I love this time of year when the bees get sleepy and are slow enough for me to get some photos.

hmm ... I don’t know which lavender stalk to choose ... maybe I can keep my back legs on this one and my front legs on the other one ...

look out! incoming flight preparing to land ...

... there’s nothing quite like falling asleep high atop a fragrant lavender stalk ...

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P.S. Since a few of you had to scroll to see the whole vertical frame of the photo (I had a private comment too), I’ve gone back to the old format for vertical photos for now but centered them instead. I’ll have to have my computer guy take a look and see what he can do about making them a touch smaller. Thanks for your input!

P.P. S. Rick added an additional feature to the blog. Now you can see how many comments you’ve left compared to others. You can also look at what I wrote in previous years on this exact same date. Kind of cool—check it out in the sidebar!

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I went to Skylands (New Jersey Botanical Gardens) the other day. It’s something I like to do at different times of the year. I was hoping for fall colors but they weren’t really around just yet. It’s pretty empty of people during the week unless they are having a wedding at the manor house. Which reminds me, have you ever caught the reality show Masters of Reception? It’s a show about a family of caterers based here in New Jersey and they use Skylands Manor as a venue for weddings all the time. It’s kind of fun to watch the show when it’s taking place only miles from your front door. I think they just aired the last show of the season but you can probably catch it on reruns. It’s actually pretty good. If you want to see real New Jersey people in action, this is it. Not Real Housewives of New Jersey! Except that I know many of the locations and restaurants that were featured on Housewives. Real locations. Not so sure about all the housewives. Some, yes. Others maybe not. But, I’m getting off the track here.

Skylands is a peaceful place of wide grassy lawns and plenty of places to sit and relax. Many exotic and different species of trees not indigenous to the area were brought here by the original owner of the manor house, and today they are all thriving.

It was supposed to be a sunny day but the sun kept going in and out of passing clouds, so I was a bit challenged photographically speaking. It was pretty breezy too with little micro gusts of wind at times, which is never good for trying to photograph flowers. But I clicked my camera to the sports setting and persevered. Some flowers were still blooming in their perennial garden.

I came across two women who were had their easels set up and were painting en plein air.

I asked one of them if I could take a peek at their work. She said sure. Her left hand was clutching five or six brushes loaded with different colors of paint; her right hand daubing paint onto the canvas board as we chatted a bit.

I told her how I wished I could paint and that my Father had been a really good artist but that I was disappointed I had not inherited his talent. In fact, that I had two left hands when it came to drawing and painting and such. Since her hands were already full she lifted her chin and gestured in the direction of the camera hanging from around my neck. She said “You take photographs though, right?” I nodded and said “Right, but it’s not the same.” She shrugged as if to disagree.

As I walked off and left them to their painting, I started thinking about what she had said and that maybe she had something there after all. I may not be able to draw or paint but I do express myself artistically through my photography. Bad or good, like them or not, my photography is as much an expression of me as a painting would be. What I see when I look through that camera lens and what other people see looking through the same camera lens may be very different things. The capture I end up with is uniquely mine. Sometimes my fingers itch to commit to paper a certain scene or flower but they never follow through. They just don’t deliver. The camera does. The world is my canvas, all the things in it are my paints, and my camera the brush.

Here are the nuts that keep falling out of the trees. I don’t know what they are but this is the first year we’ve had them. Acorns, yes, usually tons of them, but these I have no clue. They don’t actually have an edible nut inside from what I can tell. Take a look and tell me if you recognize them. The green ones are freshly fallen.

I am not joking when I tell you I can hear them hitting the across-the-street-neighbors’ deck—even in the middle of the night. It can’t be acorns; they are too small to make that much noise when they hit. It’s very bizarre! We’ve lived here for three years and never had them, or at least not to this degree that they are constantly plonking down and threatening concussion if they hit you on the head. Very curious ...

That was the nut half of this post, now on to the recipe!

Last week’s distribution from our CSA included acorn squash. We made Rosemary-Scented Risotto in Acorn Squash Cups the night before last with one of them. It was delicious! Such a nice autumn dish. I just love any kind of squash.

The squash cooks in the oven for 45 minutes while you make the risotto.

Don’t be afraid of making the risotto. It’s easy! All it asks is just a hand to stir it and for you to pay attention to it. The recipe (if you follow the link) does not call for this ingredient but we think it’s important in a risotto. Vermouth.

And no, not for drinking, for adding to the rice as it’s first liquid to soak up. I think Julia Child was famous for tippling her Vermouth, wasn’t she? I prefer a nice crisp glass of Chardonnay by my side while I tend the risotto. Anyway, Vermouth is paramount in my opinion if you’re going to make a good risotto. Pour it on and let it soak it all up before starting to add your broth. Just stir and add more broth as it gets incorporated. Repeat until rice is done. When I am making the risotto I slip another splash or two of Vermouth into the broth about ten minutes before I think the rice will be done. Rick doesn’t, but I do. So I wonder why he always thinks my risotto tastes better than his? Was it that splash of Vermouth or was it just because someone else made it?

Ladle the risotto into your cooked squash halves and enjoy! We’ll be making this again soon.

There is something special about the quality of light at this time of year. It’s soft. Golden. The sun dips lower and lower and barely makes it above our trees. In the morning the light sifts through the trees creating glorious sunbeams. It shines through droplets of water leftover from the previous night’s rain, and a spider’s web.

The pool, now closed for the winter, never makes it into the full sunlight.

The hours of sunlight we can count on having each day get fewer and fewer. Night falls faster and faster. The sun is reluctant to wake up. Prepare to spend more time inside it seems to be saying.

The moon takes over the sun’s job and also rises through the trees, bathing the yard in its pale shimmery light.

I don’t know about you but I am taking in all of this golden light that I can!