All the Autumn's Joys ~Welcoming November~

Already here we are at November 1st.

  Frosty and cold, cold, cold here this morning. Certainly made getting out of bed difficult- especially after a long and late night of wrangling candy from the neighbors. 

My toes were rather numb by the end of the evening and so were the fingers of this 'Jedi kitty' and his wizard friend.

Hurry with the camera and get me to the candy!

As you can probably tell- these were last minute costumes made up from whatever they could find in the dress up box. My eye liner came in handy for 'kitty facial features'. 

These boys were interested in only one thing- candy.

(I'll take candy over girls any day of the week!)

Don't wake the kitty!

So, back to November . . .

Around here, November is Nutella month- it's the only time of year I buy the lovely chocolatey, hazel nutty spread . . .mmmmm, so good on toast with a steaming fresh cup of coffee!

 And yes, that's exactly what I had for breakfast . . . and a snack . . . 

Tea and Snickers

After dropping the Younger off at school this morning (he goes twice a week) I spent some time on much needed housework and school planning.

After tidying up, the sun actually started to shine, so I put the kettle on and had tea and a bit of 'the stash', and cozy-ed up on the couch for one of my favorite November traditions- list making!!

 Holiday-plan-list-making to be exact. I adore making lists of all sorts. Yes, indeed, I was a happy girl munching my chocolate and listing out all the people to send cards to, the craft projects I hope to do, gift ideas for family, baking plans, activities . . . pure excitement!

On the sidewalk

  Since I make as many gifts as I can (which is hard to do with all the 'techno' men in the family) I try to get things going early so I have enough time. Of course, it always seems that I grossly underestimate the amount of time needed, and still find myself up all night at the end.

Our neighbor's tree- isn't it lovely?

 And as much as I love to make things- stressfully trying to finish projects at the last minute doesn't make for an enjoyable season. To be honest, that was last December for me. I bit off more than I could chew- a homemade stocking for my mom, hand painted Christmas cards, caroling party, birthdays, Christmas dinner- it was crazy and I didn't enjoy the season at all.

On the dining-room table

So, I'm being intentional this year- to get more taken care of this month, so I can enjoy the gift of time next month.- I hope!

Wishing you a and warm and cozy November 1st- and come by tomorrow for when we celebrate All Soul's Day and make soul cakes!

Cheers!

All the Autumn's Joys ~ Family ~

This time of year is a reflecting time of year for me. Lots of quiet thought during the waning hours of daylight.

Thoughts of time passing on, traditions, transitions and the like. Almost like I need to sweep out the crowded corners of my mind so there is room to take things in once again.

In all that processing, inevitably thoughts of family cross my mind. 

Family is dear to me.

My Great-Grandfather holding my mother.
If you look carefully, you'll notice his left arm is missing.

 I used to think that if I truly valued the relational ties of family, then that would mean all the relationships would be well formed, mutually attached, and constant. I believed this was a requirement- one I always felt pressured to make 'all important' and one I was always failing at. Certainly familial love was the most important thing, and I tried in vain to take care to make everyone happy. Wasn't that everyone's part in a family? I was just doing mine.

Middle frame: my Abuela and Papa Bill (father's parents)
Left frame: little girl on far left was my great-grandmother-she's sitting with her siblings

But I now know otherwise.

 We are tied by blood and marriage, but not necessarily close friendship, shared values, or even a good understanding of who each of us really are.

But, you know what?

I love them.

Middle frame: woman on far left was my great-great-great -grandmother
Small frame: Husband

 We don't all really 'know' each other nor do we all see eye-to-eye. We irritate each other, interrupt each other, offend each other, sometimes even avoid each other.

Yet still, they are dear to me. 

There is a connection in those ties of common relation, traditions, and even physical appearance that really does bind family members together.

For better or for worse, we belong together. There is almost a sigh of relief there. No matter what, where we came from reminds us that we always have a place where we really belong.

And sometimes that place is a bitter one. One without security or understanding. One maybe even marred by betrayal and pain. But regardless, we are pulled there- not only from memories of joy or hurt, but also from a very basic place of origination on Earth. 

Left frame: my great-great grandmother with my great-grandmother by her side
Round frame: a great-great Aunt

Where I came from. Those I came from.

Though I know I was created by the very thought of God, it was into a human family I was born- a family he chose just for me.

Family on the dresser

And so, the photographs of relatives known and unknown fill my home.

Because home is where the heart is, and my heart has been pieced together over time from each one of these lives.

Cheers!

All the Autumn's Joys ~ October Sunrise ~

The fields are harvested and bare,

And Winter whistles through the square.

October dresses in flame and gold 

Like a woman afraid of growing old.

~Anne Mary Lawler~

All the Autumn's Joys ~ Mid Autumn Garden ~

Actually had a moment to putter in the garden for a bit this afternoon.

It was the first time out for me since early in the month- thanks to sickness, Husband out of town, and a last minute mad dash to finish painting my birthday boy's bedroom.

Oh, thank you God for gardens!

The sun was out, it hasn't rained for a while so it was dry. I did some cutting back for winter.

With as much as there is to get done out here, it hardly made 1/100th of a dent, but at least it was something. Just so nice to be outside in that wonderful Autumnal mix of sunshine and nippy chill.

I had company of course.

Checked on the veggie garden- this single green-turning-red-pepper is most likely the only harvest that's going to make it this year. Some critter had gotten to the tomatoes.

These were my best surprise of the whole day!

Mushrooms!

I've never had any before and suddenly- here is a little crop. It always seems to be the things I don't plant that do the best.
I have no idea what kind they are, but aren't they cute?!


I spent a little time pondering where they may have come from, then looked a couple feet over and noticed Twister doing this . . .

Do you think  . . . ?

Well, maybe he's made it a bit more fertile?

Down the path a bit to visit my Gnome. 

He was so happily admiring the bright red leaf I felt I couldn't disturb him.

That leaf came from this tree. Love, love, love this tree. One of only two on the property when we bought it six years ago. We have many more now thanks to all the neighborhood squirrels. Another example of things bursting forth with ambition that were never planted by me.

But this tree is really special. It grows all crookedly and develops these beautiful golden fronds that sort of fan out over the leaves come Fall. Once the leaves are gone, the fronds will stay on the branches for quite a while after. Come winter they look like delicate little feathers frosting the tips of the branches with the tree wearing nothing but frost.

So here is my bounty from around the yard- all set to be pressed between layers of paper towels with Husband's Systematic Theology book on top. And let me tell you, that book would press me quite nicely if I spent a night under it. ;)

I have some crafty plans for these beauties. Now, if I can just get life to slow down a bit so I can get to them. . .

Cheers!

~12~

Happy birthday to my Oldest son.

Twelve years ago today, you changed my life forever, just by being born.

And those twelve years have flown faster than anything else I've ever known.

I didn't know then what an incredible person you would become- so smart, so compassionate, so honest and easy to talk to, hilarious and blow-my-mind-talented- And I can't imagine what you will grow into as you keep on growing up. I only hope that the essence of who you are is never changed beyond recognition as time goes on. I love you kid- Happy Birthday!

~Mom~

~Bronze~

I'm moving away from 'Autumn' for a few posts in order to do a little 'proud mama sharing' of what my Oldest has been up to. He turns twelve this Sunday, and my head is all wrapped up in that along with frantically finishing his promised birthday gift- his own room. 

After two weeks of being sick I am way behind on finishing the painting of his room (our old guestroom) - to be specific his windows and all their moving parts. Love the old windows; hate painting them. They must get done by Saturday so there is time to shampoo the 1983 carpet. But I digress-

What I really want to brag about share is the Oldest's fencing tournament last Saturday. It was his first 'open foil' after moving up from 'novice foil'. He was really nervous and just hoping he wouldn't come in dead last.

I watched each fight as calmly as I could. There is something gut-wrenching about watching your offspring in any kind of performance. It's almost like being up there yourself and I have to try so hard to pass it off as 'just a tournament; no big deal' when I know how badly my kid wants to do well.

Of course, as I'm watching, I also have no idea what the heck is going on. 

" Hault! Attack. Counter Attack. Reverse Perry. Touch left, point right. Engard!"

I tried so hard to understand what was happening in each bout- and believe me, with four hours of fencing, I had plenty of time to figure it out. But all my attentiveness turned out to be an 'epic fail' as my kids would put it. After endless bouts of fencing, I figured my son had lost most of his matches and I was praying and psyching myself up to give him just the right motherly words of wisdom and encouragement I figured he would need at the end. In fact, I got really worried as he came up to me at the end with an excited look on his face as he told me he thought he was going to get a good place. "Uh, Oh!" I'm thinking- this one is going to be a bad blow!

Instead, as the ending places were called, I was startled to hear he was not after all in twelfth place. Or eleventh, or tenth.

No- he ended up in third; with a bronze medal. 

Oh!

See the midget above? That's my midget and he came in third!

 Evidently all the matches I thought he lost, he had really won. I learned something last Saturday- that my kid knows if he's won or not. (DUH!) Obviously fencing is completely lost on me. But I couldn't be prouder to be wrong!

Cheers!

All the Autumn's Joys ~ Squirrel Love ~

Just popping in quickly to share a little squirrel love.

 As in-*I love squirrels*- especially in the Fall. It must be all that gathering and storing away that makes them such a symbol of the season to me.

This fella has been the 'guardian of the dinner bell' for quite a few seasons now, and I grow fonder of him all the time.

You may or may not remember this guy. He came to visit early on in September.

He was sent off to my Grammie late last month to celebrate her birthday.

Before he left, he was cut out and given a stand and a new outfit.

He also had a bit of mail of his own to take with him. A good, long letter is the perfect way to pass the time in a mail truck.

And if you look closely, you can see he also took a hanky with him; especially useful if he caught this nasty cold before he left!

I've missed him, but I know he's off making friends in Seattle- and I've heard rumors that he may end up with a few new outfits as well. Not to mention, he always said he wanted to see the city.

Cheers!

*Noted* - when referring to loving squirrels, it is specified that said 'squirrels' are of the unreal and imagined variety; not the scraggly tailed, pesky rodents always digging up my garden or staring creepily through my bathroom window at me whenever I get out of the shower.