You Know It's Fall Here When.... {includes recipe for Grey Whale Pear Custard Pie}

...as surely as the squirrels outside your window are burying acorns, 
Southern Girls everywhere in the world get a primal urge to polish the silver...

...the rains begin after 7 months of dry weather to drench the back yard...

...these things start showing up all over
the sidewalks (magnolia flower seed pods?)...

...my shadow takes on an ominously tall and otherworldly look...

...while the hydrangeas take on that coppery look..

...and Nicky begins to find skeletons in neighbor's yards...

...oak leaves settle on my lavender picnic table after the first rain...

...and Mia's gorgeous grapes fall in bunches like this little beauty...

...the heirloom tomatoes are ridiculously delicious...

...Chinese bitter melon and eggplants appear at 
the farmers' market... (it really is bitter, I tried them!)...

...the ubiquitous pumpkin kissed by nature's palette shows up everywhere...

...grapes of all varieties are harvested with 
abandon all over the area...

...while over at the beach, a lone surfer walks out of 
the sea as if to say.. "when is summer coming back?" 
while Nicky watches intently... 

...the beach already looks deserted for the winter...

...except for all the birds! ...

...you know it's autumn when Nicky burrows under the down comforter in the daybed and claims it for his own...

...you know it's autumn when Nicky burrows under the

down comforter in the daybed and claims it for his own...

...and finally, you know it's autumn when I make this 
incredibly delicious and eeeasy Pear Custard Pie (no dairy!).. circa
1987 from the Gray Whale Resto in Inverness, CA...

How's it going in your part of the world? 

Enjoy!

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Thanks for visiting!   Kit

all photos Kit's iPhone

I am very happy for you to download and use my photos..

please give credit and link back to me when you do!

Thanks!

Summer She Flew

Not believing she's almost gone, and already feeling a little nostalgic for the long lazy days and langorous warm evenings of midsummer, here are a few glimpses of our summer.. for Chris and me here in the San Francisco Bay Area...

a duck I saw, somewhere near the sea.. isn't she pretty?

remember those plums I kept posting about
on Facebook?

I spent as much time as I could in my little greenhouse
this summer.. can you blame me?

maybe take a little break from the rake

our backyard took on a "Maxfield Parish" vibe

walked past this neighbor's roses a thousand times this summer...

...on my way to the farmer's market to buy fresh eggs.

looking straight up through the sunroof while stopped in traffic
on the Golden Gate Bridge this summer

my husband's favorite, we always have
lots of artichokes when they are in
season

our little room at the Panama Hotel

I did not see enough of these sunsets in Sayulita this summer, that's for sure

walked and stopped here hundreds of times for croissant...

... and cafe au lait

pored over my grandmother and mother's joint passport I found
this summer.. from 1922!.. and this is just the first page! I love
the frame-worthiness of this

...and admired the dahlias and succulents that thrive in the cool..

Hoping yours has been wonderful... and if you live "Down Under"... how lucky you are to be coming into spring with summer soon to follow! Keep us posted with lovely images!

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all photos Kit's iPhone

thanks for stopping by!... Kit

Happy Birthday Claire McCluskey!

Since I have only (4) brothers, my cousin Claire is all the more precious to me. Today is her birthday, so I thought I'd post images that will mean a lot to her... really, only she will actually "get" them, but they are kind of cool, so I hope you like them too. These harken back to our childhood frolicking on the Gulf Coast and in Savannah.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Amie's wicker couch... now happily in Claire's

adorable home in Savannah

Amie and Bompoon, so very long ago, on

Coffee Bluff in Savannah

great aunt Kate's chapel in St. John's

Cathedral in Savannah

carved detail from the fireplace in the dining

room of the house in Apalach

chandelier in the dining room of

the house in Apalach... we used to watch

as the bugs got trapped in the points of

the glass and the housekeeper had to

empty them out every week!

the fort named for our grandfather in Apalach

a peek inside the fort shows this old,

crazed mirror where girls used to check

their appearance before going into the

WWII era dances

I know Claire would love a bed like this!

and living by the sea, she would adore a

table made from seashells

Claire loves blue and white

Claire, you know who this is, you and I will end up striding

by the sea just like her when we are 93 too!

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Love you lots on this

very special birthday

of yours!!

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beautiful beach house decor by Anne Selke

found here

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Do you have someone special to you

whose birthday is coming up?

How would you celebrate that person?

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thanks for visiting...! Kit