Just some happy random pictures of my afternoon to share with you all. :) It is a gorgeous day here ... balmy, blustery, golden. Sure, it's a tad hot for late September, but the heat provided the perfect excuse to break my no-caffeine-after-two rule and mix up what could be my last iced coffee for a while ...
The above picture started this post. I loved looking at that glass with its creamy cool concoction inside. I loved the dinosaurs in the background (Earlybird's) and the scattered journaling materials. So everyday, yet so comforting. That glass is old - it belonged to my grandparents before it became my own. The glasses have game birds etched on them (barely noticeable now) and I love them.
Oh yes, and just to the left of my coffee glass is my current pile of goodies - my autumn magazines. I am savoring them slowly, in bits and pieces as I get a chance. I usually leave one open on the island counter, and flip through it as I can. But that Country Living issue has a fabulous article all about author and illustrator Susan Branch (who needs a magazine of her own, I think!), and I halted right there when I got to it, marked my spot and set it aside. I was not going to read such an article standing up at the kitchen counter, without a cup of something soothing and sweet! No, I am going to read it tonight, curled up in bed with a cup of decaf. chai tea. That's how you read an article about Susan Branch. ;)
I am also reading that book at the top, one I ordered sooo long ago from my most favorite book catalog, Chinaberry. Its full title is Under the Chinaberry Tree: Books and Inspirations for Mindful Parenting, and it is just that. Perfect, and that too I'm reading slowly, a few pages at a time (with some underlining and notetaking along the way).
Another fun little thing this afternoon - I came across a folder jam-packed with stuff I saved from Autumn 2005. Little clipped bits of magazines and things I printed out online. Like a treasure trove of goodies from long ago, just in time for another fall this year. I made up a whole two page spread in my journal:
Let me tell you a bit about what's there, if I may. This is a rare page with no actual writing by me - just visual inspiration. On the far left, a clipping from an herbal magazine about Angelica which I just learned is a traditional herb for Michaelmas (the archangel - hence the name). Also, there are some pictures of a beautiful woodland-themed Halloween party (with berried candy bark, meringue mushrooms, colorful sugared leaves and caramel apple cider). At the bottom is a label from a jar of pear baby food. Oh, the memories in that label! Earlybird was 3 in '05 and he still loved baby food! You see, he couldn't eat applesauce, so he'd have "babysauce" instead. I would make a cinnamon pear bread from 5 jars Of Healthy Times Juicy Golden Pears (yielding two loaves) and we all loved it! I especially loved the little moonlit owl label. I had this whole teatime thing dreamed up - mini pear breads and warmed juice served on a woodland picnic ... Boy, does my imagination get away with me - and that's just what journals are for!
On the right is a quote I liked, more autumnal pictures (a basket of apples and a platter of candy acorns), a strip from a new sheet of scrapbooking paper I love, and a book I am longing to order - Baking Bread with Children, forthcoming in February from Hawthorn Press. The last thing there is, of all things, a Waldorf school newsletter blurb - about a Halloween garden party for young children. I loved their ideas so much, I saved the piece for future reference.
And now I have no blogging time left as bedtime is upon us once again. Thanks for letting me share all these afternoon comforts with you. I hope you all have a great night. That evening breeze is just wonderful, isn't it?
