Yesterday was a glorious day! We’ve been waiting and waiting for weather like this: sunny and warm with a touch of breeze. Ah, YES.

The first thing I did was wash the sheets and put them on the line to dry. Nothing like fresh breeze-blown sheets!

We did some chores around the house and yard while Bella and Alex practiced being Siamese twins.

After a trip to the grocery store for supplies for dinner (BBQ ribs, coleslaw and corn) and a quick lunch we pulled Mia out and gave her a wash.

She was so shiny after her bath that I was compelled to grab the camera and started taking photos. The reflection of the trees on her hood was too good to pass up.

 

 

 

While taking these photos I realized that my reflection was there as well. I had fun snapping some silly shots. Can you find me?

 

 

After her bath we couldn’t just put her back in the garage on such a perfect ‘tops down’ day now could we? No! So we went for an hour’s drive.

We have several favorite routes that take us along wooded two-lane roads. And there is no such thing as a straight road where we live, so the little roads are perfect for Mia’s cornering abilities.

I like to shoot straight from the passenger seat on the sports setting for realism. Here is a sampling of our drive.

 

 

 

 

Read the sign!

 

The beautiful Warwick Valley (NY) in the distance.

 

A glimpse of Greenwood Lake, the largest lake in New Jersey which is shared with New York State. Our house is less than ten minutes away.

Today is supposed to be cloudy with some rain moving in later. We are planning on taking the dogs down to Green Turtle Pond then off to the opening day of the Warwick Farmer’s Market. I hope you enjoyed our Saturday!

Our little Mia has something to smile about: the spring-like weather we’ve had over the weekend. She got to stretch her legs on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday we drove down to Rockaway to do some shopping at the mall there and to eat at Red Robin for lunch. The drive there on Green Pond Road is fun in a small little convertible.

Sunday found us drawn like a magnet to the Warwick Valley Winery. Again, for lunch.

On the way to the winery is my favorite old barn. We have several different back ways of getting there and we usually go one way and come back another. Lots of twisty little roads just perfect for Mia!

Pizza with proscuitto, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and arugula.

We poured a little wine to go with it.

Now mind you, it’s not the best wine in the world, but decent. This light red is kind of on the fizzy side which gives you a nice little buzz. It wasn’t quite eating-outside-warm yet so we opted for inside.

We were going to work in the yard picking up limbs and sticks that the trees have tossed down but we ended up way lazier than that. Oh well.

How about another little glass of wine (white this time) while sitting in the sunshine in the back yard? Any takers? (Can you see Rick reflected in the glass?)

We did take Mia out for a ride yesterday after working in the yard blowing and picking up the final leaves. (And, duh, I didn’t take my camera so you will just have visualize this.)

It’s obvious that the weather is changing. Even though the thermometer read 60 degrees F, the sun was veiled by a thin layer of clouds making it feel not quite that warm. Plus, the smell of wood smoke from house chimneys as we drove along and the bare trees reminded us that it was not summer anymore. Even the very air itself feels different, expectant. Almost like at any moment it was thinking of switching the season over from autumn to winter.  I can’t fully describe it, but it’s there.

We passed a house we’ve gone by many a time on our route the back way to and from Warwick that has a large in-ground pool. Now they’ve converted their pool into a hockey ice rink!

Our main destination was the Warwick Valley Winery for lunch. I’ve mentioned before that we’ve eaten there many times over the summer. They have a wonderful café but it’s only open on the weekends. We ordered our lunch (grilled steak sandwich with truffle scented caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese for Rick; duck confit sandwich for me with melted brie, cranberry chutney and arugula), bought and opened a bottle of wine to drink. I always want to order their mussels in white wine but the idea of duck confit had me at hello. Anything duck: foie gras, confit, just plain old duck ... Next time it will be the mussels!

We wanted to buy some apple cider from one of the local apple picking spots (of which there are four in Warwick alone), so that is where we headed next. We had heard that Och’s Orchard has “the best,” so that is where we went. I’m not sure that Mia has ever had her feet on a real dirt road before as we try to avoid them whenever we can, but this one was an exception. Up the hill with farm fields dotted with rolled up bales of hay we went. We even drove over some cow manure that had been spilled in the road. Really, Mia! With the trees laid bare of their leaves it was now possible to see the beautiful undulating layers of swells and hills. Such a beautifully situated farm and orchard!

When we got to the top of the dirt road we passed the farm house and barn where several cats lay sunning themselves. Freshly laundered sheets hung on the clothesline in the yard. We were wondering if we had just driven into someone’s private driveway when we rounded the corner and the farm store came into view. When we went inside all we could smell were apples and apple cider doughnuts! Intoxicating! Many different kinds of apples were for sale in wooden quart containers. Some were labeled as “home grown” and some just “local.” I picked some Jonamac that were home-grown and smelled delicious. I was tying to avoid the apple cider doughnuts but Rick found them and put a half dozen in a bag. sigh. They are a seasonal treat around here so why not enjoy them?

They had fresh pie fillings in a plastic tube made from their own fruits: blueberry, apricot, blackberry and more. They even had big cheese pumpkins (the kind used for cooking and baking) that we’ve been searching for this year and could not find for making our annual pumpkin soup, but these were too big to fit in the oven! They still had some vegetables for sale too—even brussels sprouts on the stalk.

I think we’ll be coming back here again. Maybe for the strawberry U-pick-yourself season? All in all, a pleasant lunch and outing with Mia.

This morning we did a little grocery shopping and then took the dogs to the dog park and let them run around like crazy. Alex decided that at the grand old age of 9 he was really meant to be an agility dog and went up the A-frame with very little coaxing. Several times! He even went through a tunnel. Go figure! Bella loves to chase any dog that runs and there were plenty of those today so she got the best workout of all of them. Hailey just trots around looking for people to scratch her butt. Then we came home to make lunch.

Today for lunch we drank these: Apple Cider Mimosas.

Half champagne (we used Prosecco) and half apple cider with an apple piece floating in it. Yummy!

I made these roasted pears which were basted with a honey mustard and olive oil sauce topped with melted brie and chopped pistachios. Also yummy!

Hope your weekend was a good one!

The other morning this was all that was left as color on our burning bush hedge. I think the colors have intensified with the frosts we’ve had the past week. It was grey outside so the leaves took on their own persona. Pretty.

Early morning shadows on the back deck.

Our weather station was not recording rainfall amounts anymore after more than 15 years of hard service. It drove us crazy not knowing how much rain we got this past week. So, for Christmas we bought a new one. It was supposed to be saved and wrapped and put under the tree but we just couldn’t stand it any longer. Rick got it installed yesterday. Here is Sam having fun with the box. Sam does love his boxes!

Our turkey came out looking and tasting wonderful! In fact, our whole meal was one of the better Thanksgiving feasts we’ve ever tasted.

Bella and Alex thought the turkey looked awfully good too! Mom, are we getting any?

Our weekend weather is supposed to be glorious—sunny and in the 60’s so we are thinking Ms. Mia is definitely going for a drive. It might be the last chance for weather this incredible. After that it can snow a little if it wants to get us all in the Christmas mood.

We still need to run Johnny over the yard one more time for a final leaf pick-up, then he can be switched out to the snowblower. Right now it’s hard to imagine!

Misty early morning sunbeams through my nearly naked trees this morning.

Let me preface this post by first saying that we have had amazing weather for the past few days. Sunny, warm (60’s and yesterday 70!) and low humidity. Just glorious! It’s hard to imagine that we had 19 inches of snow a week and a half ago!

The time change is wreacking havoc with our inner clocks. The dogs too. Mia is not happy either as Rick realized when he took her to work with him on Monday that she doesn’t like driving in the dark. We’ll still take her out on nice weekend days, but she’ll have to stay home at night now, tucked into her cozy warm garage.

Autumn is usually so beautiful here in New Jersey. That’s why it’s such a let-down this year. In the 5 1/2 years since we’ve lived here, this has been the worst autumn in the way of color. As you can see by the photo above, our trees are pretty much done. Whatever they had left in them before the big snow (and it wasn’t much) is gone now.

They never really changed this year. The leaves curled up and fell off. Some trees did try but their colors were not vibrant, just dull and rusty looking. It must have been all that rain we had. Like a house plant that’s been over-watered the leaves just fell off.

The two big oak trees are putting on a brave show in the front yard now. Still, you can see how spotted the leaves are.

The burning bush hedge is pretty showy too despite the fact that many of its branches were bent to the ground with snow not that long ago.

I love it when the sun is shining through the leaves. It also cheers me up, like it’s saying, “C’mon Lynne, autumn hasn’t been so bad—look at me!”

Our yard needs attention this weekend in getting all the leaves picked up. Johnny is back now from the Deere Hospital. I hope he rested up. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him! After some rain showers tomorrow, the weekend looks bright and beautiful.