Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Summers End

Well as much as I want to hang on to summer just a little longer I see the end clearly. The sunshine is a little more golden, the days a little shorter and I've seen my first wash of red in the trees.  I think I'm ready to give in to the changes I see around me. It's not that I don't love Autumn, I just don't love what comes after Autumn, but if you've been around for any amount of time you know that about me.
I'm deep in the work of summers end. I have a table full of ripe peaches that will be frozen and made into jam and I see a few pies in my very near future.

I have already made a batch of peach jam and it is good! Nothing can beat the fruit from the orchard, it ripens properly instead of going from hard to mush like the grocery store varieties.  With the golden light of early Autumn spilling in my kitchen windows it's no work at all to turn ripe fruit into something amazing.  I always say, if you don't like cooking and baking you aren't making the right recipes!

Using leaf cookie cutters for the top crust is even easier than lattice and it just feels like fall
Earl and I grabbed a quick weekend away the weekend before last. We found a b&b right on the Au Sable River. It turned out the forecast wasn't conducive to canoeing so we headed to Traverse City to look around.  We hid out in antique stores while it rained and looked around at a huge old asylum that has been turned into retail stores and condos. Such a great use for amazing Victorian architecture.  We found some cozy, fun little places for lunch and dinner and then headed back to the b&b to enjoy some coffee on the big porch while we watched the rain.
And then we got up early the next morning and spent more time on the porch. Feet up, hot coffee chasing the chill, and watched the rain come down and the river flow by.  So amazingly relaxing! I now need a very large porch added to our house. Some day....
The garden is mostly ready to pick.  The first tomato was eaten the day it was ripe by some garden bandit with 4 legs, but we have high hopes of getting the next one, We have harvested the onions, and most of the green beans, (we didn't plant enough!), and are working our way through the beets. I like to roast them in the oven, peel them and make fresh Greek salads for dinner.  Thank goodness most of the flowers are hanging on as we slowly harvest everything else.  It's too late to plant anything else and empty spots in the raised beds would be so sad. This is our first year growing brussels sprouts and I just can't wait to see how they turn out. I can see the little buds forming but they don't seem nearly big enough for this far along in the season. Fingers crossed that they amount to anything!

That's about the extent of the excitement around here. It must be nearly fall because I feel my focus shifting from the garden to the house.  I'm looking around and planning some freshening up in the kitchen, back entry and master bedroom. Now all I need is the gumption to get going :)  How about you, any big fall decorating / nesting plans?




15 comments:

  1. It is still in the mid 90's here in SC so no nesting plans at this point. In fact I just bought some new basil to plant in a pot because mine had gone to seed pretty much. Your pie looks beautiful. I just stop at a peach orchard yesterday and picked up a bag of peaches. They are a huge variety called Big Red. I hope they are good.

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  2. It is cooling down here too...thankfully. Enough of those 100 degree days in the SW...ugh! Your photos of Summer's bounty are lovely. I am so looking forward to Fall. :)

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  3. Reread your description of your getaway three times for the ahhhhhh factor! Hope that you take a few more of those. I know what you mean...it is such an irony that my favorite season autumn is followed by my least favorite and all too often the dread of winter can enter in to my joy of autumn. Your beautiful jars filled with peach jam are beautiful!

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  4. What a lovely getaway!

    Love the looks of your peach goodies. That pie is wonderful with those leaves on top. I'll see if I can find those cutters, they are neat.

    Enjoy the coming of fall.

    FlowerLady

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  5. Oh, my! Michigan peaches. I'm going to come home with a huge bag this weekend...finally! I love the leaf cutouts.

    Traverse City is beautiful, even in the rain! I've only been once and would love to go again. Everyone needs a weekend away---sometimes they are better than week long vacations.

    Have you thought about planting some lettuce or spinach seeds? I usually get enough for a few salads in October.

    Jane

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  6. Autumn fortifies our souls and helps us deal with winter! That's what I'm telling myself anyway!

    My husband and I met in Michigan at a Bible college so we have very fond memories of the beauty of the autumns there! Glorious!

    Enjoy the last of your garden!

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  7. Kathy, I live in SE Michigan...what is the name of the B&B you stayed at? Planning a fall getaway!

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    1. suzq382 Your comment came through as a no reply so I will reply here in hopes that you check back. We went to Borchers canoe livery. http://www.canoeborchers.com/ They have a b&b right on the property. The lodgings are nothing real fancy but they were very clean and the owners are absolutely lovely. Good breakfast and the rates are quite low for a b&b. I hope you see this and that it helps!

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  8. Sounds amazing, Kathy! I'd love a get away with my hubby soon.

    Your photos...I always say this...astound me. They are beautiful!

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  9. Hi Kathy,
    I bought peaches from North Carolina (in Illinois) and I don't know that I have ever eaten a real peach before I found these North Carolina peaches. I think your pie with the leaf crust is just beautiful.
    I would love to go to Michigan more often, but there is something standing in my way by the name of CHICAGO. I don't like that drive!

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  10. That peach jam would make a great glaze for that gorgeous pie !!!! Both look yummy :)

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  11. No big nesting plans here, yet. I am still lost in a haze of summer! Your peaches look so good!! And that pie...oh boy! :)

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  12. I've been ready for Fall to arrive and it has. The rain has returned here in Oregon but it comes with intermissions of sunshine and big white louds. Your time away sounds wonderful. It would be great if you could `have a porch some day but wouldn't you also want a river?
    ~Adrienne~

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  13. ahhh...we've not left this place all summer...just one thing after another has kept us pretty close to home.
    I want to put up some shelves in our dining room...have had the boards and brackets most of the summer but haven't had desire enuf to get them painted...maybe this month..before Thanksgiving, at least..no other projects on my list right now

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  14. Its been so hot here this summer more day in the 90's than I would like to have. Its cooler down over the next few days...I don't like to rush the season because the older I get the faster they fly by. The peach pie is so delicious looking and I want a piece, please!

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Thank you for taking the time to say hello :)