Monday, August 03, 2015

PUMPKINS? ...

Happy Monday Friends & Folk ~
...hoping you are all enjoying the cooler, drier temps where you are?

Virginia has had some pretty weather since I've been home, 
~ and boy am I thankful for that!

Yesterday I decided to take a short walk to our pumpkin patch.
{a.k.a. the compost hill out beyond the barn}
every year something volunteers and grows here, usually beautifully.
most years we have squash, watermelon, gourds & pumpkins, but this year only pumpkins grew.
and not too many of them either, sadly….




while taking a closer look,
 I think I found the answer to why we didn't have a bumper-crop like years past….

~ those tiny little white specks that you see on the pumpkin below are squash-bugs.
{they look like grey warts on the lower right}




so I decided that I needed to save them 
from having the life sucked out of them from those pesky critters, 
~ and I harvested some…
very early yes, but at least they won't rot in the patch and we can enjoy them a bit.




a small wheelbarrow-full of beautiful orbs!




some haven't even turned completely orange yet, but I love them still ~
I'll place these around the farmhouse porch & the shop porch too….




I went back to the patch to see if I could find any others that 'needed' me,
and found the carcass of this one below…
seems as though the squirrels like my pumpkins too!




not only do the squirrels love pumpkins, they love nuts.
and we have over 100 black walnut trees for them to choose from.

~ here I am standing in a spot where it looks to me like they had a picnic!
pumpkins & black walnuts…
yum!




the empty nut-shells look like tiny owl faces to me….
Hmmmm….wheels are turning.





on my way back to the farmhouse I visited one of our butterfly bushes ~
wow, lots of activity there!

swallowtails, red admirals, white sulphurs…
silver-spotteds and the occasional hummingbird moth!

I haven't seen but two monarchs this year though….
they are becoming more & more scarce.
we are directly in the path of their migration route, 
and usually see them flying over head or stopping in for a quick drink.

please please grow milkweed for them in your garden if you can ~ 
they only lay their eggs on the milkweed plant and the larvae then eat the leaves. 
...the only leaves in their young diet before turning from caterpillar to butterfly.







here is a snap of our little bunny ~
 Peter named him Buckwheat ~ not sure why though. lol.
remember that Roxy our lab brought the bunny to us and I bottle-fed him?
yup, this is him…I swear he is a dwarf cottontail. he is still SO small!
But he is healthy, happy & loves us ~ he eats fresh veg's, alfalfa, nuts & clover…
...along with pellets.




I will be working on orders today…
beginning with shipping the July/Aug/Sept kits for the Little Stitches Handwork Club ~
Distributors po's and Etsy orders.
it should take me only a couple of days to get caught up, then once I am ~
I will release our new Hallowe'en/Harvest 2015 designs ! YAY!

I am trying to finish up another little painted Hallowe'en-themed wooden sliding box for Ebay tonight 
...if plans go accordingly too ~

My sweet Hubby
 has been putting in a lot of overtime helping me here since I got sick…
taking care of me & making sure I don't over-do-it 
{which I have a tendency to do}

and with his help everything is falling back into place where it should be!

~ Love You Peter John to the Moon & Back ~

~ Blessings from the Farm ~
 Lori

17 comments:

Jane said...

Normal is always the best, isn't it? We're glad your life is getting back to that! Buckwheat is so cute. How lucky he was to land at Notforgotten Farm!! My gardens are winding down but my stitchin' is going strong. Hope to get to see you, soon! Hugs, Jane

Lori Ann Corelis said...

So happy you are getting back to what you love m'dear!

Hugs,
L

little arctic flower said...

Beautiful images. I think moths are fascinating and inspiring. Happy August! Vicki

gracie said...

Wonderful pictures of the farm.I am glad you are feeling better.

penelope said...

So happy you are back home and feeling better! Look forward to your lovely posts!

Cathy G. said...

Lori it's so good to see you posting from your familiar surroundings! And such lovely surroundings at that! Pumpkins... already! Oh my we won't see any around here for another month at least! I do have a milkweed plant in the flower garden that self-sowed and we have lots growing in the ditches here... but Monarch's are a rare siteing these days...
Continue on the healing path! And special blessings for Peter... he's one awesome guy!!
Hugs!!
Cathy G

susiedele said...

I can tell from your writing that you are on the path of feeling your true self. I'm happy for you and bless Peter's big heart.
Hey, I made owl, necklace pendants once. I just put an eye screw in the tops and Ta-Da. Take care.

Glenda said...

Glad, you are feeling better! Years ago I use to make family plaques with the black walnut shells. Owl Families. Turn one with the flat side down on a old piece of barn wood, with a twig glued on it, the other with the owl face, facing out, and glue. Paint the eyes yellow. TaDa you have an owl family sitting on a branch. This sure brought back memories of my children being young.

Jessica said...

Love the pumpkins! So glad you were able to rescue them from those nasty bugs. Our pumpkins last year were early arrivals too. I didn't mind because they do last a very long time! I had a white pumpkin last nearly a year in the house. I was kinda sad when we finally had to compost it.

Buckwheat is a cutie. We had small cottontails all over at a former residence in the city. We were the only yard with dandelions and clover growing. I figured the bunnies needed a safe yard to eat from and we loved when they visited.

Jimmie said...

I haven't seen very many swallowtails either, with one exception. This year I have seen several zebra swallowtails. You may know that zebra swallowtails love pawpaw trees. We have several in our woods, so I expect that's where they are dining. We feel really lucky to have both zebra swallowtails and pawpaws.

I read somewhere in the last few days where this person saves the dried stem ends of pumpkins to use for the pumpkins she sews. Another wonderful use for pumpkins. I never met a pumpkin I didn't like.

Diane in North Carolina

Kathy L. said...

So happy to hear you are getting back to normal. What a sweet post!!

Alice ~ Folk Art Primitives said...

Beautiful photos and so glad you're on the mend!!

Unknown said...

I saw one monarch yesterday. I'm growing milkweed in my garden like my mother before me. I even enclosed milkweed seeds with my Christmas cards this year. I have seedlings ready to get planted when the weather turns cool this week. I hope its not a hopeless cause!

Susie H said...

I've got lots of butterfly weed growing and being eaten voraciously by the larvae. Recently I even saw a pair of monarchs "dancing" through my yard. Makes my heart happy!

I think your "owl faces" look more like "pig snouts" ... please don't take offense. I love pigs!!!

So glad you're feeling well enough to be up and about your beautiful farm.

My Colonial Home said...

I loved this post!!!
Beautiful photos and those pumpkins just put me in the mood for Fall...it can't come fast enough for me.
So happy you are feeling better...sending more healing prayers.
Blessings
Karen

Becky said...

Happy to see your doing better Lori...
I need to start reading your post earlier in the the morning, they are always so uplifting. And I always learn something from you.

take it easy friend,
xoxo
Becky

woollabeast said...

Wonderful for you to be back in the land of Notforgotten Farm...H-O-M-E is definitely "where the heart is" and there's no better place! Blessings to you & your wonderful Peter & Hannah for taking care of you & keeping the homestead running while you've been on the mend. Love seeing your pumpkins already & gotta love our squirrel friends...they do know what is yummy indeed! WOW...100 black walnut trees (lucky lady)...haven't played among those groves since I was a kid growing up in southern California when there were miles & aisles...grove upon grove as far as the eyes could! All that wonderful agricultural space is at a premium now & almost gone there...sad! Feel better & better each day Lori. Woolly Warmest Hugs, Diane