The Day After

We are okay, though emotionally/physically a little worse for ware. No structural damage or flooding this time. We, our town for the most part, are very lucky. Our waterfront & harbor were anything but. The coast of NJ has been devastated beyond imagination.

Thank you all so much for your caring concern shared with me on my previous post. I can't begin to tell you how much it helped me through.

My love and prayers to all affected and devastated by Sandy!!!
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Halloween Party

Dear Friends,

It is with Vanessa's blessing that I am extending my apologies to all of you for not having my A Fanciful Twist Halloween Blog Party post ready for you.
Hurricane Sandy is looming and we've cut our Autumn/October vacation short to prepare both of our homes, one in the mountains of Northwest NJ, the other 85 miles away & our full time home, a mile in-land from the coast in East Central NJ. So much to do! And while we are pretty much done here in the mountains, there's much more to do down on the coast.

I am utterly disappointed over not joining all of you tomorrow! I have joined in for the last 4 Vanessa has hosted and look forward to it as October draws near as I not only have a deep affection for all things Autumn, but for Halloween as well!

Also with Vanessa's blessing, I will have a belated post up and visit yours just as soon as I can!

For those in Hurricane Sandy's path: prepare asap, be safe & join me in praying/wishing (or whatever it is that you do!) that we're all spared the worst!

My love to all! XXOO
-Jo
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Wordless Wednesday

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Who Says Rainy Days Are A Wash Out?!

This afternoon, we took a "Let's see where this road goes!" ride which lead us about 10 miles south of our place. We had lunch at a cozy, albeit chilly, lakeside tavern where we had corn chowder & fried pierogies with sautéd onions & sour cream. Then we explored a State Park we'd never been to before, which was all but deserted except for one occupied camp site and a few park workers dismantling lake's beach docks for Winter prep. Despite being in the upper 60s to low 70s, the air was raw and we were both cold enough lakeside to put our sweatshirts back on. The peace & quiet was serene, but overall the State Park seemed a lonely place. I imagine 'in season' it's anything but!
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Yesterday we headed over to Millford, PA to visit Grey Towers, the summer home estate of the Pinchot family. Their son Gifford was the first Chief of the US Forrest Service and two time Governor of PA.

What an incredible setting! What we saw of the grounds through our tour and just by walking around, along with the outside of the home itself, were spectacular, as were the views which looked out over Milford strait into Northwestern NJ. A little disappointing the tour only takes you into three rooms in the seemingly massive house, before going back outside; even more disappointing (to me because of my well known love of gardening) was coming to find out that the area of original garden for the house (roses, vegetables, etc) lies on a portion of the property that is still within the family (and therefore private) and is no longer in existence. There were pictures of it in one of the albums you could flip through during the tour.

Aside from the spectacular Autumn foliage & overall outdoor setting of Grey Towers, the best part of our time there was running into our coastal town's former library director and having a rushed yet joyful hello! (Which I do think annoyed mine & Hubby's tour guide, but apologies! I couldn't not break away for a moment when I saw her! She is one of the most delightful & wonderful people I've ever known). Of all the places to run into someone who lives in the same small town you do?! We couldn't get over it!

After watching the sun come up this morning, we spent some time doing errands and then after lunch Hubby re-sealed the roof and we broke down the area I've tried making into a garden since 2010. One of those nice, productive days at home. Next year I'll try something different, in a different spot, most likely in containers as our soil here is too full of bedrock to do much in the way of digging. I've made a good go of it in the spot we worked on today, to no avail, but I'm ok with that! We'll see what Spring brings. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the beauty of this Autumn!
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Ah Autumn!

These are just a few of the Many photos I've taken today! Autumn is stunning up here at our northern home and I'm nearly besides myself. We're here for a little over a week, arrived yesterday. A nephew has been staying with us so he's at home on the coast kitty sitting and Hubby was able to schedule off from both jobs. There are chores to be done here with Winter coming, but overall we're here to relax, especially Hubby, who truly deserves it. Our little camper on the lake in the mountains is such a comfort, I can't begin to tell you.

As the moon sets, we're sitting by the fire, warming our hands with mugs of hot spiced cider. I hope you're enjoying your Saturday evening, wherever you are, whatever you're doing!

Be sure to stay tuned to New Jersey Through My Eyes as well for more Autumn photos (some of which I posted today).
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In My Garden Today: Garden Walk Thursday

Taken this morning & pictured above: Rosa 'Pope John Paul II' (white rose), Knock Out Rosa 'Radrazz' (with Halloween decoration), Knock Out Rosa 'Radcon' (pink rose bud).

Roses in Autumn, is there anything much more delightful than that?!

Roses in Autumn are my favorite blooms, each one a cherished present before the garden sleeps for Winter.

What are your favorite Autumn blooms?

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Wordless Wednesday

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Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Taken Sat. on our front porch while enjoying the warmth of the sun on a chilly Autumn day!

At least I hope it does!

Hello dear friends!
Apologies for my absence here. I caught Hubby's awful cold & bronchitis and while I've had it since 9/30 when I awoke with the dreaded scratchy throat, it's been especially rough since 10/4. (That night I went to the doctor as I'd gotten progressively worse throughout the day).

I've been here at home for the most part, (talk about 'cabin fever' - ugh) trying to get some purging & organizing done when I'm able, resting when I'm not. My writing, what I have from my high school & college days, to the present is now condensed, past writings & journals in my closet, present projects in a bin which now sits on our pc desk. Speaking of my closet! The world must be coming to an end as it too is now neat & organized after purging! The entire shower is also clean enough to lick. Not that anyone would, but, well... It is.

On Thursday, I began journaling ideas for new columns here at Diggin' Around and I've come up with a few I'm excited about: "The Joy Of Home" which will be about how important our home is to me, especially during times of ill health, and the changes I'm making now as my tastes are changing; "Off The Shelf" will showcase what I'm reading & reviews of what I've read (instead of just using book titles as the post title); through "Mug Love" I'll share with you photos of my favorite mugs because I really do have a special place for them in my heart and I know many of you collect mugs & teacups like I do. Of course these will be in addition to long standing columns like: "Upheaval Into Revival," "In My Garden Today," "Wordless Wednesday," "(Not So) Wordless Wednesday, "Friday Favorites," "Living With Disease" and so on.

I've also been trying to come up with a new nickname for our home. I know, a tad silly, but these are the things my mind comes up with when sick! Last year, if you'll remember, I started calling it Pumpkin Manor because of my love of Autumn & Halloween, but this year it doesn't seem to fit for me, especially the "Manor" part. But, what to call our 804 sqft apartment home with humble back yard, garden & front porch areas? Twitter friend @modernmiagarden (click here for her delightful blog) suggested Bloomin' Retreat. If our home wasn't also Hubby's part time job (meaning he's the on-site manager for the complex we live in), "Retreat" might've fit. I came back with Bloomin' Bungalow, which she said she loved, but I'm still on the fence. Frost On The Pumpkin also came to mind.

Longtime, cherished bff G (aka @mezz98) was right, my heart was broken by the loss of my father.in.law.  And it still is.  And mom's stroke... But, it's time to reclaim myself.  Again. Make myself strong again as the holidays are just around the corner and they're going to be tough to get through this year.  Starting with my writing, blogs & home is helping.  (Finally getting over this darn cold & bronchitis will help so much more!)

It's a super balmy, Spring-like day here on the coast; more or less a repeat of yesterday. Not quite Indian Summer. A wee bit warm for me this time of year either way. Thank goodness for the gusty breeze! Rumor has it rain & t-storms are on the way. It's one of those days that makes you wonder exactly what Mother Nature has in mind... At least it makes me wonder! (I've become too preoccupied with weather in recent years and not because of gardening).

Friday we'll head to our northern home for over a week and now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm quite excited! We haven't been up since early September & it feels like months, not weeks. A nephew will be kitty sitting & holding down the fort while we're away. (He's been staying with us since September).

So much to do before we leave! And I have to get my annual A Fanciful Twist Halloween Blog Party post ready!  Time to get started. I've taken Benedryl & have Fabreeze allergen reducer spray in hand: Battle with the dust bunnies under our bed to commence!

Have a lovely day and there will be more from me quite soon!

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