It's hard to describe…
What autumn in Arizona is like.
How springy it is and how it doesn't feel like October should be behind us.
It's like being discombobulated, intoxicated by the scent of abundant fall roses.
But also, the intense heat wanes, and you come back to life.
Slowly unwilting.
Greeted by glorious weather beyond compare.
Confused, rubbing your eyes, wondering what day it is?
Like if waking up from a deep sleep.
Where am I?
Slowly I spy autumn.
I want to do all the things that less garden chores brings.
I am taking little garden breaks this week after a very very long summer.
I have more time to do other things outside of the garden.
Of course I loooove the garden beyond measure.
But a break is so delicious.
Not having to bolt out of bed to tend garden, but instead sip tea, first thing in the morning.
So, I guess you can say, I am slowing down.
But only for a few days as the holiday rush makes my head spin.
What day is it, where am I?
You can see from all the new petals how the confusion could be quite grand.
And this too, I would have no other way.
It's like a secret garden, when it shouldn't be.
But it is.
Gifting glorious weather in Arizona.
I receive parcels.
Some with treasures from 1880.
Oh my, oh me!
Others with fabric and ribbon and clay.
So much to do, so much to do.
I am grasping.
Trying to do it all and take it all in and not let a morsel drop.
Alas, it's not possible.
I lay in the garden, on a warm sunny patch of earth, and just watch flowers sway.
It's sometimes all you can do.
Stop and smell the roses, hmmm, what a concept, haha!
Linens and linen closets beckon.
The evening chill even lets me grab flannel.
I take everything out, making some sense of things.
The cosmos continue on.
As though time is endless.
As though spring is eternal.
At times it seems like it.
As we eat fresh tomatoes in the garden today.
Wacky.
And yet….
And yet, there are small signs.
That it really is November.
I gifted one of my Jack-o-lanterns to the scarecrow today.
A fresh head should surely delight him, as he smiles amongst pecan trees.
There is mad fluttering everywhere, still.
Love it so.
It's a bizarre Arizona after-all.
It can not be denied, can it?
Wings in pumpkin head eyebrows 🙂
I do little drawings every night, on these lovely cool breeze evenings.
Forgive me if I posted these already, I can't recall?
Some slowly becoming other things.
Making their way to what is to come.
If I can get control of myself long enough….
To leave the garden and warm sun, and venture back into the studio.
I wanted to take a couple days off this week.
Alas, the chores of an adult human never cease do they?
But maybe tomorrow.
Yes, maybe tomorrow will be that day?
To pretend I am 10, with not a care in the world.
What is happening in your neck of the woods?
Oh, do fill me in ,won't you?
Love, Vanessa
post script:
I made roasted tomatillo salsa, it was unreal.
Used this recipe by Rachael Ray, just added a smidge of sugar to cut the slight tomatillo tart/bitterness.
I had to quadruple the recipe (lots of tomatillos) and it worked great.
I also used different chilies.
I really don't think you can go wrong whatever you use.
I also made enchilada pie, it was amazing.
Used this recipe loosly.
I made my own sauce with chilies and roasted peppers plus tomato etc.
It's a great recipe and you can change it up without fail.
This is a terrible night shot, forgive me.
But it will feed you for days.
You make it in a spring form pan, so when you release the form it looks like this.
Of course, you can make it in any pan, it doesn't "have" to be spring form.
You just won't take it out of the pan.
It was delicious, really.
And healthy too, for the most part.
I put foil over a cookie sheet and then put my pan on it, as it will boil over.
post post script:
If you are not on instagram, here is a funny little montage of me in the cottage loft, and the pups sad that they can't get up in there to take all my covers and give me a tiny corner of the bed, hee hee 😉
Love your pictures! They’re always a walk through somewhere new and colorful.
Always so beautiful. Always so inspiring. Always so baffling to me whose world is quite upside down from yours. 🙂
Vanessa:
We must be on the same wavelength. I blogged today about my garden in the warm, autumn Southern California climate. You just have to live in the desert to understand the beauty of our “second springtime.”
Your garden is full of golden glow and warmth.
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
I am sure your boy pups think you are being ‘mean’ to them when they can’t reach up to you in the loft. You do need some time away from your furry kiddo’s at some point. They look so forlorn down on their own couch. Ha! Just waiting for you to come down to them. They look like they are moping.
Yup, our weather is just like yours. Roses still blooming, my succulents are doing very well and multiplying at rapid rates. I had to separate a bunch of the baby plants from a few varieties of mother plants to let them have their own space. I can always sell them at my garages sales for a couple of dollars each. I think I separated ten smaller plants from each original plant. I am always on the look out for varieties of succulents I don’t have. And the leaves are falling fast from our five Liquid Amber Trees which leaves are turning to glorious golds and deep reds. And the smell of fall is so pungent and fragrant.
love and hugs,
Miss Teresa
OH! And your enchilada pie looks amazingly scrumptious!!!
Oh, me, oh my!….
And your darling girl sketches are so dreamy too!
Here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon the autumn leaves are so colorful it’s like being drunk on autumn wine. On rainy gray days the colors pop, on sunny days they glow. There’s been lots of windy days which make the leaves fly and twirl and dance. It’s at that perfect midway point where there’s lots of color above in the branches but plenty have fallen so that you can kick and walk in the colors as well – yellow, orange, plum, burgundy, pumpkin, red, cranberry, gold, brown, pomegranate, persimmon, and of course every possible shade of green. And when it rains, I’m drinking lots of tea, reading, and getting inspired to start some holiday crafting. Of course there’s laundry and dust bunny wrangling and the like as well, but let’s not think about that right now.
Reading your blog is such a pleasure for the senses!!
Love your pictures and your magical little world! Have a beautiful weekend.
What lush flowers, such a treat to see your pictures.
And up here in Massachusetts I just covered all my in-ground roses for the winter, and brought in the potted ones – how amazing this world is!
That drawing of the girl with flowers in her hair, honestly, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. A tiny little bit of perfection. I stopped and just stared when I first saw her (on Instagram, maybe?), and fell immediately in love.
Oh, and those pups of yours don’t fool us for a minute – they want us to think they are sad and forlorn and deprived, but we know just how spoiled they are! (Although, seeing them mope still make me think, “Ohhhh, poor little doggies!”, because I am a giant mush when it comes to dogs!)
Hi Vanessa! I’m visiting from Idyll Hours…Julie recommended your shop. I haven’t been to peek in yet because I got sidetracked by your post!!! lol! Oh, my! The garden, the cosmos, the tomatoes and pretty dogs. I will be back. Love!
Jane xx
Hello dear Vanessa… oooh, Autumn in your desert is sooo beyond beautiful!… love all of your flowers… and Cosmos were my sweet little great~grandmother Sarah’s favorite flower… they flourished in the New Mexico desert on their ranch just outside of Santa Fe… so I always plant some for her in my own garden too… I know she is looking down at them from Heaven and smiling… your fur babies look so sweet… but they want to come up in the loft with you… yes, they told me so… your drawings are lovely, and so is your stash of linens and flannels… and your enchilada pie… mmmm… wish I could just snatch some out of the computer right now!… xoxoxo… Julie Marie
As always..another wonderful post…Love the sweet faces of your drawings. Love your photos too.
You do have a beautiful life 🙂 and You are so blessed.I am thinking of the holidays and so glad that now that I’m older 😉 I’ve been finishing up holiday shopping so very early. I do want to get away from home this weekend-to the beauty shop, getting rid of the gray roots I’m sure will do My spirit good. Too bad they charge so much.I don’t do such a good job nowadays doing My own hair.I would though love to have white white hair. How did I get on this subject ; ) Love and blessings Denise
Yes, it’s been quite like summer in my neck of the woods as well. Mother Nature can’t decide if it’s fall or summer or spring. Cold Halloween, then now in the 90s with the desert winds coming our way. Lovely pics and writing as always Vanessa. xo Jen
We are having a bit of cooler weather here and the temps might drop into the 50’s…which is quite pleasant as I’m wearing my new PJ’s and drinking hot tea. I know, I know…I’m a big baby about the cool weather, lol. My family laughs because where I grew up, they are expecting snow by next week. ‘;)
I finally packed up my Halloween stuff but I’m keeping the pumpkins out and using the Thanksgiving Day holiday as a perfect excuse to keep them as decorations. I’m not ready for Christmas.
Today during my walk I collected a handful of leaves with russet, yellow, and golden-orange colors. That’s as much fall as I’ll see here in Florida.
Your garden still looks so pretty. I love butterflies. Enjoy the beautiful weather.
XO
I am so envious of your garden. Mine has long since gone to bed for the winter, michigan weather. I would love your weather but I am sure it would greatly hinder me getting anything accomplished inside the house and studio. The enchilada pie recipe sounds delish I’ll have to try it.
Xo
Kelly
Oh what magical things you must get in the mail! You must always share pictures of your treasures on here hehe hint hint. Oh how cute are your pups! They are such mama’s boys!
Love your garden pics. You have such a long growing season.
We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary by taking our daughter and the 2 grands to Pigeon Forge for the weekend. We spent time at one of my favorite spots in the Smoky Mountains at Cades Cove. We have had a colorful fall but so many leaves are falling now.