Remembrances of Autumn At Home

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's the times 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 blossums 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 over-head!--
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 celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin' 's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! ...
I don't know how to tell it--but ef sich 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!

James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

Every year , as Fall approaches, I can't help but reflect of years gone by,how we welcomed the approaching seasons..Fall was always my favorite time of year, and it still is.
With it, comes memories of a wonderful life at the Wellman Home. I was the youngest of five children..and though my brothers and sisters could add a multitude of memories to this..but i will attempt writing about a few of my favorite memories .
With Fall came work , as all seasons do. Mom had several maple and elm trees in the yard as they provided needed shade in hot summers. They also had a lot of leaves that would fall in autumn! We would rake them all up in piles to burn on calm days , only to have to repeat the process a week later when more leaves fell. I would like to have a nickle for every leaf I removed from that yard! Of course..the fun part, was getting to take a running jump into the piles of leaves. Mom taught me a craft project of taking the prettiest leaves and placing them between waxed paper, then ironing them & trimming to make place mats for the table. Dad usually saw to cleaning up the garden and would burn the dried foliage of the asparagus field. Before he would do this each each...we would run down to the field and make mazes to run and hide in., usually scaring a few pheasants up. By Thanksgiving week, Dad and my brothers would go hunting for pheasants in the fields in back..all corn fed , they were nice and plump. We had a English Springer Spaniel named Pal...that would go along to hunt..but instead of retrieving the pheasants, retrieved the gun shell casings instead...but he loved going and came home all full of "cockle burrs" from the weeds, which sis and I had the fun of removing from his fur. I remember mom saying to my brothers, , " The skillet is ready, what did you bring home ?" Sometimes it would be pheasant..other times squirrel or rabbit. We never went hungry.
By Halloween, we would be baking cookies, making candies, or home made doughnuts for trick or treaters. Mom had a long dining room table, on which she place Halloween treats and a centerpiece that usually had some late blooming mums , pumpkins and such. her treats had cards next to them with the name of the Halloween treat..Graveyard Crunch, Monster mush, ghosties,Bat Bait , mummy eyes, Vampire's teeth , wormy spider apple cider and more...Mmmmm! Can you guess what they really were? People today still talk about Grandma Wellman's treats on Halloween...one of the last places I knew that still offered the real thing for treats! Times changed though and safety was an important factor in that change.
On Thanksgiving Mornings, mom already had the stove going and her home made breads and pies baking...a wonderful smell i will never forget! I will share some of these recipes here on the blog, that you too can make some yummy memories for your family .
Fall Gourd Garland with Bittersweet Sprays

Made easily by using brown shoe polish in predrilled dried gourds, I strung them on cording and added artificial bittersweet from Walmarts and natural raffia tied on to the string garland as well. The gourds were sprayed with clear acrylic . I added the mini lights for some additional interest at night.

My Fall Halloween Tree.

Trick or treat!! This tree will greet lots of little gobblins at our home this year in the front foyer. All ornaments were made by hand by various artist of Sisters at Heart at www.delphiforums.com , and the witches shoes were made by folk art designer, Hazelruth a couple years ago. The lovely young lady in the background is my mother in 1926, Junietta Wellman, taken the year she was married.