After a week of not feeling well, by the time Sunday rolled around I was feeling well enough to get out. And I wanted to. Needed to really. Cooped up for so long at home we all needed to stretch our legs and breathe in some fresh clean air. Greenfield Village is closing for the season in two weeks, and we wanted to get a last trip in before they close. We have had so many fun day trips there this year that we wanted to take a last walk around. And I knew it was decorated for their Halloween event so it was bound to look pretty cool too!
The air was brisk and cool, the day was a bit overcast, but it all added to the moodiness of the moment, with the jack o’lanterns lining the streets as far the eye could see, the hay bales, the spooky scarecrows – we felt like we had entered some sort of creepy children of the corn type town this trip.
We meandered our way over to the gardens, which in the summer time is bursting with blooms and busy bees, little birds darting here and there, and elegant butterflies floating from flower to flower. A garden in fall can be just as beautiful, but I think they are in spite of the lack of life. The beauty is a stark one, a lone candle in the window, if you will. The colors shine so much brighter, mimicking the colors on the trees around. There is glory in the brightness of fall, the last flare before winter.
Billy is naturally an outgoing person, and he and Wyatt strolled around that red house while I poked about in the garden. He ran into a friendly gardener who gave him two seed heads, from a sedum and a blackberry iris. She told him that if saw anything in the garden that we liked that was either off the plant and on the ground, or had gone to seed, we could gather and save for our garden next year! I usually have my seed envelopes with me because I am a nerd so we spent some happy time gathering seeds from flowers that we will plant in the spring. Wyatt enjoyed playing among the rows like a little bunny, some of the flowers taller than him. He is such a sweet kid, smelling the flowers and enjoying time in a garden.
Needless to say we found some things. We harvested seed pods and black walnuts, just a few and left the rest for the squirrels, and nicked a few blooms that had been already been bent practically off by overzealous wildlife, or perhaps other people, or their purses and bags or strollers. We felt so lucky leaving with our bounty!
It was nearing lunchtime so we picked one last spot in the village to visit before heading home – Daggett Farmhouse, my favorite. It makes me think of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and it was so perfect to visit so close to Halloween.
If I could move into the village, this is the house I would pick. I love it so much. The colors, the simplicity, the squareness, the big garden, and the windmill next door. Lol. So very New England. It was built before America was America, this house, can you believe it? We poked around outside and headed inside where the reenactors were sitting down to a lunch of pies and cabbage. It looked delicious honestly. Wyatt really enjoyed the mention of pie – I am pretty sure he is going to dig our month or so of pie making. Or at least the eating of them.
We headed home to our lunch soon after, bowls of warm chicken lemon rice soup, which I think did much magic for our colds. It was a good day!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
This sounds like the perfect day — and it was, wasn’t it? Sunday is like that special October gift we get now and then. I can’t wait till Carson and Cam are old enough to enjoy Greenfield Village. I have a feeling I’ll be making lots of trips there in a few years. I love that you gathered the seeds and such. I know what you mean about a garden near the end. They have their own loveliness, even if they aren’t quite so splashy as in full color. Big smile on my face, reading this.
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It really was! It was kind of a lazy easy Sunday morning, the way they should be.
The Village has such fun events for kids – they might like the Thomas the Train thing that happens every year. It is pretty cool!
I’m glad our small adventure made you smile! 🙂
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Oh, I love the photos, and I felt as though I were trailing along after all of you. That last house is wonderful. The buildings in the Daggett Farmhouse remind me of the outbuildings on the farm where I grew up. So many interesting things tucked away.
I adore your new look here: a new theme, a new header. What fun!
Thanks for sharing.
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Aw thanks! We had such a fun morning! Lazy and easy and perfect.
How awesome that you grew up somewhere like Daggett! Such a fun place to grow up – I can only imagine all the cool little treasures you must have found.
And thank you!! I felt inspired by your changes I think! I wanted something that felt more cleaned up and fresh right now.:)
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I’m intrigued at how they can close down a village. How does that work?
When we were on Oahu there were signs that said the public couldn’t pick up flowers off the plants; it was illegal. I think they were considered sacred.
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Greenfield Village is like a living history museum. It has an actual museum, The Henry Ford, and then the Village part that Henry Ford built. It’s has homes and buildings that he bought and moved in – there is a Cotswold Cottage, his laboratory, Firestone Farm, etc as well as other buildings. So it’s not a real village but a museum type place. 🙂 They close that part for the winter. 🙂
Were you someplace that was a special garden in Oahu? The gardens here are not sacred, just gardens. 🙂 I felt weird though even though we had permission. Lol.
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We were just parked on the street to go to the palace tour and it was a government building I think that had this tree of beautiful flowers.
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Yeah, I think in the U.S. the rule for seed saving from plants not in your own yard is if it is public land, you can all you want. If it is a private garden or owned property, you need permission, like we got at the museum. 🙂
In other news, my husband’s aunt is in O’ahu right now, getting a kākou uhi (I think I got that right), a traditional tap tattoo, for her birthday. She said it is to honor her heritage and her mother who was born and lived on O’ahu. 🙂 I am excited to hear about it when she is done!
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She is hardcore! I heard that traditional style of tattooing can be painful.
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Yes! Right? I am anxious to hear how she did.
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That sounds like a wonderful time. Very cool that they let you take seed pods for your garden.
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I know! We felt so lucky. 🙂
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How wonderful to live so close to something like Greenfield Village! I would love it. Your photos are gorgeous. 🍁🍂
I love that Wyatt loves nature so much! We were able to live in a rural area from when my son was three until nine years old, and he said when he has children he wants to make sure they can grow up in the country because those were his favorite years. I think it also gives them more heart about nature and the environment. I cannot wait for your spring garden posts! I am excited to see the lovely things you and Wyatt will grow. 🌻 We can just skip.right over winter.. Ha ha. ⛄
I love that house, too! The older I get the less frou-frou I want. 😊
I hope you had a wonderful start to your week. 🌞
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It is a really cool place to have access to! And thank you. 🙂
I would love to live in a rural area – it is our dream! I agree, i think it definitely makes them care about nature and the environment more, to see and experience it up close. How awesome that your son had such a great childhood outdoors that he wants his own children to have that experience too. 🙂 I am not ready for winter yet but I don’t mind it too much! I like it better when there is more snow and less arctic cold though.
That house is awesome!
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