And So It Begins.....

I love the changing seasons here in our area.  I wait with anticipation the definite (and sometimes abrupt) transition.  Spring into summer (though I'm vocal about my dislike of the heat), then into fall and then into winter. Winter is one of my favorite seasons - I love that sense of snuggling in, kind of a nesting - closing out the wind, the moisture (we're praying for a lot this winter) and the cold.  We've had the chimney on the wood burning stove cleaned.  I think The Husband is hoping to have some fires to help keep us warm.

But it is also the beginning of my anxiety and worry about loved ones on the road in bad conditions.  I'll be mentally nervous until spring, fussing about accidents.  I want us all to be safe.  Very safe.  Though it's a situation mostly out of my control, I know I'll be a bit on edge until winter is done.  

In the meantime, we enjoy whatever walks we can.  After dinner yesterday we went for a quick-ish walk.  With the shift back to standard time (where I wish we could always stay) it was full on dark by the time we got home.  But it was lovely out, pretty quiet and not too cold.  The wind is heralding more weather to come, but we managed another walk this morning.  The skies were ever changing with the clouds being pushed by the wind and the sun colors shifting by the minute.  Too beautiful, and I was grateful to be out in it.  The forecast is for precipitation for most of the week.  Today might be the only day we get to walk outside.  So we enjoyed it.  

From our neighbor-friend

A couple weeks ago I had a hankering to make some bread.  Tried a new-to-me recipe and it was the most moist whole wheat bread I've made.  The recipe made 4 loaves.  We kept one loaf and shared the other three with neighbor-friends.  They all seemed to really enjoy it.  I wanted specifically to take a loaf to a friend who has a small apple orchard.  He recently gifted us a tin of apples straight from the trees.  We loved them and I wanted to say thanks with the bread.  And what do you know, a few days later he showed up at the door with another bunch of fresh from his trees apples.  They are yummy and a lovely treat. 

Now I want to make another batch of bread, this time with a different recipe, I want to try a lot of them.  I told The Husband that for someone who really dislikes (and that's a mild word for how I feel) cooking, I sure do try out a lot of different recipes.  I guess I get bored of the same old-same old. Wonder if this week will be the one for some more bread?

A couple sweaters I ordered with the very generous gift card came the other day.  I love them both.  And was so excited that neither one will be going back, I'll be keeping them both.  Wore one of them to church yesterday and loved how it felt.  What a luxury to have something new. 

This lovely morning.

The mums are looking a little bedraggled, though the color is still happifying. I make sure to look at them every chance I get.  The Husband has been out raking up leaves, they're finally falling from the trees and have mostly come down.  I still have some small garden areas to clean up but I think we'll have time.  I like to have it done before spring, it makes spring so much more pleasant.  And I'm going to try overwintering the mums again this year, it was worth the effort.

Saturday morning at the storehouse we were greeted with the news:  your missionary name tags are here!  What fun to be able to put them on, helped us feel official.  And it was busy which is always a good thing for us. So far, this has been the positive experience I'd hoped it would be.  The people we work with are welcoming and kind and it feels good to do something productive.  Fingers crossed it continues.

So grateful for our snug, warm home where we feel safe and comfortable.  For reliable transportation and a few mostly fun places to go.  We actually got to go see a movie last week (on Tuesday - the cheap day) and while the movie wasn't near as good as I hoped, it was worth it to just get to a movie.