Yesterday was dark and rainy--really dark--as the remnants of hurricane Florence moved up the coast. I was glad for the rain, because now I don't have to water my plants for at least a few days.

I drank lots of tea and finished reading The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson--so good! A spooky novel that is far more than just a story. So much to think about and record in my notebook.
 

Do you make these "Apple Babies" on autumn days? Peel and cut two apples into eighths. Cut crescent dough triangles (the refrigerator rolls) into two long triangles each and roll each triangle around an apple slice. Place in pan and drizzle half a stick of butter over all. Generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pour a 1/4 cup of apple cider or orange juice in spaces around pan (not over the top of the apples/dough). Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. They are too easy and addicting. 

September is the month for rose bouquets at my house. My rose bushes always go crazy in September--wild and huge and producing continuous blooms. I cut at least a dozen stems a week.

The September sky can be darkly moody or so blue and bright that it leaves me breathless. I love the sky so much.

 The days are growing shorter, the nights cooler. The in-drawing-cozy-time has come.

 

 

I have taken out this cardigan project I started last spring. I am only knitting on it a little each evening, but maybe I will finish it this fall. The color of the wool doesn't photograph well. It is a true moss green.

These two never stop making me smile.

 Zach stringing-up. Always there is music at my house ♪

I have said before that I think Presley is really a prince in a dog suit. Look at those eyes. So much love and kindness for everyone. Except for when the skunk sprayed him in the face a few weeks ago. He was all dog then.

 I can't remember the last time I watched television. I watch the birds and animals instead.

 Look closely now:

 And look who is watching from the fence!


Leaf fall has begun.The leaves are just beginning to lose their chlorophyll.

The pond is splendid with purple loosestrife, orange jewel weed, goldenrod, misty mauve love grass, and wild aster.

It has taken me awhile to get going, but we have finally started back to our home school lessons this week. I think it is the latest we have ever started. But, better late than never, right?   

Love and roses,
Sue

Summer Journal: Gloucester

I'm here now. : ) Welcome to Wild Peace.

This is the first in a series of "Summer Journal" posts, as I have a whole lot of photos I want to put up from our summer days. Then, in the coming weeks, I intend to get back to more frequent posting (I know, I've said this many times before. Why do my best intentions often provide the worst results?). If you have followed me here and are still reading, thank you for bearing with me, my friend.

Gloucester is a half hour drive from our house and full of history and natural beauty. It's one of our favorite places to spend a few hours in any season. There is nothing quite like the summer-blue sky in New England.

Fishermen's Memorial Monument: "They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships, That Do Business In Great Waters; These See The Works Of The Lord, And His Wonders In The Deep." (from the 107th Psalm)

The Fishermen's Wives Memorial, unveiled in August of 2001.  The idea for the Memorial had been around since at least the 1930s. It was a long time in coming. Several designs and inscriptions were rejected. From Poetry of Places in Essex County: 

Leonard Craske, creator of the Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial, envisioned a sculpture of a woman as a companion piece. His model, displayed at the Cape Ann Museum, shows a woman clutching a bundled child, her gesture reminiscent of a ship's figurehead. Craske's proposed inscription was, "They also serve who only stand and wait." Years later, the renowned sculptor Richard Rechia (husband of Dogtown poet Kitty Parsons) designed a sculpture called, "The Widow of the Fisherman," a melancholy figure of a woman stooping to lay a wreath of flowers in the sea.

The Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association was not interested in either characterization of the role of women in the fishing industry.  Seeing themselves as doing everything but sitting around waiting, the Wives determined to commemorate their contributions, both in the past and in the future they work so hard to secure.  In 1996, sculptor Morgan Faulds Pike, the winner of the GFWA's international design competition, signed a contract to build her vision of The Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Memorial - a woman holding a small child in her left arm with her right hand on the shoulder of a standing child...The inscription around the base of the sculpture reads: "The wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of Gloucester fishermen honor the wives and families of fishermen and mariners everywhere for their faith, diligence, and fortitude."

Common Eiders

 Cressy's Beach at Stage Fort Park (lair of the famous Gloucester (Essex) Sea Serpent. A funny story: I picked up the bestselling book, The Essex Serpent this summer because I thought it was about our serpent. It wasn't. It was about a serpent in Essex, England!

Skate egg or mermaid's purse.

Love and roses,

Sue ♥