falling for fall

it's well into october. a month i have been anticipating since late august. 
here in the south, where august and september temperatures stubbornly hang in the mid 80's, we have to fake it, fall that is.


so we run off to whole foods to see what pumpkin flavored brews they have in store for us, and we cheer in the aisle when we see shipyard pumpkin head....ahhh that delightful maine treat. 

we made chili from beans we soaked and boiled and we swore that it tasted a little bit better than the canned.

 you can find the recipe here.

it's football season and when they actually show the patriot's games here, we watch.

and in our spare time, we stained a little present of mine...

and now we have front porch rockers

they are in the perfect spot to sit and sip hot coffee.

phew.  these past few months have flown by.  we don't usually travel as much as we have this past summer.  it's not the norm to take off to san francisco or fly up to maine monthly, but between family vacations, work trips, weddings, bachelorette parties and showers i've found myself packing and unpacking a hell of a lot more than usual.

this last trip to maine was special in different ways.  it was cold, the kind of cold where you really needed hot cider and soup to warm your bones.

the leaves were already changing into rich orange and scarlet colors.

 we went to the common ground fair and it was whopping 48 degrees, but totally worth it.

i'm pretty sure the booths with wool hats and angora mittens sky rocketed their sales that day.

oh, hey mum!

we bought bread and warmed up with hot organic vegetable soup and we wrapped our hands around apple cider as we shuffled along...

we ran into friends

and later that day we bought pumpkins.

and my mom prepared for her grand opening.

donors, the press, faculty and staff huddled under the white tent celebrating this grand opening.  we listened to speeches that supported early childhood education, we heard the governor and his wife talk and each comment was filled with graciousness for all the donations and effort that made it all possible.  

we heard the words thank you and children and education and teamwork repeated over and over again.  it was momentous; my mom is incredible.  

and even though it was a cold and damp monday afternoon, those tiny raindrops sounded like small hands clapping.

when is was time for the ribbon cutting, the rain eased up and a line formed 

inside is filled with murals and sculptures, painted by maine artist, Jane Burke

“All of childhood's unanswered questions must finally be passed back to the town and answered there. Heroes and bogey men, values and dislikes, are first encountered and labeled in that early environment. In later years they change faces, places and maybe races, tactics, intensities and goals, but beneath those penetrable masks they wear forever the stocking-capped faces of childhood.”   ~  Maya Angelou 

***************

the rest of my maine trip

a glimpse of a little photo-shoot.

it wouldn't be fall with out a trip to the apple orchard.

**************************

to mix it up a little, big brother came to visit.

they have been training for this race.

************

anyone know this guy?

well, my friend, that's uga VIII (aka, big bad bruce).  we are still labrador fans, but we did go georgia and root for the bulldogs.

i hope you all are loving fall

so run, don't walk to the nearest orchard and pick some apples.  and if your lucky, maybe zack will whip you up a little apple pie - just like this one.