were yucky. Like scar tissue.
DeleteLove your photo blogs. The pumpkins and gourds are pretty as are the mums..all so colorful...
ReplyDeleteI m glad you enjoyed our outing!
DeleteThank you for sharing your trip. The colors!
ReplyDeleteYour "earthy" comment made me laugh. A friend brought a package of Gunpowder Tea as a gift from the trip he just took to Morocco.
Oh, my gosh. Earthy. The pellets opened up into very green leaves that looked like spinach. And the taste. It tasted like someone made spinach tea, but forgot to wash off the dirt. Ugh.
Thanks again for sharing your fun.
Hunter
eeeew. I always wondered what gunpowder ea was like.
DeleteHahaha, I gotta say, that little lawn goose is pretty funny. It's so silly, it's cute :)
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely flowers and pumpkins, oh and the fairy gardens are so cute and creative. Seems like a really fun day.
Yeah, TJ's can keep that squash. I'm not picky about food, at all, but stuff that tastes like dirt do not do it for me. My neighbor once baked chocolate muffins with beets mixed in. There was a definite 'earthy' flavor going on. The next time she baked something and sent if over to us, my husband said "what did she put in this-- asparagus?"
Thanks for the fun post,
Kel
Beets do not belong in muffins, that s just wrong. And asparagus cupcakes is pretty icky too. LOL. Tho as I recall true Red Velvet cake is made red by using beet juice. Yeesh, give me red dye 7 [?] anytime, red food coloring. NO beets.
Delete