Fall Bucket List

 

First taste of fall

So this happened yesterday.

Hurricane Idalia was much diminished by the time it came over our area, and while we got a lot of rain (over 6 inches) there was very little harm done. What it did seem to do was blow out the hot, stagnant summer air and herald the arrival of our first taste of fall. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, with cool temperatures, low humidity, and bright blue skies. It seemed like a good afternoon to clean up the garden bed, which had gone to utter ruin in the last part of August. My husband was kind enough to lend a hand, so it didn't take long at all.  

One last gleaning of peppers and cherry tomatoes: goodbye to my summer 2023 garden.

Another harvest is just beginning, though. The pomegranate is loaded with ripening fruit for the first time ever right now. I'm truly excited for these.

One of the banana plants finally has a bloom! Although these won't produce any fruit, the flowers are pretty enough to make growing them worthwhile just for their sake. 

It's Labor Day weekend and the forecast is for beautiful weather. It's very welcome after the long, hot summer, and a nice way to kick off September. The extra day off on Monday is very welcome, too.

Gratitude Sunday

Today I'm joining both Taryn Kae Wilson at  Wooly Moss Roots (http://woolymossroots.blogspot.co.uk/) and Hannah at Following Bliss (http://followinglittlemossybliss.blogspot.com/) in taking a moment to reflect on the things that I'm grateful for as another week comes to a close. Thanks for the wonderful idea ladies!

• The gorgeous weather that ushered in the equinox this year. Not only were we treated to a clear view of the golden harvest moon each night, but the days have been filled with cool air, blue skies, and leaves just beginning to get the first tints of fall color. Crickets have been singing me to sleep at night. Even they seem to be delighted with the changing season.
• Friendship. I can honestly say I have at least one true friend. She's not only loyal and steadfast, she's also really funny and fun be around.  She's coming over this afternoon for wine, tea, apple tarts, and some catching up time. A happy way to spend the equinox!
• My husband's continued good health. The big scary monster is finally receding into the past and seeming less and less relevant to our current life. So FU, cancer!
• And on a less serious note, I'm beginning to appreciate drinking hot tea! (This is the South. We drink our tea sweet and iced. Period. Hee.) I've been experimenting with different brands of hot tea and finding some that I like. I don't own a functional teapot or know much about tea, I admit. I just microwave a cup of water and dunk a bag of English Breakfast in. And yes, I know that method sucks. But I like it, and it's an easy pick-me-up after work that doesn't seem to give me the caffeine jolt coffee would. A cup of tea is a nice little welcome-home ritual, too!

Cozy Day

Today has been one of those cool, rainy, overcast fall days when you just want to stay at home and nest. That's pretty much what I did today. I woke up to rain pouring down outside, and after seeing the husband off to work I got back in bed with a book and read until I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until almost noon, which is something I never do. It felt wonderful.

All afternoon I've been cooking for the rest of the week. A pot roast with baby carrots and mushrooms, simmering slowly for hours. Baked potatoes and green beans. A large casserole dish of homemade baked macaroni and cheese. Brownies. Our house smells really good!

Tonight's agenda: dinner, a movie, more reading, and an early bedtime. It's been a perfect, cozy fall day.

Autumn is coming!

This little treasure is for sale at our local farmer's market. It makes me think of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos and fall.

I also liked his partner and would have brought them both home in a minute, if the old budget had allowed. Sadly, it did not.

Autumn and Halloween merchandise is showing up all over the place, and I love it! I've already purchased a seasonal beer collection and a bag of candy corn at the grocery store. I love the wire bins bursting with cheerful scarecrows sitting on the sidewalk in front of the dollar store. The bookstore where I work is getting in all sorts of books and gifts for the season. There will be tables merchandised with books by authors like Poe and Lovecraft, gift items inspired by Tim Burton books and horror films, and craft/cook books filled with ideas for party recipes and decorations. Everywhere you go, you see evidence of the approach of Autumn.

What signs of the season are showing up where you live?

Day 10 and falling behind!

It's day 10 of the Halloween Countdown blog party and I feel bad that I've missed a few days. I originally intended to try to blog every day during the month of October, but I realize now that was a bit ambitious. My job has been tiresome and stressful lately, and now GB is sick with some flu-like bug. I am crossing my (sanitized) fingers that I don't catch whatever he has. So I will still try to blog every day, but if I miss a few I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

That being said, here are some pictures I took yesterday and today to show some of my ongoing preparations for Halloween (and fall in general):

These are some little artificial flowers, leaves, and berries I stuck in the glass mosaic jars that live on my kitchen windowsill.

These are the pumpkins I bought on Friday afternoon. I love the tiny one with the long stem!

I tried and tried to get a picture of Ginger posing in front of the pumpkins. She refused to cooperate. She finally laid down beside them, looking irritated at me for trying to get her stay still and look at the camera. This was the best I could get!

I'm so over that camera thing.

Another way I am getting in the spirit of fall is by cooking big batches of chili and soup, and then freezing half. So far I have made pots of vegetarian black bean chili and vegetable beef soup, and I have several quarts of both stored in the freezer. Today I am making chicken soup for my sick sweetheart. So far a stock is simmering with local/organic/free range chicken pieces, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, sea salt, and pepper. Here is a picture taken as I was starting:

I will continue to work on building a flavorful stock for a day or two, then strain it and add back some deboned chicken, carrots, peas, celery, shallots, more garlic, and egg noodles. It should be just the thing for my sick guy!

Those are my seasonal activities this week. Happy Day 10!