Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Happy Fall!!!!!!


Today is it!!! It is the first day of FALLLLLLLLLL!  Yes, even in Florida there is a slight change to the weather.  I'm sure even more so in other parts of the country.  I have my home totally transformed to fall and I am pretending there are mountains and cold air outside. :)

Why do I love fall so much.  It started as a little girl who was raised in Pennsylvania.  After a hot summer of July and August you would begin to feel the slight change in the air and you could almost smell fall coming.  My mom would begin her canning during that time and we would buy buckets of apples from a local market to make pies.  We would also go out into the woods and country areas to gather black walnuts.  These are walnuts that fall on the ground in the fall, you dry them out and in the drying process they have a tar like coating on them that eventually drys off.  They have the most unique taste of all the nuts.   My mom would make black walnut cake and put them on ice cream and sometime we would just eat them by themselves. Oh the wonderful memories of fall!  Of course, in Pa the leaves would change and it was so beautiful to see all the colors, the reds, yellows and oranges.  The pumpkins would begin to pop up everywhere and of course my mom would make homemade pumpkin pie!  It was many times during the fall that my brother and sister would occasionally let me go on a hike with them.  :)   One of my best memories of fall was walking home from school on a crisp cool day and seeing the windows of our house all foggy - I knew my mom was making homemade soup and bread for dinner.  Yum.  (have you noticed how much food is involved in my fall memories?)  As I got older and moved to Florida - most years we have vacationed in North Carolina in the fall just to get a hint of "real" fall each year. 

So I just wanted to dedicate this blog post to my favorite time of the year - FALL

9 comments:

Beverly Walters Whaley said...

I see we woke up very early to post HAPPY FALL! You are way too cute Auntie K and love your post going down memory lane....you painted a wonderful picture of my granma...and I could almost smell her cooking. Thanks for the wonderful "WARM" feeling on this "BRISK & MOUNTAINOUS" morning of FALL! LOL Great post! Keep em' coming!

Beverly Walters Whaley said...

Great PHOTO too! I thought you stole it from the internet....but then.......recognized the punkin! LOVE IT! Can't wait to see your fall home!

Cindy Gee said...

Hi Kathy,
It has been way too long since I've commented here. So of course I have so many random thoughts... love your autumn background.

Here's an interesting addendum I found because somewhere I had heard the first day of fall this year was Sept. 23 but knew it usually fell on Sept 22. Because of the autumnal equinox it is Europe and Asia that officially start fall tomorrow. "The autumnal equinox, signifying the sun being in line with the equator, officially takes place at 10:09 p.m. Eastern Time tonight (3:09 a.m. UTC on Sept. 23, 2010). That means the first day of fall is officially celebrated on Sept. 23 this year in Europe and Asia."

Anyway, other than the fact that it gets dark WAY too early for me I also love fall. The change in the weather is extremely invigorating and fills me with all kinds of inspiration.

For some reason foods are closely connected to my memories and thoughts of fall. Maybe because it's harvest season... maybe because of Thanksgiving ... all the wonderful scents that speak of fall are related to foods.

My little guy and I are baking a pumpkin this afternoon to scoop out the flesh for muffins and pies. It is a great time of year!!!

Glad you are enjoying your season. Miss you.

betty said...

What happy and warm memories, Kathy. I love it! I remember some, but the canning and pumpkin pies must have happened while I was away. We had a pretty great Mama. I'm going to see if I can save this to my computer. :)

CoachK said...

Thanks Bev! I LOVE my new pumkin! He looks so good on my kitchen counter and for blog pics too!! Thank you!

CoachK said...

Cindy, So that means I need to celebrate the first day of fall today too! Oh my, I need to go get a pumkin latte before the day is over!!

I would think this season would be a favorite of a gardener - what a great time of year to be outside - specially when that first real cold front comes in!

CoachK said...

Bettsy,
The canning was usually the vegtables - like squash and green beans. Remember all the jars mom had in the basement? I think she did the pumpkins around Thanksgiving.
Do you remember the sugared orange rinds she did those in the fall also.

Unknown said...

I love Fall!! Growing up in MI, I had lots of opportunity to enjoy the beautiful colors of the leaves! Although I live in GA now, where the colors aren't quite as vibrant, I'm willing to trade a bit of color for warmer weather! Love your blog! I'd be interested in your feedback for my site, Life Lessons. Come visit! God bless.

CoachK said...

Hi Maria,
Thanks for visiting! Just got back from "real" fall in North Carolina. I will check out your blog this week. Blessings to you and Happy Fall!