Plowing Through Autumn

The farmers have been really hard at work on their tractors in my town lately.  It is reminding me that we do not have much time before winter rolls in.  I believe farmers around here plow their fields so grass, weeds and other plants are buried.  This will allow them to rot over the winter.  The soil will be ready to soak up the melting snow once winter comes.  I will need to read more up on that.  If you know why farmers plow in the fall, please leave a comment to let us know!

Here are some photos of tractors near my house:

Click on the logos to find out more about the farms near my home:

Griggstown farm has great pies, sausages, poultry, veggies, salads and cookies for sale. MMmmm!!  

I love to stop by their market!

Catalpa Farm is only a walk up the road from me.  Freddy and I walk to their farmstand each summer to get our vegetables for omelettes and for dinners.  Freddy LOVES their red peppers!!

Suydam Farms has been around for almost 300 years to grow plants and produce and to raise livestock.  Wow!

I pass Snyders Farm each day on the way to work, but I have never been there!  They have, what looks to be, a great fall festival each year.  I hope to go blueberry picking there this summer!

Here are some books about tractors that you can get at the library!  

The Great Swamp

Today I met a friend for brunch in Bernardsville, New Jersey.  It was our first time at the Mockingbird Cafe.  The food was delicious, especially the lemon ricotta pancakes with berries! Yum!!

After my friend and I left the restaurant I decided it was too much of a nice day to go home.  I took a very short drive to one of my favorite spots, The Raptor Trust.  The Raptor Trust is a bird rehabilitation center.  It is a place where people work to help a certain type of sick birds to get better and to stay safe.  I have always found birds to be fascinating creatures.  Today I saw Bald Eagles, Red-Tailed Hawks, Red-Shouldered Hawks, a Common Raven, a Barred Owl, a Great Horned Owl, an American Kestrel and a Perregrine Falcon.

Here is one of the Bald Eagles I saw.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE RAPTOR TRUST WEBSITE.

After visiting The Raptor Trust I decided to take another short drive to The Great Swamp.  

Check out my photos to see the beautiful views I was able to capture.

On the Trail

The trail starts in a pretty field of flowers, birds and butterflies.

Today two teacher friends, Freddy and I all went hiking on a trail near my house.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  We have been very lucky with some wonderful weather lately!  Fresh air and exercise are always such a great way to relax and stay healthy.  What have you been doing outside on these gorgeous days?  I hope you have been playing outside too!!

Freddy is worn out from chasing squirrels.

Ms. Tricarico finds balance in the outdoors.

Happy Toes!

My feet really love my new ice skates, but my toes have been looking forward to something more summery....the sandy beach!  Finally, yesterday, I got myself to the beach on a sunny day.  My toes couldn't have been happier than they were there in the sand.

After stopping by school to check for mail (boohoo...I had nothing in my mailbox), I went to Long Branch Beach, New Jersey with one of my old teacher friends.  We had a lot of fun talking in the sun. We also took time to walk around the town to shop.  Then, we ate dinner outside while watching the lifeguards practice their swimming in the ocean.  It was a great time!

I sent my friend, Katie, a postcard a few weeks ago.  The postcard had directions on the front about how to build a sandcastle.  I thought it was so cool to hear that she brought my postcard down to the beach with her to follow the directions to build her own sandcastle.  I think I'll send some more fun postcards out soon!!  Would you like one?  Leave a comment to let me know...or write me a letter to let me know.

Breezy Beach Day

I finally had the chance to go to the beach, but guess what?  The weather was 70 degrees and breezy. It was a little too cool for me to go splash around in the ocean.  Besides that, the sun decided to hide behind the clouds for part of the day.  Luckily, my friend thought of some great ideas to make sure we had fun.

We decided to take a ride to Cape May to get 

some exercise while climbing all the way 

up to the top of this lighthouse.

This is the ferris wheel on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey.  It was my first time on a ferris wheel.  I enjoyed it.  It was a little cloudy, but I still had a great view of the beach!

Have you ever been to the boardwalk before?  We treated ourselves to some delicious dinner after playing skeeball and arcade basketball.  I need to practice at skeeball to do a little better next time.  

We decided to give the tickets we won to a little girl who was looking at prizes.  

It always feels good to give to others.

Would you like to read about the boardwalk?  Here are some fiction stories from the library: