Autumn Colors

Trees are changing

Maple tree has begun to show color

Fruit has been harvested

Corners are full of surprises

Sky Blue Petunias are still my favorites

Flowers are going to seed. Time to collect them.

Who likes Nasturtiums. 

I move a few pots into the greenhouse for a steady supply of winter bouquets. 

Soon leaves will be bright red. 

Have a great week dear friends.

Gina

I had to do it.

Traveling these days is not easy.

But Italy was calling.

Innocently, I was checking air fares.

Important tip:

When booking flights check  the "Flexible Dates" box and 
"First/Business Z" category (Delta Airlines) 
You will find days when prices are $500 to $1000
lower.

The destination?  Italy, of course. 

Relais Sant Elena in Bibbona has room for us. 

I need one more pasta making lesson.

And another visit with my favorite friend Mario in his studio in Montelupo, Fiorentino.   

I just had to do it.  

Click, and it was done.  

 It was only 3 months ago, we said that we wouldn't get on another long flight. 

How soon one forgets. 

We will take care of our garden before we go.

and harvest our garden, preserve fruits and vegetables. 
Then in September, we are off. 

Have a great week ahead, dear friends.  

Gina 

Can't help myself

Must go to Italy 
and a few places in between. 

Enough of bottling and canning.

It's time to make new discoveries. 

The rest of the pears can wait.

Bon Voyage dear Friends. 

See you soon. 

Gina 

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com.au/

Did we dodge the bullet?

Four nights of below freezing. 

Looks like they all survived, apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches and apricots. 

The kitchen garden has been planted with leeks, cabbages and onions. 
Vegetable seeds are ready to go in. 
carrots, beets, collards, Swiss chard, basil, coriander, 
corn sald/mache, gourmet blend lettuce, romaine,  spinach, beans,
fennel, cavolo laciniato, arugula, curly kale, turnips, eggplants and artichokes. 

By August it will have provided many meals for us, our friends and even our chickens. 

There will be flower gardens.

There will be tomatoes ripening in the sun. 

 And fruit for winter months. 

Squash and Zucchini for winter baking.

But only if the water holds out. The Old timers say that if Horseshoe Mountain still has snow caps by the 24th of July, we will have enough water. 

But just in case, our spring flows at 39 gallons per minute. 
Plenty of water for cattle and gardens. 


Wishing you a Happy Spring day.

Thank you for stopping by.  
You have made my day! 

Gina 



http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2014/05/mosaic-monday-moss-and-flowers.html

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Sunday Mornings around here.

Finally, it is warm and sunny.

We can spend the entire day outside.

I went for a  long walk through the open countryside.

Mr G decided that he better stay home and finish tilling the Squash Patch.

Our Alfalfa field was harvested 2 days ago.   I can now cut across the open fields to get back to my house.

The men are picking up the newly cut hay.  These bales of Alfalfa weigh a ton each and will be used for animal fodder during the coming winter months.    

Lucy and Charlie went with me on my walk and didn't get into trouble. 

I set the table with my newly painted plates and Mr G prepared his famous omelet. 

With Eggs from our happy chickens.

It was a happy Sunday Day. 

Wishing you, my dear Blogging Friends, a wonderful week ahead.

Gina 

Symbiosis

Entirely dependent on each other.

Bees.  It is estimated that in North America 30% of the food humans consume is produced from bee pollinated plants.

These beehives are located about a mile from our house. 

The bees can see our house and they know that their first meal comes from the blossoms of our Box Elder Tree, very early in the Spring.  

Our wild Apple Tree and Fruit Orchard provide the next meal.  The value of bee pollination is about $16 billion in the United States alone.

  Commercial pollination services will move as many as 60,000 bee colonies on flatbeds and leave them in fields for 2 to 3 weeks at a time.  The bees are then moved to the next location. 

When these vegetables start growing in our garden, our neighboring bees will make sure to come for a visit.  

Cotton, Grapes, Sunflowers, Soybeans, Strawberries, Peanuts, Citrus, Alfalfa, Almonds, Annual and Perennial Flowers all need bees for pollination. 

 Cattle, sheep and many other animals feed on Alfalfa,  making   consumption of meat and dairy products possible.  Honey production from about 135,000 American beekeepers totals more than 149 million pounds every year.  

The old custom of moving beehives to crops where they are needed  for pollination is observed in many countries.  Here, beekeepers in Romania move from one field to the next, setting up housekeeping near their bees, often repeating the same route every year. 
Bees in Romania

It's been an interesting week at our house.  We had a bicycle club stop by for a catered Picnic a few days ago.  They had been on a historic barn tour for three days.  

 Tomorrow a young boy will be baptized by his father in our Pond. 

 I am told that the entire entourage, dressed in white, will be coming down our lane singing songs from 
"O Brother, Where Art Thou". 

All the while, I have been painting ceramics for our Heritage Day Celebrations.
Many people came yesterday and a few dollars where left in our Valley and in my pockets.

Flowers are growing in my garden.  Bees are visiting and so are our Friends from the big city. 




Symbiosis, Yes.

I make sure that I have lots of flowers in my garden.
And in exchange, our Beekeeper provides us with the finest honey you will ever taste. 

Have a wonderful week my dear friends.

Gina