Well my efforts paid off….yesterday I cleaned up all the sunflower stalks, cone flowers, pumpkin vines, and tackled the weeds. I wanted M to use the backhoe to grab all that mess and haul it away. The ground is still a bit wet and today’s sun should make the whole process a bit less muddy; so we have piles of debris waiting to be picked up. But the birds are having a field day this morning. Juncos, Carolina wrens, chickadees, are everywhere chirping and hopping about. There are tons of seeds on the ground and they seem to enjoy weaving in and out of the bulldozer again. The warm temperature of 49 is adding to their enjoyment, mine as well.
A frosty 28 this morning at 6:00am, but sunny now so I’ll be outside today, raking leaves and cleaning up the sunflower stalks. I was surprised to see so many seeds still in the heads; usually the goldfinches clean them out , but not so this year. I’ve heard this is a great year for the wild berries and the birds are still in the wood living the carefree life. They don’t need to visit the backyard bird feeders yet.
Oh and I saw a pileated woodpecker in Sterling, MA yesterday. I was so excited…sorry no photo but I’m working on a sketch.
Ah November…the warmth of the summer sun is replaced by the warmth of families gathering and the smell wood smoke in the air.
The days are getting shorter and we’re spending more time indoors. So now that means fall cleaning and fall cooking .
Last night we had chicken and dumplings and a tiramisu of sorts. M had bought a bag of lady fingers with a recipe for tiramisu a month ago. He’s been bugging me to make the recipe; and I did try one day, but needed mascarpone cheese.
Since I now had all the ingredients, and the weather was blah, and the Patriots were not playing; so I assembled the tiramisu. There was no cooking just mixing and layering. It had to set in the refrigerator for 2 hours. I had extra lady fingers and egg whites; so M came up with another smaller recipe; of ladyfingers dipped in a coffee and Kahlua and topped with a meringue. Our neighbors stopped by and we demolished the meringue.
I thought the mascarpone had a sharp taste and thought the sugar would eliminate that but it was still there. Got a bit mushy over night, I’d serve it after 2 hours in refrigerator for better results. Everyone else loved it. 
I have been having trouble with my wireless connection. My computer could no longer find my wireless network. It simply would not work unless I had my computer right on the desk in front of the router. Which made for much difficulty when M wanted to use his computer. So after a trip to my favorite computer guy, it appears that our new phone system is interfering with the wireless network.
I called my ISP, Verizon and finally got through to Frank who remotely took control of my computer and changed the channel of my router, which now allows me to connect at the table but not at my desk. He explained that a wireless network is like rabbit ears for our old TV sets and when you got it just right at 9:00 on CBS it wasn’t right for ABC at 10:00. So now I can connect at the table but who knows if that will work tomorrow, with Halloween just around the corner perhaps a nice pair of rabbit ears are in order. Anyone got an extra pair.
Another chilly start today, this is the picnic table on the deck at 7:00 am.
The deck itself was quite slippery also. The thermometer read 34. It melted as soon as the sun hit. But definitely a sign to stay inside with a good book and a warm cuppa tea. M was off to the dentist and blood work this am so I had the house to myself. I watched Ralph Fiennes in A Dangerous Man; Lawrence After Arabia. I’m in my Ralph Fiennes period on Netflix right now as I am a fan.
Finishing up Bill Belichick’s book by David Halberstam, Bill was the boy genius back in the early 1990, now it seems he’s passing the torch to a number of coaches throughout the football world. Check out the coaching tree @All Things Bill Belichick.
I visited the cranberry bogs last night, just at sunset. I got my bittersweet and a nice walk through the cool autumn air. At home I started my wreathe and M started dinner. We celebrated our efforts with a bit of bubbly.
I’m on the search again this year for bittersweet. I’d like to make a very simple wreathe of bittersweet. We had a vine growing up a tree in the back yard… had… M cut it down. All the good pieces were way up out of reach for a few years and he was cleaning up. You can’t fault a man for cleaning up. So I am now scouring the road side for berries again.
Meantime I think I’ll buy the fake berries at Michael’s or JoAnne’s and never have to search the roadways again, but no they don’t have what I want.
So I contend with what I do have. The Watson St. house has beautiful hydrangea and sedum so I made a vase of each. Now I feel better! 
We added the warm glow of the fireplace to our lobsterfest last night… The snowbirds really appreciated it…. We hadn’t done that for a year….One wheel barrow of wood changed the temperature from 72-95 in the living room. I’m sure the back bedrooms were calling for oil….We had a great meal and played cards til about 10:15.
I started this post on the first day of fall…I don’t know where the time has gone…. or what have I been doing?
This is the Nemasket River in Middleboro, our old canoe stomping ground. We would put in on Vaughn Street and then go all the way to Long Pond. Such fond memories. Now I’d prefer to kayak but don’t know when I’ll get around to it.
It’s definately a great place to take the boys this spring when the herring are running…Why is it that fall is just beginning and I’m pushing the clock ahead to spring. This is why I don’t get things done.
My digital thermometer couldn’t take it any more so I am now using the old fashion one at 7:00 am it was 50. I have a turtle neck, a fleece vest, and a cup of tea. The sun seems bright and warm but it isn’t. My asparagus patch looks good. This was year two and we didn’t harvest any but next year I’m predicting good eats.
