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Banners are hung. Pumpkins are out. Front porch light is on. Kit-Kats, Snickers, and M&M's are ready to be handed out.
Hurry up kids! I am ready to see a unicorn on my porch.
Or maybe a ballerina, or Spiderman, or a robot. I am not picky.
We are equal opportunity candy hander-outers here.
Spectacular is the best I can do for the colors of THIS fall season in Lawrence Kansas. And it doesn't seem like enough.
The colors followed us home from Lake Tahoe. Before we left there was not much to write about.
This last week though, the leaves sat up and took notice. Giving Lake Tahoe a serious run for it's money.
All this amazingness right here in my own town. All for free. All it cost was slowing my roll long enough to stop doing and just BE.
If you haven't done it yet. It's high time.
To mix yourself up a batch of Halloween goodness.
Brother called the other day so we could discuss the ratio of peanuts to candy corn.
We like to discuss important culinary matters like this in the Moss family.
I'll tell you what I told him. That is a personal preference, but mine is a 2:1 mix of peanuts to candy corn.
What is not negotiable, in my book, is buying some off brand of peanuts or candy corn. And by the way, did you notice in photo #1 that right on the front of the peanut can it says they are "heart healthy"?
I searched all over the bag of candy corn and could find no similar claim. No matter. It's Halloween.
Now that you have been provided with all the details, go forth and mix. And eat. And smile. Boo!
After several weeks away from my Saturday market routine, it was good to get back there this weekend.
A haze was lifting, and the sun was coming up as I drove out of the neighborhood.
When I arrived, some kids were playing a game of "jump the curb", while their parents shopped at the market. Others were staying warm in the back of the vehicle while sales were made.
The number one item on my list was mums for the porch. Which I located and purchased quickly.
Then the wandering around began. There are only 2 or 3 more weeks of market season left for this year. It's important let it all soak it in. While I can.
I have noticed this woman's selections many times.
I appreciated her sprinkling of halloween items amidst the baked goods.
She alerted me to the fact that it was "Black Cat Saturday" and then we reminisced about the days when we used to do hot yoga together. Which I had forgotten about. Not the hot yoga. You can NOT forget that. But that she was sometimes in the sessions I attended too.
I took advantage of likely the last chance for a fresh bouquet. Dahlias are so majestic.
I also loaded up on items to make lunches for the week.
She was not on list of items for lunch, but dang was she ever CUTE! I love her hat and teeny tiny mittens.
Happy Friday night from Kansas. Where the sun was shining on the Euonymous alatus (aka burning bush) in a most pleasing way when I got home tonight after work.
This weekend we are planning to enjoy the fall colors that have at last come to Kansas. In a most pleasing manner. We are keeping it low key. Happy to be home just kicking around. Mums will be bought for the porch. Pumpkin patches will be visited. Fires will be sat in front of. Pumpkin bread will be consumed. I am also working on a spell that will turn the 2 day weekend into a 5 day weekend.
Humor me will you? While I show just a few more photos from Lake Tahoe. Starting with the happy couple the morning after the exchanging of the vows. Gosh, if you are planning a destination wedding, this spot in the universe is amazingly beautiful in October.
What a backdrop for photos. Even just the casual shots caught in between the official stuff.
There were many places close by for strolling in between wedding events. The perfect way to spend a few hours with your sweetie. I love all the happy couples at a wedding.
Did I mention the scenery already? Everywhere you look. Seriously.
So we got out a lot to LOOK. And no one complained about group photos. Not one little bit. Nary a peep.
Because I really appreciate a lovely table setting, and I suspect some of you do as well, I had to include this shot. Which has nothing to do with scenery. Except it was so pretty and I was looking at it.
So technically it would be considered scenery. Right?
Thank you to the Prairie Trails Public Library in Burbank Illinois for seeing fit to lend me the 3rd installment of the Jackson Lamb "Slow Horse" series.
I love getting to know more about this group of MI5 operatives who have each done something that got them reassigned to their current "remedial" job. Mostly wrongly of course, them being the ones who always save the day.
I can not say enough good things about this series and I am going to have to insist that you give it a listen. Clever writing without being overly wordy, British accents and phrases, a truly interesting and unusual cast of characters. Very high recommendation.
Even though I have plenty of skeins of yarn awaiting their turn on the needles, it is very important, when traveling, to make local yarn store visits. Which is what led us to Knits and Knots in South Lake Tahoe this past weekend.
Where we discovered some lovely hand-dyed yard from a local artist. Who was also lovely by the way.
I have a Find Your Fade shawl monkey on my back. And it's not letting go. No matter how hard I try to shake it. I wanted a very unique yarn as a base to build my color scheme out from.
This shop, was a makers paradise. Full of unique hand made art of every type.
But it was the wall of hand dyed yarn that stopped Ann and I in our tracks.
Here is what I picked. I have a few things in my stash that will work perfectly with it. I have no idea how it is going to work in terms of striping or fading or what. I don't know how long the color changes are. And I am ok with that.
Boy am I ever looking forward to starting it. Thanks Heidi for the inspiration and sending me those photos of you modeling your Find Your Fade which is what started the whole thing.
If you haven't seen Heidi's "Love Letters to Crafting" you can click on them from her instagram feed. Be prepared to fall in love yourself.
Helpful Links:
Heading home soon and back to regular routines. But boy, has this opportunity to get out among the trees, water, and mountains been perfect. Lake Tahoe, I think we might have future business together. I will have my people contact your people.
All this + a wedding, one bear siting, and some mighty fine local coffee. Good times. For sure.
We arrived. And oh yes, it is pretty.
Really pretty.
Chris and I are heading to Lake Tahoe in the wee hours of the morning. Wedding bells are ringing for our youngest niece.
Ain't love grand?
We understand it's beautiful in that part of the country this time of year. There may be a daily post card if I plan things right. If not, you can follow along on Instagram if you are so inclined.
I had mixed thoughts tonight about sharing details on a blog about our annual ritual of visiting mom and dad's graves. It is private, personal, and still painful in ways, and yet... it is such a part of each of us and I love that we do it every year.
We always start with the easy part. Cleaning, trimming, taking out the old flowers, arranging the new. Each person has a job.
And we always take a whole bunch of pictures.
Just because your parents are no longer with you, is no reason not to still include some part of them in pictures.
Each year there are new "old" memories to talk about. It's funny how we each have similar and different recollections about growing up and about Ray and Angie when they were sick.
There are plenty of tears, as well as laughs, and in the end I think we all feel a little less heavy. This year we brought our putters so Dad could put a little luck on them. And there was a special rock direct from Lummi Island that Mary Ann wanted mom to have.
Who knows how many years of this we will have left. What I do know is that each year I feel myself able to talk about more things. And I feel incredibly lucky to have people I can do this with.
So in the end, I decided sharing this was the right thing to do. Because I think it's healthy to have rituals like this. AND it's important to talk about death and how we help each other through it.
There was a hard freeze overnight in Lawrence. Here is what my flowers looked like this morning, covered in frost to varying degrees.
Pretty spectacular looking.
Later in the afternoon it was easy to see that zinnia season is over.
Isn't it cool how parts of the flowers did not get hit as hard as others?
The thing I was most glad about, was that Sunday evening I harvested a few last blooms to set on the the kitchen window sill along with the Halloween decorations. Until next year zinnias, when we shall meet again.
Shortly after we began going to Big Cedar Lodge in 2014 to celebrate Ray and Angie's birthdays we started the Annual Moss Family Putt Putt tournament. This year was the 4th official playing of the event.
This is all of us as we prepared to tee off. Had I examined this photo carefully before we set off, I would have noted that look of ease and assuredness on Brother's face, and I would have stepped on his foot in order to handicap him slightly.
Alas, I did not. When he got a 5 on The Big Lunker hole, I thought I might be able to pull off a repeat of my win at the first annual tournament in 2015.
But my hopes were dashed with his hole in one on #5.
This event was followed by a leisurely lunch at the Truman cafe, where we all carefully watched as the scores were tallied.
In the end, Brother brought it home with a 4 under for first place, followed by Dottie in second, me at third, Chris at #4, and Cheryl at #5. Dottie had the line of the day when, after sinking a long putt, she looked up and said "who caddy fo' her daddy?"
It brought us to tears laughing, and we haven't stopped saying it yet.
Today we returned from 4 days filled with talking, laughing, telling stories, making new memories, and mostly being together as a family.
It was glorious. We stayed at the Lakeside Cottages at Big Cedar Lodge this year. There may be a bit less room inside than the other cabins, but the porches are covered and the view of the lake is very nice.
There were lots of walks taken. We do not take for granted the privilege of stepping out the door and being in this wonderful setting. The sound of the wind in the trees, geese flying overhead, and a hint of woodsmoke in the air mixing perfectly with decomposing leaves on the ground.
Chairs await on the porch to rest our feet.
The flowerbeds and artfully arranged groupings of all things fall completely delight me, AND Dottie made a fire every evening while we were there. It's now officially official, the season of sitting by the fire in the mornings and evenings is upon us.
This morning we pulled out of Tall Tales Headquarters and headed south. Brother is coming from Virginia by way of Oklahoma, and Dottie is flying in from New Mexico. We are meeting up in Northern Arkansas to celebrate Ray and Angie's birthdays. Photo below from last year's party.
There will be some cemetery sprucing up, the 4th annual Moss Family putt putt tournament, hiking, cooking, eating, story-telling, blind contour drawings, Mexican train domino playing, and anything else we can find to get into trouble doing.
P.S. you guys all take goofy pictures at the cemetery too right? Ray and Angie would expect no less from us, and in fact, would be disappointed if we did not act rambunctious and slightly disrespectful. I can just hear mom right now .... "Carol you just have to make a joke out of everything don't you"... at which point I would guffaw and try very hard not to wet my pants.
Part of the fun of the Kaw Valley Farm Tour is having the opportunity to buy locally produced goods from the farmers.
Things like fabulous gourds, pumpkins, mums, bittersweet, eggs, and mums.
And of course, one of my favorites. Special alpaca dryer balls.
They also had other things I did not need. Though I did find them interesting and unusual.
If one of you swears by paca poo as fertilizer I will get some for sure. Next year.
We made it out to 5 of the farms on the 14th Annual Raw Valley Farm Tour over the weekend. These photos are from both Saturday and Sunday. It's a marathon. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. I don't think any commentary will be needed.
Driving out through the fields of Kansas. Even on an overcast day, is pretty good.
Thank you to the following farmers we visited for opening up their places to us.
Coal Creek Farms
Vesecky Family Farms
Pendleton's Country Market
Blue Morning Glory Farm
Henry's Plant Farm
If YOU want to experience the Kaw Valley Farm Tour, mark your calendars for the first full weekend in October. You won't regret it. Come rain or some shine.
This morning while the thunder boomed, and the rain fell, and Chris snoozed, I did this.
Right after I made a dash to the grocery store, when despite the fact that I know I have a can of pumpkin somewhere in this house, it was not be found. Anywhere.
There are now an additional 4 cans of pumpkin sitting in plain site in the pantry.
Something about October, rain, and gray skies. They are the perfect match for pumpkin bread.
Also, the Moss clan will be gathering in Arkansas soon for the annual celebration of Ray and Angie's birthdays. They will want to have pumpkin bread to go with coffee in the cabin in the morning.
Maybe we will grab blankets to wrap up in and go sit on the porch while we look at the lake and eat pumpkin bread and drink coffee.
It goes without saying of course, that I could not wait until then to eat some. Not when the house smells so good right now.
Hence the mini bundt pan for now, the big loaf pan for later.
Recipe below if you are so inclined.
I realized this morning that it doesn't tell you how long to bake for. Don't all quick breads just take about an hour? In my oven, the mini bundt pan was done at 45 minutes, the loaf pan took an hour and 10 minutes.
Did I mention it was delicious. Every single thing I thought it would be and more. If only all things in life were so simple and straight forward. And went the way they should.
Hello and Happy Friday night from Kansas, where I have just come in from snipping what could be the last bouquet of zinnia's for the season.
Rain is forecast for the next 2 days. Between 90 and 100% chance. Who knows what havoc that could wreak on these sturdy troopers that have brought me an amazing amount of joy all summer long. As you may be able to see, there is mildew forming on the foliage now. Just part of the process.
I am bummed about the rain only because this weekend is the area Farm Tour and we have tickets in hand. Farms to visit picked out. Rain coats are at the ready. We won't be scared off by a sprinkle. A downpour is another story.
At the September meeting of The Makers, there was knitting, hand stitching, French knot making, and Pam filled us in on the experience of Squam. Because dreaming about trips dedicated to making is as important as making.
We discussed needle books and table runners and kantha stitching and kimono jackets.
Oh it's lovely to let your mind explore, in an unrestricted manner, all the the things you may, possibly, could, make. Someday. Somewhere.
We admired this lovely screen door as we made our way into Pam's kitchen. To quote all of our mothers "they just don't make them the way they used to".
I now find myself unable to tear myself away from a needlepoint project I started several years ago.
Which is actually a perfect thing for me to take on my next traveling adventure.
Actually I have 2 trips coming up in October. We shall see how much I am able to get done. Or not. I like to always leave myself open to the possibility of new ideas dropping in and taking root. Even if it is in the middle of something else.
This past Sunday morning, on a stroll through the neighborhood, I finished the very last chapter of The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. If you haven't read/listened to it yet, I can highly recommend it.
This is the story of a family who move up to Alaska in search of a new beginning. It's a bit of a hard read in places. But a good story nonetheless.
I loved the descriptions of the land, water, trees, and wildlife. It made me want to get in the car and head north. Just for a glimpse of the wildness. Knowing full well, that I am likely not someone who could survive a long winter of darkness, but then again... maybe reading, cooking, needlework, sewing, painting, and thinking would be enough to take my mind away from all the dark? I wonder? I would love to hear from someone who has lived that experience.
