fall around the farmhouse

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

- F. Scott Fitzgerald -

It's that magical time of year in New England.... fall! 

As I wrote in my last post, fall is a three-month ceremony of change and beauty.  It's more than a season, it is a spiritual ritual.

I've been taking photographs to share with you for a while and have compiled them together for this post.

This is the magic that is fall around the farmhouse.....

The sun setting as seen from the front porch.

The stone beehives at the entrance.

The antique stonewall along the road.

The kitchen dining table with its jarrahdale pumpkin and miniature white pumpkins on the mantel.

  There is so much color and beauty outside I like the interiors to be very simple this time of year.

Menu board from last Sunday's lunch with friends!

The front porch.

The front porch with fall pillow covers.

(a "favorite detail" of mine is to use down-filled pillow forms in all pillows on the three covered porches- it always feels so luxurious to sit in an exterior chair with a down pillow!  (and yes, they hold up/weather beautifully.... well, maybe not if you're in Houston or Baton Rouge :):)

View down the drive.

The front meadow.

Sweet Ella with her always-wagging tail!

This is our largest and oldest antique maple tree on the property.  It is at the entrance from the road and it will sometimes "weep" from the hole in the tree seen in this photo.  It always reminds me of the spigot in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" (remember that scene?!) as it never did this before we started tending and gardening the beds and grass around it!

The drive up to the front door.

"Little Red" that was Dan's birthday present last year wasn't pleasing the groundskeeper (aka Dan) and was traded in for the much bigger Ferris that has a larger cutting width (61" instead of 48") and has a triple bag grass (and leaf;) catcher on the back.  The groundskeeper is very happy with new "Big Red!"

The lighting and colors were spectacular on this day!

Inside looking out....

You walk into the rooms of the farmhouse and they just glow!

View from the upstairs guest room.

View from the master bedroom.

In this photo you see a ladybug on the window sill.  Fall is also "ladybug season." ;)  They make their way into the house in droves and hide in the cracks and mouldings through the winter. Try as you might, there is not a thing you can do to prevent this so one just welcomes them as "good luck!"

View from the upstairs master bedroom porch.

View from the upstairs porch to the terrace.  The Nantucket Blue hydrangeas have turned pink, as they do in fall, but are still blooming away!  They've been amazing all summer.

You can see all the large (7-1/2' to 9' tall) evergreens that we planted in late summer in this photo towards the front meadow. 

Distant view to the hillside beyond.

The setting sun....

Hope you're still here (?), and hope your fall has been magical too!