Last night we celebrated a Fall Farm Festive Surprise Party at the Post Farm. And what a great evening was had by all! Don't ask me how Mandy and Sarah managed to pull this off and actually 'surprise' Harlow and Jan for their 35th Anniversary...when....Harlow and Jan had been helping prepare for the party all along! Yep, all under the auspices that this was a 'Girl Party' that they were having. Unbelievable! GO Mandy and Sarah!!! : D

Now just come and see what these sisters did...the music...the decorating...the food...the fun! Here we go...the stage is set...

Errr! We'll stop right there with the music...for now!...I'm saving all that for later. Now let's move on to the decor. You're gonna LOVE this....

Feeling a bit festive yet?? Now just take a look at this spread they laid out...

Of course there was hot apple cider and homemade pumpkin ice cream, too. I hope this has whet your appetite! More of the festivities to come! : D

Don't you think it's simplest at times, to let things just 'be' as they are...without alot of fanfare, falderol and frou-frou? Some things just shouldn't be tampered with...really can't be tampered with...or improved upon in any way...as in Fall flowers. Their beauty and magnificence truly lies in just letting them be what they already are...beautiful and magnificent. So the first very simple step in achieving a bucket and bouquet is to find some Fall flowers. We found these scrumptious beauties in Mr. Clukey's Garden.

Find Some Flowers

Once you've found your beauties, grab a bucket, fill it with water, and go cut as many flowers as you can possibly cram into your bucket. Think color...think height...think volume. Just when you think you have enough...go cut 10x more...at least. The children are great for this...just keep sending them out for more. There's always space for more flowers in a bucket. Cram...then cram some more!

Cut and Cram

The next very simple step for a bucket and bouquet...is to admire it. Of course!! The unfortunate part of Fall flowers is that they are...alas!...oh so fleeting. You can always dry them, stash the petals and press them, but the best preservation of your precious bucket and bouquet is to get out that camera and...

Click Away

And I do hope I've inspired you to go capture your very own bucket of beauty! Fall flowers are so fleeting! xxx

Before we headed off to Portland last Friday, our neighbor, Mr. Clukey, came over to tell me that he planned to mow off most of his flowers...and that I needed to come over and do some picking...before he did his mowing. Well, you'd better believe he needn't ask twice! We were over to the Clukey garden in no time flat!

Our friend, Maurice (pronounced Morris in these parts), has an amazing green thumb. His gardens in the past have been living masterpieces! He's gotten a little slower these days...and doesn't plant all that he used to...but his flowers and tomatoes are still the best...

The kiddos love just-off-the-vine cherry tomatoes...even though the scrunched up faces might imply otherwise. Believe me, they beg me for these little guys!

Maurice gets everyone in place for the group photo. As you can tell, with this kind of day with this kind of backdrop, I was going nuts with the camera! And there are still plenty more photos...but I'll save those for a 'simply fall flowers' post next time. Thank you, Mr. Clukey, for a lovely morning diversion amongst your wonderful garden flowers! : D

The Kimballs, our next door neighbors of perennial roadside fame, bring the homesteading and gardening endeavors to all new levels...and I never cease to be amazed every summer at Kathy's garden...especially as it is here at its peak...

At the back side of the garden just in front of the barn is the row of rabbit cages...of which our 3 bunnies are the offspring we got a couple of years ago.

The most stunning part of Kathy's horticultural prowess for me are her incredibly luscious windowboxes...

I'm afraid my meager attempt at windowboxes this summer didn't come even close to this voluminous perfection! But I've certainly taken some pointers...and I will prevail in windowbox perfection...eventually! : D

And here's more of the Kimball Homestead tour from last Spring!

Here in front she's added to the raised beds they put in last summer where strawberries, onion, garlic, peas, tomatoes, and several other veggies are coming in very nicely...

She also has added this kitchen garden...where else but right outside her kitchen door...and where she can see it from the kitchen window over the kitchen sink...how much more kitchen-y can we get?? : D

And here are the girls rapturously scooping up sweet peas...and also what few plump juicy strawberries are still left!

What a glorious way to spend a sunny afternoon...enjoying Karyn's Gardens! : D

This year the annual Post Farm Party to celebrate Mandy's boys' birthdays came earlier than years past....which means it was actually warmer. See all those short sleeves? And no one's huddling around the bonfire like we usually do! Typically, I look forward to this party as the true introduction to Fall...perhaps even early winter. But yesterday we're still feeling very much like summer time!

We met over where Mandy and Craig will be building their log home. The outhouse is already in place...and built solely by young Eban...who just turned 8! Guess what his favorite birthday present was....you got it...a DeWalt drill set from U. Joe! No doubt it'll definitely be put to good use around here!

All the kiddos are gathering around for the treasure hunt race as Mandy gives the instructions...

While the guys take advantage of the diversion!

And a mix of generations...both great and grand....around the bonfire...

Harlow brought up the horses...now it's time for the hay ride!

Remi's favorite spot....but where did G'pa go? He's yelling at the horses, "Go! Go!" What do think...perfect poster child for Future Farmers of America?? If you want to get little Remi to do ANYthing...just tell him he gets to go to the farm! And if that doesn't work...just tell him he WON'T get to go the farm! They say it works like a charm! : D

 
I'm having a hard time believing that we're actually in September today! And the golden tinges that Claudia Diller captures in her painting above definitely match the golden tinges we're seeing in the leaves of the trees...and the brilliant yellow of the golden rod that's blooming a bit of everywhere! Yellow Black-eyed Susans are still in full swing from Summer's long days, but there's a crispness in the air, a chill at nights, and the sunlight on the hills is looking more mellow lately. Fall with its golden harvest days is upon us!

My computer contracted some sort of weird virus...again....that our friend, Steve, has now remedied for us so I hope to get you caught up on some of our goings on over the past week or so. The children had their second horseback riding lesson last Friday on our land that they're all enjoying immensely. I'm getting some great coaching from Heather on Reno, too...practicing some collection with him and learning how to move his hindquarters on turns...as opposed to just the bending that I'm accustomed to doing. I love how these horses can move...and how we can help them move from the saddle...it's fascinating!

We're also gearing up for the Common Ground Fair that will be taking place around the 25th of this month. My husband will be demonstrating the Power Hearth unit open to the public for the first time here in Maine and will be set up in the Farm and Homestead section of the fairgrounds. There's so much to learn with all of this alternative energy stuff...and so much potential with this particular technology for families, small farms, and homesteads! We're excited...and we'd love for you to come out and see us if you're in the area!

We also cooked up our first 'home grown' broiler chicken this week...and used the leftovers to make the most awesome chicken broth for tortilla soup we've ever had. Seriously! It was a beautiful golden color and the flavor...of both meat and broth...was fantastic! The turkeys are now free-ranging and loving all the starchy wooden stemmed grasses...as well as the bugs!

With all the rain we had this summer, gardens haven't fared so well...including ours. But we do have some lovely squash and zucchini coming in now...straight out of our compost pile....that are really scrumptious! We're also supplementing more of our groceries from the neighboring farms and local venues...rather than from Wal-Mart. So lately, with homemade bread, late summer veggies, and our chickens...all the bounty on our table has come from our raising.  It's a great feeling! We may just make it as farmers yet! : D

Yesterday Heather gave mine and my friend, Jen Yarbrough's kiddos their first 'official' riding lesson. Leah and our little Heather were first...and oh my!...were they EVER excited! And I was excited about that mowed and hayed field of ours! Check it out!! : D

Getting tacked up....


And then ready to ride! Leah chose to ride Reno (below left) with the blaze on his face, and Heather was very pleased to get to ride Babe (the Bay) for her first lesson...

We put out 3 buckets and an orange cone to mark the 4 corners of their 'arena'...and here they are walking and learning some reining...

And to their delight, they got to practice some trotting and posting, too! Leah actually put Reno into a canter...much to her surprise!...but she stayed in the saddle beautifully!!

And Heather found Babe's easy jig trot there!

Later I got on Reno and, with some coaching from Heather, I was able to put him into the most wonderful collected trot...and very briefly...a canter as well. It was like floating on air! Magnificent! Now I know what I've been missing all my life!!

Girls and their horses...what could be more fun! : D

The other day I heard all this clanking and banging going on outside...

Later the children came scrambling into the house...excitedly exclaiming that I must come out and see their new pasture....Okay....

I honestly wasn't expecting this! They did a great job! And that's the tee-pee style barn in the corner there...

And this is how the gate hooks...pretty cool! I now know who will be moving the horses' fences around next time!

This past weekend we ended up getting all of our meat birds 'processed' over at some friends house who were all set up for it...doing their own...and offered to do ours, too. Can't beat an offer like that! The whole experience was really great...and the children were totally into all of it! I've got a slew of photos that I'm still getting loaded and organized...and will be posting all about it here and on our Green Pioneer site very soon! So stay tuned!! : D