I want to take the time to bid a fond farewell to summer…it was lovely. For those of us who live in New England, fall is in the air. The days have become cool and crisp with little or no humidity to speak of. Leaves are changing. Soon our back roads will be filled with people who are affectionately called leaf peepers. They come to enjoy the beautiful display of colors provided by Mother Nature.
The Color of Fall on Long Lake
Garden centers are ablaze with the colors of fall from the mums and asters waiting to be put on display. Instead of selling tomatoes and fresh corn, farmers markets will be selling cornstalks, dried flowers and Indian corn, apples and pumpkins so that we can decorate the fronts and insides of our homes.
Decorated Front Door in Paris, Maine
I always enjoy hanging the dried corn, flowers, and herbs on the antique hearth in our keeping room which is a part of our New Hampshire kitchen.
Our Kitchen Hearth Decorated For Fall
It is apple picking time, one of the activities that families really enjoy doing each fall.
Apples Waiting To Be Picked
The sweet smell of cider and apple pies will replace the scent of summer blossoms. Shorts and tees are being replaced with jeans and sweaters. A large section of our area is under frost and hard freeze warnings for this evening.
Why is it that summer seems to be so short and winter seems to last so long? It seems such a short time ago when we opened our lakeside cottage, planted a garden and took boat rides around the lake.
Tomato And Herb Gardens
As the days have grown shorter and cooler, we have hastily picked our fresh vegetables and herbs. Fresh basic tomato sauce, pesto and peppers are now in the freezer. The boat and dock are out of the water. The cottage will be soon be winterized and closed.
As I look forward to all that fall has to offer, I can’t help but think back to our lovely summer.
There was that first bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich that we could hardly wait to eat.
Making the First Tomato Sandwich
Grilling wonderful burgers, buffalo ribeyes and pork chops outside in the fine weather while we entertained our summer visitors.
Buffalo ribeye, sweet potato wedges, and spinach, mozzarella and tomato salad
Having cocktails on the dock as we watched the Songo River Queen pass by and ring her bell.
The Songo River Queen Passing Our Dock
Of course there were all the beautiful summer flowers this year. They had multiplied since they were first planted and filled the air with their sweet smell.
Summer Flowers
If I had to choose my favorite moment at the cottage this year, it was getting to know “The Bad”. That little chipmunk became a star on my blog. So many of you wrote in your comments about how cute he was. We started sprinkling nuts on our back deck to keep him from eating our cherry tomatoes that were so tempting to him. Over time he became bold enough to come up on our chairs and eat right out of a little bowl of sunflower seeds. Once he knew that we would not harm him, he would even let us rub his soft fur as he ate out of our hands.
"The Bad" Eating Sunflower Seeds
We have enjoyed watching him as he went hopping and scurrying away with his cheeks full of seeds. He has been stockpiling them for the cold winter months when the ground will be covered in feet of snow.
So as I bid farewell to summer on our lake, I have lots of great times to remember.
Farewell To Summer On Long Lake
I hope you have enjoyed your summer as much as we have. I now am moving on to enjoy our fine fall days ahead.
Nice post. I miss the New York Catskills’ fall colors.
Great post Karen!
Wow, I can’t believe the leaves are already changing there! I’m jealous…I can’t wait for the colors
Karen, I enjoyed this post so much! God has given us year round beauty in all the seasons. I love that you fully partake in all that is offered. I will be envying your Fall weather!
This is such a beautiful post – I was just entranced as I read it! The purple and yellow flowers are gorgeous – almost as gorgeous as that bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich! I believe that will be our supper tonight! And the little chipmunk is so cute! One day Ritchey and I will be two more of your ‘leaf peepers’! Fall is my favorite season!
Thank you for the summer pictures! I am not ready to put ANYTHING away yet. Glad you’re ready for fall. Up there, you’ve got to be. Love the hearth. That does stir cozy feelings……
You are ahead of us:)
The hearth looks ..like so much fun..every season..a blank beautiful canvas great job..
Cooler temps here now..and BAD jumped on my knee the other day..I was surprised how calm I stayed..bad is right.But cute.
I need a lake in my backyard instead of down the street.
Hi Monique, I am surprised that we are ahead you. You can never figure out the seasons from one year to the next. So you have a “Bad” also. Cute is what saves them. Down the street doesn’t sound bad…your home is just lovely.
Beutiful pictures! I’m already missing summer!
Thank you so much for writing this post Karen
I really enjoyed reading it but the part I loved the most is those wonderful pictures
Awww, what a beautiful post! Such wonderful pictures, thank you so much for sharing them! You know, though – I actually quite like winter. Sure, summer is fun. Running around in the grass barefoot with abandon, lazing about on a boat, sitting under a tree with a cool drink and a book, that’s all well and good, but then autumn and winter rolls in. Candle-light, warm fires, hot chocolate and apple pie, cinnamon, Christmas and beautiful snow (if you live in such a part of the world) – it’s not so terrible
Hi Charles, Thank you for your lovely comment, I really enjoyed it. You are right about winter…it is wonderful for those many reasons. I know I will be writing about that soon enough. There is just one thing about Maine and New Hampshire that makes winter seem to drag on and that is snow. I love snow and our home is absolutely gorgeous surrounded by white snow. Christmas, most years, looks like a painting. But then comes January, February, and March when we have 4 or 5 feet of snow laying on the ground. Last year we had a huge snow storm on the 1st of April. We have had some snow on the ground some years at Easter when people make snow bunnies instead of snowmen. Winter is beautiful but long.
Stunning photography, as always! You’re making me a little more open to the idea of Fall weather
Lovely images! Yes, the cusp of a season is a great time to reflect on the recent past and the impending future. Can see why your little chipmunk was such a favorite. We’re definitely looking forward to the cooler temps of fall here in Missouri – summer was so hot and hard on veggies. The trees around your Long Lake image are stunning – definitely see why you enjoy your 2 homes.
OMG! This place is sooo beautiful. You are such a lucky girl for living in this piece of heaven…
You are right…I am the luckiest girl in the world and I am so thankful for all that we have.
I loved your fall “preview” pictures. We are also getting a lot of color change, though I think this year it might be the dry weather here. I love to look at how folks decorate for fall and the cooler weather and even the start of “soup season”. Yes, it’s hard to say goodbye to summer, but fall has it’s own delights!
What gorgeous photos! Obsessed with your kitchen hearth, and that photo of the sun setting at the lake is stunning. I’m actually very ready for fall and cooler weather! Bring it.
Hi Caroline, Thank you for your compliments. Our kitchen hearth is wonderful. It still has it’s original “set kettle” which was used for hot water and beehive oven for baking. In a later post, I’ll show the entire kitchen. It really is the heart of our home. As much as we like to lament the passing of summer, each season has so much to offer.
Karen, i am fascinated by your keeping room, this is a new term for the Kiwi.. with the beautiful hearth and the space,the bricks and the sheer liveability of it.. I am entranced, .. however I am still not ready to let go of summer!! c
Hi Celi, Our keeping room is wonderful. It is amazing that it survived. A keeping room was the part of the home just off or part of the kitchen. Colonial families would sometimes sleep in this area when the rest of the house was cold. It was heated because the cooking hearth’s fire was never allowed to go out…even in summer. Today, I guess it might be considered a family room. I’m afraid that we have no choice of letting go of summer as the next day or so we will have lows in the 30′s and frost. We can alway hope for Indian Summer…after we have a killing frost, we sometimes get warm temperatures again.
A wonderful “ode” to summer – and I can relate – Just tonight before I came to sit at the computer, I crunched through a few leaves in the lawn to the garden and covered my bell pepper plants so they wouldn’t get chilly overnight and took in some tomatoes to finish on a sunny windowsill. Summer is nice and I will miss all the “corn and tomatoes on the porch” dinners, but honestly I love fall and yes winter too – even with snow in April! There is something about the crisp cool nights, the bright sunny days and the blazing colors that renews my enthusiasm for life. I know I could never live in a season-less part of the country.
PS I CAN NOT believe that you were able to get chippy to eat out of your hand!!
It’s nice when other people can relate to our summer ending. My friends and family in Florida say they are having such heat. You are right, fall is so invigorating. Can you believe…”The Bad” not only ate out of our hand but would let you pat him. Actually you could put your whole hand around his little body. He was tolerant of our affection because we were the “seed gods”.
Wow, what a wonderful summer you had! So happy for you and looking forward to your fall posts. I live in Florida so the fall season is still far away for us, still grillin’ and chillin’ poolside for now
I love those photographs. It’s now Spring here and I have to start hay fever medication.
What a wonderful post! I LOVE your hearth….simply stunning! Fall hasn’t quite reached Florida yet – still in the 90s…but the days are getting shorter and the mornings are a tiny bit cooler! Soon! Based on your amazing photos, it was a GREAT summer and I look forward to fall!
The most fabulous emotive post – congratulations. You had me all the way – sorry to get to the end, of summer and your post.
Hi Roger, What a lovely compliment. I am so happy that you enjoyed the post.
Lovely post. I enjoyed your pictures! You have a beautiful life.
Thanks for sharing – living in Phoenix, Fall is kind of a mystery to us so I’m living vicariously through you!
Goodbye New England Summer!
Hi Zoe, Thank you so much for your compliment. I’m happy that you enjoyed the photos. I know that so many people live where the seasons do not change as much as here in New England, so you are welcomed to share ours vicariously.
Great post and beautiful Fall photos. We’re heading up into our Colorado Rocky Mountains tomorrow to leaf peep the Aspens. They’re a beautiful site, but nothing like the colors back East.
I love Maine! Any time of the year! My grandmother was born and raised near Portland and I always loved visiting when I was younger. I think it is one of our most beautiful states and I sincerely hope to live there one day. Your photos and memories of a summer gone by are making me yearn to be there even more so than usual. I look forward to seeing Maine in the fall through your eyes.
I so look forward to the Summer’s first BLT sandwich every year, using tomato from my garden. It never fails to meet, if not surpass, my anticipation. This was a great post, Karen, accompanied by some beautiful photography. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
Thank you, John, for the very kind words.
What a beautiful journey!
Your hearth looks beautiful! So cozy. I would constantly want to have fires and spend all my time in front of it!
Hi Karen! I really enjoyed your post and all your beautiful photos. Sounds like you are enjoying life! Blessings…
The hearth is so lovely, Karen, and so is the dooryard. Did you do that arrangement as well?
Thank you, we think the hearth in our home is special. The door arrangement is not on our home. That is a lovely home in Paris, Maine. It is the home that I also featured in my post “Founder’s Day in Maine”. The owner also has the wonderful car collection that he opens one day a year to the public. From Paris, you have a view of the Presidential Mountain Range in New Hampshire that is spectacular in the fall.
Even if you ommitted your wonderful writing, those breathtaking pictures would be just enough to express the lovely transition from summer to fall.
I have to thank you so much for your lovely comment.
What a wonderful post! You captured the essence of both a New England fall and summer perfectly. What a beautiful part of the country!
I look forward to your future posts!
Karen! Your kitchen hearth is beautiful. One day when I grow up. I will be in New England end of September. So looking forward to the leaves a changing and the smell of fall in the air.
Hi Karen, what a fabulous post! We are just starting to head into summer, well nearly and I cannot wait – I am not a winter baby. I thoroughly enjoyed your photos too.
Mandy
Karen, your kitchen is the most beautiful place to be I can just tell by looking. All your photos are lovely as well. It is still warm here in Nashville, but little hints of fall are present…the farmer’s markets are beginning to have pumpkins and winter squash….but New Hampshire is a bit ahead of us and looks like a “picture postcard”.
Lovely. Like being whisked away but for a moment … I love fall, harvest time, the colors wooing us to take-in a visual banquet. Ahhhh.
I can’t believe you got the chipmunk to eat out of your hand! That’s so cool.
It was really amazing that we could get him to eat out of our hand. What was more amazing was when we could touch him. Then slowly we got where we could put our whole hand around him. I don’t think we could ever have done this if we didn’t have sunflower seeds for him to eat. A sweet little creature of nature that gave us a wonderful experience.
Maybe that’s what I need to do to make peace with the herd that keeps raiding my feeder. If you can’t beat ‘em…..
Karen, beautiful pictures. Isn’t New England just lovely? I still cannot believe that we live here. Fall is my favorite time of the year, I love the crisp air and the color show Mother Nature provides.
I would so love to visit New England at the peak of Fall and see that glorious color. Fall is always a month later arriving here. I have to check out your posts on your adorable sunflower snatcher
Beautiful! Thanks for summarizing so us new folks get a glimpse into the summer… love The Bad, he’s very cute.
While the rest of the southern hemisphere is saying hello to spring, we are still stuck in winter
Enjoy your transition!
What a very beautiful post – both the words and the stunning pictures. Have been away in the north of Spain where autumn has most definitiely arrived and now it seems to be creping up on us too in the south – I´ll miss the long days of the summer but love the beauty of autumn. Adore your kitchen hearth (she says with a little envy!).
Hi Tanya, Thank you for your lovely compliment. I know you must have had a very nice holiday. I think we all miss the long days of summer. It is good that the beauty makes up for the shorter days.
What a lovely tribute to summer Karen. Your keeping room is so pretty. We love early American antiques and are fortunate to have a few in our home, some of which came from my husband’s mother’s love of antiques. I’ve been a “leaf peeper” once and it was a trip I will always cherish. Would love to return again sometime. The covered bridges are my favorite. I can’t get over how tame your chipmunk is. They eat like vacuum cleaners don’t they. I feel as if I’ve visited your part of the world this morning. Thanks for the mini vacation.
Sam
Hi Sam, I appricate you nice comment and am happy that you enjoyed the post. There is so much to see in New England…the covered bridges are special. So much history wherever you go. It’s wonderful that you have some of Americas early history. We search out antiques that would be period appropriate but they are difficult to find.
What a wonderful post, Karen. As much as I enjoy summer I’m always happy when I start to see the signs of fall. Your photos are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
What beautiful pictures and commentary Karen. I love that the little chippy came right up to you and ate from your hand. We used to feed chipmunks on our summer vacations in Colorado as a child and I just adore them! The sunset picture is amazing. A wonderful tribute to summer and fall!
Hi Kristy, Thank you for your kind words. Our little chipmunk gave us so much pleasure and he really loved the sunflower seeds.
What a wonderful summer you had. I love all the photos. I can’t believe the foliage you already have. We don’t really get foliage down here. Oh and your tomatoes look amazing.
I really enjoyed my summer..right up until the point where it got cold and the leaves started to fall off the trees! I wish I was in Maine and that Maine was in Tahiti!
Can’t say we had a great Summer here in Ireland. It was horribly wet and not great for the garden although the flowers did ok. Love your cottage, so lovely and in a beautiful situation. Great Pics!
Such gorgeous shots that capture the gentle transition of the seasons.
Thank you, Fiona. I sincerely appreciate the compliment coming from someone whose photographs are so good.
Such gorgeous photos!… thank you for sharing this lovely post!
I LOVE fall in New England- it makes me so happy to live here (and then I want to move come December
Amazing how short our summers in Maine are, but then they are followed by my most favorite season, fall. I have so enjoyed your experiences and look forward to what is happening in and food from New Hampshire.
Lovely photos Karen. I adore your kitchen hearth, it is so charming! Oh, and btw your tomato plants look like trees! Amazing! Happy to see so many comments on your blog and now I’m 105?! Enjoy the turning of the leaves this fall.
Laura
Hi Laura, I am thrilled that so many people are enjoying my blog. I always enjoy your comments…105 amazing. This years tomatoes grew like crazy. It turned out to be a great growing season.
I love when the fall colours start to show. Your photos are gorgeous.
You must have some amazing colourful views in New Hampshire in the fall.
Your pictures are almost enough to make me tear up… I went to school in Vermont and I know that smell of autumn in New England, apples and fall leaves. Oh I do miss it (although winter is another story… grin)! Thanks for sharing…
Hi Rachel, Thank you for your lovely comment. We love to take a ride over to Woodstock, Vermont in the fall. We walk around town, take a few photos, browse the stores and have lunch before returning back to New Hampshire. That is what is great about New England…everything is nearby. You are right about the snow.
It’s my first time to see your blog and I’m so glad I did. You two seemed you’ve carved out a charmed life. Never been to NE to my loss. I became a quadriplegic nearly 10 years ago so pictures are my best escape. So, I’ll be back.
Hello Patrick, Welcome to my blog. I can’t begin to tell you how much your comment means to me. I try to write from my heart about what is lovely…be it nature, travel or food. My husband and I are extremely lucky and are thankful. I am so happy that you enjoy my blog and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Fantastic hearth you have there!
What lovely photos and amazing property you have! And your blog is so popular!… wow. I only aspire, one day, to be so well-read!
I’ll have to take tips from you!
Kiersten
Karen, thanks for stopping by my site. I found Gravenstein apples again last weekend. How lucky that you have them in your own orchard. Looks like we are “near neighbors” in the summer. I live outside of Boston, but we have a lakeside cottage in Raymond, Maine (on Notched Pond), not too far from Long Lake. I love your site. So many nice photos and recipes. I’ll definitely come back again.
That kitchen hearth is ridiculously awesome! I wish I had one!
Hi Tracy, I think the kitchen hearth is one of the outstanding features in our home. Thank you for the very nice compliment.
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