First Crisp Fall Day!

Birthday Bliss

It has been a busy couple of weeks (surprise, surprise!)
Update on Zoi- They were really encouraging us to put her down asap. I sat holding her all weekend crying my eyes out and just couldn't come around to it. We picked out a spot, and made a nice box and pillow for her. Art couldn't do it either. Then after a couple of days on the steroids, antibiotics, and painkillers she started to feel better. She started eating again, and had a little energy. Nope- not going to do it. We know that we are just buying a little time with the steroids but we have cherished every minute, and will do so until the end!
My Mother came for a visit last week and she brought a special guest- My niece R! I was pretty excited. I think she was too :) We scoured the house and even hooked up the wood cook stove on Thursday then picked them up late.

Friday, we headed out to the seacoast. We went to Warren's for lunch. Fabulous seafood place on the water with a salad bar that can't be beat. I think this place has been around for over a hundred years! Delish!

We stopped at Nubble Light in York before heading up to...
-(you guessed it)- Ogunquit. One of my new favorite places.

We walked the Marginal Way cliff walk, and shopped in the little shops. Unfortunately, all the boats were put away for the season. It was a gorgeous clear day with temps in the 60's.

Since we had a teenage girl with us (and my Mom) we stopped at the outlet malls in Kittery for a little shopping. Then went to Poco's in Portsmouth for dinner. What a great birthday. Warrens, Ogunquit, family, and Poco's! We stopped and got cake and ice cream on the way home. Cake at ten o'clock? Sure- it was tasty!

The next day we had a part of Art's family over for dinner, and then headed off to the Keene Pumpkin Festival. It was pouring buckets by the time we got there, but we made it!
I also got a special birthday gift from my girls today. My nieces were out visiting the chickens and they found a perfect small brown EGG!

My first egg! Couldn't be a better birthday gift.

Wil and his crew were renovating the greenhouse this week so the girls and Elliot were cooped up the whole time. Meant to be. The egg was in the laying box where it should be! Yippee! The south section of the greenhouse was ripped off and replaced along with the back doors. The girls will be snug and warm this winter!

We got the lid on just in time since the first snow was last night!
I got a Frederick's cake to celebrate an early B-day for R. I got a horse theme since she is a horse enthusiast. No pics from the Pumpkin Fest. Way too soggy! We spent Monday in Boston with my Mom and neice. We walked all over that place. Parked in the Common, went to Newbury street for some shopping (really looking since everything there is so $$$$), then over to Fanieul Hall and Quincy Market for lunch and more shopping. The teenager was in heaven. I (and my Mom) sure enjoyed the little model with no shirt on outside the Abercrombi and Fitch place. But, man that place is LOUD! and the place is saturated with the stink of perfume! I felt old in there. I liked the American Eagle place a little better. They had chairs where I could watch videos of songs I had never heard before, but that R swore were the best songs around! LOL! We thought we would end the day by having dinner in China Town, but once there she was a little put off by the chickens, squid, and other misc. meats hanging in a lot of the restaurants.
So we headed out and up stopping at the Cheesecake factory in Burlington instead.

The visit was way too short, but we sent R off with a smile on her face and an extra suitcase of loot! so I think all went well.

Welcome Home

Our yard had the fall welcome mat out. Man alive, a lot of leaves jumped off the trees while we were gone! Guess I know what I am doing this weekend. The leaves are at peak here now, funny that they were past peak when we went south to Massachusetts. It was a beautiful ride home even though it was raining.
This week being peak week in New Hampshire has me contemplating life and the seasons we go through. I will be thirty-seven in a little over a week. When I was a teenager I couldn't even imagine being that OLD! Nor did I have any plan for being that age, because let's face it I didn't actually think I'd live to the ripe old age of thirty-five much less anything beyond! I think Art and I are in the summer of our life. It isn't new, or formative, but it is growing and comfortable. We know where we are going, and at the same time we are storing away and planning for the seasons beyond.
I watch my in laws, and the pets we got when we first married, and first moved to New Hampshire enter the latter stages in life. The winter- if you will. If our lives are fleeting how do animals feel?!?
Time is so short and right now we have so many roads in front of us still. Which to take? If we take one, what are we leaving behind? What will we miss? I am glad to have the opportunity to choose, but terrified I will take a mis-step and mess the whole thing up! On the other hand, it is good right now. Enjoy the moment, the day, and go with the flow. Everything for a reason.
We really enjoyed this time with Art's folks. We were a little road weary from so much travel this year, but we looked forward to this trip to spend time with them. It is not an opportunity that comes up often anymore, for sure. It is hard to watch how difficult the seemingly simple tasks have become. Meals took a great deal of coordination and effort. You have to find a place that allows room to load and unload, has a ramp to get in and out, and a table that can accomodate a wheelchair. My MIL has a bladder of steel also. Good thing, because handicapp stalls just don't accomodate her needs. Growing old is tough. We did enjoy every minute we got to spend with them, though!

Now, back to work! It's still raining so I don't have to rake today, but the stack of mail is calling me...

Fall

We went down to Stockbridge today to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. He spent his later years here, and his family opened a museum at his former home and studio. Breathtaking views from all vantage points. He was an incredible artist.

The GPS was set on tourist routes, so we took a lovely ride home through the country.

Very enjoyable.

I am surprised at how far along the leaves are down here. I think we are closer to peak (not past) up in Vermont and New Hampshire...

We are staying in Pittsfield, Mass. It was much more of a town than any of us imagined. I was thinking little old mill town, and it seems that was everyone in our group's picture of the place. It is quite a thriving metropolis. About ten years ago it had 80,000 people and GE was a major employer. They also have a ton of museums, theaters, B&B's and resorts. When GE closed up the population dropped in half and tourism took over as money maker. We went up to Hancock for the day and Jiminy Peak (ski resort). Very pretty area if you ever get out to Western Mass.





Arguably the best time of year in New England. With cool nights and warm days, very reduced bug population, and lower humidity levels make it one of my favorites. I have always had a love hate relationship with the trees in New England. I grew up in Colorado- the desert pretty much. The only trees we had were the knee high ones we planted, watered, and begged to grow. On moving to New England I missed the sky. Our first house here was nestled in the woods and you drove through a tunnel of trees to get to it. Since our current house was once an organic farm it has been cleared for growing fields although we do have nice sugar maples along the front and some short fruit trees in back. Because of our business I rarely got a chance to go out and experience the fall colors in all of their glory. This year, we are operating on a slightly different schedule so we have been able to take some hikes, and will spend some time down in the Berkshires leaf peeping with all the tourists. I feel like a giddy school girl about it :) I will post lots of pics when I can...

In the mean time I have been picking pears as fast as I can. The pumpkins were also pulled in. Operating on the good old New England No Heat Til Trick or Trick I have been in the mood to bake! Still waiting on the wood cook stove- I had to order a piece of pipe- gggrrrrrr... but my old reliable does just fine.
I made cheesecake for the first time in my life. Not the blend cream cheese with jello kind either. Pumpkin cheesecake drizzled with caramel and pecans! Here are a couple of recipes for ya!

Pumpkin Cheesecake INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Drizzle with caramel, and top with whipped cream and pecans. Serve.
Pear Oatmeal cookies are a favorite standby recipe. I also did oven dried pears for the first time. They are so sweet! They taste nothing like the chalky ones I buy at the store...

Pear Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups flour
2 fresh, medium-sized California Bartlett pears, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
granulated sugar

Cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients except sugar. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.