All Things Nice . . .

 

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A lingering touch of summer in the air,

As if she waited with reluctant feet,

Like a young bride half fearful to be wed,

Here Lady Autumn loiters by my street,

Touching the trees with little dusty hands,

Spreading her mantle over all the lands.

Beside the road the golden rod are waving,

Like helmet plumes caught in the morning light,

The corn is tall . . . the fields are checkered green

Fr in the blue an airman wheels in flight,

small as a bird he climbs the sky's vast dome,

Like a bright spirit slowly winging home.

A farmhouse stands four-square beside the road,

Its stone foundation strong as armoured steel,

It looks serene and safe and filled with peace,

Like an old ship that rides on even keel,

Breasting the seas of Life in storm and shine,

Its old rooms redolent of fir and pine.

And all about the golden sunlight falls

Still as the grave and bright as jaspar walls.

~Edna Jaques, Fall

Roses in December, 1944

Each time I go out in the car these days, I see where Autumn's fingers are beginning to run through the tops of the trees. At first only a few leaves here and there, but before too long great swathes and branches dusted at first with gold and amber, soon to be crimson and amber  . . . 

It is inevitable  . . .  and quite beautiful to watch as the Autumn slowly takes hold and dances with abandon through this little valley where I live.  Pirouetting and gliding across the tops of the trees  at first . . .  and then beneath them as each one slowly loses its grasp and gives way to the music of September and October. It is a magical time of year  . . . 

"Autumn approaches and the heart begins to dream."

Bashō, from The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō,

 

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This was a fairly quiet week in my little realm of existence, and yet I did not accomplish much.  I had my foot lady on Tuesday, went out for supper with my father and Hazel on Wednesday and then shopping with Cindy on Thursday, but that is all.  You would think I would get so much more done around my house, but I did not. I don't know what happens to my time. It seems to evaporate into thin air without much to show for its having been here.  

The days pass, one by one. Each one not much different than the day which passed before.  But that is a good thing.  I do not crave excitement or drama in my life. Slow and steady always wins the race with me  . . .  I find great comfort in the routine of my every day activity.  Puttering.  

Drama, when it comes, is much more than I want or need in my life. I will rather stick with the familiarity of every days  . . . simple and fulfilling.  A tiny bit of this and a tiny bit of that and a whole lot of nothing, which ends up being something very precious to me. The joys of a humble and honest life  . . .  a simple life.  This is the best.

 

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Already there is talk on the forums about the Hummingbirds having left.  I still see them where I am.  So much so that I had to refill my feeder yesterday, but they are definitely slowing down.  August brought clusters of them, but now with September, only one or two . . . I will keep my feeder up until at least October, just in case there are stragglers.  I think that is the wise thing to do . . . 

It is pelting down rain today. It is predicted to be heavy rain all day today.  Not a day that you want to go out anywhere much . . .  and I shan't.  

Its a good day to stay in and organize my closet in the bedroom. I do not know how it gets in such a jumble, but it does and every now and then I need to go into it with both guns blazing and organize it again.  And each time I say to myself from now on I am going to put things back in their proper place and then I do not and a few months down the road I find myself having to redo it all over again.

It is a huge closet. A walk in closet and a great storage space. I don't have a lot of clothes to speak of. I am a person who is happy with not a lot in that way. I am not a clothes horse.  I never have been.  But I do have a lot of baking gear and that is where I store it all. In my large closet. There is nowhere else to put it really.

So today I will spend some time in there, organizing it yet again.  Will I keep it tidy this time around?  I like to think that I will, but slowly old habits will creep in, I know  . . .  and I will be doing this again in another six month's time. I would take bets on it.

Twice now I have ordered this book and twice now it has not been delivered.  Something has happened each time and my money has been refunded.  I don't know what the problem is. I had really wanted it, but I give up now.  It is a daily devotional.  I suppose the cosmos is telling me that I don't need to add something else to my busy days.  Sigh  . . . 

It is just not meant to be it seems.

 

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Cindy and I are planning on taking a trip up the valley to all the Farm Markets one day this coming week.  They will probably be getting in all of their Winter squashes and I love Winter squash.  Also the apples will be coming in bit by bit as well.   This is one of my favorite times of the year to visit the farm markets, and there are a few new ones this year that we have only just discovered, so we have not been to them in the autumn yet.  

Thanksgiving comes earlier to Canada than the U.S. It is the second Monday in October, which this year falls on the 14th. so we are already making plans.

We are deciding to forgo the turkey this year.  I know  . . .  that seems sacrilegious.  But let's be honest here.  I am the only one who enjoys turkey.  Seriously.  We all enjoy the sides however.  So we are only going to do the sides and I am going to get the biggest bucket of Mary Brown's Fried Chicken and we are going to have that with the sides and gravy and I think we will all be happy, and there won't be a huge roaster to clean up or lug about.

I think my oldest son and his family are planning on coming over, or at least hoping to, which would be nice. I will book them into the motel next door as usual. It is the perfect solution. More room for them to spread out, plus they get quiet time for themselves and the boys don't feel so boxed in.  My place is just too tiny to accommodate that many people and all of their luggage, etc.  

I hope they like fried chicken!  😋 I am sure that they do.  There will be plenty of everything else to keep everyone happy. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, etc. and loads of stuffing.  We all love the stuffing.

Just think  . . . when I lived in the U.K. such things were only a dream.  How blessed am I now to be back where I belong.

 

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It was actually twenty four years ago today that I landed in the U.K. to take up residency there.  It was only supposed to be for two years.  I remember thinking to myself, its only two years and it will be a bit of an adventure.  Of course it ended up being so much more than only two years. Had I known ahead of time would I have still gone?  I am not sure  . . .  I cannot say.  I did love the years I spent there, but I hated being so far away from my family and I missed a lot of really important family things, which will can never be recovered. But I will not cry over spilt milk.  I did experience a lot of great things I would never have otherwise gotten to do and I grew and stretched in ways I never would have as well, so it was, all in all, more good than bad.  

And I am here. Now.  And making up for lost time.

 

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I was having the strangest dream before I woke up this morning. I was getting married again and I was looking for my wedding dress that I had worn in my first wedding.  But I was also lamenting not being able to have my hair done. It seemed to me that I should be allowed to have my hair and makeup done.   And my Siamese cat Brandy, which was the cat my children grew up with, was in the dream also.  It was very strange.  Dreams are often a jumble of the things which have happened in the day. 

I started watching that series The Perfect Couple on Netflix.  I suspect that had something to do with the wedding in my dream.  Not sure about anything else.

Also with it being the eve of my last marriage, etc. perhaps that was playing on my subconscious as well. You just never know with these things. When I got married the last time I did not wear a wedding dress. I wore a periwinkle blue suit, and had a corsage of pink roses.  I did my own hair.   I did not wear a wedding dress the second time either. I wore a blouse and a brown jumper. We had no flowers and stood with a witness couple in front of a Justice of the Peace.  We celebrated after with a chocolate bar.  The white wedding was the first wedding. Over fifty years ago now.  There were no cats at any of them. haha

I wish that I had only ever had one wedding and the Happily Ever After that I had dreamt about as a child, but alas, not everyone gets one of those, and it was just not to be.  I had three Happily for right now's and that I suppose is not a bad thing for some people never ever get even one.   To love and have been loved is a gift and I have five beautiful children that I would never have had otherwise!

 

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Five little ducklings  . . . 

Well, I suppose there is no point in prolonging the inevitable now, I best get off here and get working on my closet. Time is passing by as is my day.  Maybe today I will have some time to do some art. Hope springs eternal.  I will leave you now with a thought for the day . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *Without discipline

there's no life at all.

~Katherine Hepburn

In The English Kitchen today . . .  Quick & Easy Cinnamon Roll Danish. Cinnamon rolls with a rich creamy cheesecake filling and a sweet jam topping, not to mention a glaze.  Quick. Easy. Delicious. 

 

I hope that you have a lovely weekend. I think ours is going to be a very rainy one.  I will get lots done here in the house however, so that's good.  Whatever you get up to, stay dry,  stay safe, be happy, and don't forget!

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And I do too!