Hints, tidbits, and a little look inside

Outside my window...it is still dark and a cool 45 degrees. Finally the days are fall-like which is a balm to the spirit. Temperatures sink into the 40's at night and though it has been getting into the 80's on some days they are dry days.  The brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds of a northern autumn are lacking but without the sweltering heat and humidity I could almost start to like being here.

I am thinking...about the rhythm of life and connections between myself and the seasons.  Yesterday we went to a nearby orchard and picked apples.  Though I am really not an apple lover the taste and smell of them at this time of year is an absolute must.  The same thing is true of pumpkin.  The beautiful color of the orange rind and the mixture of pumpkin and nutmeg seems to be a fitting punctuation to the cooler temperatures and shorter days.

I am thankful...for the new car my brother bought for me. 

From the kitchen...there will be more apple and pumpkin smells coming forth.  I have a couple of large bags of apples to turn into sauce to be canned and a very large pumpkin to be cooked down and packaged for the freezer.  

I am reading...the authorized biography of Mother Theresa.  

I am hearing...silence.  Cocooned in the house with all the doors and windows closed it is blessedly quiet.  For a change the neighbor's dog is not barking, the increasing traffic noises on the highway are shut out, and my charge is still asleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week...I hope to get the sewing job that is on my table done by Friday and shipped out on the weekend.  God only knows if that will happen.  Today though I need to take time to put up the apples and pumpkin that we bought.  Although floors, bathrooms, and mountains of laundry call out to me too I find that they are more easily put off when it is cool and sunny outside. Perhaps an afternoon spent rocking on the swing with my knitting while chatting with my daughter is in order as well.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

Yesterday in our travels we came upon this fellow standing in his pasture.  When I got out and lifted my camera to take his picture it almost seemed as if he struck this pose just for me.

Another place that I happened upon in my travels.  There is something about water that draws me to it.  The silence in this place combined with the ruins of some old building whispered a story of times gone by.