Where there is life, there is hope

dum vita est spes est.  (Latin: "Where there's life, there's hope.")

I often think of this as I gaze out our windows or meander through our barn, aimlessly observing all that surrounds me.  We are surrounded by life - the human kids, bouncing goat kids, animals everywhere calling out in their raucous mixture of voices, trees in the yard and struggling orchard, plants in the garden.  And weeds in the garden.  Well, mostly weeds in the garden.  (You want to talk about vigorous life and unconquerable spirit....weeds.)
 
Despite weeds, one of our gardening joys this year was our pumpkin patch.

 We carved out a pretty big patch and grew a few heirloom varieties, including: bumpy bluish-green "Marina di Chioggia" an Italian variety, beautiful "Long Island Cheese"  my favorite for baking, "Black Futsu" a rare Japanese variety, "Musquee de Provence" the classic fairy tale pumpkin from southern France, and the slate blue "Jarrahdale" from Australia.

We also planted classic orange "Howden" pumpkins and white "Luminas" along with a mix of decorative mini pumpkins and gourds.  Due to the dry summer and early fall it wasn't the best year for pumpkins, but we did alright and enjoyed fall decor that then became a parade of pies and pumkin breads and butter.  We still have some pumpkins keeping nicely in the cellar, so the parade will continue for awhile!