A Harvest of Autumn Delights
It's Labor Day weekend ~ does it feel like fall yet where you live?
Around here it really feels like summer's gone by. It's been cloudy, and the winds are strong - thanks to the passing Ernesto. The temperature has barely budged out of the 60s.
Cool, refreshing fallish weather. I love it!!!
This is my absolute favorite time of year. Have I said that before? Yes, I think I have, but this time I mean it! :) After a long lazy summer, there's a charge to the air - it's time to get busy! Time to organize our school supplies, pack away the summer books and dig out all the treasured autumn favorites (see my righthand sidebar for our list).
And speaking of sidebars, there will be some new items popping up left and right. I'll be retiring the Summer Bug Study soon, but I hope we'll be busy filling up our new Autumn Nature Study photo album in the weeks ahead. Also, I may be tinkering with my blog template a bit. I'm looking for something more warm and autumnal, so don't be surprised to check in one day and see a whole new look - or two or three before all is said and done! ;)
Sometimes when a new season is just ahead, I like to brainstorm all the things I love about it, including all the things I hope we will (remember to) do. Please indulge me while I share with you my list of favorite autumn blessings. It's a real hodgepodge of things - the beauty of nature, the comforts of home, good things to eat, fun things to do - but I hope some of these ideas might become posts of their own as the season goes along ...
Autumn is ...
... cold mornings, crows calling, the school bus trundling by.
... dark, nippy nights and the heat coming on.
... afternoon tea and scented candles - the sun setting earlier each day.
... watching for shooting stars against the dusky evening skies.
... the Full Harvest Moon.
... hot soup and freshly baked bread after a chilly day spent raking.
... cleaning up and restocking the feeders before the winter sets in.
... listening to the rain falling on the roof, watching it splash across the windows.
... playing board games by the fire.
... planting daffodil and crocus bulbs, and with them a promise of spring.
... fresh paper, bright crayons, number two pencils and glue.
... catching falling autumn leaves, twirling maple seeds and fluffy bits of milkweed.
... a crisp breeze carrying the scent of woodsmoke and wild apples.
... winter beds, made up fresh, with flannel, down and fleece.
... warm, snuggly sweaters and smart, sensible shoes.
... bake sales and craft fairs - hot cider and caramel apples.
... early autumn's bounty: green tomatoes, blackberries, winter squash, wild grapes and pears.
... big hot casseroles served on cold autumn nights.
... tea served outside on a golden afternoon, amidst the fading garden.
... stopping by the farmstand on the way home from church.
... making little crafts from the autumn garden ~ with seeds, acorns, twigs, pebbles and pinecones.
... filling jars with homemade applesauce after a morning spent at the farm.
... finding the stars in the apples (and telling little stories about them).
... the sound of geese coming; watching those majestic v's cross the skies.
... canning picallilli and the garden's last tomatoes.
... football games - by the field or on the couch. (Go Pats!)
... the new TV season begins! (Martha, Lost, Curious George)
... returning to a comforting routine after taking the summer off.
... oatmeal cookies and baked apples for breakfast.
... planters filled with chrysanthemums, asters, marigolds and kale; doorways bedecked by cornstalks, pumpkins, Indian corn and harvest wreaths.
... hanging a big sunflower head on the fence for the birds - and learning some math while you're at it.
... baking with the children while the wind howls outside.
... wholesome autumn baking ~ pumpkin bread, carrot-zucchini cupcakes, granola bars, gingerbread cookies, maple-oat scones, apple cider pie, chocolate cake with caramel frosting.
... the beautiful autumn feast days - the Nativity of Mary, Michaelmas, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the Guardian Angels, St. Francis of Assisi, All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day, St. Martin ...
... gathering summer's last flowers and pressing them in a book.
... making homemade suet with seeds, nuts and fruits for the birds.
... cheeks like rosy apples after recess in the yard. :)
... a visit to the pumpkin patch to pick out just the right one; roasting the seeds back at home.
... lengthening shadows, moonlit nights - Halloween with all of its sweet, spooky fun!
... working on homemade crafts to give as Christmas gifts.
... catalogs filling the mailbox.
... baskets filled with brightly hued woolen yarn, felt, fabrics, needles and thread.
... a whole new season of books to read and review.
... a burst of fall cleaning before the holidays begin.
... filling the larder, making the pies, helping those who have less.
... the first snowflakes flying as Thanksgiving approaches.
... the monarchs leave, the juncos return!
... watching for migrating hawks and listening for owls.
... wild turkeys ambling through the yard, calling from the woods.
... checking the woolly bear caterpillar for his winter prediction
... drowsy bees lingering over drooping blossoms.
... Friday's homemade pizza and family movie nights.
I hope this post has put you in the autumn mood! Wherever you live or whatever your weather, it will truly be fall before long. I'd love to hear what you love about autumn ... drop me a comment or post your ideas at your blog!
~ I wish you a warm and wonderful autumn! God bless! ~
Can I come over? All of that sounds like so much fun! We are anxiously awaiting the return on "Lost" as well - otherwise known by my children as "the only time they are forbidden to talk to Mommy." OK, that and "The Office". You must post on all your homemade Christmas gifts.
Posted by: Jennifer | September 03, 2006 at 04:06 PM
Dawn,
This post is full of terrific links.. Go Pats! I wasn't ready for letting go of summer (the cold weather is just so dominant for most of the year), but you have encouraged me to anticipate all of the wonderful things we love about Autumn in New England. God Bless you and your dear ones.
Posted by: kristina | September 03, 2006 at 05:29 PM
Wow, can I come over too, Autumn has not even peeped out for us here yet! We still had 90 degrees today! I LOVE your Autumn post, it's delicious!
Posted by: Meredith | September 03, 2006 at 08:09 PM
You've gotten me in the mood :-) Fall is my favorite time of year as well...looking forward to trying the baked apples.
Posted by: Donna | September 04, 2006 at 06:49 AM
Dawn,
You are such a lovely inspiration!!!
Posted by: Cay in La. | September 04, 2006 at 10:08 AM
Hi Dawn. I love fall too. I'm going to print this post out so I can enjoy it in a more comfortable chair. I was going to wait until the official first day of autumn to decorate and change my blog colors, etc., but you have inspired me. I just hung a fall wreath on my door! I think I'll be doing a brainstorming post on my blog soon.
P.S. I appreciate all the links.
Posted by: Cheryl | September 04, 2006 at 11:36 AM
Dawn, Fall was my favorite time of the year too. I do miss the Autumn (especially last year with all those darn hurricanes) but we still celebrate with soups in the crockpot and crusty breads, pumpkins and gourds and sunflowers onboard...we even hung a fall leaves wreath on the stern one year!
Posted by: Jennifer | September 05, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Autumn is my favorite time of year too, and I LOVE this post. I"m going to print this out for re-reading later! Thanks, Dawn.
Posted by: Suzanne | September 05, 2006 at 12:02 PM
Oops, I feel so negative now. I think I was just whinging about Fall on my blog. You know though, I see there are lots of good things about Fall after reading your post. Ok, it is my favorite time of year after summer and spring. And uh, I just don't like the week or two before it hits, when all of the children dissappear from the daylight hours. Thanks for cheering us up.
Posted by: Kim | September 05, 2006 at 06:51 PM
Football, both college and pro are big in our fall line up. I have learned to embrace and look forward to our treks to State College, PA, to view the mountains with the fall colors and feel and smell the crisp fall air.
Your list is so wonderful...I would like to comment on every single post you write, but it would just get so monotonous. "Beautiful and inspired Dawn. You inspire me every day." But just know that I do think that.
Posted by: Jenn Miller | September 06, 2006 at 11:24 AM
I found you through semicolon and just love your list! I've blogged it at http://bookofseasons.blogspot.com/2006/09/fall-carnival.html.
Posted by: boliyou | September 23, 2006 at 03:17 PM