We're off to a sledding party this afternoon. Our neighbors assure us that they have enough snow for it! We really don't at the moment...ever since the 'big melt' we got a couple of weeks ago...just after I took these photos of perfect snow conditions. So we're on hold. The snow shoes are parked...and the XC skis are resting on the rail....waiting...

waiting...for more of this...this white stuff! Those skis in their repose are way more patient than we are. We know our winter wonderland is only for a time. And now is the time!

I thought I'd share with you a few photos from our road trip down to Portland this past week...quite Fall-ish, Autumn-ish, misty and overcast. But we're snug in the minivan...cruising...magazine in my lap...hot pumpkin spice Starbucks misto in my hand....life ain't too shab...

Once in Portland, we made our requisite stops...then headed down by the water front. The kids were ecstatic to find that a Norwegian cruise ship was parked in the harbor...

This is especially cool for us because the small power hearth units that we just got...and will be selling are about to be implemented on the Norwegian cruise ships. Yay Norway!! They'll be using the waste on the ships as fuel to supplement the ship's electricity. You Norwegians are such trend-setters!

Now we're off to Fort Allen Park to let the children run off some steam...eat some sliced turkey wraps...and let Mommy soak in the scenes overlooking the harbor. I do love these old homes that look out across the bay...

Sorry these shots are a bit blurry...rapidly losing my light of day. I just picked up a 'new' skirt at the thrift store...and finally found my long lost mary janes...that I haven't seen since we left Texas. Hi mary janes! I've missed you! : D

Last Saturday was the celebration Surprise Party at the Post Farm...and I put on the brakes just at the music part...first and foremost having to show you all the gorgeous decorations and that fantastic spread they put out...including the all-time favorite hand-cranked pumpkin ice cream. YUMMMMM-MY!!!

So now lets get to the milling and the music! Cameras were going all over the place. Joe and I got into a 'shooting' fight. He shot me....

So of course, I had to shoot back! I think he won, though. His photo came out much better than mine did! And see that knitted hat I'm holding there? I just finished that one for Mandy's baby Auden. Here's a better look at it...

Now what about that music part??? The folk guitarist, a friend of Sarah's husband, was awesome! However, he did have some competition. Little Emma got up on stage and sang, "Shine up my boots"...or something super-adorable along those lines. And Great Grandpa Post sang a wonderful rendition of some old Railroad Engineer Song...

I wonder as each season approaches if I'm going to be as enthusiastic to let go of the previous season...in order to revel in and enjoy the new one. This is especially true when it comes to saying farewell to Summer in Maine...

But oh my! With the wondrous colors of a New England Fall rapidly descending upon our stoop...and across the countryside...I'm feeling that familiar warmth and excitement bubbling up from within...welcoming fabulous Fall with open arms and eager anticipation to the cozy life this season brings! The above photo I shot from the car as we crossed the causeway over Plymouth Pond. We can already see the shifting shades of reds, yellows, and oranges. Love it!!

And as you might have guessed, Fall brings on an abundance of apple picking, apple munching, and apple baking fun...

Another lovely feature of rural Maine is the fact that apple trees just grow along the roadside...begging to be plucked and eaten. We also have some 'wild' apple trees growing on our land. Nothing like free organic apples for the scavenging! The drops we scoop up for the pony, bunnies, chickens, and turkeys...more apple lovers in the crowd! Now with a couple of overnight frosts, the apples are at their juiciest and sweetest right now...

Basket of apples in the cool entry....awaiting happy apple munchers! I daresay that it's more than 'an apple a day'...more like many, MANY apples a day!

 
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

Hello August! And I wanted to share this lovely Maine Summer scene from my Claudia Diller calendar. We're just now beginning to feel like we have a summer this year! We did manage a short excursion to our favorite beach this past week on our way back from Portland. That was a treat! And I'm trying...not always so valiantly....to ignore the trees that are ALREADY turning shades of red, orange, and yellow on their leaves. Yes! ALREADY!!

Needless to say, my blog posting is slowing down while we cram full-tilt summertime activities into what weeks we have left to us. Of course we're praying for an 'Indian Summer' with some long stretches of warm sunshine into the Fall. However, we went up to visit our neighbors at Dilly Dally Organic Farm yesterday and Carol mentioned that an abnormally cold September is being rumored around the countryside. ugh. She graciously loaned me Eliot Coleman's book, Four Season Harvest, as well as the Root Cellaring book that I've been longing to get my hands on. Can't wait to delve into all that wonderful info! : D

I just got a call from Heather that Babycakes got out last night and managed to get the plastic top off and eat up the bucket full of grain that was over there...fortunately it was a small bucket! Then she went back into the pen where Heather found her this morning. The other 2 horses didn't go out. Thank goodness! We know it was most likely Babycakes because Heather said that her horses just weren't smart enough to do something like that...and they wouldn't have gone right back into the pen again! We know it's totally something Babycakes would do! Better fencing is in order for a naughty pony!

One of our broiler chickens mysteriously died last night, so now we're trying to decide if it can actually be butchered or not. And if so...how we go about doing it...since we've never done this sort of thing before! We also need to get the turkeys into a larger pen as well.

My husband's up to his ears in watch repair work right now, too...and trying to fit that all in. He also just signed the contract to become THE rep for all of New England for the residential and small commercial-sized Power Hearth units that are now being manufactured here in Maine. He'll be demonstrating one of the units at the Common Ground Fair coming up this Fall...so there's lots to learn and get ready for with that. This is very exciting for us and I'll be filling you in on a few of those details very soon!

So it's never a dull moment around here...as I'm sure it is for all of you out there enjoying the summer as well! And we LOVE it! Bye for now! : D

So, of course, more riding was in order before we trekked over to our land. Our little Heather was up first on Babe...

Then it was Caitlyn's turn...

Now Asheley...who also happens to be living in her new cowgirl boots we picked up at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. They even go with her PJs at bedtime!

And Andrew's turn at trotting...My friend Heather's getting more of a workout than she bargained for! All of the kiddos want to trot now...and keep on trotting!

And now it's finally my turn on Babe. Heather's giving me some pointers here...and I'll take as many as I can get...believe me!

But Babe is an easy ride...she's got a nice easy canter...and a lovely jig trot that I could literally do all day long! And she's very sweet besides...wants to please!

Now Heather's brought Reno out and is getting him warmed up. She's done incredible things with these horses since she's gotten them. All of her hard work is definitely paying off now! And I just get to enjoy it all! Yippee!

Ready to head out. We went for a short trail ride down Sawyer Rd. then headed over to our land where the horses have been happily munching on lots and lots of grass.  Now we just need to get our Babycakes over as well!

On Friday we had another little adventure when our neighbors, the Grant's, cow got out at 3:00 in the morning....so they were out in the dark with flashlights  searching the fields in the fog...and she was still missing the next day. Their daughter, Eliza, saddled up her horse....Heather and I saddled up Babe and Reno...and with all the other kiddos on bicycles and scooters....we took off across the fields to look for Abigail...the very naughty cow!

We saw her footprints going west toward the hay fields and woods...by the way, there are no fences and acres and acres of woods...so that cow could've been anywhere in the surrounding county. Turns out she was just a couple of fields over...munching in the hay field and staying close to the shade of the trees...which of course she darted into the minute she caught sight of us!

After quite the theatrical cow chase...that should've been video-taped....they finally got the lead rope hooked to her halter and she decided she had to FINALLY  behave herself and come along home. So it was 3 horses, the gaggle of bicycles and scooters, a 4-wheeler, and several on foot with a big blue bucket of feed leading a very, very naughty Abigail back down the road to home sweet home. Then it was time for a big splash in the Grant's pool! All's well that ends well. Did I ever mention that I LOVE this country life?? : D

But once we found the favorite beach they were looking for...lo and behold! We got sunshine!!

Keep in mind that this was frozen ice not too long ago!! Don't ask me how they do it...but even our littlest one just had to go for a swim in these icy waters...that they kept assuring me between blue lips... "was not cold!"

And here's Baily again....feeling very appreciative to be on solid ground! The wobbly boat is not exactly this dog's scene...and neither are chips. That white thing there next to him on the sand is a potato chip....being rather disdainfully ignored. I've honestly never seen a dog that will completely ignore potato chips when offered! Have you?? Amazing! Dogs and their idiosyncrasies...

Just a couple of feet away, however, the chips are most certainly not being ignored!

Then the sun began to disappear again and with chattering teeth and limbs, we got children out of wet stuff and into warm-ups. More such idiosyncrasies of Maine! And off we went for a scenic cruise on Moosehead Pond....that's really a lake....that's been hiding behind the forest of trees not far from us! You got it...the idiosyncrasies of Maine! : D