"Everyone should regularly have themselves overwhelmed by nature."
~ George Harrison
^Look how deep the stream is after
all the rain we have had the past week!
^The little ones playing "Pooh
sticks"
^The perfect imaginary airplane!
^Our two young explorers, Rebekah
(10) and Sofia (8).
^I love taking photographs at the
railway track!
^And it is always wonderful on an
overcast day…makes for a dramatic backdrop!
^The three littles – Sofia, Rebekah
and Caleb.
^We always enjoy our walks in the
forest…
~
Outside my window…
The
world outside is dark and rain is threatening.
I had hoped to take little one for her walk, but we will have to wait
till the weather clears…
It
would seem that winter is not quite finished with us yet with the past two
weeks being cold and rainy…
In my cup…
Rooibos
citrus tea. I have started drinking more
herbal and fruit teas so as to reduce my caffeine intake… I think I am starting to acquire a taste for
tea and enjoy trying out new flavours.
Around the house…
This
past month saw us shifting rooms around so that both Nancy and I now have our
own space, which has enabled me to do a lot more sewing in the evenings and
early mornings. I do miss having my
younger sister, Gabrielle, in the room with me, though.
Reading…
Last
week I shared that one of my goals for this year was to read more and how I
have more than achieved what I set out to accomplish.
Recently
I finished reading Twenty Years After
(the sequel to The Three Musketeers)
and Bonnie Dundee by Rosemary
Sutcliff, as well as Cranford by
Elizabeth Gaskell.
I
picked up The Yearling again and am
slowly but surely getting through it.
Although I do think it a wonderful story and really well written, I
confess that I am dragging my heels through this book. I am hoping to start Jo’s Boys this week….
Listening to…
Celtic
Woman just released their lovely new Christmas album, The Magic of Christmas. I
know I said I was going to wait till December to start listening to Christmas
music…but oh well…I simply couldn’t resist!
{{smiles}}
Thankful for…
It
may be almost summertime, but the weather is still pretty cool during the day,
and the nights cold.
I
love this in between weather and enjoy being able to spend as much time as
possible out of doors. I still walk for
about an hour every day with the little girl in my care - soon it will be too
hot to do this and I will have to see about squeezing in a walk before work or
in the evenings…
From the kitchen…
It
is preserving time in our home and I have been spending many a happy hour in
the kitchen pickling, preserving and bottling.
So far I have made pickled onions, beetroot relish, tomato chilli jam
and strawberry jam. Soon apricots will
be coming in and I can’t wait to start making apricot jam and chutney.
I
am expecting a good harvest of cucumbers (I planted so many this year) and
would very much like to make my own gherkins with the new cucumbers.
Creating…
As
I mentioned last week, I have been spending all my free time in my sewing
room. I am feeling pretty confident
about being finished in time for this year’s gift market if I can just keep up
this pace. I also had an order come in
(Thank you, Lord), so I need to fit this in somewhere along the line too. {{smiles}}
In the garden…
My
little garden is growing quite prolifically at the moment… Soon we will be harvesting cucumbers and
cherry tomatoes. The squash has just
begun to flower and we haven’t bought any lettuce, spinach or herbs in a long
while. Of course, with limited space,
one can only grow so much. I like to
squeeze as much in as possible and use up whatever containers I have on hand.
Out and about…
With
the weeks being so busy, I haven’t been out and about all that much.
We
did spend a Saturday visiting the open gardens in our area, though, which you
can hop over and read about here.
Watching…
Some
evenings our family gather to watch an episode of Little Men, a series inspired by the writings of Louisa May
Alcott. Despite being quite old, it is
well acted and a series we all enjoy watching.
One of my favourite things…
In
the evenings once the little ones have gone to bed, Mom and I make some
chamomile tea and sit together for a few minutes before bed…I always love
winding down my day in this way.
Dreaming of…
There
is a good chance my dearest friend will be visiting this December. We haven’t seen each other in almost two
years as her family moved back to the States…
We are both praying that this trip to South Africa will work out for her
family.
My
dad comes home for a three-week holiday in January, so we are starting to count
down to his arrival.
I am hoping…
That
the weather will play along for the camping trip we have planned for this
weekend coming. There will be around
fourteen of us going (friends, and friends of friends), so it should be great
fun and I know we will make a lot of wonderful memories!
Quiet moments…
My
favourite time of the day has always been early morning when the world is only
just awakening. I love to take my coffee
outside and sit for a few minutes savouring the quiet while I sip my morning
cuppa. Of course, with little ones in
the house who also happen to be early risers, what little peace there is (we
live in a very busy part of town) can sometimes be shattered!
Well,
sweet readers. I would love to hear what
is going on in your part of the world this November…
Blessings,
Kelly-Anne