Young Autumn

Autumn is the hush before winter. ~French Proverb

I went out and cut lavender early this morning.  Such a peaceful pleasure.  I took my coffee out the back door, called out, “Pasture!” and was immediately accompanied by one dog and two cats.  “Pasture” is one of their favorite words.  This morning was cool, and sunny, and hushed.  I could hear every little bird song, and bug buzz.  Late this afternoon will be dramatically different, when the locust warm up and start their decibel-screeching chatter.   

 

 


















The lavender is gathered into bundles, and is now drying, hanging upside-down, in the study.  I only gathered six bundles this morning, about half of one variety I have planted out in the pasture.  Some of the varieties have been stubborn to bloom, and, new to this lavender business, I can only assume that maybe they will bloom next spring.     

I am also drying a plethora of red peppers.  Perhaps I will make a holiday wreath out of them.

The farmers have begun their corn harvest, and that’s always fun to observe.  Big trucks full of bright yellow dent corn pass by our house off and on all day.  Dent corn is not the sweet corn we roast on the grill every few days.  Dent corn is sent off to make corn oil, cattle feed, and the like.   

There is a jasmine blooming all along the west side of our property.  The scent is amazing, and it carries through the air every trip to our mailbox, or the front yard, or the grotto.

 The peach tree looks meager after two summers of drought followed by a tremendously cold winter.  There is just a smattering of peaches hanging on it, but those which are there, are good-looking.

And it is apple week.  I have three groups of apples: the ones that fall to the ground are automatically donated to the ducks.  In that our ducks hang out under the apple trees every day, and they don’t care where they poop, we err on the side of caution and safety (e coli), smash these fallen fruits with our heels, and leave them for the ducks.  Maybe our eggs will come apple-flavored this fall.  The next group of collected apples are the blemished-beyond-edible, which are going in to a tub for the ducks, for next month.  And finally, the nice, pretty ones, I am bringing inside and we are eating fresh and sauteeing and baking.  Eventually, I will get around to making applesauce for the freezer.

Busy days...and it's about 58* this morning!  This is my kind of weather, to be sure.