Indian Summer!

By now you all know that I really love Fall....and it has finally peaked in color here in Fredericksburg. Temperatures are supposed to be in the 70's this afternoon, but it will turn colder over the weekend.

I honestly think the colors are more vivid here than they were up in the mountains. Today as I was coming home from a meeting, I passed a couple of trees that were putting out a spectacular color display. Fortunately I had my little point and shoot camera with me and I pulled over a took a few snapshots.



It won't be too much longer before the leaves all fall off, and the trees will be bare. I really don't like bare trees as much, but will admit that there is a stark beauty in winter and I am looking forward to seeing what that season offers here.

Apples, Pumpkins and Dinosaurs?!

***Edited to add: These are the BEST apples that I have ever eaten....super crisp, super sweet. Maybe it is because we picked them ourselves, and the stuff in the grocery store is not as fresh..I don't know..but they sure are good.*** Apples, Apples, Apples, all sorts of apples... acres upon acres of Apples! After our peach picking trip earlier in the Summer, Carson, Wayne and I knew that we would head back up for APPLES.....This time we headed to Stribling Orchards...HUGE orchard, with hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees, of almost any variety known. We picked Rome, York, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Fuji and Gala Apples. The weather was perfect, slight wind, with a mild temp of about 65 degrees. As I said absolutely perfect weather.

Carson thinks he is an old pro at fruit picking now.... he would wrangle the picking stick up in the trees, and snap off an apple or two.

The trees were just loaded with fruit...so much so that anytime you put your stick up, you would come back with several apples.
Of course, Dad had to hold Carson up to reach some...it is just more fun that way.... Almost......Reach a little bit higher.....Got IT! Almost knocked daddy's glasses off... but it was worth it!The Mighty Gatherer, returns with his abundant harvest....We picked about 25 pounds of apples, and then went to the Bake and Cider House ..BIG mistake...if you are hungry. They had fresh baked apple pies, apple butter, apple danish, apple cider, apple jelly and cinnamon apple raisin bread...It smelled heavenly in there! We bought a little of everything except apple pie... I figured I have enough apples to make 20 pies...at least.
After the apples, we headed down the road to the pumpkin patch and corn maze at Hollin Farms. Just so you know...there really, really is a BIG difference in Texas flatland produced pumpkins, and Virginia, mountain grown pumpkins....the difference...Gravity! You can't really tell from the picture how steep of a slope it is... but trust me..it was enough to keep things rolling. Carson would find the perfect pumpkin, and as soon as he broke it off the vine, and try to pick it up, gravity would take over and the pumpkin would roll down the hill. This happened a couple of times, before we realized that we needed to be down slope of the pumpkins and use the gravity to our advantage.
I will say this...I don't know whether this particular patch didn't plant the giant pumpkins....but the ones in Texas..are definitely bigger!
Carson finally found the perfect one, and it didn't get away from him....While we were pumpkin hunting... we came across the carcass of a deer, Carson was entranced....he thought we had found dinosaur bones....We explored it a bit, without touching...it was past the odor phase, so it wasn't too bad. Little Boys...gotta love them!

He informed me that this was a sharp tooth (tyrannosaurus) dinosaur, because it had sharp teeth....

We headed over to the corn maze...again...it is on the side of a mountain...so while it was easy going in... it wasn't too long before you were climbing back up trying to find your way out. Nothing was marked...so it really was a guessing game, which way to go. The only hint was...uphill meant out.

Then there is the Great Pumpkin Cart that almost killed a village.... well...ok... a small child and a woman. Wayne had rolled a cart up the side of the hill (small mountain...if you are from the flat lands of Texas) and he had loaded all the pumpkins he had picked into the cart. He set the cart down for a second...and the cart took off down the hill (you say hill, I say mini-mountain). It was going very fast and headed right for the fruit stand at the bottom of the hill and a small child. This brave woman, jumped in front of the cart and stopped it from hitting the stand and the child.... SCARED all of us to death... the poor little boy was clinging to his mother for the rest of the day... he was terrified, THANK GOD, no one was hurt, it really happened so fast, and that woman was lucky, she didn't get hurt...definitely had us some angels on patrol.

The foliage in the valley is still a couple of weeks away from peak color, but you can see evidence of some changing occurring on these slopes.

These little piggies were foraging in the old corn fields, they were for sale ...if you like your bacon fresh!Ham anyone???

What to Do? What to Do?

We are so very BLESSED to live in an area where we have multiple things to do as a family on the weekends. This weekend is no exception. Ever since we went peach picking in the late Summer, I have been planning and looking forward to going to pick apples. This weekend, believe it or not, we have no visitors that we know of, of course that could change, and they would be welcomed. BUT, they would have to conform to MY plans for the weekend. We are planning on heading back out to the Shenandoah Valley, for two reasons, apple picking, and pumpkin picking. Call me crazy, but I am very picky about my places to pick pumpkins, I do not want a parking lot stand of pumpkins, I want to pick my own off the vine. I want Carson to pick his own. I want him to enjoy going out in the fields and searching for the perfect pumpkin. We have been able to do that for the past three Fall seasons.

It is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year to photograph! I love the colors, and the way the sun's color seems a little richer, and warmer. I love the smells and the wonderful things that scream Fall.
Here are some pictures from Pumpkin Patches of the Past...

Carson's First Pumpkin Patch was a little "roadside stand"

We drove down to Floydada, Texas when Carson was three to find our first Pick Your Own Pumpkins.The next year, we drove up North to Etter, Texas to go to the Pumpkin Patch and Corn maze. We had a blast with friends from church.Last year, there was FINALLY a pick your own patch and corn maze close to Amarillo. We went with friends and family and had a ball. I forgot to even mention the corn mazes.... We LOVE corn mazes... I mean whats not to LOVE...getting lost, chasing one another, sneezing uncontrollably, and spending priceless time together as a family.

Now the dilemma, the orchard that we picked peaches at has a spectacular pumpkin patch, and corn maze Hollin Farms. They have apples also, but NOT pick your own. There is another orchard Stribling's Orchard that has pick you own apples. We...err, I mean I, really want to pick our own apples. So it looks like we are going to spend the whole day out picking apples and pumpkins, at two different locations. Thankfully, I am blessed with a great Hubby who puts up with all my wacky ideas.