23 Days of Summer

Summer is still going strong here in our little corner of the world. Tender, red tomatoes and crisp cucumbers are paying no mind that today is the First of September. I myself almost forgot that we will be changing seasons again soon enough. While I love Autumn with all my heart, I am relishing the few weeks of summer that we have left.

Mid-August, we took a much-needed vacation to Topsail Island, North Carolina. There was much fun, much rest, much food, and much photo-taking. We returned home rejuvenated and ready to kick-butt on our homestead again. (Though... I do miss seeing the sun rise over the Atlantic, every morning.)

Sunrise on Topsail Island - August 2015

There is still much to do, before I will feel comfortable welcoming Autumn (and with it all things pumpkin spiced!)... Wood to be split and stacked, another bedroom floor to be refinished, a fall garden to be planted (hopefully?)... All will be completed in good time. I have 22 days of Summer left.

This is Home.

A few days ago, I awoke to this scene, akin to something from a Jane Austen novel. The fog was still heavy, the crickets had retired, the morning birds were not yet stirring... Peaceful. Perfectly still. The view from my bedroom window, not unlike every other morning, the same, but with an unmistakable sense of solitude. For I could see no one, nothing beyond the front pasture, and yet everything. As far as my eyes could see, only my garden, my yard, my home. We were together alone, enveloped in a cocoon of mist, insulated from the outside world. This is home.