Some Autumn Things

Well summer has finally come to an end.  I am actually glad to see it go, I am ready for a new season and new things.  I love the fall, I enjoy leaves changing, pumpkins fattening, apples falling, and boots!  I adore sweaters and hot beverages by the bonfire.  I even enjoy all the rain I know is headed my way.  But I am getting ahead of myself, for now I will enjoy the early autumn activities of picking blackberries, making pies, and nestling in to my cozy home.

I have been so busy this summer that these first few days of back-to-school feel like just the thing to rejuvenate this mommy.  I have started the final deep cleaning before the cold sets in (it is hard to do this when it gets wet here in Washington, so winter isn't the time to clean).  I rearranged my living space yesterday.  The light is terrible this morning, but here are some pictures anyway.

Last night I lit all the candles and we ate dinner by their light, it was so lovely we decided to let them burn for another hour after we finished our meal.  Perfect way to spend an evening with my boys.

Before I moved to Washington 2 years ago my son attended a Waldorf school.  I try to incorporate ideas from that tradition into our home life because he attends a public school now.  One thing I have been wanting to do is a nature table, but it took reading this great blog post from Tinker Lab to get my butt in gear!  Thank you ladies.  My son is nine, so we can have a wonderful variety of items on our table, including things he has collected (he is really big on rocks).  And underneath I can store some of our games, which seem to have expanded beyond the cabinets ability to hold them recently.
 

 

 Along the same lines I also try to keep my son interested in the fiber arts.  He learned to knit and crochet a couple years ago, but it is difficult to keep him interested in these activities.  A few days ago he discovered the Coco the Cat series in Crochet Today magazine, he thought she was the cutest thing ever.  He wanted one so bad I made her up while he was in school Tuesday.  He crocheted her scarf that evening (with much complaining about the difficulty, he was very rusty).  He is very excited about her and wants her to have 100 dresses!  The boy even had the audacity to tell me I should make her a dress a week since I wasn't working on my sweater a month anymore!  From the mouths of babes... so be on the look out for my next sweater, I have a couple that need to be written up, and then I better get back on track for the one a month, I'm being watched!

Yummy Treats for Rainy Days

I am suffering through the third straight day of rain and cloudy grey skies.  I was all ready for warm weather.  I already got sun burned from trying too hard to photosynthesize, I was a plant in my last life and I still try to live on light and water when the opportunity presents.  Well I was premature, and now I have to deal with the weather change funk, I don't mind the rain, but I do mind when it just shows up unannounced to rain on my parade.  Yeah, maybe I should actually look at the weather forecast in the future so I won't be taken unawares, but that would involve effort on my part, so...

At least the cold days bring me back into the kitchen.  I have made some very tasty things in recent days including a nice lemon rosemary chicken with ginger coconut lentils on Sunday and a butternut squash soup with apples and pink jasmine rice last night.  I was also in the mood for something sweet yesterday so I made a batch of sunflower seed brittle.  It turned out delicious!  I used Martha Stewart's Nut Brittle recipe but substituted 2 cups of roasted salted sunflower seeds for the nuts.  This is super quick and easy because you make it up in the microwave.  My 9-year-old son won't usually eat sunflowers seeds and he gave this a thumbs up.

Rainy days are also perfect for a cup of tea and I have been meaning to share with you about a tea I picked up recently.  When I attended my first SCA event a few weeks back I did a little shopping and my favorite items all came from one merchant, sadly I cannot remember the name to save my life.  I checked the merchant list, and I think it may have been the Domestic Goddess, but I can't be sure (I even found a picture of her shop in the background of one of my photos, but I can't see a name).  Sorry to the lovely purveyor of the shop for my lame endorsement here, but I'll do better the next time I see her for sure.  Anyway she had wonderful prices and a fun assortment of items including jewelery, crystals, treats, and teas.  I picked up this neat Chinese black tea stored in a dried mandarin for $1.50!  It is delicious and fun to use.

Was It Worth It?

Today I hurt, a lot.  I had one of my manic days yesterday and moved all of my living room, dining room and office furniture around.  I needed to vacuum, and do the laundry, then suddenly- moving day!  I hate it when I do this because I always get hurt, which is inevitable when you move your antique roll top desk by yourself, but I do it anyway.  The morning after I am wondering if it was worth it.  Now I just  want new furniture.

Correspondence Corner

Office Space

I need (okay want vary badly) a new dining table, I have for years.  My husband and I were given a "lovely" antique table.  It is one of the ugliest tables known to man and I hate it passionately.  My husband spent week lovingly refinishing the top, I still hate it.  The table is not only ugly, but very inconvenient.  It doesn't fit in my space, you run into it with your thighs and/or knees when you sit down,  and it is on casters- so half the time my kids are pushing it around while you try to eat!  Did I mention I hate it?  I finally found the perfect replacement, it is from Ikea, but I still like it.

Bjursta

I want two of these, I want to place them side by side in front of my pew, yeah, did I mention I have an antique pew.  They are skinny and perfect for the space.  I will have just the right space for family dinners and the ability to expand to seat 12.  Ooooh as we speak, er type, the hubby just said, "you should get those, I like them."  Sweet!   How I love that man, and not just for the money... no really.


I also want a chair for this little corner.  I need a nice comfy one that is good for reading and knitting.  See the heater vent?  This is a really warm little corner that would be perfect on cold days, if it just had a place to sit!  Any suggestions?  I am thinking club chair, if I can thrift something cute, but I would settle for an Ikea chair if I am going by there anyway.  Oooh, and maybe a new rug to compliment my insanely ugly vintage sofa too.  Such a slippery slope.