Oh No! Where did the Summer Go?

Posted on August 31, 2017August 31, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Summer’s Last Gasp

Picnic table

It’s still summer. August is still summer and it’s only August 31. According to the weather folks tomorrow, September 1, is the first day of meteorological fall. Oh boo hoo! Fall in New England is nice but I miss summer already. Labor Day weekend is the last long weekend, our last chance for summer fun.

Signs of Fall are all around us

The seasons change and the signs are there. School has started. I got stuck behind a school bus on the way to work. The turkeys are getting restless. I saw two big turkeys by the side of the road on my way home tonight. A big maple tree on Route 140 has begun to turn colors! Already! The nights are cool and mornings have a crispness to the air. A sweater or jacket might be in order. I can open a window and turn off the air conditioner. Football is top of mind as the boys of summer fade away. Another fall sign that’s not so nice is the ragweed. Seems like we have a bumper crop this year. Excuse me while I sneeze.

Road trips are calling

Along with the cooler nights will be the fall colors. Leaves will be changing. Our roads will be filled with leaf peepers but even I plan to be one of them. Maybe a trip down the Mohawk Trail or back to New Hampshire to visit a place called Diana’s Baths. They are a series of waterfalls and cascades. I have it on good authority that although they are lovely any time of year, fall is especially pretty.

Cranberry Harvest Festivals

In Massachusetts, home to Ocean Spray, fall means the cranberry harvest. From mid- September until late in the fall, cranberries reach their peak of color and flavor. The landscape is dotted with the bright red cranberry bogs as they wait for the harvest. Cranberries can be harvested wet or dry. Interested in visiting a cranberry bog? We’ve got lots of farms for tours or products.

Down on the cape the cranberry harvest season begins around Labor Day and usually runs into the middle of November. The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association has created a cranberry harvest trail guide.

Cranberry bog

I love cranberries. Maybe fall’s not so bad after all!

Happy First Day of Spring

Posted on March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

The Northeast is digging out from another winter storm with rumors of still another by weeks end. Still the calendar doesn’t lie and Old Man Winter will have to relinquish his grip to make way for the birds and flowers of spring.

There’s no season in Retail

Posted on November 6, 2012November 6, 2012 by Dusty Roads

A pet peeve of mine is that retailers don’t let one holiday finish before they start the next one. Before Halloween one of my local stores had 3 separate displays set in a row, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I commented on it the clerk replied “There are no seasons in retail.”

I’m beginning to understand what she meant. Thanks to my 2 web sites where I sell my greeting cards online and my little kiosk at Cape Cod Crafters in Pembroke, Ma, I am finding that it’s a lot different selling retail than making cards for a few friends. There needs to be a lead time so shoppers can find the cards, have time to buy them, address them and get them in the mail.

Last year I really dropped the ball. I had nothing ready by Christmas so it was a 2 week scramble to get cards made and distributed. This year I’m doing a little better but still cutting the time too short. At the moment I’m waiting for supplies and prints so I can put the cards together and get them advertised online and into the shop.

So here’s an update for anyone who might be interested in Holiday cards. I will custom design a Thanksgiving card if you email me. The cards are $3.95 each plus 6.25% tax for Mass residents and shipping. I don’t plan to have a line of Thanksgiving cards this year because it’s too close to the big day but I’ll work on it for 2013.

Christmas Cards or if you prefer Holiday cards will be online within 2 weeks as soon as the supplies get here. Keep your eye on www.dustyroadsphotos.etsy.com.

If you are looking for a really pretty card but want to keep your costs down you should check out my photography web site on http://www.dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com

I have a slightly different line of cards there. On http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com you’ll find 10 holiday photos ( More being added) to choose from. Once you chose your photo you select the card design you like. You’ll have the option to add a short message. You might be prompted to review the placement of your photo and chose if you want a plain paper or “metallic”.

The metallic gives a very shiny finish but the plain paper is a glossy finish too so both are very attractive.

These postcard style cards come with an envelope and are a less expensive alternative to the hand crafted cards I sell on etsy.

I hope you’ll check them out. I’d love to be able to fill your holiday card needs.

Happy Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2012September 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Here we are at September 3, 2012, Labor Day. Are you grillin’ and chillin’ in celebration or are you one of the folks who have to hold the fort at your job while the rest of us enjoy the unofficial end of summer?

Just think, all of you parents out there, your little ones will be headed back to school in a few days.

The air is starting to have a bit of a nip and we can actually open the windows at night with temps into the 50’s. Soon leaves will change and the “leaf peeping “season will begin. Stores already have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas displays started. (There is no season in retail)

Believe it or not the first big Labor Day in the US was celebrated September 5, 1882. Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday 5 years later in 1887. It became Federal Holiday in 1994 and by then 30 states were celebrating the day.

Although Labor Day was meant to support and celebrate the Labor movement it is more likely to be thought of as the symbolic end of the summer with cookouts and parties. It is also the date when fashionable women stop wearing white.