P.S.-Pooh Says...
"What day is it? - 'It's today' - squeaked Piglet. 'My favourite day' - said Pooh."- A.A. Milne
Suddenly Fall! The chill, despite a few warm teaser days, is settling in...to stay! The leaves know it, the squirrels know it and the left behind flip flops at the back door remind me every morning -Forget it...Go grab a sweater!!! Welcome to SweaterGirl Season.
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Don't get me wrong, I adore Fall. It just snuck up on me this year.
September kept me in open toes and little skirts without even a glance
at the sweater bins. With the top down everyday and the windows open
who thought about cables and cardigans???
New England,however, insists on dropping leaves and acorns on us, reminding us that socks and scarves may be a good idea! In a blink of an eye the hydrangeas are gone, hanging their heads amidst sad lost leaves. What choice but to embrace the change...
look up at the glorious October sky and Run for the Needles!
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My Inspiration! Dive in!!
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My needles have been waiting for this...
they have been collecting summer dust and now is their time! Come on...Cast-On!
Cozy into a Cardi
Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin
"THE squirrels filled their little sacks
with nuts,
and sailed away home in the evening."
Attention Squirrels of Camp MoneyPit-you are hereby notified to vacate the premises... at once! Pack your bags and head on down the street old friends-your free ride here is over!
It isn't that I have any ill-will toward the residents with bushy tails, nor do I begrudge them their right to eat well or make a living selling their stolen stash from my gardens around the neighborhood, but I would prefer they scrounge, rummage, dig, turn-up and turn over beds, planters, containers and well-cared for plants elsewhere!
After a summer without color I was looking forward to the fall and autumn shades that dress my gardens. I discarded all the sad tired plants of June July and August and replaced with smiling pansy faces, fluffy white mums and fall daisies, and pink kissed flowering kale. Two days of clean up and planting later I came out the next morning to see find upturned containers and kale rolling down my drive...the Nutkins had a busy night! I scooped up and rescued what I could and once again replanted only to come out the next morning to find beds dug up, mulch scattered and pansies lying sadly along walkways. Come on guys how much nutritional value can there be in a pansy!
Each Columbus Day I enter into serious negotiations...not for a new business deal but with the winter residents of my gardens. The gardens at Camp MP have admirers but they are not the type who oooh and aaah and walk on...these admirers have fuzzy tails and think my gardens are a country club, dinner included! The ever populating bunch from the Nutkin clan have taught one another all the best places to shop, my gardens being the Bergdorf's of bulbs and the best winter fare. The squirrels and I have long discussions and I have always made every effort to hold up my end of the bargain..the squirrels,however--- So this has been the deal, if they leave my newly planted containers and bulbs alone they can feast on whatever they can shake out of the bird feeders all winter...Squirrels are not to be trusted! and this season they toppled their last cabbage! OUT!
Consequently I was not going to plant bulbs this year...who could blame me when the majority find themselves in little squirrel sized shopping bags being hauled into squirrel condos... but I can't resist!
Bulb planting is the special spot of a gardener's
soul-it represents the hope and optimism that every gardener holds.
While the leaves are still turning and the sky is a glorious blue I dig
and place and tuck my bulbs in with a kiss for a long goodnight. I admit
I often forget where I placed them, which is actually part of the
joy...to walk by a section of the garden and see a group poking their
heads up is the reason I plant. Winters in New England can be long and
cruel so the first sprout of a leaf tip through the cold and icy ground
is a gift that I would not trade for anything.
Once again this year I am continuing my blue and white theme...parrot tulips, peony tulips, grape hyacinth, narcissus, muscari, scilla...I love them in patches and not neat rows. Bulb planting can be addicting! Pick a
corner that is visible come spring and plan around color...what do you
want to see first? Group them in clusters of color...don't plant one
tulip here and one there...show them off together. Dig an appropriate
sized trench and place them. You can add bone meal or bulb booster but
be warned...The Nutkins love that, like whipped cream for them!
So Nutkin entourage you may do your best to wreak havoc in the gardens of Camp MP but I will plant on! while you have been asked to Move On!
I have held on to summer much longer than usual this year. Not my fault that the weather has been top-down perfect, but eventually even those of us who don't deal with reality and the passing of time will have to acknowledge that the days are growing shorter and the leaves are turning brilliantly. Sure the hydrangeas and the roses are still pushing out blooms, but when every store already has tinsel and snowmen on display I think even I have to take a good look at the calendar and admit that Summer is really gone...for now!
For most folks Labor Day weekend marks the end of the sand between your toes season, but for New Englanders we hold on as long as we can, knowing what might be ahead. So we stretch it out, postponing the inevitable. Come Columbus Day weekend, however, we really do have to give up and give in...the closets are turned over... the pansies, kale and mums are nestled in between the gourds and pumpkins...bulbs are tucked in for a long winter's nap...the storm windows are being unearthed and next the courtyard furniture will be covered and stored away. Fall is here and that really is not a bad thing---magnificent color against sparkling skies, and yes! for the knitting needles it is good to have true sweater weather.
Sure I will continue to throw the top down, pop on sandals when the temperature is over 60, and have lunch outside or sit in the gardens with a book til frost kisses the hydrangeas goodbye, but I am ready for cozy knits and the crunch of leaves under foot, the crisp mornings and the smell of a fireside...let's see how long I can hold on to October! Just in case though the Flip Flops are still by the back door... and oh by the way the boys are still playing baseball so clearly the baseball gods agree- we should never rush the seasons!
I am having a serious Cape Crush these days -
This is not my first Cape Crush and certainly won't be my last! Of course when I think of a classic Cape that can only mean Bonnie! Bonnie Cashin truly was the originator of American Sportswear and she defined cape style with her sweeping bold fabrics,tweeds, houndstooths, plaids, herringbones, checks...in great colors, with her signature details of turnlock closures, buckles, drawstring ties, coolie collars, leather trim, great linings and pockets, fur collars and cuffs...
Bonnie Cashin Cape, Fall 1966. Photograph: Francesco Scavullo via
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Capes have been all over the editorial spreads this year and they all owe a dramatic nod and bow to Bonnie!
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion”
Henry David Thoreau
Cinderella may have preferred the golden coach over the humble pumpkin and mice
but this time of year I am searching for the perfect pumpkin...
...and not
necessarily the kind you place on the porch--I am crazy for the color
pumpkin! and am on an endless hunt for the perfect pumpkin orange yarn to knit with.
October is my favorite month-filled with the glow of leaves dressed for best, baskets filled with apples, branches of bittersweet, and my favorite sound in the world-crunchy leaves underfoot as I shuffle through the biggest piles I can find. October is filled with so many special memories and yesterday while visiting the farm I was pinned back in time by the amazing aroma of cinnamon donuts filling the air mixed with the scent of leaves and mums and apples.
Of
course October also means Pumpkins! and hunting for the perfect pumpkin
has been an October pursuit of mine for as long as I can remember. I have my favorite pumpkin patch haunts which I am happy to say that most are still around but now the variety is overwhelming.
So many of my October memories revolve around pumpkins-I can remember scooping out a big pumpkin filled with slimy seeds and roasting them in the oven then filling a simple envelope with salty seeds to send off to my brother at college--wonder if they ever made it to Maine without falling out all over the post office.
When I was growing up pumpkins and pumpkin carving were pretty simple affairs--two triangles for the eyes, an upside triangle for the nose and a jagged mouth--not so any more--pumpkin carving as we know is now an art. With such a variety of pumpkins and gourds-especially the white pumpkins the possibilities are endless.
I love them as centerpieces filled with autumn color, piled high as topiary at entries painted,decoupaged,pierced,sculpted,glowing, flocked--and even Chinoiserie -
Much like Linus I believe the perfect magical pumpkin exists but I love the pumpkin that needs a home-the one that may not have all the features to make the cover of Martha Stewart, the one that stands out from the patch and says Happy October!
"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." Linus
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