Most all the leaves are now brown. Above is a multi-colored branch from East Jersey Olde Towne in Piscataway, taken two weeks ago.

My oak hydrangea (photographed last week) is even redder than it was a few weeks ago. What color.

For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Can you tell me what is going on in my daughter’s drawing? I will post the text above the drawing by Wednesday in a different post. Enjoy chatting about the drawing.

Is this what Thanksgiving dinner looked like in the 19th century in New Jersey? Or a meal on the go when traveling from New York City to Philadelphia? Note the two-pronged sharp fork. We learned at Allaire that’s how forks used to look, until someone figured out it was safer to have a three-pronged less sharp fork. And they ate the food with the knife, using the two-pronged fork to hold the meat steady.

On My Blog

  
  

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Pesky Settler hosts the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Check out the recipe for sourdough naan bread. That looks yummy.
• Ilana-Davita reviewed Rachel Sarai’s Vineyard, by Deborah Rey. You can learn more about Deborah Rey on her blog.
• Eva Abreu is running a New Jersey Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame. You vote via Twitter, use hashtag #NJSM09, and nominate outstanding users of Social Media in New Jersey.
• I loved Robin’s Red Hibiscus so much I decided to link to it here!

I have been working at getting interviews with Central New Jersey small businesses, and I plan to start a new series that I have nicknamed “Wednesdays With.” I won’t necessarily limit it to businesses in Central New Jersey, but that’s where I have been asking…hoping to get good, fun responses soon.

Oh, dear. Or should that be O Deer.

A few weeks ago my neighbor spotted some deer in another neighbor’s yard. I happened to have my camera with me, so I lucked out and got a photo. Now, I really must say this is actually unnatural, to have deer in the backyard. It’s not like we live on the edge of woods. When we first moved to our house a little over ten years ago, the deer frequented the streets near the railroad tracks, which made sense, as there is a fair amount of woods there. Last year the deer were brave enough to travel to our block at night and eat our tulips. But this year they are showing up in broad daylight! Either there is too much development in New Jersey or the deer just like hanging out in Highland Park/Edison backyards. Or both.

For some fabulous bird photos in New Jersey which I wish I had taken myself, visit Bill’s New Jersey Outdoors Late Autumn Feast post. Now, isn’t that gorgeous? At the end of the post, he’s looking for a tree ID. Is that a hawthorn? Does anyone know?

For more Nature Notes, visit Rambling Woods:

And Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Free Association Game: What do you think of when you read sheep? Or when you look at the above image? (or both)

Please leave your thoughts, ideas, associations in the comments. As always, vulgar or obscene comments will be deleted. But the truth is, I’ve never gotten any vulgar or obscene comments…

Not necessary to play the game, but if you are curious, read the difference between a lamb and a sheep.

New Jersey has many old-fashioned villages, and East Jersey Olde Towne in Piscataway is in biking distance of our home. So my husband and middle son biked out there last week, and my daughter and I came later by car.

Since this is a post for Ruby Tuesday, I focused on photos with a bit of red. There’s the schoolhouse. All of the buildings were moved to this spot from elsewhere in Central New Jersey.

We had fun in the one-room school house, with its pretty red gingham curtains.

Throughout the buildings there are a lot of fake place settings, showing how food might have looked or been served. The buildings are from a variety of periods in New Jersey history.

This sign, with its red border, says the “In the 1970’s, the Indian Queen Tavern was relocated from New Brunswick to East Jersey Olde Town in Piscataway. In 2003, archaeologists uncovered artifacts from the original site of the tavern in New Brunswick.” (On display were a toothbrush, a comb, a shaving mug and a chamber pot.)

On our way out, I photographed this colorful bush, with its red fall foliage display.

For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday: