This last weekend I took advantage of the gorgeous weather for a Sunday hike with my father. The air was crisp, jazz music reverberated up the hills from a local festival and the sweet smell of BBQ was in the air. We hiked the Delaware Water Gap and conquered Mount Mimsi (which sounds more impressive than it was. Imagine more of a nice stroll through the woods with a slight incline to the peak). We enjoyed a picnic in front of a lily pond and it was marvelous: an heirloom tomato, crusty french bread, an assortment of cheeses, potato salad and a killer Oregon red to wash it all down. It felt like the beginning of a new season- full of possibilities.

 

Coming back to the city I wanted to get excited for autumn again, so I took a quick stroll to the Union Square Farmers Market. Stalls offered ripe and luscious heirloom tomatoes, a selection of brightly colored peppers and a vast assortment of fresh flowers. A couple of pumpkins and gourds dotted the tables but despite the chill in the air, autumn still felt a long way off. Who knew the next couple of days would bring a heat wave?!

 

 

Desperate to celebrate the coming Fall and inspired by the Farmers Market, I headed home with some cider donuts and decided to take advantage of the remaining flowers in my garden to make a bouquet.

 

For the bouquet, I used a simple mason jar and twine and snipped some of my favorite blooms: a wild delicate pink rose, a stalk of spiky pink celosia caracas and the blue delicate conoclinium coelestinum (these flowers, by the way, far outperformed others in my garden and graced me with blooms for most of the summer).