October 30

We received a great Halloween package earlier this week from Mimi and Timber - including Lizzie's own special cookie! She thought it was pretty special, as you can tell.
The weekend before that, we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Lizzie did a great job picking out pumpkins and lugging them to the wagon. She has lots of practice as she helps Grampy with his squash deliveries most weeks this fall.

Dan and Rachel were in Maine for a concert two weeks ago. Rachel and Dan spent some time teaching Lizzie how to do handstands and back bends. It was great kite flying weather too!

Ryan spent much of that weekend moving his greenhouses. Here are the beds, all prepped and ready for their new winter crop. Since we had snow last night, I am extra glad he was able to get these moved!

Here is Indie, one of our enormous pigs (he is older and bigger than those that we plan to put in the freezer later this year - we are planning to keep him through the winter and with his help are hoping for piglets come spring).

I was wearing Martin in a backpack for most of the pictures above, so he didn't make many of the photos. He loved the ride, though!

We had a nice family breakfast - here is Mom making the bacon. I don't remember it coming up at this time, but quite often we are reminded to cook bacon on a low heat slowly (which I believe was my grandfathers trick for yummy bacon) - it seems to work as this was delicious!

Turning to fall

These past few weeks have been so full for us! Here is a quick update. Martin is now 6 months old and continuing to grow like crazy! He loves his solid food and we continue to add new food all the time. He usually wakes up once in the night, but he falls asleep so easily around 7, that we are in no hurry to change things. He is such a happy and relaxed baby, but so full of personality!
I have been trying to get a few photos of his little baby feet, but thought this was so sweet of his face, I had to include it here.

I love these toes too! We are just about at the end of sandbox season around here, but we will enjoy it as long as it lasts!

Two weeks ago, we met Dan and Rachel in Camden atop Mount Battie. We had a nice visit with them on the mountain and then out to dinner at the Whale's Tooth. What a beautiful day!

We have not had great luck getting a family photo these days. So far we have lots with Martin looking off into the distance and Lizzie making funny faces, though Ryan and I have the same expression and pose each time - just in case both of the kids look forward for the same split second. Here are a few outtakes from our most recent attempt.

This is the best one so far - we will keep trying!

Last CSA delivery of the season!

Today is the last CSA delivery of the season. Though the hard work around the farm doesn't end, a certain pressure is lifted, and that, combined with the first frost of the season means more time together for our family. As we have arranged our lives so that when one of us works, the other stays home with the kids, this should especially mean more time with Ryan and I home together. Here are a few pics from today. We celebrated at the end of the day with take out Thai food and UMaine hockey on tv (go blue!).

Last weekend

Last Saturday we spent a good part of the day at the Common Ground Fair. As it was misting and a little cold to start, it was not as crowded as it often is, so we were able to get around pretty well. Ryan attended a few classes while the kids and I did several loops around the fair. Our constant meeting place was the energy tent where John and Kate spent the weekend. Here is a piece of their display.
Here is Lizzie just as we get started near the dog display.

My boys!

As an aside - look at these carrots! Lizzie's hand makes a great size comparison. Nice growing Ryan!

Winter Squash and the Colors of Autumn

Who says you have to wait for the leaves to turn for amazing fall color? The chard is loving this weather, still warm but lots of water. You can make a wonderful pesto with chard. I usually remove the stems because the color is lost in the blending. But then cut them up and put them over whatever pasta dish you mixed the chard into. The pesto is the same as the recipe for basil but substitute chard to taste. Delicious and great for you.

You may want to save the chard for brazing since you also received yet another round of basil this week. So much for the heavy frost we were supposed to get. The basil and the tomatoes are still going...and going...and going! It's getting to the point I really look forward to frost so I can switch whole hog to the winter crops!

But carrots straddle the line. Summer, fall? Both! Another round of good looking carrots. These are just the 'seconds', which means they weren't passable for the shares this week. And these are the best looking 'seconds' I've ever had. We eat them here!

And now, announcing, winter squash! The first round of the last three weeks! You'll find buttercup and butternut (pictured below in that order). Buttercup is a steaming squash and Butternut is a baking squash. Enjoy!

You also received another round of potatoes. We went light this week because it's hard to bag everything in such a short amount of time. We just run out! More to come next week...and the week after!

And here I am washing potatoes in front of the kids and Emily. This is what happens when you ask Lizzie to smile for the camera...

Look at that hair. Good job Mommy!!!

You also will find another round of tomatoes. As you can see from the amount the plants have slowed down. Even though it's warm during the day it's down to 50's at night. That's a big sign for the tomato plants to call it a good year and be done. Brittany is ripping out several plants for the compost right now and soon we'll move the hoop houses over the winter crops. Another season, another round. Have a great weekend and see you at the Common Ground Fair. Be sure to visit the exhibition hall and check out our entries!

Quick post

Friday is our busiest day of the week, but since I have the camera hooked up anyway to upload photos for Ryan, I thought I would post a quick blog. Here is Martin grinning as he finishes up his supper. I took this a few minutes ago - Lizzie wanted to wear her fancy outfits as we went to Mom and Dad's church to help out at the Welcome Table.

We braided the bottom half of her head this morning.

Look at that pig!!

September so far

Happy September! What a busy month for us! This afternoon, we were able to spend some time with Grammy Phyllis. The kids were exhausted from an afternoon at the fair, but did a great job!

We spent much of this afternoon with Mimi and Timber at the fair. Both kids had a great time and are now fast asleep from the busy day.

We went through the petting zoo.

Lizzie went on ride after ride.

Martin spent most of the afternoon being passed between his grandparents, chewing whatever he can find (he seems to enjoy Timbers shirt!).

Mimi gives Martin his bottle while Lizzie is entertained by a magician.

We got to see many blue ribbons for Mimi and Timber's fair entries.

There were a lot of entries by area folks!

But only one Best in Show - congratulations Mimi for winning the purple ribbon in your category.

This ride was perfectly named.

Lizzie's only ride before today was on a merry go round, so she was excited to go again!

Last weekend we were able to get together with some other family for a lobster feed followed by apple cider making. This is a newer press than we have used before, but still muscle operated. The cider was tart, but all the kids loved it!

The apples came from a tree in a back field - mostly collected from the back of the truck (just like we used to do it when I was Lizzie's age).

One of the great things about having these cousins be so close in age is that when Maeve is just about done with something, Martin is just about ready for it. This Jumparoo is a perfect example! We never used one of these with Lizzie, but based on how much Martin likes it, I wish we had! Maeve is great at sharing.

I probably have 15 versions of this shot - it isn't as easy as it seems to get 3 young kids all looking in one direction at once without anyone crying! Martin was not in the mood to have his picture taken and has this expression in most of the shots I took.

Have I mentioned how much Lizzie loves swinging? Especially when she and Grampy play "over the Potomac" (a game they invented). You can see the pure joy in her face!

Martin has a great dimply smile. He is quick to flash his smile, but I can never seem to really capture it on camera. This is the moment right before he breaks into a big grin, though still pretty cute!

Martin loves his Lizzie, though I think her kiss caught him by surprise here.

Right before hurricane Irene a piece of the dam broke. As a result, the lake water has gone down significantly from the summer. They let the water out some every fall, but this caught us a bit by surprise as it was a few weeks ahead of schedule. We have been enjoying the water just the same and had a lot of fun with the rocks newly exposed by the lowering water levels.

Martin has really caught on to solid food these days. We are about to start him on potatoes soon! Also, this past weekend we went to watch the duck race and Lizzie's duck came in first! How fun!