Short Story Long

(I started this post in September, but here at the end of October  mid-November, we still have summer plants alive in the garden - hollyhocks hanging on!)  That is to say, it was a beautiful albeit hot summer at our house, and I happily look back on all the blessings of the season.   Family and friends visited, we had some lovely peonies, roses and other flowers; we went rafting and fishing and drove to the Northern Woods; saw the World's Biggest Dilly Bar, hockey stick, a beautiful stave church, and a couple of homes that Grandpa lived in when he was a kid.  We had a windy, smoky picnic with old friends, and lots of laughs with great-aunts and uncles.  We visited The City, and farms, and cemeteries and so much more.   We're in a new season of life; nothing bad, just different, and a little busier.  A lot less knitting, but still knitting.  Morning by morning, new mercies I see.  

We decided to track down a hot air balloon festival this summer, and spent the weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  This beautiful little town has good food, beautiful hikes, friendly locals, and a yarn shop!  What more could you ask for??   We watched balloons from sunrise to sundown, seriously.  I am going to mostly let the pictures do the talking but wanted to point out two things.  The "rodeo" portion of this festival is when the balloon pilots attempt to touch down on the surface of the lake.  I think most of them managed it without any problems.  You can see the yellow balloon with the flowers is still dripping as it rises.  Also, out of twelve hand-painted balloons in the world, there are two in this crowd!  They are the circus balloon and the cowboys.   To see more, including a time-lapse video (my first attempt at that,) you can check out the whole set here .  

What a beautiful time of year: not too hot, in fact perfect for a sweater, especially in the morning!  And yet, there is still plenty of garden goodness to be had.  My boys are in school, and everyone has a little space and independence, including me.  I am always happy to discover another rose, a neighbor out walking dogs, a few leaves turning, a good book with just enough time to crack it open, and new yarn in my local yarn shop.  BFJ and I drove up to Boulder yesterday for some pictures, and I discovered a tin of my favorite tea - which I'd just recently run out of, in one of the culinary shops on Pearl Street.  Perfect timing. Today, I'm making some  Peach Preserves . It seems like everything is so readily available these days, at the store, on the internet.  Almost takes the fun out of finding things.  However, local, organic peaches - that are hopefully ripe, are not easy to come by.  I'm settling for local, ripe peaches this year. ...

Ah, August in Colorado; that perfect blend of summer-into-fall.  Some days ripe for watergun fights, some for knitting and sweaters.  Fresh veggies and fruits from the garden, ready for pickling, grilling, eating from the vine.   This morning, my oldest son and I went to the farm where we get eggs; we've also been helping in the garden, mostly weeding, in trade for vegetables.  They've got greener thumbs and much more room than we do, though we do still have a little garden.  We came home with basil for pesto, cucumbers and onions for pickles, fresh eggs and zucchini for zucchini bread.  Since I'm doing pickles, I might as well do apple butter, so we stopped and got organic apples at the store.  I was happy to find golden beets again, so we'll be having grilled vegetables with our chicken and pesto tonight.  It's a rare day that I don't knit, but today other things need to be put in jars before summer is gone.   It's Wednesday, a...