It's official!

We're knee-deep in fall around here.

Yesterday I took a walk around our lawns and gardens to see what had happened since the last time I'd been out there. I allow myself to become practically a hermit as fall and winter arrive, I'm afraid. Once the snow arrives and becomes deep, I can't walk around the outside of the house anymore anyway, until spring.

I do go for my daily walk, but I tend to turn my back on my flower gardens and all but forget they're even there.

Our burning bush, seen in the background of the header photo, is "ablaze." I think this is its most spectacular showing yet. And the flowering crabapple tree, in the foreground, is heavy with berries. These will become good eating for various birds this winter, especially the cedar waxwings, which enjoy getting drunk on the fermented berries.

Yesterday our lawns were covered deeply with fallen leaves. It's a good thing I happened to take my stroll and get these photos of the leaves in the morning, because in the afternoon I heard the sound of Ken's little garden tractor approaching and realized he had the big lawn vacuum attached. He was madly sucking up leaves, or actually the vacuum attachment was.
If it's any consolation to him, though, the wind and rain in the night have put a new blanket of leaves on our lawns.

I was pleased to see so many berries on the holly bush. We've had our holly bushes, one male and one female (or a "prince" and a "princess", about four years, and this is the best year for berries on the female. Good going, girl! Good job with the pollination, guy!

This small hydrangea came into bloom in mid summer, and it's been fun to watch the colors of the blossom change from a pale blue to a dark indigo to now, a rather antique-looking violet. Its leaves to the left of the blossom are taking on new colors, too: from green to yellow and now red-leaning-towards-purple.

This is what's left of one of my Jack-in-the-pulpits. Just beautiful red berries. Last spring after I'd counted four or five "Jacks" around our foundation, Ken spotted at least a hundred of them growing to the left of his workshop, in an area that he has started mowing each fall but which had been ignored for years. So then I went out behind his workshop and found a few more Jacks growing in the woods. We live in Jackk-in-the-pulpit country, apparently.

And finally, my shasta daisies haven't received the memo, I guess. They're still blooming away despite the cold temperatures.

Earlier this past week I emptied out all the flower pots and put them away and removed ornaments from the flower gardens. Today Ken removed our window screens and put on the storm doors.

It's time to batten the hatches and await another Maine winter.

Back to Lake Winnipesaukee

After driving through the Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, area on my way to Vermont a couple of weeks ago, I was itching to go back to the Lake area on a day when I could spend some time.

I told Ken I'd like to see more of that area again, so that's just what we did last Thursday.

The Lake Winnipesaukee area is only 90 minutes from our home, so it's not a long drive.

It was an overcast, rather raw, day, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits.

We went first to Meredith. There we browsed in several shops at the Inn at Mill Falls. We've stayed at this inn many times, but it's always been in winter and several of the shops have been closed. Last Thursday, however, they were open.

After we'd had enough of shopping...or Ken had had enough...we decided it was time for lunch. Guiseppe's, on the ground floor of the Inn, proved to be a good choice. (Italian restaurants seldom disappoint me.) We each ordered the chicken Caesar wrap, which was delicious.

Now it was time for one of the highlights of the trip: A stop at Patternworks yarn shop in Center Harbor, just a few miles east of Meredith. I'd heard of this shop many times but had never visited it. It's a good thing it had been pointed out to me as we drove past it a week earlier, because I never would have spotted it on my own. A very small sign says, simply, "Patternworks," with no mention of its being a yarn shop. The shop's name sounds more like that of a fabric store, I think.

Anyway, we arrived at Patternworks, my pulse racing as it always does when a yarn shop is nearby. Ken said he'd sit in the car and relax while I went to ogle the yarns. I assured him I'd be gone only fifteen minutes.

Forty-five minutes later I emerged from Patternworks carrying my purchases: three skeins of yarn (two of them for a Baby Surprise Jacket, one simply because it's a beautiful tweed that will look great as a hat or mittens) and a pattern book of ladies' sweaters.

So. That need was satisfied, and we headed home.

Along the way, however, we decided to stop at The Old Country Store in Moultonborough, NH. It's a good thing Lynn, Jackie, and I didn't stop there on our trip to VT the previous week, or we'd still be in there browsing. The store is truly an old country store, complete with large barrels of pickles, penny candy, kitchen gadgets, clothings, toys, pottery, stationery, candles, bath soaps and lotions, wrought iron items, cheese,...You get the idea.

Ken gravitated to the tools, of course, while I flitted from one area to another. The thing about this place is that the outside is deceiving: It looks like a moderately-sized store, but once you're inside you realize one room leads to another and another and another.

After a good browse and a stop at their penny candy counter for a little sustenance for the drive home, we left.

It was a good day in the Lake Winnipesaukee area. Now I want to go back again soon.

Vermont Hospitality

Bright and early (6:00) yesterday morning, two friends and I began our drive to Fairlee, Vermont, to attend an Alpha Delta Kappa Tri-state (ME, NH, VT) Conference. I was the designated driver, and Lynn served as co-pilot. Jackie, in the back seat, served as our vital support system.

Most of the long-distance driving in this household is done by Ken, so I'm always a bit nervous to set out in the car and travel hitherto untraveled roads. Or at least roads never before driven by me.

I printed out our driving route at Mapquest and learned the drive would take two hours, 58 minutes. Lynn and I rendezvoused with Jackie in Cornish, ME, at precisely 6:30. We were off.

After we'd traveled Route 25 for about an hour, we came to Meredith, NH. This is a beautiful town on the northwest shore of Lake Winnipesaukee. My header photo, in fact, was taken of the lake yesterday at 7:30 a.m. The fog rising off the lake was eerie and beautiful. (Ken and I used to visit Meredith every summer, but we haven't been back there in years. That's something we need to do soon.)

After my brief photo stop, we continued on to Vermont. Lynn gave the directions from the Mapquest printout: Take a right onto I-93, go 11 miles, take a left onto__, go 11 miles; now take another left, go 11 miles. None of the three of us could figure out why each distance after turning seemed to be eleven miles, but there you have it.

We crossed the Connecticut River into Fairlee, VT, around 8:30 a.m. This came as a surprise to us, since we'd fully expected to arrive in Fairless around 9:00-9:30 a.m. What to do?

Since we were three females who'd sat in a car for 2 1/2 hours, the first order of business was, of course, to find a rest room. I pulled into a convenience store parking lot, dashed inside, and asked the kind girl behind the counter if they had a public restroom. "Sure," she said. "Go to the back, to the door on the left."

I motioned through the front window for Lynn and Jackie to some inside because I'd struck gold. They arrived, and the three of us made use of the "facilities," which were clearly not intended for public use unless the member of the public makes a request with a look of terror and urgency on her face.

While waiting for all three of us to be ready to leave for Lake Morey Resort, I asked the clerk if there were any gift shops open or something of that persuasion. We needed to kill time before heading to the conference, which would start at 9:30.

Just as I asked the question, into the convenience store came one of Fairlee's residents, a very friendly lady of perhaps 60.

She heard me inquire about gift shops, so she dashed over to now the three of us and said, "Oh, you must go to Chapman's!"

We asked where it was, and she pointed up the street, saying, "See? You can see the sign from here."

We then wondered if it would be open at this early hour. "Oh, sure," she replied.

We thanked her and drove the short distance up the street to Chapman's.

What a gold mine! It's a lovely gift shop full of jewelry, handmade Vermont candy, toys, cards, you name it.

Jackie chose a necklace; Lynn chose a bracelet; I chose a bracelet.

As we were browsing, the local customer from the convenience store walked in. "I've thought of another place you should visit if you have time," she said. She then went on to describe a gift shop about twenty minutes away. By this time, though, it was getting close to 9:30 and we knew we'd better hustle to the Lake Morey Resort. We had, after all, come to Vermont for a conference.

We were touched by the hospitality of this lady. She'd gone out of her way to help us have a good time in Fairlee. And we did just that.

I (heart) my crock pot, Final chapter

This is another great recipe from allrecipes.com. I find that when I'm searching for just the right recipe, allrecipes.com always comes through for me. I've made this recipe for baby back ribs many times, and aside from once when I severely overcooked them, they've always come out perfectly. (They were still delicious the time I overcooked them, but they fell off the bone before getting to our mouths. Very messy.)

Baby Back Ribs

2 1/2 lbs. pork baby back ribs, cut into serving size pieces

5 c. water

1 medium onion, sliced

2 celery ribs, cut in half

2 t. minced garlic, divided

1 t. peppercorns

1/2 c. barbecue sauce

1/4 c. plum sauce

1 dash hot pepper sauce

1. Place ribs in 5-qt. slow cooker (crock pot). Add water, onion, celery, 1 t. garlic, and peppercorns. Cover and cook on low 6 hours or until meat is tender.

2. In small saucepan, combine barbecue sauce, plum sauce, hot pepper sauce, and remaining garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until heated through. Remove ribs from slow cooker. Discard cooking juices and vegetables

3. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Brush ribs with sauce. Grill, uncovered, over med-low heat for 6-10 minutes or until browned, turning occasionally and brushing with remaining sauce.

Confession: All I've done is follow this recipe to the end of step 1. Then I slather the ribs with some barbecue sauce and serve 'em then and there!

I (heart) my crock pot, Part IV

Today's recipe isn't quite as quick and easy as yesterday's, but it's still quick and easy. In fact, I just threw this into my crock pot about five minutes ago.

New England Pot Roast

In gallon-size plastic bag, mix 1/4 c. flour, 1 T. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Place pot roast in bag and shake to cover it well with the flour mixture. Heat 2 T. oil in skillet; brown roast on all sides.

Pare and quarter 2-3 potatoes, 2-3 carrots, and 1-2 onions.

Put vegetables in bottom of crock pot. Place browned roast on top of vegetables. Spread 1 T. horseradish on top of roast. Add 1/2 c. water to crock pot.

Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours. (Or cook on high 4-5 hours)

Remove meat and vegetables with spatula.

(This recipe comes from the little recipe booklet that accompanied my crock pot when purchased in 1974. In the introduction, the crock pot, which "cooks all day while the cook's away," is referred to as a "revolutionary slow cooker.")

I (heart) my crock pot, Part III

Today's crock pot recipe is so quick and easy that even my dog could make it, if I allowed her on my counter. But I don't. Not that she hasn't tried.

Pork Chops Abracadabra

Brown pork chops in fry pan; season with salt and pepper.

Place browned chops in crock pot. Pour one can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup over chops.

Cook on low 7-9 hours. Ummm-um good.

I like to serve these chops with whipped potatoes, because the gravy formed in the crock pot is yummy on whipped potatoes.

I (heart) my crock pot, Part II

In honor of my beloved but old and worn-looking crock pot, here's another favorite recipe. It comes from allrecipes.com.

This recipe makes 20 servings, which would feed a small army (or Ken and me for weeks), so I par it down to make 4-5 servings. In other words, I cut everything by approximately 1/4.

Pasta e Fagioli

3 lbs. lean ground beef

1/2 c. olive oil

4 c. chopped onion

2 c. chopped celery

2 (4.5 oz.) jars minced garlic (I always use fresh garlic, 3-4 cloves)

1 t. coarsely ground black pepper

8 (14.5 oz) cans beef consommé (I use beef bouillon and water)

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 6 oz. can tomato paste (I use 1 T. tomato paste and freeze the remaining paste in 1 T. "globs" in a plastic bag for later use.)

2 1/2 t. dried thyme

2 1/2 t. dried basil

2 1/2 t. dried oregano

2 T. dried parsley

2 15 oz. cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 c. ditalini pasta

1. In fry pan, cook beef, onions, celery, and garlic until beef is no longer pink.

2. Put beef mixture into crock pot.

3. Add pepper, beef bouillon, water, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley and kidney beans. Stir.

4. Set crock pot to low. Cook for 6 hours.

5. Stir in pasta and cook on high for 30 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Enjoy!