Long Shadows - Short on Time

So very busy, this autumn season is. With apples, cider, harvest, school. Too much, really. My writing has been scarce. The words roll around in my mind, waiting for my feet to stop and to be put on paper, or here.

Lack of time is plentiful, and so I will write short notes until my feet can move slower and the world rests for the winter.

October 1, 2011

The sun is more golden this afternoon and I notice the shadows have changed. The leaves on the trees clack with a knowing that frost will soon be here. Birds sing only the necessary songs.

I gathered goldenrod to dye the wool with. Washing wool and finally putting it out in the crisp fall air to dry.

Unloaded a truckload of pumpkins with Amanda and gathered a half bushel of chestnuts with Albert.

The help for the day served themselves from a dish of homemade lasagna and a fresh apple pie.

The chill was unmistakable in the air tonight. Woodsmoke fills the air here and there and it is time to have the woolens out of the drawers.

Picked the leeks from the garden and will make leek potato soup when time allows.

October 2, 2011

Sun is bright and air is windy and crisp. It will be another very busy day. Served fried oatmeal squares with our own maple syrup, strong coffee and cider for everyone to drink (well, not coffee for the children) (:

Back to the apple room, the eggs and making soap.

Season's Harvest (Of Teacups and Wine)

We have had an amazing harvest this past season...in all ways. I thought I would share some pictures of just what we have been busy doing since September.
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This is our soap display at the Waterloo Farm Museum's Pioneer Days in early October. It was a hot day but the fiddles, horses, and Civil War encampments and bonfires certainly made the day. I think the picture is amazing in that it looks as though we have truly 'stepped back in time'.

It is always difficult removing ourselves from that century to return home to this century. Amanda, Albert and I took turns cooking the food on the old wood cookstove in the house, selling soaps and blacksmithing (Albert, of course) (:
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A bowl of freshly gathered chestnuts...so good heated up and held in your cold hands before peeling and eating the decadent little feast inside. Our son, especially, likes these for a mid-afternoon snack...little squirrel that he is.

Peaches, ready to be canned in heavy syrup (I like the heavy syrup best, even though the fruit sometimes floats...it just 'tastes' better in the heart of winter.)

This is a picture of a happy, homeschooled, confident little girl, who loves to help load and unload pumpkins.

Cinderella pumpkins, kittens and grapes for turning into our first wine ever! (Rosehips in a bunch too, for decorating and putting into medicinal teas). Aren't the colors that God has given us just amazing?!? Makes me want to grab a paintbrush and create...but how to capture such color, such beauty?

Abbey, the cat, peering around the grapes and playing with the rosehips.

This is 'Dot' our cat who has two different colored eyes. If you look closely you will see...one orange-ish brown...one green! (: Neat.

I love to 'stack' these Cinderella pumpkins (otherwise known as the heirloom pumpkin Rouge V'ifD'Etamp) in stacks of two and three. They are so bright and robust. Very evocative of the bountiful harvest of autumn and very romantic and fairytale-ish, don't you think?

And, the official 'stomping' of the grapes (don't worry, her little feet were clean (: )... so fun. The grapes are from an ancient concord grapevine that runs the length of our garden. It has been here for what seems forever. The wine is bubbling and fermenting in the cellar, and will be ready to rack and bottle in time for Christmas~

In late September, the children and I set up a candle display to sell candles at the Historic Webster Fall Festival, in Webster Township, Dexter. The day was a blustery chilly one, so we were thankful for our warm cozy corner next to the old piano.

We sold soy tin can candles filled with the cozy home scents of Apple Butter and Buttery Corn Bread...

And, candles in all shapes and sizes made with the sweet honey smelling beeswax from our bees. Rows of gleaming homemade jams and jellies sold well on that cold day.

This is a somewhat grainy/blurred picture of my soap booth at Art on the Farm, a wonderful art show at the farm next to ours, filled with highly talented artists of all walks. It was humbling to sell my soaps alongside such talented individuals. The day was so busy that it was difficult to take a drink of water or even re-arrange things into spots that had sold out. Thanks to our neighbor who hosts and organizes the show. She promotes it wonderfully.

After the show, we hurried home to go trick-or-treating. (:

And this? This is our source of many many good tea parties...tea times and where I go to 'select' a teacup or two when a good friend shows up at the door. Does this lend itself to 'She Who Dies With the Most China Wins???" ...I thought so too. (: (I love English tea china...really, you ask?) haha. Which cup/teapot would you choose?

And now, I shall grab a mug from the china collection, have some more coffee, and return to my labors of love for the upcoming season. May the dark weeks ahead fill you with a time for contemplation, creative introspection and warmth and love among your family and friends.

Easter - New Beginnings

Good Morning. I have always had a difficult time with Easter decorating. It is, for an Autumn person, difficult to give in to the colors, shades and hues of early spring, beautiful as they may be. I tend to have a mish mash of sentimental Easter decorations mixed in with my earthy, soulful, things...it works...and then it is time to move on to the next season...but I am definitely an Autumn person. What season are you?