goodbye and hello

Byebye first CO summer, welcome to our first CO fall. We have been marking the transitioning of the seasons lately. Two Saturdays ago, we had the pleasure of spending some time out at our CSA farm to gather up some end-of-summer flowers. As members of Boyles Family Farms it was so nice to visit our farmers and feel a sense of connection to the place where they grow the food that nourishes us. Here is a pic of farmer Claire and her daughter at the Greeley Farmer's market.



Claire emailed her CSA members to invite us to a u-pick flower day out in their fields. As prime flower season is now over, they are preparing the fields for fall and winter. So you know what that means for the flowers...imagine a brilliant field of colors at the mercy of farm machinery...yikes! So I was eager to go and 'rescue' some flowers, if only I enjoyed them a few days longer. It was so sweet to watch how hubby took great care in making up some pretty flower arrangements for me!




We ended up taking a few large buckets of stems home and I gave out about 60 flowers in church. The rest I made into a dried arrangement in my favorite walnut salad bowl.


So now we are starting to welcome autumn- my favorite! As it is our first full fall in Colorado, I am more mindful to notice it. I do miss the brilliant colors of Michigan. But we had the occasion to be in the mountains 3 times in the last week (very unusual- but lovely that we live close enough to say that and make it happen now and then!)and the little pockets of golden aspen in between the pines are quite pretty.
Welcoming some of our yearly fall traditions has been a comfort. We made our first round of chicken noodle soup on the first barely cool day. Nate made the yummy homemade stock.
I made apple bread from my new favorite cookbook Apples for Jam.



We also helped our local Crabtree Brewery make their batch of seasonal beer, the Chunkin' Pumpkin ale. We baked six pumpkins grown by our farmers and delivered them to the Crabtrees hot and ready to go into the mash.



We arrived just as they were preparing the spices- cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg. When the beer is done Nate and I will receive a free growler full! I can't wait. It was a lot of fun to feel like we had a teency part in creating such autumny goodness.

Hurrah for spice and warmth and snuggles on the couch as we welcome this time of harvest and storing up for the chill. xoxo