When Fall Turns Cool

The between two meals meal............when your late for breakfast and too early for lunch.

The temperatures and views are changing daily.  Each day as we look at the valley and hills the lush green has turned to yellow/green, yellow, orange and red dotted throughout.  Once these colors set in it goes fast.  Enjoy the beauty because one day it will be, wow! the leaves are gone.  Then the hard daily frosts will be glistening in the early morning sun rays and maybe a few "Suzy Snow Flakes" tumbling down.  For us well seasoned people that song could be going through your mind today. 

The cabin has been taking up a big part of each day for us.  The cooler temperatures make it so much nicer.  No frequent breaks to cool down seems to get the work done much faster.  Dick has been busy finishing up the wiring.  I decided to prime and paint the siding and delay putting it up until there is electric at the cabin.  We only live across the road but what a pain walking back and forth to use the power saws.  Speaking of pain....priming the boards front, back and edges is a job I am not fond of!  The primer is thick and takes several strokes of the brush to get it spread even.  This may take until spring to finish all of them.  My goal is to get enough done to put up under the porch before it gets too cold to work outside. I am excited to see how the colors we chose look.

Last night I read the National Forecast for the upcoming winter here at Cook'n by the Creek.  They are predicting.............lots of snow!  Yes, that makes me happy for more reasons than x-country skiing that was little to none the last few winters.  Along with no snow for skiing came a very low and dangerous water table.  In the last week I have heard of two local springs going dry.  One is at the home of Kate Nichols on Rt. 44,  just before the Shinglehouse Borough.  This spring has provided water for the homestead for over a hundred years.  How sad.  The other spring belongs to the Regis family on Rt. 49.  They have a beautiful pond and hand pump by the road.  Many people stop to get a drink or fill their jugs there.  Gone, not a drop of water.  This has happened because of lack of winter snows with little accumulation.  We need snow and lots of it along with spring rains.  Every time I turn on the faucet I am so thankful to see water.  We have a well and yes they go dry too. 



On a walk around the property this 4 leaf clover
 jumped right out at me.

My Gramma Gross was the queen of finding 4 leaf clovers.  She would walk across the lawn and pluck one, hand it to me and say, see how easy they are to find.  It took me years to find one.  I would get so excited only to find out the one I saw was actually two clovers.  Eventually I was able to find the true 4 leaf clover for good luck.  Maybe not as often as Gramma.  One thing she said, never pick one with more than 4 leaves, that means bad luck.  I have found a few and no I don't pick them.  It's all about the luck of the 4 leaf clover around here.

I see today is National Coffee Day.  Coffee this morning was as always, Jamaican Me Crazy.  The temperature is cool and a light rain is falling.  Dick had to leave early to check the township roads and see what needs to be done before winter sets in.  Only time for a quick cup of coffee.  When he gets back it will be a breakfast/lunch for us.  Fresh homemade apple sausage that we bought in Tanneytown, MD.  The meat cutter does a great variety of sausages but apple is our favorite.  When visiting we bring a few packs back with us.  Along with the sausage will be buttermilk pancakes with corn from our garden in them.  This was a farm pancake we had for breakfast or supper during my younger years.  Corn in a buttermilk pancake may sound odd but they are good.  It's a toss up when I say, corn or blueberries today.  We like plain pancakes too.  Of course any kind of pancake is never complete without "real" maple syrup.  We are lucky to have a few good maple producers in our area.  One lives right up the road from us which makes it very convenient when we are running low on the golden goodness.  Bob Graves and Rathbuns are two producers that take pride in their product.