Memories of Home

Seasons change...

Along with the time change, came the COLD weather!!! Tonight is dropping down into the teens...BRRRR....Winter is definitely on its way! The gardens are put to bed...the corn is cut..and the early darkness makes me ready for bed by 8:30!


Thank YOU HOLLY for the beautiful placemat! The colors are so warm and lovely...Go check out all of Holly's beautiful decorating ideas at her blog.. FULL of great ideas and wonderful pictures...

Football season for the "Mighty Mites" came to an end..They had a GREAT season...Saturday night they had their awards ceremony and a nice dinner for the kids!! Zach got ANOTHER trophy for his shelf...



Knitting projects...good books..Soups and stews..Hot tea...glass of wine...I really dont mind winter at ALL:) Stay cozy my friends!

A haunting we will go!

There was pumpkin carving with friends...

parties!!!!

Parades!!!!

Trick or Treating....

This year Zach was Link..from.."The legends of Zelda"...I made his costume..including the "Hylian Shield"...(Apparently has some super powers:)...Jack crafted him a wooden sword...and Lucy...as always, got in on the act as his humble sidekick!! We had such a great time, and luckily the weather cooperated...it was damp and chilly, but we did not get rained out for the Trick-or-Treating! I feel so bad for all the poor people that are still reeling from the damage of Hurricane Sandy...Including my beloved Jersey Shore!! I was born in Pt. Pleasant...I wonder how they will recover! Such crazy weather these past few years.....While the days get colder, and darker, I am happily continuing to learn new knitting skills to keep us cozy...I FINISHED my first hat...and Zach LOVED it! His best friend wants one now too:) Makes me happy....

I was especially pleased that the crown turned out nicely...I watched "You Tube" videos to switch from my circular needles to DPN's...much easier than I thought it would be! ALWAYS a nice surprise! SO..Hope you ALL had a VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN! XXXOOO

Sunny days....

This past week we have had temps in the mid 70's!!!! I LOVE it! Perfect for finishing up the yard work...It hhas taken me a month to complete cutting back the gardens..I have been lucky to have so many nice days to work outside! Planting more spring bulbs today:) The evenings cool down to the 50's..Not to cold, but chilly enough to start a fire indoors. I love this time of year SO much! It is very energizing to me! I have picked up my knitting needles again...I am making my first hat! It is very easy:) Almost finished with it! The shawl I started last winter is coming along slowly too...One little triangle at a time! That was a pretty ambitious pattern for a brand new knitter, and I am glad I chose something simpler to play with so  I can finsish SOMETHING:) Also, I have a yummy recipe to share:)

Last of the roses...Aren't they beautiful?????
In Sofia's garden...the leaves have done a good job tucking in her fairies:)
Zach trying so hard NOT to smile when he drives the tractor!! Seriously cracks me up!! He NEEDS to look cool when he is driving!
Hauling away the garden cuttings!!!! I have probably filled up at least 10 of these large tractor loads cutting back all of my gardens...This time of year, I wonder WHY I have SO many gardens!!! Crazy lady:) It is ALOT of work!
Lucy lounging while we work....I love that she has to put her bum ON the pillow!!!!! LUCILLE!!!
I finished SO much more last night while Jack watched football:) Almost done!! I love this yarn..it is so soft..its Alpaca:) Zach is excited for me to finish:)
and here is the LINK to the recipe!!! It was VERY good!! I love squash this time of year! OK...Gotta go! Lots to do on this beautiful day!!!

Diamond mining...

Today we ventured out to Herkimer NY...it is about 1.5 hours away from where we live...a beautiful ride this time of year. We have REALLY wanted to go to the Diamond mines there, ever since we read about them last summer...Today, we FINALLY made it:)
These diamonds were found by previous miners:))) The diamonds are not as hard, and are not worth nearly as much as the clear faceted diamonds, but they are worth quite a bit of money, and we were excited to try to find one!!!!



The mining was VERY hard work!!! We tried breaking rocks that had SPARKLES glinting in the sunlight....We also enjoyed the large collection of rocks and fossils in the museum...really amazing fossils!!!!

These are fossils of dinosaur teeth!!!!!

We also tried "slucing" which is running sand and small pebbles under water to recover gems....and, did we find gems????? Why...yes:) we did!
They are tiny...we were really hoping to find a big stone, but even finding a tiny one seemed like searching for a needle in a haystack!!!! Amidst thousands of rocks,it was SO exciting to suddenly find a shining tiny gem!!! Zach was SO excited when he found the first one!!! He actually cried when we had to leave, which I thought was kind of cute:) ( Although, I did give him the raised eyebrow!!!  ) We will definitely have to go back ......In search of treasure:)

Last game of the season!

I am SO sad I had to work this past weekend, and missed Zachs LAST game!! He was the starting center for the Mighty Mites, and I could NOT be more proud of him! He had a great season, really improved his game, and LOVED every minute of it! Starting Aug. 1st they practiced 3 hours, 5 nights a week, until school started, and then 3 nights a week for 2 hours a night!! This is his second year playing, and the kids and the parents really have to be commited to stick with it...He is ALLREADY talking about NEXT season!!!! I, myself, am pretty excited to plan DINNERS again at a normal hour!!:)
Zach is # 78..This weekend it RAINED, it was windy, and cold...Nothing stops a game except thunder!!! I have to laugh that he even has mud and grass on his HELMET!! Not a spot uncovered!! PURE FILTH!!:) Boys love it!
That field was NOTHING BUT MUD! Some of our boys are wearing PINK for breast cancer awareness!! Pretty nice for 9 year olds:)

Thats my baby!! Hands on the ball, ready to make the snap! Jack said he did great!!! It is a real thrill for my husband that Zach loves sports as much as him!!! He is a pretty proud Papa! We won the game, and Zach has been telling me how HARD it was to snap that WET and MUDDY ball!!! Now, all that is left is the awards ceremony!! They put on a very nice banquet for these hardworking boys...and they all get a nice trophy to add to their collection! Zachs shelf is starting to fill up:)))

Getting cozy indoors...

Bringing out the Halloween decorations:) WE LOVE Halloween!!! Stitched up a new pillow yesterday...I love making seasonal things for the house:) and I really DONT have so many cobwebs:) Maybe a few!!! Having fun on PICMONKEY!  Fun site...Lots of fun spooky effects!!

North country....

People refer to this area as the "North Country"...Bow hunting season started last Wed., and the trails along side of the woods have the pickup trucks lining the edge of the forests...we have had Moose sightings in the area lately, and this has excited alot of folks to get out and try to spot one! Black bear are fairly common along the edge of the Tug Hill Plateau where we live as they wander out of the Adirondacks. I do feel fortunate to live in such an area of abundance in the fields and forests! Everywhere we look, the beauty of Fall surrounds us now..






My FAVORITE time of year!!!!!

Inside....Out...

Spending as much time outdoors as we can....I love the warmth of the day..and that chill that follows in the evenings! Everything seems brighter! Zach had Lucy all snuggled up this morning..it was in the 40's...He was outside riding his scooter before the bus came, and he came inside just to touch my face with his freezing hands...and red cheeks!!! Going to make a big pot of soup today, and fall pillowcases for my babes:) Work this weekend...going to enjoy every minute of this day!

Feelin' Fall!

The familiar rhythms of Fall have returned to our home...

School...

Football....

Canning....

Harvesting the garden....

Woke up this morning to 40 degrees...

Started a fire in the fireplace...

Going to make spaghetti and meatballs tonite....

Love this time of year:)

Whats keeping you busy this Fall????

Shifting gears...

Summer is coming to an end for sure!!!! The weather is still beautiful, but Zach went back to school yesterday! We are putting up all the garden goodness that we can, and starting to spend a little more time indoors working on projects...

Here comes the bus!!!! Allready!! Where did the summer go?????





Making sauce 2 or three times a week from our tomatoes...blanching and freezing beans as fast as we can pick them, and drying our peppers to spice up our soups, stews, and chilis in the coming months!!!!!

I also got a new sewing machine! I traded up for the machine of my dreams:))))) Hopefully, I can do MORE quilting easily on this beauty! and....finally, a couple pics of the garden..It is not over YET!!!!!



Hope you are all enjoying these last busy days of summer!!!!!! Bring on the Fall!