needing color to blow through the gray

post-election self care. searching for beauty at stoneybrooke.

 

 

temple hall farm

it was exciting to try out amazing farm fun at ticonderoga (which i keep misspelling and subsequently misspeaking as ticonderago) a few days ago, but our old favorite temple hall farm still held plenty of fun for all of us.

going at the end of the festival, well after the hallowe'en season is past, makes for fewer crowds. it's also more likely that we would have cooler, more fall-like weather, which we did. i was comfortable with long sleeves and no one complained of being too cold.

artemis and friend capably made their way through the massive corn maze while steve and ander indulged in kettle corn and lemonade and i visited the animal pens and reluctantly shared delicious, hot, salty, crispy french fries (with my husband, not the animals).

as we had hoped, samson was there.
ander happily rode him and fed him a carrot afterwards.

he said, "mom, will you jump with me/ please?"

"yes, my dear, just a little bit, just for you."

artemis & friend dabbin' it up

ander & steve in action poses

a biiiiiiiiig pumpkin

we drove a few minutes farther, up into lucketts, to search for the giant metal chicken.
no chicken, but these were kinda cute.

moments of perfection at noon

my back deck, ideal temperature, shining sun, breeze gently rustling the leaves, and so many birds: cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, bluebirds, blue jays, and possibly a junco.

herbs are still doing pretty well

look for the spot of red - it's cardinal fang

a bounty of bees

meadowlark is my favorite place to find bees and other pretty pollinators. enjoying another sunday morning walk with laura, we found many, many insects hard at work, taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and the blossoms of autumn crocuses and echinacea.

a magnificent monarch