SUMMER ENDS -- MOVING ON

Harvest at the neighbor's

As one season ends, another begins. As the unofficial end of summer is signaled, the holiday season unofficially begins. "Holiday" means autumn, harvest, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the grand culmination -- Christmas and New Year's. When my children were young, I didn't dare celebrate early because they didn't understand, but in retirement, I'm free to make it what I like. It's a wonderful season that comes on gradually, and that's the beauty of it.

Before we left on Friday, I took down the hummingbird feeders and put them away. It was an odd hummingbird summer anyway. In May, our delicious nectar was in demand, but suddenly the hummers disappeared with the exception of a few demanding diehards. I continued to provide nectar, but then last week they, too, were gone.


Coming back to the farm on Labor Day, we discovered that something had happened in our driveway. It looked as if a piece of equipment had turned around and dug a few ruts right behind where we park. After pondering it for a while, Mike raked it out. We honestly don't know what happened there. Kids on a joy ride? Farm equipment? Aliens? Nothing we can think of seems likely. 


No sign of the horse as we drove in, but we had horse sign in the yard. And then as I glanced to the south out Hallie's bedroom window after my shower last evening, there he was sauntering through the grain toward the pond and disappearing behind a hill. When we got up this morning, he was in the yard on the north side of the house. Unless we spook him, he moves slowly. Clearly, he is right at home now. He has a white blaze, so Mike calls him "Blaze." 

Smoke fills Little CAnyon

So, we're back at the  farm, AND it felt so good to be reunited with my laptop mouse. (I bet you never thought I'd say that I was glad to see a mouse!) In this adventure of leaving things behind, this time I failed to pack my mouse, but Mighty Mike came to the rescue, digging out our old Dell mouse. It was cumbersome dealing with the cord, but I was happy to have it.

I visited my raised beds and picked a handful of cherry tomatoes -- delicious with our salad. I also picked three summer squash. This year I planted heirloom seeds, and while I love the concept, the plants have not been prolific and the squash itself is not large. Gardening is always one big experiment, it seems to me. So many factors influence it. But -- next year I'll rotate my plants and buy regular seeds.

The grain appears ready now. Hark! What's that I hear. Yes! They're harvesting at the neighbor's place. I expect they'll be here in a day or two. I was going to dust, but I think I'll put it off. Yay! KW