#WeekendCoffeeShare: Harvest, Halloween and Live Music

Good morning on this chilly Saturday! It’s definitely the season for All Things Pumpkin, so we’ve got plenty of pumpkin spice, or if you’re feeling adventurous, there is caramel apple or maple bacon coffee. Come on in and get comfy.

How was your week?  We are actually HOME this weekend. We’ve been camping just about every weekend since we returned from out west (no complaints here!) but this weekend we had no trips planned. A good thing since I will be working much of the weekend. And of course the weather is supposed to be nice. I have a project with a deadline of next Friday and it’s something I’ve never tackled before, so paranoid me will be over-preparing. 

I had every intention of doing a coffee share from the campsite last weekend (even took the perfect pic) but I could never carve out the time. It would have been a bit of a challenge, as I’d be doing it all from the WordPress app on my phone. I had a mobile signal but I can’t tether my laptop off my phone with this new plan, so I didn’t bother bringing it. I’ll try it next time. 

So fall is here and we welcomed the autumn equinox with a campfire as we usually do. But this year it’s been tougher getting into the spirit. Not surprising seeing how our lives have basically been turned upside down since March. I usually start decorating for Halloween September 1st, but the boxes are still in the attic. I don’t know how many trick or treaters we will have, if any. But we will do our usual thing, we set up in the driveway with lights, decor and our portable fire pit. This year I plan to put the candy in a cauldron and distribute it to the kids using a soup ladle. I figure that’s about as much of a contactless Halloween I can provide. We’ll see what happens. It’s put a damper on my Halloween spirit for sure.

On a positive note, I harvested my small garden and was thrilled to see that I got peppers after all! I thought my plants would not produce since I planted too early and we had a few frosts. But I got some small peppers and one green pepper so far.

I used them in a traditional Hungarian dish, lecso (pronounced LETCH-oh).  My dad was Hungarian and I remember this dish growing up but it was way too hot for me. Now, a lover of spicy food, this has become my FAVORITE. It will be SO good on a cold winter day.  It’s tomatoes, Hungarian wax peppers, sweet peppers, onion, garlic, salt, sugar and of course paprika.

I saved the seeds from my peppers which I will let dry and I hope to start them again in the spring. It would be neat to have generations and generations of grandpeppers. My garden will be getting an overhaul, I’m looking into greenhouse type systems to protect against both critters and the mess I have to clean up when my maples drop their helicopters.

Last night we were treated to some live music on the lake! I mentioned in my last blog post that I frequently kayak a local lake and have paddled back to a group of musicians set up on the veranda of the historic comfort station. Bill and I rode out to dinner, and on the way back, I suggested we stop to see if they were there. We were in luck!

I got to speak with some of them before we left and learned they actually come out every day, and there is a group of people that play, which varies from day to day.  They are the Newburgh Jammers, after Newburgh Pointe Recreation Area, where they play. They also have a YouTube channel. How fun.. And it’s so neat to come paddling in to the boat ramp or just float for a while and listen to music. 

Well, I must be going, I hope to get as much done as early as possible. It will do my anxiety good. 🙂  Great to see you! I’ll be sure to stop by for coffee as I come up for air throughout the weekend. Stop by Eclectic Ali’s and join in the conversation!