We went to the pumpkin patch today (Chiles Peach Orchard) and picked our Halloween pumpkins. The patch here in C'ville was not nearly as plentiful as the one in Williamsburg (College Run Farms), where they had something like 18 varieties of pumpkins and gourds! We actually had to hunt for our pumpkins today because the patch was so small and there were so few still on the vine. (As Ben said, to quote Linus in Charlie Brown & the Great Pumpkin, "This patch was not nearly as sincere as the other ones we've been to.") Anyway, at last, we found 2 still on the vine without too much nastiness on them (such as slugs, which I found when picking up one...). Afterward, we enjoyed some yummy apple cider doughnuts at the little orchard store and some very good, fresh apple cider.
Some pretty flowers near the orchard store:
Getting to the patch was just as enjoyable as being there. The countryside just a few miles outside of C'ville is absolutely gorgeous, especially in fall, and the warm October sun today made it really awesome. Rolling green hills, white picket fences, bales of hay dotting the landscape, reds and yellows spewing from the tree-filled mountains in the background, and dying grape vines (at vineyards) here and there. Everything romanticized about the countryside is pretty much right here in one place. It's quite serene--one of those moments when all seems right with the world!
