🍂 ~ Thanksgiving Memories & Advent Plans ~🎄

Hello, my friends and Happy Friday! I'm popping in with a quick post on this bright and brisk day-after the big Thanksgiving feast! I wanted to share some pics from our family's gathering and I also wanted to share a couple of links with you all since Sunday not only brings us December - it also begins the much anticipated season of Advent!

Goodness - where has the year gone, I ask you?!

Now before I get started on sharing a bajillion or so family photos, here's what I'm also working on today - as I sip my tea and put up my feet - a little Advent planning!

These special pages are part of my December 2019 planning sheets, but if you'd like just the holiday planning section, here is the separate PDF:

Preparing for Christmas 2019 

Also, if you are looking for some family-friendly Advent ideas, here are a couple of activity guides:

Advent Countdown: Stories & Simple Activities

24 Nature-Based Advent Activities

These were created over the past couple of years so their timeliness (re ~ Advent weeks and dates) might be a bit off, but since I myself am looking over these guides as I work on our December plans, I thought you might find them helpful, too!

Today however, we are in "recoup" mode - recharging our batteries you might say - and tomorrow we will be getting our tree before a storm hits Sunday night! I've been poring over the pictures taken yesterday and feeling such gratitude for another holiday spent with our loved ones. It was a truly enjoyable day and possibly the largest gathering we've had in recent memory! We spent the day cooking, eating, laughing, eating some more - and cleaning up over eggnog and coffee!

People often comment that it must be an awful lot of work to pull together a holiday gathering of such a large size - and it is, certainly. But we are blessed to be surrounded by many helpful hands and so this is all very much a team effort. Bill and I ready the house - but everybody cooks (especially my Mum) and several folks pitch in to help clean up. I am also thankful for our son Crackerjack who took these lovely pictures!

First a little look at the set up:

I like to spread the food and drinks around the house so people move around and mingle. For most gatherings, Bill's desk gets turned into a pretty spot for serving punch and special seasonal drinks ...

We enjoy serving a "signature cocktail" at our parties and this year we had not one, but two! First we had these delicious fruit wines purchased from a favorite local orchard, and then across the room, where desserts were served, I set up a smaller punch bowl next to the coffee urn. I  filled it with a couple of bottles of delicious (yet potent!) Trader Joe's Egg Nog, courtesy of my brother, Matt who works for the chain!

Now, if you're a long time reader then you know how I feel about punch - if it's a party there must be punch! Usually I follow a particular recipe but this one was literally thrown together at the last minute. I just mixed some fruit punch with sparkling cider and tossed in some sliced apples and oranges ... and it was quite refreshing! I think I will serve something like this at Christmas, perhaps with a bit more citrus and a pretty ice ring filled with cranberries and herb sprigs ...

I must admit, I really enjoy all the cleaning and prep before a holiday ... well, maybe not the cleaning as much, but I do love decorating my home with the little knickknacks we've gathered through the years ...

In this particular bookcase, messy piles of homeschool books made room for a cozy seasonal display!

And here is our gratitude tree for the family's blessings - branches gathered by my boys and leaves organized by my cousin Caitlin. As a family we enjoy sharing our thankful thoughts after dinner each year, but here's a little shocking confession ...

We forgot to do them this year!! 😳

And here I thought I was begin so clever with that vase full of branches, lol. Usually I place a leaf and a crayon by each place setting and then gather them up after dinner to be read over coffee, but I guess out of sight equaled out of mind!

So alas - our gratitude will have to be carried silently in our hearts, while these leaves will go into a little storage bag and we will be ALL SET for Thanksgiving 2020!

Now as you can imagine, seating for 26 can be a little tricky ...

But we managed it!

In the dining room proper, we set a table for eight, but pushed it towards the front-facing windows. This made room for a second table which served as a buffet.

The kitchen table got an extra leaf and was also pressed into service for eight.

(Tip: Flowers can be expensive so I like to use candles and other items I might have on hand for centerpieces when I can. On this table we filled a cornucopia basket with shiny red apples!)

We also set up three small rented tables in the family room - I didn't get a good pic of this set up - and these provided seating for 12 people. In the center of each of those tables I placed a mason jar with a couple of sunflowers, as well as a small tea light candle.

Now for some food shots - but first, here is our head chef, the woman without whom none of this would be possible - my mum.

(We didn't even plan the coordinating tops, I swear!)

So yes, Mum does most of the cooking - with my Dad handy for temperature-testing and carving - while I run around and help where I can!

Oh, and by the way, my ovens died - momentarily - just after we took out the 22 lb. turkey to rest! 

(My ovens are OLD and badly need replacing. Maybe I should speak to Santa about that?)

Thankfully though, after a brief rest, the ovens rallied and we were able to heat all the side dishes ...

There's my Dad getting the carving underway! As you can see, we combined a ham with that large turkey this year, and my mother-in-law also cooked and brought up an eight lb. roasted and stuffed turkey breast!

Bookworm also does a lot of the cooking - in addition to a fabulous sweet potato dish (topped with ricotta cheese, pecans and dried cranberries) and a scrumptious peanut butter pie, he also made this cute and quirky dish ...

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Chocolate Bark!

So if you're familiar with the beloved holiday special, you might remember that Snoopy serves the gang - spoiler alert! - a Thanksgiving dinner of buttered toast, popcorn and jelly beans. You might also remember that Peppermint Patty balks rather ungraciously at this admittedly, untraditional meal - thus providing the dramatic tension that leads to a thoughtful lesson from Linus - meant for us all - in tradition, history and respect.

(You might also recall I take my Charlie Brown special very seriously!)

Ok, moving on - we were very blessed this year to have a house-full of youngins and as you can imagine, Little Bear was in his glories!

(Always in motion, these two peas in a pod!)

You know, I remember when these two (below) were the "younger kids" and now look at them!

Crackerjack (20) home from college and Earlybird, 18 in two weeks ... this is a little sneak peek corner of our Christmas photo! (Full reveal at Tea on the 20th!)

Now for some more family photos ... 🧡

And last but not least, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Mum!

(Spice cake decorated with spice drops, served with maple-walnut ice cream - her favorite!)

And so that was our Thanksgiving! And now ... we're on to Christmas!

Well, Advent to start of course, but before we know it, December 25th will be here and we'll be gathering together once again, to rejoice and reconnect before 2019 comes to an end.

❤️🎄🎅🏻❄️❤️

Now, before I go I want to remind everyone that I have a Giveaway going on through December 22nd! Please read this post for all the details - and please note - a comment here will be considered another contest entry! :-)

A week from today (12/6) will brings my next Tea @ Dawn's post and my themes will be Heaven & Earth, Holiday Greenery & Christmas Trees. I'm so looking forward to it!

Well my friends, thanks so much for joining me here today, and I wish you all a happy end to November ... enjoy the weekend and I will see you here again late next week!

Tea @ Dawn's ~ Cozy Little Nests (& a Big Cozy GIVEAWAY!)

Hello my friends, and Happy Friday! I'm so pleased to welcome you back for another Late Autumn Tea. ❤

On this raw and blustery day, how about we settle in for a nice little coze ... as well as, of course, a wee something sweet and a cup or two of refreshment! I'm so grateful to be here and I've had such fun putting this post together - it's been quite a week, let me tell you! - so I'm very happy to finally sit down, reflect and sip.

I hope you will join me - it's a rather long post as usual! - but if you're curious about the details for my Tea at Dawn's Giveaway, please skip to the bottom of this post. 😉

Now let me just put the kettle on and we can begin ...

I often think how nice it would be if we could all truly sit down together "in real life" and share tea and little stories about our lives. Since that's most likely not possible (though, never say never!) I will be content for the time being with our online connection. I do love hearing from friends who also enjoy tea and the seasons and the changing weather and good books and crafting and seasonal living ...

So today I'd like to share this cozy picture from a dear longtime reader, Gill ...

"Happy Friday! I spent a few minutes perusing our newest picture book with my cup of tea this afternoon. The tea is a West Country blend, from Somerset, and its in a vintage Wedgwood cup and saucer given to me by a friend for my birthday. It’s dark here by 4pm so I have candles lit already.

Thank you so much for sharing your cozy tea spot, Gill! Your teacup is gorgeous. ❤ And as luck would have it, my library was able to acquire a copy of that lovely new book for me ... I hope to read it with my boys during Solstice week. It's getting dark very early here, too ...

And please don't forget to swing by Kim's later today ~ I know she'll have a lovely tea ready for you all!

As for my own tea today, it's a soft and refreshing blend called Lady Grey ... a new (and decaffeinated) favorite! (And absolutely wonderful as the base for a London Fog Latte, by the way.) My mug is an oldie but goodie - sturdy and big, featuring a swath of acorns and leaves (our homeschool symbol) - and on my napkin is a pretty autumn leaf cookie, purchased at Whole Foods. (Made with plant-based dye! I shared this with Little Bear, natch.)

I thought this cookie was a perfect choice for today's tea because to me, a sweet little seasonal treat like this is the epitome of cozy eating. In fact, if I had to pick a favorite dessert it would probably be a simple butter cookie with a thick coat of icing, decorated for whatever holiday or season is at hand. Unless of course we're talking apple desserts in which case, my grandmother's aptly named, "apple dessert" (a kind of autumn cobbler concoction) is pretty hard to beat for scrumptious and seasonal flavor! Another very nourishing and autumnal dessert is Indian Pudding ... are you familiar with that old-fashioned dish? I love making that for Thanksgiving Day - and while it's a great crockpot dessert, here's an oven-baked version.

Speaking of Thanksgiving ... what are your plans for the holiday this year? Will you be traveling or staying at home? Keeping it simple or hosting a crowd? Don't you just love Thanksgiving? It's always been my favorite day of the year. This year we are blessed to be hosting our family gathering, and there will be close to 30 of us for dinner! (That might be a new record!) I absolutely LOVE hosting holidays, and this one in particular ... a celebration focusing on thanks and thoughtfulness. A day to reflect on the blessings of family, freedom and food. ❤

Simple as that premise might be however, there's always much to do before we all sit down together to feast!

This is the to-do list from my Thanksgiving planner. Where would I ever be without my lists? I guarantee there would be not enough chairs and too much pumpkin pie ...

(Though is there even such a thing as too much pie?)

Pssst - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be aired on ABC next Wednesday night at 8 p.m. And yes, I realize we can now watch holiday specials any old time of the year - thanks to streaming and DVDs and the like - but don't you think there's something special about sitting down to watch, all together, the very night that the special is on? Maybe I'm just showing my age here but I am a stickler for these kinds of things!

🤷🏻‍♀️

Ok, back to our Tea ...

Now, if you recall, we follow a simple annual schedule in our family and homeschool, wherein each week of the year is assigned a theme, reflecting a particular seasonal nuance or event.

So why Cozy Nests for this third week in November? Well, for a few different reasons!

The trees are now bare, so we can easily see where birds and squirrels have made nests.

Hibernation (as well as migration) is well underway ...

Dark and dreary weather sends us scurrying inside, with a promise of more (and worse) to come.

Our own instincts kick in and we remember that it's hibernation time for humans, too! And that doesn't have to be bad thing, not if we plan ahead and create a warm nest of creature comforts, just as the local fauna works so very hard to do.

Because let's face it: winter is dark, cold and - if you live in New England - long. I personally don't mind it too much (though I do wish for an earlier spring every year!) but then again, I'm someone who really enjoys being home. I don't really get cabin fever!

Of course every home is a blessing of shelter, but within each home there is potential for some serious nesting behavior. It's a perfect time of year to focus on HOME ... to look inward for contentment and light .... and to nurture ourselves and our families!

So what would your cozy nest look like? Where would it be? What would you be doing in it? What would you keep close at hand? Would this be a space to cuddle up and read, or a space for working together on a project? Perhaps cooking up a hearty meal, puttering over a puzzle or sitting by a window to watch for little snowbirds?

Many of us naturally feel sad as the year winds down, and light and warmth are mostly stolen away for months to come. For some this goes much deeper, and I certainly don't mean to make light of what can be a very serious affliction. After the bright blip of the holidays, those long weeks of winter will arrive - stormy at times and secluding - but I think arming ourselves with a plan is always a good way to begin any season. For me that's making sure I have a cozy nest to where I may retreat and indulge in the blessings of home comforts.

As I embark on my own seasonal observations and appreciation, my greatest desire is to share it with my children and encourage them to look for the blessings in each turn of the year. I want them to be aware of their surroundings and especially their own "habitat" if you will. This is why I set up this concept of seasonal homeschooling many years ago. I like to think it's left my kids with a deeper connection with nature (and its creator) ... and some really nice memories to carry with them as they grow.

With Little Bear, my one and only homeschooler this year, we began exploring this week's theme by thinking about just what the word "cozy" means. Cozy, after all, is a particular feeling and everyone has different feelings about things! So to get ourselves started we dove into some wonderful books ...

The Cozy Book

Our Nest

You Nest Here with Me

Cozy Light, Cozy Night

Three Pebbles and a Song

These books got us started and gave us much food for thought! Cozy can mean many different things, depending on the season, where you live and what you love! Little Bear and I made up our own list of ideas - something to refer back to as we build up our nests.

And now, I have a whole bunch of pictures to share, but first I'm going to pause to refill my mug since I've been chattering on for a bit now! Would you perhaps care for another cup? ❤

So what does cozy mean to me? Well, there are a lot of things that make me feel cozy inside and out ... 

My journal pages and special children's books ...

Calendar-keeping and planning for holiday fun ...

My sunny kitchen, spreading out and taking control of my day.

Walking the woods with my Little Bear ...

... looking for signs of nesting in nature!

My cats are the BEST at being cozy!

On a rainy day, a library can be wonderfully cozy ...

(Exploring nests at the library!)

This bean teepee would be OH SO COZY next spring! (A next-year garden journal is a wonderful winter hobby!)

Window seats are also so very cozy ...

As is crafting! 

Here are a couple of crafts for your kids this Thanksgiving - cranberry structures above and pumpkin pie plates below:

(Thanks to our local librarian for the idea!)

Family traditions are cozy ... like this Tom Turkey who graces our front lawn every year. Little things like this - that everyone enjoys and remembers - helps foster a sense of togetherness. We are all individuals but we all share the same nest!

Candles in my kitchen window are super cozy! Especially when they are made of beeswax - that smell is particularly sweet and comforting.

And dare I say it, but ...

Snowfall is cozy!

(We've had a few dustings so far this autumn.)

And finally, comfy corners where one might gather their favorite things and just sit and putter ...

These little "personal" nests are perhaps coziest of all!

Ok, at long last, now it's time to talk about my "Tea at Dawn's Giveaway!"

What I would like to offer one dear reader is a Box of Winter Comfort & Joy - a la By Sun and Candlelight. This would arrive just after Christmas, and it would include some happy little things for feathering a warm winter nest ...

PLUS:

A By Sun and Candlelight 2020 Planner!

(Fresh off the presses just for you!)

So, here are the contest details:

On Monday, December 23rd, I will announce a winner, randomly drawn from Post comments, Tea submissions and social media shares. During the week between Christmas and New Year's, I will mail my Box of Winter Comfort & Joy to that one lucky winner!

Here's all you have to do:

--> Leave a comment on this post - and/or either one of my next two TEA posts. Every time you comment you are entered!

That's it!

However ...

You can improve your chances of winning by sending me a submission for an upcoming Tea post! You may contact me via email (drhanigan AT gmail DOT com) - send me a photo or a link to a post you've shared at your own website!

Also ...

Bonus points for spreading the news about Tea at Dawn's through social media!

(Feel free to grab this little "logo" if you'd like.)

(Please give me a heads-up if you do, so I can keep tally!)

Now, before I go,  here is the upcoming Teatime Timetable and Topics:

12/6: Heaven & Earth/Holiday Greenery/Christmas Trees

12/20: Winter Solstice/All Creation Waits/Gingerbread

12/23: Giveaway Winner Announced!

1/3: Winter Stars/Comfort & Joy/Word of the Year

I'm rather talked out at this point, but perhaps we have time for one more pot?

Well my friends, as always I thank you very much for joining me ... I hope you enjoyed our Tea! I would love to hear from you, whether you want to enter the giveaway or not (and if you do not, please let me know in your comment so I don't include your name in the drawing). And please feel free to email me (see above) or contact me via Instagram DM or Facebook PM. I look forward to hearing from you!

Most of all however, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and very Happy Thanksgiving next week, if you celebrate. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones ...

I'll see you here again very soon!

Tea @ Dawn's ~ Fading Light, Cranberries & Frost ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy Friday! Thank you so much for joining me ... I am so pleased to welcome you to "my place" for Tea. ❤

As I announced last week, I am bringing back my blog "Teatimes," in a celebration of Late Autumn,Winter Holidays ... and the very comfort and joy that is Tea!

By necessity of course, my Teatimes are virtual -  but my hope is that my words and pictures will make you feel like you have truly popped in for a cozy visit. And I like to imagine you're savoring something you love while you read my post - perhaps a cup of freshly brewed coffee, mulled cider or hot chocolate if you're not one for tea. :-)

Here at my home I'll always have a pretty mug of tea in hand, and a sweet or savory seasonal snack to share ... as well as many seasonal snippets revolving around: current projects, nature news, corners of my home, kitchen notes, holiday preparations, my kids, my journals and my seasonal planners, etc.!

I am also hoping some of you will join me this season in sharing your tea virtually - whether in pics, thoughts, recipes, etc.! I am happy to include your submissions here in my post and/or link to your own post elsewhere. And please feel free to share my Teas wherever you'd like! I am grateful to my dear friend Kim of Ordinary Days of Small Things for her lovely post - I knew I could count on Kim for her enthusiasm and support! And MY goodness, just take a peek at her beautiful Teatime banner! I am quite honored by her kind words and creative design. ❤

* And this just in! Please stop by Kim's for her Teatime post today! It is chock-FULL of wonderful seasonal ideas! (Thanks so much, Kim!) *

Now, for today, I would like to offer you a comfy cup of my favorite autumn brew ... the very gently spiced and soothingly citrus, Constant Comment. Today I am serving it in a sweet little pumpkin mug (a Stop 'n Shop find!) because ... 'tis the season for pumpkins!

Did you happen to pass these pretties on your way up my drive? It's such a lovely New England tradition - pumpkins lined up on a stone wall in the fall!

And speaking of pumpkins, the treat I'm serving at Tea today is not a slice of pumpkin bread as you might suspect ... but rather, an apple-squash variation! I followed my favorite quick bread recipe using up some leftover butternut squash and spiced applesauce from our Halloween party. The two flavors combined beautifully and the bread turned out tender and moist. This easy recipe is always a hit in our family, especially because it makes not one but TWO loaves!

On Sunday I am planning to bake up an old family recipe called, Poor Man's Cake. It's something my grandmother made quite often and was a favorite of my grandfather's. I like to bake this for Martinmas (the Feast of St. Martin) which is this coming Monday. It's actually quite delicious and especially nice with a cup of strong Irish tea! (Grampa's beverage of choice.)

 

✨Fading Light✨

Now, if you've followed my blog for some time then you know we like to live and learn around a rhythm of weekly seasonal themes. When my boys were little this made up the bulk of our homeschooling "curriculum,"  but as they grow, I continue to keep the seasons by fostering awareness and appreciation in our home while tweaking activities to fit our family members' interests more authentically.

So this week our seasonal theme is "Fading Light," in honor of the darkening days at this time of year. I always schedule this theme for right before or just after Daylight Savings Time ends. (We pushed the clocks back last Sunday.)

Here are some of my ideas for this week's activities as noted in my Late Autumn bullet journal:

This page shown here is my seasons keeping page, found smack dab in between the two-page weekly planning spread! (Please see last week's post for a more thorough explanation of how I set up my journals.)

✨

Happily, Fading Light  is a theme that is very easy to explore, because there are so many nuances to the concept!

In Late Autumn, the earth is slowing down and nature needs her rest - the shorter and darker days means better sleep! (This is a wonderful theme to weave into storytelling with the children, especially those that are sad to see their gardens wither.)

And just like the natural world around us, we have our OWN need for rest in what is usually a very busy time of year! It can be hard to resist the pull of the "hustle and bustle," but quieter evenings and solid sleep are often just the fuel we need to keep our own inner lights burning.

Around our homes we find special ways to bring extra light into our life ... making colorful homemade lanterns, twining strings of lights through leafy garlands, setting tea lights in dark windows, taking the time to notice and honor the sunset - perhaps with a special prayer of thanks for another day together here on earth ...

Stopping the car just to marvel over a soft, milky sky...

November's sun may be weaker than June's - but it's certainly no less lovely!

One of our favorite November pastimes is to make lanterns for Marintmas. Yesterday Little Bear and I sat down in the (sunny!) kitchen to do just that ...

I like to try a new lantern craft every year, but this time we kept it super simple. We took a piece of watercolor paper and attached some leaf shapes with a dab of glue stick. Then Little Bear started painting (with watercolors) ...

This boy could paint for hours - he's a big fan of Bob Ross, fyi! I love the playful shades he chose ...

After the picture was dry we carefully peeled off the leaves ...

And then we stapled the ends of the paper together to form a lantern shape.

It was fun to line up lanterns from festivals past as we watched the sun go down ...

At 4:30 p.m.!

It's a lovely, peaceful thing to sit quietly in a darkening room, appreciating the lights - and the darkness!

(Here are two older posts  - Martinmas Day with My Boys and Lovely Lanterns for Martinmas - which show a few different lantern options. It's a very simple yet satisfying craft! One of my favorite Martinmas traditions is the lantern walk we take at dusk on November 11th. It's just us - with our lanterns - traipsing about our yard as the sun goes down, but it's yet another sweet, seasonal memory I hope my children carry with them as they go about making their own lives.)

✨

We can bring light inside our hearts too ... by doing things that fire us up!

❤ favorite hobbies and pastimes

❤ spending time with people we love

❤ doing things together that makes us happy

❤ remembering to be grateful for the many blessings in our life

❤ finding ways to give to others in need ... 

Kicking off the month of November with this theme of light and darkness, I thought it would be nice to weave light into our annual gratitude project! So here's what I put together ...

Burlap ribbon runner in the front window √

LED votive candles, one for each day leading up to Thanksgiving (28) √

Kraft paper leaf cut-outs (lots) √

Every day we write on a leaf (or leaves) something we were grateful for and/or something we did to help someone else. We place those leaves beside a candle and light it once the day grows dark.

(The silver votives represent Sundays - when we reflect a little more deeply on the blessings we have received, and hopefully bestowed.)

Adding one light each night, our window will be brilliant come Thanksgiving eve! Oliver apparently approves. :-)

Now speaking of Thanksgiving ...

 

✨Cranberries✨

Next week our seasonal theme will be At the Autumn Bog  - aka Cranberry week! I'll be sharing more ideas over at Instagram in the days to come, but to begin with, here's an old post from 2011 with some ideas for exploring this tiny tart berry.

And what you see above is our attempt to create a signature "mocktail" for Thanksgiving! We'll have a lot of young kids this year at our holiday table so I wanted to have something special for them to drink. (Aside from the usual apple juice and milk!) 

We're calling this fun, festive drink a "Frosty Cranberry," and we're still tinkering with the final recipe! For one thing, I'm planning to use citrus zest-infused white sugar not this decorative red but you get the idea. (P.S. I use India Tree (plant-dye-based) Sparkling Sugars in my holiday baking.) 

Now, full disclosure: I loosely based this mocktail on a ginger-beer-based drink I saw on Pinterest, but I wanted to make it a little more child-friendly. We took a glass and wet the rim with a cut orange. We then dipped the rim in the sugar and filled the glass with ice. Next, we poured in cranberry juice, about halfway up the glass. Lastly we added crisp, apple-flavored sparkling water and it foamed and fizzed quite prettily!

The initial taste test went ... ok ... but Little Bear felt it was a tad too tart, so after I took pictures we added some orange juice which not only made it sweeter, it changed the shade of the beverage to a gorgeous "autumn sunset" red-orange. I think the kids will like it  and I am going to find some cute acrylic "glasses" for them to use - for safety reasons, natch!

In the meantime, next Tuesday night I'll mull a pot of cranberry-apple cider on the stove in celebration of The Full Beaver Moon. And you're probably thinking: what might beavers have to do with cranberries? But see I'm going with the whole "bog" theme next week ... cranberries grow there, and beavers live there!

(Spotted at our Audubon Nature Class this week!)

Despite the fact that we live in a state rich with cranberry bogs, I'm not planning to trek my kids down to Cape Cod next week. Instead we will visit a local "quaking bog" which if nothing else features a really lovely, late autumn landscape. We do happen to have plenty of ponds and creeks in our town and if we wish, we can easily observe a beaver's lodge from a safe distance.

But, moving on ... because November's full moon is ALSO known as the Full FROST moon ... the next theme we'll be exploring is:

 

✨Frost✨

I cannot tell you how happy we were to see that first frost this year! I think I mentioned in an earlier post how challenging outdoor activities had become here in Massachusetts (and many surrounding communities) with an escalating and extreme threat of mosquito-borne viruses. Now that we've finally had a hard frost, we can relax for a while.

Frost may kill off mosquitos (and flowers and other tender plants) but it also brings back our dear little snowbirds, the Juncos - a species we look for every year in late October. Dark-eyed Juncos are lovely little birds that fly north for the summer (leaving around Easter) and return to New England just as the cold weather returns.

I spotted my first Junco around Halloween, but have yet to get a decent picture. Here's one little fella perched in a pear tree yesterday morning!

So this week we'll talk a little about ol' Jack Frost - I have some sweet verses to read, and a peg doll story to tell - and weather folklore in general. Isn't that vintage illustration above sweet? I plan to show it to Little Bear and weave a little story about the Chipmunk who wasn't quite ready to hibernate ... he was too busy helping his jolly friend Jack paint those leaves!

✨✨✨

And now for a few random things I'd just like to share ...

(By now I'm sure you all need a fresh cuppa ... and please help yourself to another slice of apple-squash cake!)

Digging into my reading basket! It's my favorite month of the year for magazines! What magazines do you like to read?

And here's a sunny window set up for seasonal exploration ...

We read In November every year during the first week of the month and it's just such a lovely book - that happens to feature an illustration of Juncos(!) which of course ties in nicely with our nature study. Windows is another perennial favorite - a sweet and simple tale following a young boy on an evening walk through his neighborhood, finding comfort and joy in all those glowing, interesting windows. I like to pair this book with a "windows walk" of our own one night! Our Little Bear is a wee bit afraid of the dark, so we're always looking for ways to soothe his anxiety and reassure him there is nothing to be afraid of, if we can look for the lights - while understanding the dark a little better.

And in the foreground is our gorgeous nature poetry book (a daily staple in our homeschool!) open to this week's poems. Timely too, since we had a merry bonfire just last weekend, another annual tradition around the first of November. Last week's theme was "goodnight, garden" so we were burning branches from a Halloween windstorm as well as plenty of withered garden debris.

I was simply enchanted by this beautiful artwork, found online - and it's now my phone wallpaper! I suppose one might look at this painting and find it a little eerie, but honestly, I see it as rather comforting. In the midst of all that dark and fog, the house with its beaming window, a loved one looking out from within, represents a safe, solid harbor. Dotted in the landscape are more bright beacons, welcoming other weary travelers home. 

And speaking of welcome ... it's such a universal, human thing, to breathe a sigh of relief when we finally turn that last bend and our favorite place in this world comes into view ...

I was just pulling up our drive after dropping Earlybird at school, but I had to stop and relish that gorgeous foliage-enhanced light. I was tired (EB had me up super early and I had a whole host of things I wanted to attend to once I got home) and yet, how could I not pause and absorb all this lovely, autumnal light? How could I not take a moment to feel thankful for my blessings - for my very breath - and yes, even for the busy-ness of my day ahead. All the little things that would need my attention after one more deep and gratifying inhale/exhale ...

And finally, here is my Little Bear at his Audubon Nature Class this week - simply thrilled to hold a garter snake! Our autumn classes have now come to an end, but we'll return to the sanctuary in January, eager to explore the wonders of the winter woods with our amazing Audubon teachers and homeschool families! 

✨✨✨

Well my friends, I am so very thankful to you all for joining me for tea today. I know this was a very LONG post, but I do hope you enjoyed it! I truly enjoyed sharing all these thoughts and pictures with you all ... and of course, the pumpkin-squash-apple-orange-spice ALL KINDS OF AUTUMN GOODNESS Tea! ❤

Remember, if you'd like to join me in my Late Autumn & Winter Teatimes - I'll be posting here every other week through the season - just zip me an email with your submission (or link).

drhanigan AT gmail DOT com

And of course, I'd love to hear from you in a comment below!

Enjoy the weekend ahead my friends ... I'll see you here again very soon!

Late Autumn Tea Journal: 11•1•19

Hello, my friends and Happy November!

I am writing to you on this first day of a brand new month - and a bright new season - and it is my dearest hope that this "note" finds you all doing well. ❤

I'm here today to kick off a new series of Teatimes, and to give you all a little tour of how I set up my Late Autumn bullet journal. I am hoping to share a "Tea Journal" post every other week throughout this lovely season of late autumn and the winter holidays. Here is my tentative schedule of upcoming dates and seasonal topics:

11/8: Fading Light/Cranberries/Frost

11/22: Cozy Nests/Earth's Bounty/Thankful Hearts

12/6: Heaven & Earth/Holiday Greenery/Christmas Trees

12/20: Winter Solstice/All Creation Waits/Gingerbread

1/3: Winter Stars/Comfort & Joy/Word of the Year

In each Teatime post I will share a pretty cup of tea and perhaps a special seasonal goodie (virtually, natch!) and I will also share some of my recent bullet journal/planner pages, focusing on current seasonal themes.

So today is just a quick "working tea" because I'm all business when I have a new journal to prepare! You see my pretty mug up top and a little peek at my current journal. I've really just got the bones in place so far - this weekend I'll work on filling things in.

I've been posting about my pages over at Instagram and a few folks have asked me to share how I set up my bujo/planner. So before I get to my photos, here's a little bit about that ...

MATERIALS:

• journal - I like this one for its smooth paper, sturdy binding, and convenient size
• ruler - one of my dad's old engineering rulers!
• pen - I always use Frixion Erasable pens.
• assorted post-it notes/adhesive tabs/washi tape/paper clips/binder clips
• pastel highlighters (also erasable) and colored pencils

PROCESS:

1. Choose my journal timeframe. I know many people use their bullet journals with no particular begin/end date in mind. They just start where they are and when they run out of paper, they move on to a new journal! I myself like to create seasonally-specific journals, so this current journal is organized for Late Autumn (the months of November and December).

2. Create a journal content list. What kinds of things do I want in my journal? See below for my content list - which is based on my own needs and priorities, though I do get a lot of wonderful inspiration over at Pinterest. I love coming across a cool idea for organizing my content in a way I hadn't considered before!

3. Mark off journal sections before putting pen to paper! I use post-it notes to set apart different sections of my journal, so I can be sure all my content will fit!

4. Label journal. Some folks create very lovely and fancy front covers for their journals. I like the look of these simple, pastel stickers I found at the craft store. Each season gets its own special hue and primary "purpose."

5. Create page spreads. I like to sit somewhere comfortable with a large clipboard in my lap and all my supplies around me before I get started. Oh, and tea! I like to have a hot cup of tea by my side. It helps me think! This particular aspect of bullet journaling - the designing and drawing part - probably requires the most amount of your time, but once you get it all set up, you're good to go! And you know, I can honestly say ... I love it! All the measuring and counting and drawing out lines. I don't find it tedious or boring - rather, it soothes me in a way I think might be comparable to knitting or sewing. I try to pick a time for this when I can really bang out most of the planner ... but in reality I usually have to set it aside and continue my progress as I can.

6. Establish a journaling routine. Once you get your bujo set up, it's helpful to make journaling a part of your weekly (daily?) routine. I try to "work" in my journal a little each morning and again in the afternoon. This would be updating the phenology wheel, calendar spreads and writing in the actual journal portion - jotting down notes and adding clippings. I try to carve out time on the weekends for reviewing and catching up in my journal as well as checking in with some of the more goal-oriented spreads.

So just what all do I have in my seasonal journals? Well, let's take a look at this one!

MY LATE AUTUMN JOURNAL CONTENTS:

title page (1)

monthly overviews: Nov/Dec (2)

seasonal themes and brainstorming (1)

phenology (1)

teatime planning (1)

personal wellness page (1)

November calendar (2)

December calendar (2)

weekly spreads (4) x 10 weeks

reading log (2)

Thanksgiving planner (2)

Christmas planner (4)

journal index (1)

brain dump/clippings (remaining pages)

(The bracketed numbers indicate how many pages this content item will need.)

My overall design really is pretty simple. I don't embellish or sketch very much even though I definitely admire layouts done so creatively. For me, if I'm going to actually use the journal I must keep it simple. I don't have a lot of time to journal and I tend to obsess over getting something "just right." So it's better for me to keep to straight lines and little bullets, stars and hearts!

Ok - now for the photo tour! (Remember, I'm just getting started on this journal so much of it is still blank ...)

COVER:

Not much to say here - I just really love those labels!

TITLE PAGE:

Title Page - pretty basic! I resisted getting too complicated here - just getting that tea mug as I liked it was stressful enough, lol! As you can see, I chose three colored pencils to shade in some of my writing: russet, plum and pine green. ❤❤❤

MONTHLY OVERVIEWS:

I really like this basic spread because it gives me, in one glance, the real nitty-gritty of the season ahead. I've used post-it notes here for miscellaneous monthly happenings.

SEASONAL BRAINSTORMING & PHENOLOGY:

I think it's safe to say this is my favorite spread in my whole journal! On the left is a page just all about the absolute joy that is the season of Late Autumn. I've listed our weekly seasonal themes at the top, and just below that is my seasonal brainstorming blurb ... 

I love writing down all the little comforts and joys that occur in a season ... some are universal and some are more personal. All make me eager for a new season ahead!

I found the phenology wheel template on Pinterest. Just do a search for "phenology wheel" and many designs will pop up. As you can see I have filled out today's slice of the wheel. I record the moon phase, the weather (my little icon indicates partly cloudy with wind), high temp and sunset time. Across the outer rim, the dates will be shaded according to my color-coded weather chart. (I forgot to do that this morning!) Here's a completed wheel from earlier this year ...

Nature nut, color-lover and weather geek that I am - I find this hobby enormously satisfying! :-)

BLOG PLANNER & WELLNESS PAGE:

I'm using post-it notes on this spread, because I often find it easier to organize my initial ideas with post-its! Both of these pages will require a lot more information than what I've jotted down so far, so I'll revisit this spread in a future post. To be honest, I haven't had much success keeping up with these pages in previous journals - perhaps because it's all rather personal and it can be hard to make time for "self-care," especially at this busy and stressful time of year. With that in mind, I'm committing to reviewing this spread each weekend and making sure I'm keeping up with my goals - posting as promised, and taking care of my physical and mental health!

MONTHLY CALENDARS:

This journal is devoted to just November and December, so I only need two monthly calendar spreads. I got November's template done but I still have much to do for December!

Here are a few closer looks ... I did have a little fun with sketching (not my strong suit!) and penning out seasonal quotes (more my forté!).

I always love to list monthly folklore like birth flowers and gemstones. My mother's birthday is this month so I have a special fondness for "mums" and golden topaz jewelry. :-)

(Fyi, First Frost is one of my all-time favorite books! I just adore Sara Addison Allen and am counting the days till she publishes a new book!)

What a wacky turkey, lol ... I copied him from one of the boys' books. He doesn't look like a very happy turkey, does he?

December to come ... by the way, I used a pretty washi tape to set apart these particular spreads since I look for the monthly calendars quite often.

WEEKLY SPREADS:

This section is really the heart of my journal planner! I have a three-page spread for each week in the season. I like a vertical layout - it helps me SEE where I'm busy and not - and yes, I prefer a Monday-start. Not everyone does! I just SEE my weeks beginning on Monday and ending with the weekend. I like a to-do column up front at the start of the week, too. 

The middle page is for weekly planning: inside the fold I list out ideas for seasonal living (this week's theme is "goodnight, garden") and homeschooling lessons. The fold shown above is for "housekeeper" planning - errands, meals, cleaning and current projects. The backside of this folded page is for weekend plans and miscelleneous notes.

At the top of each page in the outer corner I list the dates of the week, the month at hand and the weekly theme as well as the moon phase. The spaces below each daily column are for to-dos specific to that day. I also list monies spent at the bottom of the to-do column.

Naturally I couldn't help but embellish this week a little! You can also see here in this picture, the tabs I used for organizing the rest of the journal after the weekly planning section. None of these sections have anything to show yet, so I will just tell you that I have a two-pages spread for Thanksgiving planning, a four-page spread for Christmas planning, a page for my reading log, and then the rest of the journal is for ... well, journaling! :-)

***

Well my friends, I hope you've enjoyed this not-so-brief tour of my Late Autumn Journal! And I thank you, as always, for joining me here ...

Before I go I'd like to remind you all that when it comes to things like bullet journaling and seasonal planning - everyone does things in their own way! Some of us do similar things, some of us do wildly different things, but all of us are doing our own thing and that's the best part about it! I think that's what I love best about "bullet journaling" is how you can customize things to suit your very own preferences.

I share the above photos and information with you all not to say ... "this is how you do a bullet journal" ... but rather ... "this is how I do my bullet journal!"

But maybe something I show you will give you a better idea of what you want, or help you see things in a new light. Or maybe you're looking this all over thinking, Hey - this gal's on the same page as me - we're like kindred spirits! And, well ... that's swell, too! :-)

Oh, and also! If you'd like to participate in a Teatime, you are most welcome! All are welcome to stop by and read/comment but I'd love to hear your take on my topics! You could post something at your own site and send me the link or you could send me a picture and your thoughts, and I will include them in my scheduled post. You can reach me by emailing me at drhanigan AT gmail DOT com. You can also reach me via Instagram direct message.

Thanks again my friends, and I hope you all have a great weekend! I also hope you said "Rabbit-rabbit" this morning! - I'm looking at you, Penny! - and to all a Happy Late Autumn ...

See you here again very soon!