Seasons of the year and seasons in life

I wish I'd taken the time to take the picture. It's too late now. The leaves are almost completely gone from the two trees in my front yard... the big papa tree and the smaller baby tree. For a short time, everything around me was beautiful and when one lives at the edge of a forest, the trees are the star of the show. At least most of the year.

However, Papa and the Baby out front were stars among stars... breathtaking in their beauty. Whenever I walked onto the porch, I saw such colorful beauty it hurt. These mortal bodies can only handle so much at a time until they achieve sensory overload. Perhaps that's why I didn't get around to taking a picture... I wanted them to live in my memory and in the magic that they brought.

We are nearing the end of autumn and the early weeks of winter... not the actual date which true winter begins but that time of year when rain showers may turn to snow on the ground and one who lives surrounded by trees can see the sun setting for the first time since... April perhaps?

Now when I sit on the rocking chair at the corner of my porch, I can see the barn belonging to the farm across the county road. I love barns... and tractors... and farm houses... and trees. God has definitely given me boundary lines in pleasant places.

Life can be a struggle at times which can leave us weary and thirsty sojourners looking forward to our Heavenly home. There are many events in my life right now that keep me at the feet of my Saviour... as Provider, Healer, Protector, Peace Giver... Friend. I am totally out of control of the circumstances, which in the long run is the best after all.

In the morning before anyone else awakes, I push the button of the coffee pot to "on" and then curl up next to Sasha on the sofa to glean from the Word and my devotional... sipping from my Pooh mug the hot coffee with Splenda and cream and thinking morning is the best time of all.

Later I do that which is before me by grinding wheat to make a loaf of bread, simmering chicken soup in the stock pot, stirring together a batch of muffins for the guys to serve with tea or decaf coffee in the evening... those things which women have been doing for millenia in the midst of war and peace, adversity and plenty, sickness and health... whatever circumstances they find themselves in... offering food and comfort when possible.

Very soon the warmth of Indian Summer will be long forgotten and I will need a warm throw over me as I read a book in the evening. I will feel the cold of the wooden flooring at my feet when I run from my bed to find the flannel robe hanging on the back of the bedroom door each morning. Another season will be behind me, a new season beginning.

Sounds a lot like life right now.

Picture: The edge of the forest a few weeks ago

A beautiful autumn day

I arrived at the Farmer's Market this morning just as the sun was coming up. We were all quite chilled but what beautiful sites and sounds were waiting for those of us willing to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning. I was there to purchase one more five pound container from the Honey Man and at least one bouquet of flowers. I came away with these two...


My sister will be visiting from Florida later this week. I am hoping both bouquets will be fresh when she arrives.

I also came away with the pumpkins and the corn seen at the front corner of my porch (above), a sack of bell peppers, two half gallons of "pressed this morning" unpasteurized apple cider, various veggies, and a small bag of chocolate chip cookies purchased from the cutest little Mennonite girl.

As usual, there was the old man playing an instrument (perhaps a mandolin?) and singing old time hymns and traditional bluegrass melodies. The trees along each side of the street were already turning shades of orange and yellow. A bittersweet morning as this would be the last Saturday until next May to make purchases at the Farmer's Market. Like all of the other outside markets in our area, it ends the last weekend in October (and I have other plans next Saturday).

My husband and I continued the autumn whole house and lawn chores by changing the filters for our well... his least favorite household chore as he has to crawl into the crawlspace under the house (which, I assume, is how it got its' name) where there is very little space (he can only sit up) and lots of spiders. Yuk... However, it is a necessary chore that is done each October and April. I offer encouragement as I stand OUTSIDE, hand him the tools he needs, and wash out the holder for the filter before he puts the new one in. We are always glad to get that behind us.

I worked cleaning the front porch, sweeping leaves, washing windows, getting cobwebs off of everywhere (or so it seemed), and beginning the washing of the siding. I won't be able to completely scrub it until 1) we move the furniture to the shed, and 2) the spiders are dead or at least hiding for the season.

My husband also has been helping me with inside cleaning projects. I keep telling him that every bit of help goes a LONG way.

Fortunately, my sister called to say she is arriving later this week. What timing! The house should be shiny from the autumn deep cleaning and the trees will be close to peak color. They are more muted this year but still very pretty. She can brag on the warm Florida weather come Winter but I know she'll be happy to return "Home" during this season. I'm sorry she broke her foot and wasn't able to come when originally planned. I'm not sorry it will be so pretty when she is here.

I love this time of year. :)

What a wonderful world

What a Wonderful World

I see trees of green,
red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself: "What a wonderful world!"

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day,
the dark sacred night
And I think to my self: "What a wonderful world!"

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying "How do you do."
They really say: "I love you!"

I hear babies crying
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself: "What a wonderful world!"
Yes, I think to myself: "What a wonderful world!"
It's a beautiful world. :)

Ahhhh...Satchmo (Louis Armstrong)... I can hear the music now. I purchased a Christmas CD last year just because this song was on it. Lovely. When I hear music like this, I know why Heaven is filled with song.

Actually, when I was thinking of this music recently, it came with a warning to my own soul. Remember... it truly is a beautiful world. Life can be hard at times and when one is living with difficult circumstances, it is oh so easy to look on the dark side. Darth Vader has nothing on me at times folks. (Luke, Luke... I am your mother!) Oh, sorry for getting off track here.

My personality tends toward optimism but Life has shot it down quite often. Fortunately, our Lord allows nothing but a temporary blow with a stun gun as long as we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off... and keep going on toward the Promised Land. Let bitterness creep in and, well, one can truly live in darkness as the windows of our soul become dark and dusty until Light has a hard time shining through.

What better season to look for Beauty... and Hope... Faith... Love... the will to go on in the midst of trials and tribulations. The Book says we are to expect them and even give thanks for them. (I have yet to figure that one out, it is one of those "perhaps in Eternity" He will show me... or more likely... I won't care by that time.)

So, here's what I'm doing this autumn. I've decided to write down everything I see that makes my heart sing. From Pumpkin Spice Lattes (I get my $20.00 monthly allowance for Starbucks tomorrow, hallelujah!) to a hug from my honey.

Here are just a few this autumn day...

The colors of trees and bushes
Pumpkins and squash
Gorgeous mums in deep oranges, purples, reds, and rust
The lovely sounds of dulcimer music on Saturday morning
and
The interesting people and food at the Farmer's Market

Pictures of my grandchildren arriving by e-mail
Talks with my son and daughter
Days when my husband is feeling better
Amazing sermons in person and on the radio

Music, art, books (oh yes... let us not forget books)
Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate
Pumpkin cookies
Holiday flavors appearing in the grocery store

Blogs by like minded people with pretty pictures
(it doesn't matter the words are in a foreign language sometimes)
Blogs that show me I am not alone
Great Truth from old books written in a time long gone by
Old movies that make me sigh
Vintage magazines that remind me of a time gone by

Oh, my friends... that is just the beginning. I want to enter the Holiday season with Thanksgiving and not with a Scrooge-like attitude because life has been a little frustrating lately (okay a lot but you get the idea), it is all in the attitude and I choose one of thanksgiving for the beauty that is just the leftovers from Eden.

I know just the place to write down my list... see you later!

This post is part of Sallie's Celebrate Autumn at A Gracious Home.

Print: The Good Book; Art.com

A little more of autumn in the living room

I just love this hutch (breakfront). It was one of the pieces of furniture inherited from my mother-in-law.

The cute little pumpkin is one of two autumnal type decorations I purchased new this season. It is engraved with "we give thanks to God".

The colors work so well in my living room, too. :)

The primitive picture above the hutch was a birthday gift one year from my daughter. She took me to my very favorite store when they were visiting and let me pick out something special. If you click on the top photo, you can see the picture clearly.

At least it looks like autumn

We are to reach temperatures near 90 again today and stay in the mid-to-upper 80s this next week. I am not going to let that stop me from enjoying my favorite season. :)

Autumn is at my front door.

Autumn is beside my front door.

Homemade chicken soup to heal my husband

(and it's good for me, too).

A hot cup of tea... in the air conditioning. :)

I'm still enjoying autumn

It's beautiful here, even if a bit on the cold side. When driving "to town" and "from town" today, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. There are large wheels of hay on a number of farms as I passed by this morning. The only time I see rectangular hay "bails" anymore is for decorative purposes. There remains miles and miles of corn drying in the fields. There is a small farm which I pass every day that has goats in the pasture. My son tells me I am the only person he knows who finds goats charming. Probably because I don't have to get up early to feed them.

While driving this afternoon, I was listening to the Brandenburg concerto on the University's FM channel. I had to smile, as beautiful as Bach may be, I think a good dulcimer concert would have been more appropriate. However, one cannot go wrong with Bach anywhere...anytime.

Exactly at 5:00, I was on campus to drop my son off at work for his part-time job. How different it was from the scenic views I had just passed. There are somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 students on "our" campus, not counting all the professors and staff. It did seem every one of them was driving or walking around me as I attempted to get my son to work on time. He had spent the morning at an advanced debate class and the afternoon teaching himself how to draw (using an architecture book from the library). After work, he and Dad will go over the expected math questions for his class tomorrow while I enjoy a great book.

I thought I'd share some of the photos I took at the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, having just picked up processed film and having a CD made again for the computer. I have another roll of film from the Feast to process at a later date.

The Feast of the Hunter's Moon is held next to the Wabash River. I stopped to enjoy the beautiful scenery before heading back to the more crowded areas.

Now here is an interesting "Gent". He didn't smile as I took his picture but he didn't stop me, either.

I took this couple's picture as I was getting ready to leave for the day. I told them I wanted to put it on my blog and they were very happy to comply.

Here are the charming dulcimer ladies. When I went back later to listen to them for awhile, an older gentleman had joined the group. They are amazing, I loved listening to their music.
Here's the delightful gentleman. I chatted with him after taking the picture above (and before he joined the group).

These are just a few of dozens (hundreds?) of interesting exhibitor and thousands of people enjoying the sights and smells which took us back to the eighteenth century. It was a good place to visit for a day.

A wintery autumn day

I love Thursdays as I get to sleep late. With the temps hovering around 30 and the wind-chill in the low 20s (as well as a fierce wind rattling our windows), it was a lovely day for sleeping in. There was snow in our vicinity but we didn't have any. I'm thankful for that; I didn't get a chance to take any of my herbs, mums and other greenery in containers into the garage until today. Before transferring the above into the garage for safety, I took a couple pictures of my front porch decorated for autumn (having faith it will return before "real winter" sets in). I'll be turning the film in to be processed and ready for the computer soon.

The winter-like weather put me in the mood to make my favorite vegetable beef soup and I had all the ingredients on hand, having purchased a large chuck roast on sale yesterday and having soup bones in my freezer (I buy then whenever the store has them for sale, which isn't often). My recipe is basically the same my mother made, except I brown the soup bones, an onion and some carrots in the oven before adding them and half the roast into a stockpot and simmering all afternoon. The aroma is already heavenly. l leave it in the frig for a day or two for the fat to solidify on top, then finish it off with potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans and a couple cans of Italian style tomatoes. The other half of the chuck roast was cut into cubes and placed in the freezer for a later meal. It is cold enough outside that my windows are steaming from the soup simmering on the stove!

I took a break to brew one of my favorite cold weather teas. It is the Good Earth Original (sweet & spicy tea & herb blend). I've enjoyed it for many years but I had a hard time finding it when we moved out of the area. It's available in quite a few grocery stores close to us but I found it only in health food stores when we were in Michigan. It has a fruity, cinnamon flavor. Although I prefer this original blend that contains black tea, it is also available in an herbal equivalent that is yummy.

It was so peaceful here for a change with both of the guys elsewhere. I was able to sip my tea, eat a couple pumpkin cookies (after taking a shot of insulin) and watch As Time Goes By on the BBCA channel...a perfect combination to relax before starting late afternoon chores.

Since all outside work is finished and my hands are thawed out, I will spend the afternoon going through papers that I know need responses soon. I have been dumping "to be taken care of when I get a chance" materials in a box now for a few weeks. It is time to pay the proverbial piper and get to work.

I have large russet potatoes and sweet potatoes baking in the oven and I'll start frying some chicken when the immediate "gotta do's" are finished. (What can I say, my mother was from Kentucky and fried chicken is a must for comfort food in colder weather!) The chicken is in a brine right now and will be ready to shake in the flour-seasoning mixture (prepared ahead of time in a zip lock bag I keep in the freezer) later this afternoon.

My husband has taken over all chauffeuring duties today so there will be time for evening reading, too. Sounds good to me. Since my normal days are packed solid with things that must be done outside of the home, I'm always happy to have a day like this. Once the dinner dishes are washed and draining, I'm heading for the sofa with a throw over me and a cat beside me and a great book to read. My son is working his part-time job this evening and my husband is hooked on a Francine Rivers book so it looks like a quiet evening at home.

The Beauty of Autumn

You can read all about The Beauty of Autumn at (appropriately) The Autumn Rain. This is the first Blog of Beauty I participated in but I thought it was good timing. I love autumn and I enjoy reading The Autumn Rain blog.

Her blog takes me back to college days and literary discussions. That was a long time ago. :)

There's something about Autumn...

There's just something about autumn that sparks the creative urge in me. It may be from the years I made Christmas gifts and I knew come September, it was time to get started (if I hadn't already). I do believe, however, there's something within each of us that needs to prepare for Winter. It's the urge to "do something" that is most likely from generations past. In days gone by, we needed to prepare gifts for giving at Christmas and to provide food and warmth for Winter. I recently viewed one of nature's own furry creations getting ready for the cold.

I was looking out my back window a few days ago, staring at the bluebird "house" and thinking we needed to replace it. I have seen bluebirds in our area but none from that house, which looks as if it has been around since the original owners in the 1960s. Just as I was making a mental note to tear it down, I noticed movement on the top of the house. There was a squirrel eating his dinner with as much charm and grace as if he was sitting at my dinner table, eating from the good china. I could not take my eyes off that squirrel. Obviously he was gorging himself to prepare for Winter but he was the cutest thing. I called my husband over to watch the feasting and we both agreed the house stays, even if it is to be a dining table for a squirrel.

It isn't only in nature that I've seen this change come Autumn. When I worked in corporations, the closer the calendar came to Thanksgiving and Christmas, the more I saw changes in the women around me. Those ladies who would not go near a stove the remainder of the year were making grocery lists for the ingredients to bake cookies with their children. There were conversations about calls to Mother for family recipes and secret ingredients. During lunch hours, various projects would be brought out to complete without curious little eyes watching. For whatever took our time and attention the rest of the year, come Autumn our thoughts turned toward home and the Holidays of our youth.

Perhaps that is part of the charm of Autumn. Certainly it is in the cooler temperatures, the colors which surround us, the aromas of wood smoke and cinnamon, wearing our softest sweaters again, pulling a favorite quilt over us while we sip our autumn blend of tea...all of these bring joy to our heart.

But there is something deep within each one of us which I believe is put there by the heart of the Father. A gift He gives to women everywhere, that joy which comes when we prepare our families for the Winter to come, knowing it was the work of our hands that will bring the smiles later. The smiles may come at our Thanksgiving dinner table, or Christmas morning, or perhaps in the midst of a snowstorm when we prepare food carefully put away in our pantry...but they will come.

She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
Proverbs 31:21

Photo: Allposters.com

It's looking a lot like Autumn

It's time to get out the Autumn teas and make some pumpkin and spice goodies to go with it. The leaves are beginning to change where I live and the temperatures have been nice and cool (actually, way below normal but I'll take it).

There's a football game at the university town close to where we live today. My son works Saturdays at one of the book stores on campus. I'd forgotten what it can be like when the first game is "at home". The students dress up in rather...uh...strange...outfits. Add that distraction to the traffic of a game day and I was very glad to get out of there.

After I dropped him off for work, I went to the farmer's market. An absolutely delightful experience on a day like this. I was met with the sound of banjo music playing the Wabash Cannonball, cool breezes and the colors of Autumn throughout the various displays. I bought gorgeous flowers and homemade soap, both at a fraction of the price in stores. I purchased some local apples and peaches to go into "some baked item" in the next couple of weeks. Besides other vegetables, I had to buy pecan rolls from the Mennonite farmer for my husband. They are so reasonably priced.

My main reason for going to the farmer's market today was to find the honey man. I stock up on honey for my breadbaking by getting one large and one medium honey container in September and I'll buy the same next month (to stretch out the cost). I always think of Pooh when I meet the honey man each season.

My favorite sign of Autumn came to me completely by accident. My blood sugar was dropping quickly when I was running errands on Friday. I could tell I needed something with sugar in it and as fast as possible (the long term insulin was kicking in, when you have not eaten by this time, you need a high carb item so you don't pass out). So...I was next to a Starbucks and thought I'd get a small snack there. Then I saw it...the sign on the wall...Pumpkin Spice Latte. It is back, great rejoicing!!

I believe God shows us a glimpse of His love and affection for His people within the beauty of each season. He gives us such splendid color... and scents... and tastes... just before the coming Winter. More great rejoicing!

Waiting for Autumn

I have never been much of a Summer person. I don't like heat, humidity, the bugs of Summer or what these things do to otherwise civilized people. I burn when I go to the beach. Once the average daily high gets to 80 and above, I lose all interest in cooking.

Every year about this time, I start checking Weather.Com for average highs/lows in my area of the country. (I do the same thing in February at the end of Winter.) It doesn't make it feel any cooler in August but it shows me there is hope. By September our average temperatures start dipping lower. There is hope in my house of wonderful meals on the table each evening rather than the current blank stare when asked if there is anything to eat in the house.

About mid-September I began to come out of my Summer slumber. We enter my favorite time of the year. I pull out my apron and begin baking again, stews are put together and simmered, the aroma of bread fills the house, pumpkin shows up in everything (including lattes!), cinnamon is the spice of the day, the Autumn teas are purchased and life is good.

The Farmer's Market lulls me back on Saturday mornings with the abundance of apples, cider, bittersweet, winter squash and the "honey man" selling honey by the gallon. Mums are purchased as is the bittersweet. The Autumn decorations are removed from their place in the garage, unused since last year when they were put away and the Christmas decorations pulled out the weekend after Thanksgiving.

I once again enjoy my front porch and my backyard. The walk to the mailbox is a joy. The trees begin their show which to me, competes with the best art museum in the world.

The trials are still present, the news continues to be difficult to watch, I still struggle to balance the checkbook...but for a little while the world is beautiful. I try to hold on to each day because it goes by so quickly. Perhaps it is because the season is so brief that makes it special. I'll ponder that later. I need to turn the air conditioner down a bit more now.