September

Late summer sunrise.

We’ve arrived at the first of the “ber” months. Once we hit the months ending in “ber” the year seems to accelerate. The “ber” months mean the “brrrr” months. (I wonder why we use the sound “brrr” to indicate we are cold.) We usually have our first frost before the end of September and then it’s cold until May. But even so, I think the “ber” months are better than the “uary” months.

We crossed a seasonal threshold last week – I finally have to turn a light on when I’m getting dressed in the morning. And when I go down to open the chicken coop in the mornings, the chickens are all still roosting instead of waiting for me at the door. That means I’m up before the chickens now. One of the maples in our yard is starting to turn and while driving around, I’ve noticed a few other maple trees turning color already. That means the dark days are coming and that makes me sad.

The maple in our yard.

Finally, at the end of August, we had a heat wave. When I say heat wave, I mean what passes for a heat wave here in Gold. The temperature hit 90° on Tuesday and Wednesday. That may seem like a rather wimpy heat wave to those in other parts of the country who bake in the triple digits, but for here, that’s hot. I loved it while it lasted. Rain came Wednesday night and the heat went away. We’re back to more normal temperatures now.

I spent those hot days working outdoors. I did some heavy weeding. I pulled out my gooseberry bushes. They were half dead. It was hard work digging them out. I planted blackberries in their place. It was great working in the heat. I like a good sweaty work day now and then.

Where the gooseberries used to be.

I’d been checking the monarch chrysalis on the back porch every day, looking for signs of hatching. There was nothing until Tuesday. That afternoon I went out onto the porch and there was a butterfly fluttering against a window. I caught it and let it go in the garden and then realized the chrysalis was empty. It was my butterfly. I missed the hatching, but saw the butterfly. We’ve also been watching the caterpillars on the milkweeds by the barn. All week they were getting bigger and bigger and then they disappeared. I think they crawled off somewhere to metamorphose, but I haven’t been able to find any chrysalises. I don’t think they got eaten because they are poisonous.

The empty chrysalis.

One of the caterpillars down by the barn.

They were big before they disappeared.

We had another sighting of the big brown snake in our yard. Last week as we were getting ready to set up a game of croquet on the front lawn, there was the snake, under the crab apple tree where the bird feeders hang. He’s not very timid and he’s very pretty. We like having him around.

Our friend the snake.

Out in the flower garden we are entering the final stages. The flowers that are blooming now are the last and will bloom until the frost kills them. There is nothing new ahead, only death and dormancy. These final flowers are lovely and even lovelier because they are the last of the year. The big pink sedum, a gift from my Aunt Esther Rathfon, is looking good. Out in the orchard the wild sedum is also blooming. The snapdragons and nasturtiums are at their best now. The castor bean plants that I planted are huge. I’m 6' 3" and they tower over me. I never thought they’d get so big. I will plant them again next year. I love their dramatic tropical leaves.

Aunt Esther's sedum.

Wild sedum in the orchard.

Some of my snapdragons.

Nasturtiums.

One of the castor bean plants.

All summer I’ve been waiting for my morning glories to bloom. There is a certain kind, a deep purpleish blue kind called Grandpa Ott’s, that re-seeds itself every year. They’ve been blooming for a while now. But this year I planted some special morning glories – a kind called Chocolate with soft pinkish brown flowers, a Japanese type with five-pointed flowers, and my favorite Heavenly Blues. Although they all have healthy leaves, there were no flowers on these – until yesterday. The Chocolate ones and the Heavenly Blues opened for the first time and they are exquisite. I’m still waiting for the Japanese ones. Maybe this week.

Grandpa Ott's morning glories.

The Chocolate morning glory- at last.

Heavenly Blue.

The vegetable garden is winding down. It’s mostly a matter of waiting for the last things to ripen. There are peppers and eggplant still to harvest. And pumpkins and squash. A deer has decided to help itself to unripe butternut squash. Out in the orchard, the apples are ripening. It’s almost time to pick the next batch.

Eggplant.

What the deer did to my butternuts.

The apples are getting big.

On Tuesday I un-crocked the sauerkraut that’s been fermenting on the kitchen counter for the last few months and put it in jars in the refrigerator. It smelled good as I was bottling it – at least as good as sauerkraut can smell. I made this batch with added apple and garlic. I think it will be delicious. I have a few more cabbages I need to do something with. I think I’ll start more kraut.

My apple-garlic sauerkraut.

Back in 2000, our local PBS station WPSU, did a series called “Our Town” where they visited towns throughout their viewing area and let local citizens film things they thought were interesting. Stacey participated in Our Town Coudersport - 2000. Coudersport is the county seat of Potter County and is about 15 miles from Gold. Well, a few months ago Stacey found out they were doing the series again and she signed up to be part of Our Town Coudersport - 2018. For her segment she chose to highlight local barns and our barn quilts. Last Tuesday evening we attended a special preview showing at the Coudersport Fire Hall. The show airs this Thursday, September 6th at 8:00 EDT. There are 20 segments and Stacey’s segment is the very last one, but all of them are interesting. They really give a nice glimpse into this part of the world where we live. You can watch it online at wpsu.org/live.

It’s very quiet here this weekend. Miriam and Hannah went down to spend the weekend at the Thayn’s house. They left on Friday afternoon. Sarah and Tosh are there for the weekend too. They are having a nice visit together. So Stacey and I are home by ourselves. That will change soon. Miriam and Hannah will be home tomorrow. And on Tuesday Josiah comes home! Things will be very lively then, at least for a few days. On Thursday Miriam, Hannah, and Josiah are leaving to go to Nauvoo, Illinois. One of Hannah’s roommates is getting married in the Nauvoo Temple on Saturday. They will be gone until sometime into the next week and when they come back, they are bringing my parents with them for a visit. The house will be full of family then and it will be wonderful.

August's full moon.