Warm and cozy in the house

Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
are full of trouble and full of care
To stay at home is best.
Longfellow

It is beginning to feel like late autumn/early winter here. Our highs are in the 40s and lows in the 20s for at least the next few days. Thanks to recent high winds, many of the leaves are on the ground. Only various shades of gold and tan are hanging on now, sometimes a deep shade of copper is found on smaller trees.

On days like this, I enjoy getting in the kitchen and cooking. Yesterday I made an apple crisp for dinner with a slow cooked pork barbecue in the oven at the same time (casserole lid on tightly so the apples didn't taste like Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce).

This afternoon I have an oven stew slow cooking for dinner. I was going to make some bread but I've been playing with Beta instead (blush...). I must stop playing with my new toy and turn my attention to the house. I need to turn my attention to menu ideas and my grocery list for later this week.

Once we reach November, I start thinking of the Christmas season ahead. I love Christmas and I have collected Christmas decorations for over thirty years. These past few years I have sorted through them during each season and given away what I no longer wanted. However, it is not easy to part with any Holiday decorations in this family, most being wrapped around fond memories. I decorate the day after Thanksgiving instead of going to the mall with a million other people. (I am not fond of malls, preferring smaller shops with names not found in hundreds of other cities across America and making my own gifts.)

It is almost time to look through my recipe files and decide which cookies, candy, and breads to make for gifts this year. I know it seems early but every year I find December suddenly here and wonder why I didn't prepare earlier. I guess being in this house for our first Christmas makes it easy to think ahead this year. Last year we had Christmas dinner in the midst of boxes stacked for a move the next week. This year we can enjoy the season of Advent in a house of our own again. I am greatly blessed.