Falling into fall.

(Michael is napping; let's see if I can finish this post before his incoming teeth wake him...poor boy.)

 This week has sure been the week of blog posts from yours truly, hasn't it? :) Well, I spent a good deal of time organizing the house last week, and so this week, I have extra time for reading, praying, creating, and blogging. There are orange and yellow leaves on our lawn for the first time in 5 years! Hooray! So excited to finally have the real seasons back. Michael has enjoyed playing with the leaves and watching them fall from the trees; looking forward to getting some pictures of him with leaves/pumpkins as soon as he is back to 100% health. We also have a resident squirrel ("Jack") who has been most busy scurrying around foraging for the winter. I wonder how many trees will sprout up in our lawn in the spring from his forgotten stashes... It's been quite chilly lately; the air has that lovely crisp bite of early fall in it. We have had some spectacular moonlit nights - no harvest moons yet - but on most nights, a low-hanging, glowing orb which casts a smokey light over our wooded neighborhood here. Some of you are aware of my love of poetry; I especially enjoy reading poems that emphasize the images of the four seasons, as for me, the words and rhymes really accentuate what we experience outdoors with our senses during those times. I happened upon this nice verse earlier this week:

Late Autumn by William Allingham

October - and the skies are cool and gray
O'er stubbles emptied of their latest sheaf,
Bare meadow, and the slowly falling leaf.
The dignity of woods in rich decay
Accords full well with this majestic grief
That clothes our solemn purple hills to-day.

And night sends up her pale cold moon, and spills 
White mist around the hollows of the hills,
Phantoms of firth or lake; the peasant sees
His cot and stockyard, with the homestead trees,
Islanded; but no foolish terror thrills
His perfect harvesting; he sleeps at ease.

Ah, the scene of a successful fall harvest. As I mentioned in previous post, I personally mark autumn as a time to commence change in our hearts in anticipation of the Child whose Advent we await. How can we "harvest" our hearts in preparation? What needs to be thrown out with the chaff and what goodness and charity can we reap to offer Him?

Of course, fall is also the season that simply evokes outdoor fun and yummy treats. :) I came across these cute fall "bucket lists" with ideas to celebrate this changing season...

These inspired me to create one for our family this fall. Even though Michael isn't old enough to appreciate the hoopla, Andrew and I want to enjoy lots of autumnal fun, especially since this is our first real fall in a while! I will share our list in a later post, but in the meantime, here are some ideas that came to my mind that you may want to add to your own fall bucket list. It's great fun to be flexible according to the ages/abilities of your family members and also incorporate works of mercy!

-In addition to having fun, this season is about reflecting on our many blessings and giving thanks. If outdoor activities aren't your style, make a gratitude list such as this one or a gratitude collage to nurture a spirit of thankfulness. 

-In the same spirit, share your blessings, and make some fall treats and drop them off to a struggling family or homeless person.

-Bake your spouse a fall treat, package with a little list of gratitude for his hard work, and deliver to his work place.

-Purchase canned holiday fixin's for the food bank at your church.

-Host an All Saints' Day party or All Hallow's Eve party.

-Have the girlfriends over for card games and homemade pumpkin spice lattes. 

-Have a family over for hot apple cider and s'mores over a bonfire.

-Go apple picking and make a big batch of applesauce. 

-Illustrate some fall poetry.

-Offer to help a disabled or elderly neighbor rake his/her leaves.

-Make a corn husk doll or gourd rattle for your baby. Old-fashioned, I know, but the challenge might be fun...

-Bring some little authentic fall into your house and make a nature display. Or, do a leaf study and/or leaf display.

-Make popcorn balls!

-Finally, find creative ways to display your fall bucket list in a prominent area in your home: perhaps framed on a living room table or mantle; written out on leaf-shaped craft paper then hung on a garland or from branches in a vase; drawn in watercolors; formed into a collage; or simply written on slips of paper gathered in a bowl - pull a few out every weekend for some spontaneous fun.

What are your favorite fall traditions? Here's to fun, colorful, tasty, family time this fall 2012! Go out and enjoy it and each other; time is precious.

~Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings~ William Arthur Ward

Peace in the kitchen

After a busy and scrambled past few days, I took to the kitchen for some culinary therapy this afternoon. Bread was needed anyways, and why not whip up some cookies for a special sweet treat this week? :) A few months ago I received my favorite cookie cookbook in the mail courtesy of Amazon. The pages of this book hold many pleasant memories of cookie baking/decorating as a young girl with my mom and sisters, and some simply delicious recipes! I highly recommend it, as it presents the good old fashioned recipes along with unique cookie recipes for every holiday and season of life. Today I chose to keep it quick and easy with the snicker doodle recipe and also cranked out a batch of my staple honey whole wheat bread. And nothing goes better with the aroma of baked goods than some poetry...

KITCHEN MAGIC

by Violet Rouke Broder

When gray days sometimes leave you

At a loss for what to do,

Fill your house with warmth and fragrance...

Bake a pie, a cake, or two.

Make some heart-shaped sugar cookies

Or a creamy pudding, fine;

A batch of fudge or brownies

Helps to pass the gloomy time.

A tin of golden muffins

Or some loaves of fresh-baked bread,

I am sure will be more pleasing

Then some "store-bought" bread, instead.

What a thoughtful, cheery greeting

For your loved ones...at the door

When they sniff your homemade goodies,

Wafting welcome evermore.

**Yes, I did give a new look to my blog and did create the header all on my own (simple as it is) = I impressed myself a little!  I was delighted to come across that graphic, as I wanted something whimsical and colorful to portray joy, movement, and the ever-changing seasons in life.

A Rainy Sunday...

Enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon with hubby, listening to the downpour and thunder outside, and I thought I'd share a poem.

A Line-Storm Song by Robert Frost

The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift.

The road is forlorn all day,

Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift,

And the hoof-prints vanish away.

The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee,

Expend their bloom in vain.

Come over the hills and far with me,

And be my love in the rain.

The birds have less to say for themselves

In the wood-world's torn despair

Than now these numberless years the elves,

Although they are no less there:

All song of the woods is crushed like some

Wild, earily shattered rose.

Come, be my love in the wet woods, come,

Where the boughs rain when it blows.

There is the gale to urge behind

And bruit our singing down,

And the shallow waters aflutter with wind

From which to gather your gown.

What matter if we go clear to the west,

And come not through dry-shod?

For wilding brooch shall wet your breast

The rain-fresh goldenrod.

Oh, never this whelming east wind swells

But it seems like the sea's return

To the ancient lands where it left the shells

Before the age of the fern;

And it seems like the time when after doubt

Our love came back amain.

Oh, come forth into the storm and rout

And be my love in the rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night Andrew and I went to the Naples Philharmonic. It was great to get away from the books and be able to focus on each other and enjoy some great music by Ravel, Grieg, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, and others. Most memorable was Nimrod from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar- the Phil's interpretation and playing of this piece was magnificent. This was the second concert we have attended at the Naples Phil, and I have been very impressed with their work. We ended the night at Cheesecake Factory where we met friends Gary and Christine for yummy dessert and wedding talk. :)
Ready for a night out!