Arriving home from a week in New York City was joyful and sad at the same time. It was so wonderful to be back in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Manhattan, but Vermont greeted me with the yellows and browns that signal the end of summer. Crickets are singing with full force, tomatoes droop heavily from their stems and birds are flying in groups gorging themselves on the fat seeds of honeysuckle bushes. Soon we will forget that summer is ending because we will be launched into the fire and sun of fall.

It was great to see our customers in New York. They brought feedback, new ideas and excitment for the new sayings. I am always surprised at which ones
make the biggest impression. Here are a few of the ones that surprised me:

It is so beautiful up here in Vermont right now it doesn’t seem real. The light is magical and the air is clean. The green trees and meadow grass are intoicating.

Gardening is a passion that is rewarded in my Mountaine Meadow beyond measure. I can’t imagine a more joyous endeavor than putting on my oldest, most comfortable clothes and spending a morning pulling weeds, being bitten my bugs, and generally puttering around my small square of heaven until I can no longer stand upright.