Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Pumpkins & Frost

"When the Frost is on the Punkin"
By James Whitcomb Riley. 1853–1916

WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries—kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!—
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yaller heaps;
And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With theyr mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage too!...
I don't know how to tell it—but ef such a thing could be
As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me
I'd want to 'commodate 'em—all the whole-indurin' flock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

I love Autumn. My friend Ginny even likes the sound of the word Autumn. :) We were talking and she mentioned something made with pumpkin. I said, "That sounds really good!!" She wondered out loud if there was anything with pumpkin in it that I did not like. I love pumpkin... Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin fudge, pumpkin crunch, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread.... and the list goes on. With that in mind, today was a GOOD day!!! :)

We had friends come over to milk tonight. They milk and keep the milk from Buttercup. They brought me this....


That my friends is pumpkin fudge. YUM!!!!! When we lived in Florida, we used to go to the mountains each Autumn to see the trees in color and to pick apples and to just enjoy the cool crisp air. I always found someplace that sold pumpkin fudge. We would buy just a little bit, but oh it was so wonderful. Now, I live in Ohio and I don't have to go to the mountains to experience Autumn (although I would rather be there). However, I can't always find pumpkin fudge. Thanks to these friends, I can check that item off my Autumn list. :) It is wonderful by the way Rachel!!! Michael said (yes, I did share) that he thinks it tastes like pumpkin icing. Then we were invited to the Wonderful Neighbors tonight. The WN Girl (the apron sewer) made pumpkin crunch!!! YUM!!!!! So, I got to have a piece of that with some coffee. Today is a good day!!! :)

We had some visitors last weekend and they brought us this HUGE butternut squash. I left my coffee cup in the picture so that you could see how big this thing is. I have plans on cooking it up this week. They keep really well.

The same friends who brought us the fudge also brought us these wonderful tomatoes from their garden. We got all of our tomatoes put up, and then all the plants died including the slicers. They just picked another seven 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes. :)

My allergies were really acting up yesterday, but they did much better today. We may get our first frost tonight. The low is supposed to be around 34. BRRRR..... It is still too early to light a fire though. So, I just add layers.

4 comments:

Peggy said...

As much as I love fudge I have never had pumpkin fudge. I am going to have to check it out! You have the most awesome neighbors!!

Rachel said...

Glad you liked it! :-) And how nice of you to share, LOL!
Hey is it cold in your house?
Rachel

LadySnow said...

Autumn is my favorite time of year! I absolutely adore the colors, the crisp air, and the crunching of leaves underfoot. And now..I love watching my children play in the fallen leaves. As for pumpkin things...I have come to appreciate it. As I child I was not a fan, but I like to try new things every year. Hmmm...I need to find a gluten free pumpkin recipe of some kind to make for Brian. :-)

Oh..I thought you would find this funny. Brian (and everyone else) is now required to wear suits to work. Today was the first day and when I asked him about it...he said, "It looks like mafia headquarters." LOL

Barb J. said...

I've never tried pumpkin fudge... interesting. It looks yummy!