Fall

The winds picked up over the weekend. A strong gale that blows through town, ripping leaves from the trees. The trees are still mostly green, but clumps of yellow and red are starting their fall campaign. 

Frisbee the backyard squirrel has been busy burying nuts, or whatever he/she eats, in the planter. The dogs whimper at the back door, taunted by the frisky rodent. Seriously I need to write a post about that squirrel and the dogs.

The nights and mornings have been cooler. I love the cooler air, this balance between summer and winter is the sweet spot of temperatures. I have sweaters out, but they are often shed as the day wears on. I have spent much time reminding the girls that soon they will have to wear pants and close toed shoes. I have learned that this mental prep is a necessity for them.

I am trying to soak up my final weeks in the hammock. I will really miss a hammock this winter. I really wish we had room for an indoor hammock. 

I am thinking about soups and stews. I am thinking about beautiful scarves (I was gifted with scarves from India and Turkey this summer).About drinking hot tea on cold days. I am not thinking about leaf raking. I am certainly not thinking about how long it takes to put winter clothes on little kids. 

I am looking forward to the corn maze, pumpkin carving, crisp air for walks,    darker mornings (kids are up with the sun), pink cheeks, and golden days.

What are you looking forward to?

Golden Days

Fall Colors, That's All I Got

I have been sick this week. Booo!I think this is due in large part to the fact that Cordelia coughed into my face while she was sick (thanks kid). Anyway, my fever neared 104 last night and I weighed going to the ER, just to get some relief. Fevers are miserable, but thankfully that fever broke before I went in for help. I still don't feel like the usual well oiled machine that I am(what?), but I've turned a corner.

With that said I have been pretty much been operating on survival mode. If the zombie apocalypse had happened this week I would have been toast. Thankfully I muddled through each day and all was well. I even got in some good snuggle time with my girls. So, for this morning's blog I decided to head outside and snap a few photos of the beautiful fall colors I have been enjoying from out my window. Lest you think I over-exerted myself let me be clear; I stood in my front yard for ten minutes, coughing and photographing while Elise played.

SNOW!?!

You may recall that we had blizzards in April this year. Well, 2013 is the year of endless winter apparently. Seriously folks, it has already snowed here. The trees were just starting to lose their green when the storm hit. If you aren't from this part of the country you may not realize what that means.

Let me break it down into a mathematical equation for you:

leafy trees + heavy snow= lots of broken tree branches

I went to bed Thursday evening to the sound of a heavy rain. When I awoke, there was silence. The kind of silence that only comes with the muffling effect of snow. Animals were silent, households were slow to get rolling. 

While the girls were thrilled about it, dogs included, we were actually quite lucky.

This tree branch is big. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but it fell from our tree half in our yard and half in our neighbor's yard, missing our car by a few feet.

We lost a ton of branches, and it was a little frightening driving through town as limbs continued to fall throughout the day.

This bush normally stands about ten feet tall, here it is bowed to about my waist height.

It wasn't a lot of snow and it will be gone today as it is supposed to return to normal fall weather in the 60s and 70s this week. Still, that was our drama.

What is it like where you are?

October

Fall is upon us and it is beautiful!

The Change

The times are changing here my friends. Fall is almost upon us. I love this time of year. Do you?



The light has a golden quality to it. Perhaps it doesn't have a golden quality and I just have a seasonal bias....I don't know let's just call it golden and let the chips fall where they may.



The days are still warm and we spend as much time as we can outside, depending on the air quality----the fires have really made this more challenging. The nights are cool and each morning I think that it is nearly time to turn on that heater, but not just yet.



Cordelia's 3rd (!?!?!?) birthday is just around the corner.



I am buying loads of butternut squash and apples. I am thinking of soup and sweaters and such.



I cannot wait to see the pink cheeks on my girls when the air gets a bit of a nip to it.



I am looking forward to soy hot chocolate, cuddling under blankets, hats.



I am looking forward to frost, the corn maze, the pumpkin patch, a hay ride.



What are you looking forward to?

Before the Snow

The snow is on its way---or so everyone keeps telling me. For my part I am perfectly contented with an extended fall, two days of snow for Christmas and then on into a long spring. Who else is with me?

We have been preparing the home for winter. Organizing the garage, blowing out the sprinklers, rolling up the hoses and avoiding the task of leaf raking. Since we are new homeowners we are kind of winging it here, hopefully we aren't missing anything major. Today I am off to buy Cordelia some snow boots---she is very excited.

I also recently took a morning hike up the mountain with my friend. We both suspected that this may be the last hike we take before the snow creeps down the mountain and blocks our passage for the next few months, although we did discuss the possibility of snowshoeing (I have never been and I am excited at the prospect). Have you been snowshoeing?











I believe that the snow is to begin falling later today or tomorrow, so I had better get out there and enjoy a little more fall today. Do you have snow yet? Are you ready for winter? Anything you need to do before the snow falls?

Weekend Review

Wow, I had a crazy weekend. Saturday I was all over the place. I woke up early and was out the door by 7:30. My mother and I were participating in a strange, but thankfully lucrative, craft fair (read about it here). Around noon Cordelia and I left the craft fair to watch some of Eric's concert---to be clear he is the drummer in the band. While we were on our way to the show Cordelia kept asking, "Daddy gonna rock out?" I told her that he would indeed rock out

Here is a little video of Cordelia dancing at the show. Please excuse the garbled music, I took this with my phone.

After the concert it was time for Cordelia to have a nap. I took her home and got her down. Eric and I continued our dance of responsibilities. He came home from the show and it was back to the craft fair for me.

We ended our day by having dinner with some wonderful friends. The weather was nice so we were able to sit outside and have some dinner. Couldn't have asked for a better end to a hectic, but lovely, day.

The rest of the weekend was jam packed as well. I did some work around the house, but mostly tried to get in a few walks through the neighborhood and some time outside. While doing some yard work in the front I asked Cordelia what we should name our big cotton-less cottonwood tree. She confidently responded that we should call her Jelly.

Jelly

I have been marveling at the gradual seasonal changes we are beginning to see evidenced in the foliage.

The Virginia Creeper is turning from green to a vibrant red.


There are still some late bloomers bringing some last bursts of summer colors.


Our yard is starting to collect fallen leaves here and there.


The mums are going strong


Bumblebee was just happy to spend some more time outside.

How was your weekend???

Hints of Fall and GIVEAWAY

When I woke up this morning I found myself curled up into a tiny ball. I was chilly. I stretched out and put my feet onto the cold hardwood floor and shivered a bit. Fall is surely on its way. The days are still warm, not hot. The mornings are starting to think about frost. I think we are a few weeks away from the first frost.


Flowers have decided to call it for the season


A quilt made by my grandmother works for now, we have only flirted with the notion of turning on the heater


Most of the leaves are still green...


but there are a few leaves that have decided to turn


Cordelia is enjoying her fuzzy blanket

For now I will spend my mornings warming under a quilt with a cup of hot tea. Is it cold where you are?

Don't forget to check out yesterday's post to enter the giveaway!!!! I will be posting the re-organized craft space this weekend (yesterday ended up being too crazy to make time to organize, so the mess remains).