Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


Leave a comment

Sunday Peace

Grayland Beach, WA


7 Comments

2025 Pumpkin Report

Pumpkin Displa

Like last year, the “new seeds” portion of the pumpkin crop was off to a slow start. I repeatedly replanted several sections of the various garden areas I have. Not to great results.

Monet and pumpkins

BUT the “toss out some old pumpkins and let them rot and self-seed” portion of the crop performed with glee! Pumpkin glee!

pumpkin patch after first frost, before harvest

Keep reading to find how many pumpkins were harvested in 2025!

during the pumpkin harvest

Especially productive was the raised bed we have way out in the pasture. That’s where I left several pumpkins from 2024: a white one my son surprised me with after a trip to a pumpkin farm stand, a smaller orange one, and one of those tiny pumpkins. They rested in the bed over winter and sprouted early. Hundreds of sprouts. I had to rip out handfuls to give room to the rest. By pumpkin harvest day, the spread was huge! We actually had to curb the growth as it headed over to the horse pasture (not ours) next door. It took many hours to harvest them. And then more moving them, ripping out the vines, stepping gently to find any lost ones.

I love my pumpkins!

Also productive were the tiny pumpkins planted (but also I left some from 2024, so it’s a toss-up which ones actually sprouted) in the sunflower forest bed. I love these, because they vine and grow up. We had them climbing pumpkins, shrubbery, and some of the pine tree (which began as a twig with roots from the Arbor Day Foundation, and is slowly taking over said sunflower forest and patio). I love discovering where these cuties show up.

I had a little help

I had some muscle to help haul in the heavy wheelbarrows!

wagon for the animal farm next door

We even ended up with a wagon of rejects (partially eaten) for the animal farm on the other side of the pasture.

40 for church potluck

Plus 40 in the trunk to go to church for a potluck!

Finally, here are the 2025 pumpkin harvest totals! Drum roll please . . .

2025 Pumpkins on Display

White pumpkins: 17

Tiny pumpkins: 67

Orange pumpkins: 158

For an amazing grand total of 242 PUMPKINS!

So thankful for a wonderful harvest! Can’t wait until next year!

Just for fun, check out totals from last year here.


Leave a comment

Sunday Peace

pumpkins, Bible verse, Romans 12-18, peace
Fall Pumpkin Harvest

Yakima Valley


Leave a comment

Haiku Moment: beach time mystery

as I walked one day-

random sunbathing surprise

beach time mystery!

dog toy? picnic side?

fallen barbecue baked dish?

couch beach potato

beach time mystery by Angie Quantrell

Grayland Beach State Park, WA


Leave a comment

Sunday Joy

Lake Crescent, Olympic Peninsula


4 Comments

come fall

come fall, my breath eases

garden chores relax

cozy becomes theme of the day

sweaters resurface from storage

colors vibrate with final goodbyes

crisp air invigorates

dew dampens pant hems and ankles

caws and honks sing seasonal music

rustles dance through dried sunflowers

zinnias fade and go to seed

pumpkins dangle from spent vines

birds fatten, cats fluff, people bundle

tea and scarves and throws

beckon me to breathe,

embrace

all that is autumn

come fall by Angie Quantrell


Leave a comment

Sunday Peace

Port Angeles, WA


2 Comments

Haiku Moment: orangeade

orangeade charges,

contemplates feline mischief

prepares to attack

orangeade by Angie Quantrell

Reeses, Yakima Valley


4 Comments

Sunday Peace

Summer Garden, Yakima Valley


2 Comments

Haiku Moment: fall hurrah

garden end begins

sunlight dwindles, weather cools

final fall hurrah

fall hurrah by Angie Quantrell

Yakima Valley