When I visited New Hampshire recently, one of the first things I wanted to do was get outside and take a walk.
Fortunately my daughter lives in a rural, wooded location with a walking trail nearby. We could have walked down the road to reach this trail, but we decided to take the (nonexistent) path through the woods instead.
We only got lost once, but at least we were headed in the right direction! The section of the trail we walked is only a small part of the 6.5 mile long path. No motor vehicles are allowed, but walking, biking, cross-country skiing, skating and fishing (it follows a river at places) are allowed.
There wasn’t much foliage to view, but this cool “tree tunnel” was interesting.
Walking Trail
Tunnel of Trees
Moose have been seen in this area and I would love to see one. On the other hand, I have heard about how they can be aggressive. It could be scary to come face to face with such a huge animal and have nowhere to hide but behind a tree!
Covered Bridge
This is the river that the trail runs parallel to. My daughter’s boyfriend was nice enough to take us out on his boat and we cruised up and down this section of the river. The water was icy cold!
Before I left on my trip north, I checked (and watered) all my plants and discovered that my croton is flowering! Pretty fluffy little off-white flowers are shooting off the tops of the big-leaved stems. Long ago I may have seen croton flowers, but if so, I had forgotten that they have flowers.
It’s Saturday morning already. I lost a few days this week it seems.
All my mornings begin with me making coffee for myself. While the coffee brews I take care of the cats. My two black cats simply want to go outside. I change their water and make sure there is food in the bowl.
Then I deal with Earflap aka Mr. Mites aka Bitey. He is the stray who adopted us a few months ago. He manages to fill his litter box every night, so I empty that. He gets special canned food, so I serve him breakfast. The porch door stays shut overnight so the raccoons won’t come in and eat his dry food, so I open it and give him his freedom. Usually he goes back to sleep on the chair inside the porch.
Earflap the stray cat
Two days ago I walked into the garage at 8AM and it wasn’t sweltering. I put the door up and a wonderful breeze hit me. As I walked into the driveway I stretched my arms and breathed in the air – something I haven’t done in months. Trying to breathe outside here in summer is like slowly drowning. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit but the humidity here is stifling – 24 hours a day.
I hadn’t been back to my old home town in New Hampshire in over a year, but recently I took a trip to New England.
I expected to see some nice fall foliage, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. Probably because of the unusual heat and humidity that Hurricane Maria dragged up from the south. At least the air was crisp and clear by the time I arrived and I certainly enjoyed that. Sleeping with the window open at night – ahhhh, heaven.
My daughter and I took a trip to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and visited Castle in the Clouds. The weather was incredibly perfect. It was a Monday, so there were very few visitors, which was also wonderful.
I’ll share a few photos here, and if you are ever in New Hampshire and it’s beautiful weather, I suggest you visit this place.
We began our visit with lunch at the horse stables turned restaurant, and what a view the horses used to have! You can see the old stables and the new seating area at the restaurant in my image below.
Horse Stables Turned into a Restaurant
Inside seating includes tables within the old stalls.
My daughter and I chose to eat outdoors because the weather was so beautiful, and the view was fabulous.
Our sandwiches were yummy and we brought a cooler where we saved the leftovers in the car after eating. Then we climbed aboard a trolley car for the short ride up to the Castle.
A delicious lunch of sandwiches, chips and onion rings (and a glass of wine) to start our tour.
We took a short trolley ride up to the Castle and then did a self-guided tour through the mansion.
Road up to the CastleThe mansion museum front yard
Lo and behold, I found a hydrangea plant on the grounds! I believe it might have been a Limelight hydrangea but I am not absolutely sure. The flowers look elongated and the flowers are creamy white. It was nice to see a flowering hydrangea. I miss the ones I used to grow.
Limelight ? Hydrangea
This is only one thing we did while I stayed in the north for a week. We also ate ice cream at a roadside stand (I had raspberry chocolate chip) and we took a walk, and a boat ride on the river. I also got to meet my daughter’s new cat who has unique coloring. Isn’t she pretty?
The best part of my trip, besides seeing my daughter, was the breathing that wonderful Fall air. It was a relaxing time and was nice to get away. I dislike flying, but it was worth it to spend time in an area I love.
My short experience with Fall was nice. It will never be true Fall here in Florida. Temps are still in the 90’s and even what they call Fall here is really not.
I will be getting my raised garden bed ready for planting soon, as soon as it cools off.
I took this photo of a little yellow sea plane one day as I walked along the road where I lived. The water was so flat and smooth and the plane was surrounded by color. I couldn’t resist taking this photo many years ago.
The plane was usually docked at a lake house until winter when it was taken someplace else. The owner would taxi down the short tributary which led to a small lake. He used the lake to take off and land. Occasionally the kids and I would be at the beach on the lake when he came in for a landing.
Sea Plane in Autumn
When I began to work at Zazzle, I used this photo to make a postcard to sell. Recently it sold to someone in France. It always amazes me to know that something I made, or a photo I took, or drawing I did, could be purchased by anyone in the world.
The sale caused me to revisit this item, which I had pretty much forgotten about. Then I had the idea to share it here.
So, I thought, why not share more Autumn photography? Just because I live in boring Florida doesn’t mean I can’t go back to a time when I had these views for a month, or more, every year.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
This big tree stood in front of a house at the entrance to my small neighborhood. Each day in Fall I’d watch it turn more and more red. It was stunning.
Red Tree in the Neighborhood
New Hampshire has a lot of pristine lakes. Some are large – Lake Sunapee is a favorite – and many others are small. Leaf color usually begins alongside water. I was lucky to live just up the road from a small lake and I walked to it on every nice day. Fall at the lake offers wonderful scenes with brightly colored foliage as the main focus.
Brightly colored maple tree at the edge of a New Hampshire lake
All seasons offer their own opportunities for photographers in New England. In Spring I photographed the early blooming flowers, like the Lenton Rose.
Summer gave me the opportunity to photograph my vegetable garden and flowers growing everywhere.
One tree is bright red and the other hasn’t changed color yet
Fall, of course, is a great time to get awesome photos. I didn’t have to travel far to get lots of great shots. With different types of deciduous trees changing color at varying times, the leaf color lasts from mid-September thru the middle of October.
Even the hydrangeas turn color in fall. Look at the stunning array of blues and greens in this once bright blue hydrangea flower, which is drying on the stem.
View more Hydrangeas in Fall.
Pretty colors of a fall blue hydrangea flower
And there were two big Burning Bush trees in front of the house, which become bright red in late Autumn.
Burning Bush in Fall
Winter can also be a wonderful time to take pictures. My favorite times to get out with the camera were right after (and sometimes during) a snowstorm, when the snow was still stuck to the branches of the trees. It’s a winter wonderland. Once the sun begins to warm the snow, and the wind picks up, the snow comes off the trees and the opportunity for shots like this are gone.
Snowstorm Loveliness
The northeastern US has been having some unusually hot weather for the end of September, but hopefully the leaves will be turning soon. I am taking a trip up there and really hope to see some nice color.
My daughter likes to go paddle-boarding so it means we will probably visit some nearby lakes. Hopefully I will get more foliage shots to add to my collection.
It’s funny how a hurricane can change your way of thinking. I was excited about growing these scallions from the little roots I cut off the ends while cooking. Just put them in dirt, or water, and they shoot up green stalks.
I grew some last year outside and they got huge. I always thought it would be nice to add flavor to food by reaching for herbs growing right in the kitchen.
Over the past months, since I got a new chest freezer, and a new refrigerator with a double freezer in the bottom, I have been freezing little containers of homemade meals. I was excited about having scallions ready to add to my cooking.
Soup is something I enjoy creating because I can add only what I like to eat. That usually means no meat. My homemade soup has no recipe and always ends up a little different, but it’s always packed with fresh, organic vegetables. I never finish it all and usually save at least 2 containers to freeze for later on. I have the freezer space, so that makes sense.
Or so I thought. Hurricane Irma taught me a lesson.
Our power was out for six days. I lost hundreds of dollars worth of food, frozen and refrigerated, including all my extra soup and stew meals that I labored to create from scratch.
We hadn’t had time to even consider adding a generator to our new place. We haven’t even lived here a full year. Money was spent on a new AC system and other necessities. The dishwasher was old, as was the side-by-side fridge. When we moved in here we didn’t even have a couch to sit on – we used lawn chairs!
When we saw that Irma was going to hit us, we figured it wouldn’t be that bad – and it wasn’t – but for some reason my little section of the neighborhood never got power back for many days. Across the street they had it on day two. We had to wait six. After day three, I knew the food wasn’t going to make it.
We were always searching for ice which was a rare commodity in this heat. We weren’t the only ones without power. (Thankfully my son is a firefighter and could bring ice from work). For days I dug through coolers searching for food. It’s not easy to find anything in a big cooler.
I stayed soaked in sweat day and night from the humidity. Without a generator we couldn’t run anything – fans would have been so helpful. I had a tiny battery operated fan that I set on my bed next to my head at night.
Finally on day 5 we found one generator (Yes, there was only one) at the local Home Depot. We hooked it up, started up the fridge, and ran fans at night. The next day, a little after noon, the power came on, but it was too late to save the food, or my sanity.
Now that the garbage disposal worked, I could dump all my delicious soups down the drain. All that work and money. Shopping, chopping, cooking, packing… for what? I am a changed person.
Some lessons are hard to learn, but I do learn. Even though we now have a generator and that should mean we will not lose food again, I don’t know if I will ever believe it. I will do things differently from here on out.
Gardening and growing things here in Florida is an ongoing learning process for me. Last November I bought a Persian lime tree and a Meyer lemon tree to put in my yard. I knew nothing about growing either type of tree but I hoped to pick fresh fruit one day.
That day has arrived! So here’s what I have learned from growing a lime tree. And it’s good news for anyone considering growing a lime tree in a pot. (The lemon tree isn’t doing so well, but I’ll get to that later.)
Flowers to Fruit Timeline
Buds and flowers begin showing up in December and continue to flower and set fruit into February.
Buds and flowers on the Lime tree in February
There are buds, flowers and little limes on the tree at the same time. I even have one lone big lime still hanging on from the previous Fall.
Setting fruit – little limes on the tree in February
By October the limes should be ready to eat. They will last for a couple of months, and I pick them as needed so they are nice and fresh – and delicious!
Once the fruit is gone, the buds begin again. So the tree is always doing something.
My first lime!
A few days ago I picked my first lime! I sliced it and put it into my glass of water… and boy was it good! I love limes… what awesome flavor. I had really been hoping for lemons, but I think I like limes more. It reminded me of the Mojitos I’ve had – but without the booze. The lime I picked was small, but juicy. I won’t go nuts picking all the fruit, but I will definitely be using the larger limes.
I had wondered when to pick my limes and I simply waited for them to be the size of the ones I see at the grocery store. The time from flowering to picking was about 6 months. It is so worth the wait!
Benefits of Growing Limes in a Pot
I kept the lime tree in it’s pot and set it on the corner of the patio in my backyard. I have read that these smaller citrus trees can be grown in pots. In fact they can be purchased through Amazon. This is something I never knew, and the buyers leave very good reviews. They won’t ship to some areas – like the places that can grow and sell their own trees, it seems. Florida is one.
One of the big advantages of growing in pots is the ability to move the plant / tree. Over winter it did get very cold one or two nights and I brought the tree inside. The Persian Lime tree is hardy to zone 10 and I am in zone 9b – a little too far north. When the temps get at, or below, freezing it needs to be covered or moved inside.
Besides the fact that a lime tree can do well and bear fruit while still in it’s original pot, I’ve learned that being in a pot means the fruit-laden branches won’t hit the ground.
This is the trouble I am having with the lemon tree. Once the heavy fruit began to grow, the branches drooped considerably. As you can see in my photo, many limes are growing in a cluster at the end of this branch which weighs it down.
If this tree was in the ground, this branch would be rubbing along the dirt – and in danger of being hit by the mower or weed-eater.
Cluster of Limes
The Lemon Tree is Not Very Pretty
Shortly after I planted the lemon tree in the ground, I realized that my dream of having a row of citrus trees along the front of the house was unrealistic. The north wind blows from that direction and it can get very windy some days. I’m not saying it’s cold, I am in Florida, but the constant wind on the Lemon tree has been detrimental to it’s growth. Between that and being hit by my son’s weed-eating job, the poor lemon tree is having a hard time. I also think something may be eating the branches. I may not have any edible lemons.
*Update, I recently dug up the lemon tree and it’s now growing in a pot out back near the lime.
How to Care for Citrus Trees
Both trees receive citrus fertilizer every few months, except in winter. Fertilizing stops in November and begins again in March. This is according to the pamphlet I got at the plant nursery.
Here in Florida, if it doesn’t rain, everything needs to be watered daily in summer. I usually water the Lime tree twice a day. Being in a pot, out in the sun, means it will dry out faster. This changes in winter, when it needs less water. The leaves began to turn yellow and fall off because I watered it too much. Watering every few days in winter (Florida) is fine.
I did have to set the potted tree inside a larger plastic pot and weigh it down with leftover bricks from building our patio. I had to do this because once the fruit began to grow the tree was top heavy and would blow over whenever the soil dried out.
In a Nutshell
I bought my Persian Lime tree in November 2016 from a local nursery for $12.99. It immediately began to grow longer stems and more leaves. Maybe it was the direct sunlight compared to the nursery conditions, but the tree doubled in size!
A few months later it began to flower profusely and set many limes. Lots of those fell off, leaving the larger ones to continue to grow. Don’t worry if lots of the small limes fall from the tree. The tree seems to know just how many limes it can handle! Many will stay and continue to grow.
I picked one lime, and there are 28 limes left on the branches (I just went out and counted them). I see a few very tiny limes growing also, but they may fall off. Not a bad first harvest!
Hydrangeas Blue 