Weekend Musings

It was a quiet sort of weekend around the farm.

Most everyone, except me, had places to go and things to do.

Sure, I had things to do...

but they all involved one corner of the farm or another....

particularly the garden!

I took quite a bit of time and cleared my kitchen counters of a week's worth of

freshly harvested produce,

turning it into pickled beets, yellow tomato chutney, and spaghetti sauce...

all of which will help to fill the pantry shelves in preparation for the cold months ahead.

After finishing the kitchen work,

I spent a little time outside enjoying the "feel" of late summer.

Although the gardens are at their height and bursting with color,

the nights have turned cool, the days are shortening,

 and Autumn is whispering to me from just around the corner.

Do you feel it too?  Has Autumn whispered your name, too?

The grapes are ripening...

the last of Summer's fruits.

All too soon, life will slow down to a different pace than that of Summer.

Weeding, watering, harvesting and food preservation will be finished in the coming weeks,

and days will once again give us time to relax.

For now, though, we grab the moments when we get the chance,

taking time to snuggle and cuddle.

And the beauty of it all is this...

no matter how much or how little time we have,

there is always some sweet soul ready to fill our laps and our hearts.

Each evening, before retiring to our own nest,

we take one last trip out to the barn for bed time feedings.

Ginger and MaryAnn eagerly await our arrival with their chow...

and never cease to make me smile,

not just a little upward crease at the corners of my mouth,

but a big, wide toothy grin!

I love those pigs!

And then, there's pensive Daphne, with her dreamy, far-away look

as she munches on her bed time snack.

These gals make me chuckle ...

"But they're cousins,
Identical cousins all the way.
One pair of matching bookends,
Different as night and day. "
(You have to be old enough to remember the Patty Duke Show to get that!)

And so, with everyone happily munching their bedtime snack, 

we head home...

to the comfort of our nest.

Tomorrow is another day...

with sweet surprises that await us!