November—with uncanny witchery

"November—with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes—days full of a fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless gold of the juniper-trees and glimmered among the grey beeches, lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of the pines."

-L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle

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Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created November 24, 2023. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Even in grey November...

"Spring would come back even in grey November and her poor, cold, dead, little heart would beat again."

-L.M. Montgomery
A Tangled Web

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Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created November 22, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Anne of Green Gables Watercolor Print and Quote

Here's a lovely gift idea for an Anne of Green Gables fan. It's a pretty fall watercolor print by the artist Lane Martin with a quote by L.M. Montgomery from Anne of Green Gables. You can customize your order to be printed on different types of paper or canvas in a variety of sizes (8 x 10", 11 x 14" or 18 x 24"). Several framing choices are available for the print too.

Created November 14, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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November had been a vexing month

"But November had been a vexing month all through...one day glorious...the next day savage."

-L.M. Montgomery
Mistress Pat

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Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created November 5, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Nutting Song by L.M. Montgomery

In November 1906, L.M. Montgomery published the poem/song lyrics "Nutting Song" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

NUTTING SONG

Light, light, rings our laughter

O’er valley and hill,

To chime with the musical

Call of the rill.

The blue skies above

With their sunshine o'erflow,

And over the meadows

Beguiling winds blow—

Heigh-ho for the nutting.

Through the boughs of the chestnuts

The mellow lights fall,

And the song of the nutters

Rings clear over all.

The maples are flame

On the crest of the hill,

And amethyst hazes

The far valleys fill

In the time of the nutting.

The mornings are frosty,

The noons are a-gleam,

The blue air is quivering

Over the stream.

The wood ways are drifted

With billows of gold,

And the world sings a song

That can never grow old

In the time of the nutting.

Oh, ours is the laughter,

The frolic and mirth,

The heyday of autumn,

The bounty of earth.

The music that echoes

The whole world along

Is borne in our hearts

And enchained in our song

In the time of the nutting.

L. M. MONTGOMERY.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1906, November). Nutting Song. The Farm Journal. 30(11): 374. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1906-11_30_11/page/374/mode/2up

Created November 2, 2022.
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November Dusk by L.M. Montgomery

In November 1904, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "November Dusk" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

NOVEMBER DUSK

A weird and dreamy stillness falls upon
The purple, breathless earth, the wind-less woods,
The wimpling rims of valley solitudes,
The wide, gray stubble-fields and fallows wan—
A quiet hush, as if, her heyday gone,
Tired Nature folded weary hands for rest
Across the faded vesture of her breast,
Knowing her wintry slumbers hasten on.
Far and away beyond the ocean’s rim
The dull-red sunset fades into the gray
Of sombre, wind-rent clouds that marshall grim
Around the closing portals of the day,
While from the margin of the tawny shore
Comes up the voice of waters evermore.

L. M. MONTGOMERY.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1904, November). November Dusk. The Farm Journal. 28(11): 372. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1904-11_28_11/page/372/mode/2up

Created November 1, 2022.
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There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn.

"There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn."

-L.M. Montgomery
Jane of Lantern Hill

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Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created October 26, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Indian Summer by L.M. Montgomery

One hundred and twenty years ago, in October 1902, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Indian Summer" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

L.M. Montgomery's poem was featured on the first page of the journal. Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

INDIAN SUMMER
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

In the sun-warm valleys all sweet and low,
Shy, tender murmurs come and go

Among pale grasses; and far away

O’er the calm, blue rim of an upland still
And the peak of a far, light-smitten hill,

Wind-music drifts adown the day.

Perfect peace of a year fulfilled
Cometh now when the world is stilled

And, forgetting its turmoil of springtime days

And its later fever, takes its rest
In a golden completeness no storms molest

While the benediction of autumn stays.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1902, October). Indian Summer. The Farm Journal. 26(10): 305. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1902-10_26_10/mode/2up

Created October 11, 2022.
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The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing.

"The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing."

-L.M. Montgomery
Mistress Pat

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Image credit:
Photograph by World of Anne Shirley.

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Created October 6, 2022. Last updated April 19, 2024.
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Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner

After spending many hours searching through microfiche in my university's library, I rediscovered an 100-year-old short story by L.M. Montgomery. The story is called "Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner," and you can read it here exclusively. "Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner" was originally published in 1907 in The Housewife, the year before Anne of Green Gables was published. To my knowledge this story has never been republished since.

The story is about four sisters: Laura, Kate, Margaret, and Agnes, who narrates the tale. Each girl has her own ambitions. Laura wants to be an artist, Kate plays the violin, Margaret wants to get a college education, and Agnes wants to be a writer. Aunt Susanna faintly approves of Margaret's desire for an education, but disapproves of the artistic, musical, and literary goals of her other three nieces. The sisters try to please Aunt Susanna, hoping their wealthy aunt will send Margaret to college.

The story begins when Aunt Susanna arrives at her nieces's home. She's full of criticism, but also needs a favor. She is in a bind, and must travel from town to visit a sick relative. She needs the girls to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for her and Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert upon their return home. Agnes has just told Aunt Susanna that she's a good cook, so she feels she must agree to prepare the meal. With trepidation, Agnes says she will cook dinner, and Kate volunteers to help her.

Despite the their best efforts, Agnes and Kate's Thanksgiving preparations turn out to be a disaster. Will they be able to save Thanksgiving and win Aunt Susanna's approval?

Read the original scanned story text below or download a PDF version here:





Updated to add: Long after I posted this story on my website, it was gathered into another collection online.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1907, November). Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner. The Housewife. pages 5 and 14.

Created October 2, 2007. Last updated November 24, 2022.
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