Sometimes you just have to post *something* to get back in the game.

It's been months since I've written anything here - I have so much to say, and catch up on, and yet only have about five minutes free, so I can't really do any actual catching up.  But, in order to get over the paralyzing "I haven't written in months" feeling, and be able to get on to some real posting sometime soon, I thought I'd better just say something, anything, to start back up.

Life has been going, per usual, at a crazy pace.  It was busy with a two-year-old and working, but somehow moving into our house brought about ten times more craziness.  We've had re-grading and landscaping to do, gutters to install, a new boiler is coming, lots of painting on the horizon; in short, the usual with any house, but our daily cup of activities surely runneth over. And then of course our state got slammed by a hurricane on Sunday.  We were very fortunate in that we had no ill effects from the storm - our leak prone basement didn't even have more than a few wet patches on the walls (which is remarkable, given that when we moved in every storm brought huge puddles on the floor; go gutters!)

It's hard to believe that the summer is nearly over, but every morning now brings a chill that quickly reminds me of how few weeks are left before it is truly cold.  Since for so long my year revolved to the 4-H calendar, our weather now is what I immediately think of as "Rutland Fair" weather; rapidly cooling, but with still warm days, still shorts and t-shirts most of the time, even if the morning is cool enough for jeans and a sweater.  It stands in sharp contrast to "Addison Field Days" weather, though, which is generally blazingly hot, tank tops, sweat, icy drinks, and the promise of a drenching evening thunderstorm.  We're not yet at "Eastern States Expo" weather yet, though, when you open your door early in the morning to a frosty smell in the air that hints of snow, and when modeling a woolen outfit suddenly sounds like an awesome, rather than tortuous, idea.

I haven't done much in the way of preserving this summer: see the rant above about being so busy, but I have found the time to start putting away the bounty of (intentionally planted, this year) cherry tomatoes that has begun to come in.  Aside from the tomatoes, and my herbs, which have done extraordinarily well, the garden was mostly a bust this year.  I don't know if it was the weather, the soil, when I planted, or just that I didn't choose varieties carefully enough, but almost everything "got" something.  The tomatoes have blight (though cherry tomatoes grow fast enough to stay ahead of it for most of the season).  The zucchinis were taken out by vine borers (after a good harvest of about six fruits).  The summer squash succumbed to powdery mildew (smaller harvest than the zucchini), and so did the pumpkins (which have yet to set any fruit, and most likely won't at this point).  Since it was too late in the season to plant much else when we moved in, it felt a bit like a failure.  But I've decided to turn it into a learning experience, and I definitely know what to look out for next year when choosing plants and seeds.

Overall though I'm really sad to see summer end this year.  For some reason fall this year is bringing all sorts of thoughts of mortality, and the shortness of life.  I'm excited about apple picking, Halloween, and walks in crisp fallen foliage, but I'm really, really not ready for the months of winter.  Not ready to be stuck inside all winter with an extremely energetic two-year-old (though fortunately, we've made a friend across the street); not ready to give up weekly walks to the library, my newly rediscovered love of running (but it's oh so hard to keep going once the snow builds up on the sidewalks), or frankly, to pack away my capris for jeans and wool socks.  But being inevitable, I'm trying to accept the season change gracefully, and find good in whatever comes my way.

Anyway, my five minutes has come and gone, so I'll wrap it up.  Soon to come, though, if I can find another spare minute here or there: yarn along updates, pictures of our house (and house progress), and other random ramblings!   I hope you all are well, and haven't completely given up on me.