Sunday, October 11, 2015

Sunday's Trip to the Pumpkin Patch - Burt's Pumpkin Farm

Well, today hubby and I finally made our trip to the pumpkin patch! We've wanted to go for the past month but it's been either way too hot or pouring down rain on the weekends. We even had rain yesterday, too, but this morning I opened my eyes and saw sunshine and said to hubby "let's go"! It isn't close by (about 60 miles and 1-1/2 hours away or so) but the traffic getting there today was awful for the last 4 or 5 miles and it probably took us over an hour just to go those last few miles alone (note to self, do not drink coffee or take a diuretic before going there next time)! I guess everyone decided to seize this beautiful sunny day like we did. It ended up being almost an all-day trip, so I just made "breakfast for dinner" since we got home late (which consisted of eggs with cabbage/onion/bacon hash). The pumpkin patch we went to was Burt's Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville, Georgia. It was named as one of the top ten pumpkin patches in the country! There were pumpkins of every different shape, size and color (white, light blue, pink, etc.) as far as your eyes could see. I snapped some photos of our pumpkin palooza today. After our drive in the country and fill of pumpkins...I finally FEEL like fall has arrived! Enjoy!

I love hanging these on the front door in the fall
On our way...you can see the mountains in the distance


Butternut Squash
A heap of mini pumpkins
Aren't these white pumpkins pretty? Kind of like "ghost pumpkins"







Orange acorn squash (I picked up a couple)
Lil Pokemon
White mini-pumpkins

Turban squash
Hayrides...the line was too long to wait in; catch it "next time"
Photo taken at 55 mph with me hanging out the window...not bad, huh? I just had to get a photo of those clouds!  
Yup...more 55 mph clouds!  
55 mph bales of hay! 
More "55 mph" clouds shot from my side view mirror...the sky was gorgeous today!

Disclaimer: No pumpkins were harmed during today's excursion and nobody (me) fell out of the window while photographing at 55 mph! My favorite photo is the one from the side view mirror!

20 comments:

Charlotte Moore said...

You were in my neck of the woods yesterday. We are only bout 35 mins. from there. Yesterday was also the first weekend of the Apple Festival in Ellijay. Traffic was horrible when we went to lunch in Jasper. I have been to Burts many times on field trips with school kids. I got tired of it. Ha!!!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Charlotte,

That might explain the heavy traffic we encountered. We saw there was a sign pointing towards an orchard (can't remember the name now). Hubby and I decided that next time we go to Burt's we will do so on a week day! ;-)

apronlady56 said...

I loved the photos!! Fall is my favorite time of the year and these pics just made my heart pitty-patter.Thanks for posting them.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi apronlady56,

Thank you! So happy you enjoyed them! :-)

Trish said...

The pictures were just gorgeous!! I love Fall too! Just a beautiful time of year! I am hoping for some more pumpkin recipes! Have you ever considered pumpkin in your skillet coffee cake recipe? Thanks for all your posts! Just love them!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Trish,

Thanks! I am actually working on a pumpkin recipe this week. Stay tuned! ;-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

I don't know *how* I missed this post till now, but I'm sure glad I caught up with it! With our autumn beginning to wind down your wonderful photos are a sight for sore eyes!

I hope your weather hasn't been too crazy where you are. We saw a lot of flooding on TV yesterday and heard that tornadoes could be looming. Take care and stay safe!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

Glad you enjoyed the photos! Yes, we have had very nasty weather recently. I think rain is in our forecast until the middle of next week! So far, we've been lucky and haven't had any kind of damage or flooding but it is all around us.

Right now I'm a bit sidelined with a bad toothache and am waiting until Thursday to be seen. It doesn't sound like it's that far away but most definitely "feels" like it. :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

Glad to hear that the storms haven't impacted you personally. Hope that keeps up. Sorry to hear about your toothache, though ... been there, done that. It gets your attention, doesn't it! I know that Thursday seems like it will never get here! I ended up having to wait a couple of days for a root canal and it seemed like an eternity. It all went fine and the relief was extraordinary. I'm sure it will go well for you, too, but in the meantime ... well, you know! Take care and feel better soon, Ayla!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

Thanks! I'm counting down the hours until my appt tomorrow! :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

I just saw your post on FB ... can't comment there because I must be the only person in the country who doesn't have a FB account. :-) The worst part of a root canal is the *waiting* to have it done. I was lucky; the endodontist had a cancellation and I was able to get an appointment in just a few days ... you're having to wait a lot longer than I did. There were a couple of good suggestions on your FB page. 1) homeopathic arnica, and 2) probiotics.

Well, "only" a couple more days to go. In the meantime I'll be sending thoughts, hugs, and prayers your way!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

Thanks! Not sure where to find arnica or how it's used for a toothache. My furthest back bottom left molar has a crack and an abscess at the root. It's messing with nerves in my jaw and causing ear, face and temple pain and the pain moves around my teeth via nerves. My glands are swollen and tender on that side and I had fever/chills with it. I'm on penicillin and can only take Tylenol (no aspirin or NSAIDs) and it doesn't really help much. Have had to take a few 5-yr old pain pills to make it thru a few nights.

Tonight I feel a bit of relief and hope it continues. Oh, and I'm taking probiotics. Will be glad when Wednesday gets here. I saw I said Thursday in my previous post but my root canal is Wednesday. I made myself baked custard tonight without coconut. :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

You can get arnica at most any "health food" store. They will usually sell little guide books also to help you use homeopathics. The store personnel can often be good sources of info & advice, too. Arnica isn't for the toothache, per se, it's more to decrease swelling/bleeding and to facilitate healing after the root canal.

If you want to try it you could take a dose just prior to the procedure and again right after and a few times the first evening. Then follow up several times a day for a few days, decreasing the frequency as your recovery progresses. It's not a "pain pill" necessarily, but it can be helpful for various "traumatic" conditions (including dental procedures) to take the edge off as you're recovering. It's also very gentle and innocuous. You must get the arnica that's meant for *internal* use. It's available both as vials of tiny white pills and as little dropper bottles of liquid. You tuck a few pills under your tongue till dissolved ... or place a few drops of the liquid under your tongue and let it stay there for a bit (i.e. you try not to swallow it right away.) I've seen arnica tincture that's sold for external use to rub on sore muscles, etc. -- You **DON'T** want that kind!

My Hubby reminded me that I used whole cloves as a poultice while I was waiting, and that was somewhat helpful. However, you need to mash the clove with your teeth to release some of the oil so I don't think that would be advisable for you with the cracked tooth ... you wouldn't want bits & pieces of clove getting in there ... same principle as custard *without* coconut. Seems like I tried some baby teething stuff, too. None of that stuff really helped all *that* much, though. And you are Completely Miserable with *much* more going on than I had ... for me it was just the pain and that was it!

I hear you about the pain pills, too. I had some old ones, as well, that I took at night while I was waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting! By the time my appointment came around I was feeling some relief, too ... but they'd said my nerve was dying (causing the pain) and was just about finished by the time of my appointment (which was the reason for the decreased pain.) Don't know if that's your situation or not, but at any rate, I'm glad to hear that it's letting up some. Hope it continues, too. Get some rest and good luck on Wednesday. I was never so happy about going to the dentist as I was that day! :-)

I see I've written a book. Didn't really mean to do that! Maybe there's something marginally useful in all that, but the *most* helpful thing will be for you to get your root canal!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

Thanks. Getting my root canal this afternoon. Just waiting for hubby to get here to take me. Thanks for the info. I had never heard of arnica before and when I googled it said it was poisonous so I figured unless I knew what I was doing or someone could tell me how that I would wait. Maybe I can find some afterward. I can't wait for this to be over! :-)

unter der laterne said...

I Ayla, a root canal procedure is by far not as bad as it is made out to be . It did not bother me at all. So do not worry , you will be fine! CyberSis is right Arnica is wonderful. It comes from Germany originally and has been used for centuries there. Also comes in cream form nd helps muscle pain. Fabulous for Athletes .

So your suffering will be over soon ! Take care ! Barbara.

unter der laterne said...

Hi CberSis, now there are two of us without facebook! Now I do not feel so lonely!

Take care! Barbara.

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

I hope everything went well today and that you're feeling much better. Hope you will get a chance to rest up and recover the rest of the week ... you had a *lot* going on. Sorry about "assuming" that you might be familiar with homeopathy. No wonder you were reluctant to try arnica, but classical homeopathic remedies contain infinitesimal amounts of the source material used to make the remedy. Some say that they actually contain *none* of the source material. How in the world does *that* work? It's a whole 'nother way of doing medicine! It has to do with working on the sub-atomic level, or some such thing ... I know, sounds a little "out there" but it is a science (and an art.)

If you'd like a handy source for basic info on how it works go to: http://www.boironusa.com/ This is the home page for Boiron, a major manufacturer of homeopathic remedies. Go to the "Education and Training" tab to get a brief overview. See especially "About Homeopathy" and the FAQs.

Many doctors study it *deeply* for years and use it with great success. The layman can also use it for simple conditions and first aid situations. Arnica is one of the most used because it's easy to prescribe for injuries, etc. I haven't used homeopathy a *whole* lot, but I've used it from time to time. I even took a "Homeopathy 101" course in Alaska given by my family doctor. I keep arnica around all the time (even carry it in my purse.) I also keep "cantharis" in the kitchen for those *klutzy* times when I get a burn ... it works great for that! Years ago, a vet prescribed a particular remedy for our kitty-cat for a complex chronic condition that "regular" medicine couldn't touch. It was truly amazing how well and how quickly the cat responded to a *single* dose! Animals and little kids are like that ... they can be extremely good responders!

One thing to watch out for is that the word "homeopathic" is very often misused on certain product labels ... just because it might use the word doesn't mean that it actually IS homeopathic. Unless the product comes from a reputable manufacturer (Boiron and a few others) I would be skeptical.

Anyway, I'm glad your "procedure" is finally over with and hoping you will start to become more and more comfortable each day! Take care. :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi again.

Just to clarify ... "Unless the product comes from a reputable manufacturer *of homeopathic remedies* (Boiron and a few others) I would be skeptical."

Sorry if that was confusing! :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi Barbara,

Like "two peas in a pod," right? :-)

BTW, Ayla is having complications. See the comments under "Baked Acorn Squash ..." dated October 20.

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

My big long treatise was written under the assumption that all would be well following your procedure. (Sorry about "assuming" ... you know what they say about that!) Please don't bother with it until such time as you're feeling much better ... and even then, it's optional ... I won't mind a bit. In the meantime, I hope you're able to get some rest this weekend and that things will begin to resolve very soon. Don't worry about responding ... just take care and feel better soon!