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Home again indeed...

We've been back in OH for 2 weeks, and it's dry. Brown lawns, yellowed corn stalks -- we're worried our new red maple, planted in May 2011, may not make it. The corn we buy at farmers' markets is still sweet and delicious, but the ears are not fully developed. Tomatoes are fewer, apples and peaches are harder to come by than out in PA.

This weekend, Labor Day weekend, feels very quiet, in part because the humidity from Hurricane Isaac is rolling in.

Despite the seeming end-of-summer lull in activities, we had a terrific dinner party last night, and I used some of the recipes from dinners we had in Philadelphia in July and August: the watermelon-feta-mint salad, the lemon-oregano tuna mousse. Of course, I had to purchase all the herbs I used at the store, because everything in our garden and our friends' gardens has dried up. Even though it's not asparagus season, I made a chilled asparagus soup that was quite delicious, and I shouldn't say there are no peaches this year: our friends brought peaches they'd frozen from their own tree earlier this summer and we had them for dessert with whipped cream and raspberries.

I haven't gotten into baking much yet, since most days end in the low 90s, but will start soon. My 25 lb. bag of flour is due in on Wednesday.

It has been ironic that the gorgeous sunflower field at Whitehall Farm, more beautiful than ever, has been causing accidents: so many cars stopping and slowing to see the 4-5 foot tall blooms. We had just passed the other day when we heard the crash of yet another pickup truck rear-ending a flower-lover. To save our own car, I'm borrowing the image above from another blog -- googling Yellow Springs OH sunflowers yields tons of images from all those flocking our way.

Late summer is here, autumn around the corner.

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