So Long, Farewell (to summer, that is)

FALL officially arrived on
September 22nd, the same evening as the Full Harvest Moon ... and the first time that has happened in 19 years.  Who knew! 
Yet I feel blue, as blue as a Maxfield Parish blue summer sky, since I hate to say goodbye to summer ... the best season of the year in my opinion.  I know, I live in New England and should be happy about the vibrant and colorful foliage, a crispness in the air, the smell of woodsmoke, freshly-picked apples and all that jazz.  But as I told my husband a few weeks ago, no football, pumpkins, mums or apple pie until the  first official day of fall.  And here it is already ... fall ... officially ... so I must relent and make room for those pumpkins, etc.

I don't think there are many of us here in New England that truly enjoy those long hot days of summer, but I am definitely one of them.  I'll take 90 degrees and some humidity over 10 below anyday.  And why ...

 THE FEEL OF HOT SUN on my back ... and face ... and arms ...

SPENDING TIME in our greenhouse planting seeds with Heather (this is in the spring actually ... but still a favorite).

LITERALLY GETTING "DOWN AND DIRTY" in the numerous garden beds we have around here and coming into the house at dusk, totally exhausted (who needs yoga after a day of gardening around here).

MY GARDENING SHOES ... I love 'em but will they hold out for one more year?

EARLY TO RISE (at 5am) ... it's just me and the birds and the sunrise.

SPEAKING OF BIRDS ... watching the robins and phoebes build their nests, lay their eggs and raise their young.  The hummingbirds who actually do take a break every now and then.  Their favorite hangout ... the head of the Great Blue Heron garden weathervane.  Then there are the high-standing egret nests, in a swampy muck of water, that we see on our drive to our favorite restaurant in Wolfeboro ...

Hummingbird Hangout



Five baby phoebes





High-minded egrets

ADMIRING THE WILDLIFE from afar (thank goodness for a zoom lens). Bats and spiders and bees, oh my!  Yes, that is a bat in the bottom picture ... hanging from a single blade of our perennial Japanese Silver grass!




SURROUNDED BY COLOR ... much more appealing than a landscape of "white", don't you think? 


Yes, the hose was part of the landscape this summer



Who doesn't love zinnias!



My walk to work

THE EASE AND COMFORT of a short, breezy summer skirt.

FLIP FLOPS ... how I will miss you.
ICE CREAM ... need I say more?
PLAYING HOOKY and going to the ocean for the day.

A CONCERT in an outdoor pavillion (and no thoughts of even taking a sweater).
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S OVO in Boston.

The OGUNQUIT PLAYHOUSE ... who needs Broadway?

LAKE WINNISQUAM is the perfect setting to an end-of-day-zip-about-the-lake in "the boat", with dinner and a sunset.
 LAYING IN THE HAMMOCK on those lazy, hazy summer days (unfortunately there are not many lazy days around here).

ENJOYING THE FOURTH OF JULY in Gilmanton at it's funky 4th parade, then heading to Meredith at the end of the day for fireworks on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee ... with friends, of course!



"AMUSED" by my husband's obsession with his vegetable garden.
AMAZED at the quantity of produce his vegetable garden actually produced this year (yet I don't cook ... or can or freeze).

IMAGINING the look of the drivers on our road who happen upon my husband's "free tree" with it's baskets of FREE produce (including tomatoes and corn this year).  I'm just sorry I didn't take any pictures!

GAZING UP AT THE NIGHT SKY, full of stars and perhaps a planet or two, and able to enjoy this amazing sight without "freezing to death".

AND ONCE AGAIN ... the feel of the hot sun on my back ... my face ... my arms and legs.  I wish I could "bottle" this for some time in February.



SIGH!  And hello to fall.  So please excuse me now as I must go and gather those pumpkins!  Enjoy ... M-A