Pumpkin with a Purpose

I know, I know, I've been absent. Lots of transitions going on over here. But, I'm back (I think).

I've been holding onto this photo for a few weeks now - eager to share. It makes me really happy. A friend of my mother's (and, a reader of Maine-ly Home, I'm told!) gave her this lovely floral piece for her birthday. It's just so happy I can't stand it.

Halloween Weekend

Well, we did it. We survived Halloween 2010. Here's a glimpse into our Halloween weekend.

Jumping in leaves, waiting for the high schoolers who were supposed to rake them (They never showed up! Grrr.).

 

 We carved a jack o' lantern.

We tried to make our house look festive and a little spooky.

We got dressed up in our costumes. We were able (luckily) to convince our eldest that we shouldn't (as a family) be the lifecycle of a butterfly. D and I were duking it out for the roles of chrysallis and caterpillar. And, I thought the photo opportunities for Baby R (appointed "the egg" by big sister) were limited (and disappointing!). But, many kudos to our eldest for her smart idea! :) In the end, we decided on a beautiful monarch butterfly and a lovely flower. With the exception of the wings, we were able to piece together the outfits from things we had (and a couple of thrift store finds!).

We gathered on the steps (we seem to alternate steps) for our annual neighborhood photo. These kids have been trick or treating together most of the last 7 years.

We (Baby R, really) discovered candy. Eek.

The one thing I am bummed about is that I forgot my camera (what is up with that?) when we went to the Pumpkin Festival at LL Bean. It was a truly magical event - many thousands of jack o lanterns lit for a cause (Camp Sunshine). It was especially fun as Baby R is currently obsessed with pumpkins which she calls "pum-pums" -- so it was an hour of "pum pum, pum pum, pum pum." :)

And, how was YOUR Halloween?

Pumpkin Patch Failures

Are you tired of me talking about how much I love Fall? Sorry. It runs deep.

Anyhow, one of my VERY favorite Fall activities is getting pumpkins. In part because of the pumpkins...in part because of the photo opportunities.

This year's pumpkin gathering, however, didn't go exactly as hoped.

Attempt number one. Vision. A hayride to pumpkin patch. Charming in concept; disappointing in execution. The day turned out to be exceptionally warm (75!) which meant the girls were in summer clothes which wasn't what I had in mind for the pictures. The second disappointment was that the pumpkins were ever-so-obviously (evidenced by the huge empty box marked pumpkins) planted in the field and were miniature (look at the disappointment on Baby R's face!)- hardly appropriate for carving. Sigh.

Attempt number two. Weather chilly enough to seem more appropriate. Pumpkins large enough to satisfy. But, pumpkin hat forgotten and only 11 minutes at the pumpkin patch on the way to take Dad to the airport.

Result? A beautiful and huge pumpkin...and exactly 11 minutes of great fun with my pumpkins.

How Do You Find the Best Fall Color in Maine?

Last week my husband and I were exploring back roads (one of our favorite past times) and I burst out into laughter.

I turned to D to explain my outburst, "Do you realize that we are surrounded by amazing colorful leaves and we almost aren't even noticing them? Can you imagine if some our friends from out west were here?"

He concurred.

Although I sometimes become blinded by the color...or should I say, blind to the color? But, I do love it.
 If you are in Maine - or coming to Maine, you'll be happy to know that we (the state) try to capitalize on this season's color. You can find "the best" color with this foliage map. Yes, a foliage map. We are heading into the "peak" zone this weekend.

{map via here}

Happy weekend.

The Applesauce Tradition

Piles of apple cores. The smell of cooking apples. The moist sweet-smelling steam of apples simmering. The sticky foodmill.

Simple things with powerful memories.

As a child, throughout my childhood, we made applesauce as a family. We all picked the apples. We all washed and cut the apples. Mom stirred the apples on the stove. Dad cranked (and cranked and cranked and cranked) the food mill. And, for months and months to come we ate the perfectly, naturally sweet and pink (from the peels) applesauce that we stored in our freezer.

Making applesauce is a tradition that I proudly carry on.

This past weekend, my eldest daughter and I set to work to turn 40 lbs of apples into deliciousness. She jumped right in. Grabbed her apron. Washed her hands. Said enthusiastically, "what's my job?"

For the next few hours we talked and took turns cutting apples, stirring the pot, and running the cooked apples through the hand cranked food mill. Half-way through the process she turned to me and said with a huge happy sigh, "I love the smell of apple steam." She's my girl, for sure.

Baby R (when do you think I should stop calling her a baby?) woke up as the first big batch was ready. I put her in her chair and handed her bowl. As if she knew what was coming, she started chanting, "Yum, yum, yum."

Suffice it to say, she liked it.

The OTHER Fair

As you know, I am a huge fan of The Common Ground Fair. A non-motorized, organic fair that celebrates Maine rural living.

But, I'm also a huge fan of tradition.

And, in my family, it is tradition to go to the Cumberland Fair (pronounced Cumberland Fay-eh).

Been doing it most of my life. My sister showed our sheep via 4H there. I've carried around dumb big stuffed animals won there. I have eaten a lot of fair food there. I do believe I developed my dislike for carnival rides there (read: vomiting was involved). Spent lots of money there. (By the way, in case you are reading this aloud, you should be pronouncing "there" as "thay-eh".)

Of course, in recent decades (I couldn't really mean decades?) my attendance has been sporadic. But, this year I decided to go. I went to the fair with my girls, my mom and her boyfriend and my niece.

I had a ball. I let my eldest eat cotton candy. We ate fair food. We checked out the fair entries (ranging from crafts to pickles to home grown veggies). I played a couple of games (and won dumb big stuffed animals that my daughter proudly carried around). I watched with a smile as the carousel twirled about with my daughter and her cousin. And, I witnessed a very intense game of whack-a-mole with my mother holding one of the mallets. I'm still in shock. Let's just say that if you are in my family and you believe in an after life (which I'm not saying I do), you really don't want to come back as a mole.