Apple Season

As it is everywhere else, the Fall season at Lowfields means apples are ripe for the picking!  I have already peeled and frozen dozens of bags of apples for the holiday pies and Cutty's favorite applesauce.  But we aren't the only ones that reap the rewards of this time of year, the cattle do as well.   We have so many fallen apples in the orchard that I like to spoil the girls by feeding them this treat everyday while it lasts.  

Lowfields Miss Jane Bennett enjoying a fall treat!  

Hummingbird Vine

Even thought summer is over, there is still a bit of garden life left at the farm.   A friend of mine gave me this Hummingbird Vine that has taken over the garden bench by the shed!    I love both it's unruliness and beauty all at the same time.  

Hummingbird Vine 

Up close - love the small, bright blooms! 

Special Project: Rug Cleaning

I had one of my moments this week when an idea comes to mind and I have to do it immediately.  Now you may not think that cleaning a rug is a fun task, but to me it was!   It involved taking everything out of the morning room, cleaning the floors and then beating the rug.  Again, some might not find this invigorating but it was right up my alley.  

The rug is an old Kermin from the early 1800s and one of my favorite things.  And even though it's colors have muted and it's mostly in shreds, I still love it.   I have been dreading then day when I will have to get rid of it and find an equally fabulous replacement, so for now, I cleaned it up and hope it will hang on for a bit more!  

Cleaning in process...
Percy & Peanut take advantage of the open space and decided it was a perfect location for a nap!

After.. hopefully giving this beautiful rug a few more years of life!   

Excuse me, do you have the time?

If you are a follower of this blog, you are well aware of my obsession to "collect" things.  Whether it's antique Christmas ornaments or green books, I tend to become enraptured with an item and then it's my mission to find as many as possible.  Enter the clock collection.  

For me, I feel most at peace in my home when the rooms, shelves and walls all have a coordinating "theme".  There is something about the symmetry of it all that just makes things "tick" for me.  The dining room in the Main Hall has wall to wall shelves that has red books, lots of brass and my collection of clocks.   Below are the stories behind some of these lovely time pieces.  

Found this beauty at a yard sale.

Another flea market find, I purchased an entire box of clocks!
 I love the Fleur de Lis accents on this one. 

If I told you where this came from, I would have to kill you.  TOP SECRET! 

My friend Deborah found this neoclassical clock for me! 

This mantle clock was bought on Magazine Street in my hometown of New Orleans.  

Another great Deborah find! 

This is actually just a clock face that I found at a flea market in Zurich.

Another one from the box of clocks at the market! 

I found this lovely clock at my favorite consignment shop.  

The Perfect Scrambled Egg

At Lowfields, we have a new way to scramble our free range delicious eggs... the Gordon Ramsey way!  I found this technique online and it truly makes the lightest fluffiest most perfect scrambled eggs you have ever tasted!  You will wonder how you ever ate them without this cooking technique.  

Here is the journey to the perfect scrambled egg:  

It all starts here.. 

The ladies free rangin'

Whisk, Whisk, Whisk!  

I added a little cream cheese & chives, put it on toast with chives and
served it with some salmon and sausage links - perfection!  

Welcome Autumn!

With today being the first official day of Autumn, I felt it necessary to really switch gears and embrace the new season!  I always like to "theme" the arrangements I have in the house with as many things I can find that match the time of year.   Now that summer is over, it doesn't mean that I can't have beautiful fresh flowers with an "autumn" feel to them.   One good tip is to place them around other items of similar hue like I did with some of our potatoes from the garden.  By introducing both the flowers and potatoes to each other, they become fast friends and look like they were made to be together from the start!  

The sedum are in full bloom and a perfect autumnal flower.
I paired them with hydrangea and goldenrod, a beautiful bouquet!

A new friendship - fall flowers and potatoes.
Beautiful on the counter! 

It's that time of year...

It's a wonderful but busy time of year at Lowfields because of all the calves that are arriving daily.   So far we have 8 calves and one set of twins!  

One of the twins being bottle fed

Mommas and their babies

To-may-toe... To-mah-toe...

As the saying goes, you say to-may-toe, I say to-mah-toe...  and oh boy did we ever!  This season's crop of tomatoes from the garden went gangbusters.  Although late to start and ripen, we ended with a bounty bigger than last year.   There were too many to just eat as we went along, so I started the process of preserving them for the winter months.    The first batch I cooked down for sauce and then second batch I tried a new recipe that Nutmeg sent me for roasting them with garlic, fresh rosemary & thyme.     

The Tomato Bounty

Roasted with garlic, rosemary & thyme

Goodbye to Summer

Apologies for abandoning the blogosphere for the last month, the dog days of summer caught up with us in August and between our trips to Raleigh and the awful heat, we didn't have too many exciting things to share!

But we are back... and I felt it necessary to include one last "summer" post of the flowers in our garden, as they will soon slumber into fall & winter.    As usual, the cosmos outdid themselves this summer, we had thousands everywhere!

One last shot of the back garden 

Cosmos outside

Cosmos inside