girls and horses

renny loves bananas.

the girls love giving renny a treat.

as soon as he sees them he runs right over.

they each have a ripened banana for him.

after a treat and a pet...

we are heading to build~a~bear for a few hours of fun.

abbey and gwyne are bbf's.

one is my daughter and one is my granddaughter.

aunt abbey.

with her niece, gwyne.

they are precious together.

love each other.

get along like two peas in a pod.

beautiful girls with beautiful spirits.

i am one blessed mom and marmee.

happy autumn.

first frosty morn

our house faces the southeast so the rising sun floods it's light
into the antique front door window with the prettiest glowing hue...
hitting the staircase.

this particular morning monday october the 19 we had our first frost.
.
dh called it a hoarfrost...i had to look that one up.
this is what i found on many of the dictionary definitions.
Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface. Also called white frost.
.
i know some of you dislike winter...i am not it's biggest fan either.
but a frosty morn is a beautiful thing.
.
everything is covered in little tiny ice crystals....it makes everything
look like it is dusted with a coating of sugar.

frosted zinnia......sugared coated spent sunflowers.

gama grass looks pretty all white.

it is sparkling when the light hits it.

one lone spider's web is striking all crystalized.

the grass beneath our feet was crunching as we feed our horse, dogs, cats, & bunnies.

there is something magical about a garden covered in tiny sugary crystals.

it's cold.....but beautiful.

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everything has a dreamy quality about it.

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these leaves give off the feeling they would be velvety to the touch

but it is frosted with ice not the silvery foliage know as lamb's ear.

the way the frost made the leaves of the morning glory

outlined in white made them a standout to me.

.

those morning glories were shut tight for a good while even

though the rays of sun were out.

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the sun was shining...so therefore it didn't take it long for it all to melt away.

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i am always thankful when the sun shines...especially when the temperatures

start gettting cooler...like we had this october morning.

autumn awaits

as autumn visits on and off these first few weeks...we
head to our franklin farmer's market.

last saturday was supposed to be an arts and craft day
at the market but we were under a deluge of rain and it was a no go.
this saturday what a difference....the sun was shining brightly...the
air was crisp....the wind was blowing quite blustery.
we waited until it warmed up to go.

one thing i love...when the artists come to
the market....creativity is in the air.
you can sense it with all those highly creative people in one place.
i love to see how they display their wares.
this lovely old door with glass knobs held pieces of handmade jewelry.
the glass panes had been replaced with chicken wire...so great.

baskets emptied by people buying fresh real
food from the local growers. real farmers....people you get to
know and discover how they do things....organically.

not just labeled organic but the real workers of the farming

community that labour for us to have this amazing food.

it always make me proud to be an american to buy from our

farmers....i love how they proudly fly their flags at every market.

it is an american tradition of the deepest kind.

here a jeweler patiently shows abbey how to use tools to make a

chain...we were so intrigued with it she agreed to come to our house

and give abbey and i a lesson. this is something i have always wanted to try.
now abbey and i can do it together.

j.r. and dh talking farming. we buy a lot of good stuff from this farm.

here's trish and her son from beaverdam creek farm, our csa

(community supported agriculture.) we bought shares of

their farm at the beginning of the growing season and get a

basket of their homegrown goodness every week.

we cook what we get and that is how we plan our meals.

another farm we love is windy acres farm...we got beatrice from them.

we buy our lamb from them and also bought a share in a cow

on their farm so we could have fresh raw milk.

of course it is october so no market would be complete without lots

of pumpkins. these were so large....

they had a tractor trailer load full of them.

another great thing about the open air farmer's market ....dogs.

we take buster brown(our chesapeake bay retriever) every weekend.

lots of people bring their dogs and most are trying to socialize them with

other dogs, kids, and people of all sizes and shapes....most don't mind taking a few

minutes and letting you pet or photograph their canines. abbey particularly likes

this about being there. two adorable cavalier king charles spaniels.

so many artists....so little time. i especially liked this one.

although i refrained from buying one of these beauties.

kettle corn is always a favourite at the market.

as a gardener i am always drawn to bird houses...

abbey wanted me to look at the windmill birdhouse not take a picture of

her showing me the birdhouse...first things first....i say.

the same birdhouse maker said this gourd was an accident...

he was explaining that while making a birdhouse out of this

large gourd it broke so he made this very colourful bowl instead...i said you should

make that kind of mistake more often. he smiled.

everywhere there was a festive feeling in the air...and decor was no exception.

lovely jewelry....displayed very beautifully.

abbey liked this maker of jewelry...quite a bit.

there are always such diverse things to see....like brunswick beeworks...

local raw honey(which is great for allergies).....

along with all kinds of products made from beeswax...

we did bring home some wonderful smelling beeswax candles....perfect for

burning on these cooler autumnal nights.

this is a farm....new to the market this year and i love it.

remember my first pumpkin months ago from the compost pile...it

was from this girl's farm. see that pumpkin...it called my name as i

went by it and i had to take it home too.

i love how she is new to farming....how she displays her stuff....

how she is willing to sell me things from her displays.

i pretty much bought all my decorative touches from the

farmer's market this weekend....lots of pumpkins....green ones.

flat ones....white ones.....mums....red ones.....several squashes to display...

first it was a good deal....second i am supporting my local economy....and thirdly,

i know there are no pesticides residing on my newly decorated kitchen table.

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autumn is my favourite time of the year and i am relishing in every day....

every moment.....every chance i get.

happy autumn days to you and yours.