Fall Blessings, pt. 3

I am feeling very blessed this fall.

We have a great locust tree right outside our back door. Recently most of the leaves fell off, sort of all at once. And now we have a polka-dot porch and picnic table.



And I made this yummy loaf of blue cheese bread on Saturday. There is nothing particularly fall-ish about this, except that I was trying to find a way to use the blue cheese we got for John's birthday (I used a recipe for Asiago bread, and just substituted the blue cheese - wow, it's something!).

Fall Blessings, pt. 2

I love my tiny, hot, gas-powered kitchen. With the cold weather, the windows get all fogged up when I cook. It reminds me of Nanny's dish closet with frosted glass windows, all white and glowy.

When I was a little girl mom would make us wash the pots and pans by hand in the sink. I used to always say, "When I have my own kitchen I'm going to put the pots in the dishwasher!" And now that I'm all grown-up, I do. Except John's good omelet pan. And the really big soup pot.

Fall Blessings

The seasons are changing again, and I am excited about the fall. I was thinking about how much has changed since we first moved into this house.

The walls have changed color a few times, and the furniture has been moved around a lot. We've acquired some new art, a new rug, and a dining table. Then, we had to rearrange the whole house to get the baby's things to fit in neatly. We've lost 2 hens and 2 dogs, and gained 1 cat and 3 chicks. Several appliance have been replaced, and some old things have been fixed.

The first year we lived in this house, I was a baby about the cold. We don't have much storage space, and, to be honest, I was a little afraid of the gas stove.

But today, I brought in some of our plants from the porch for the cooler months, and I was admiring all of the greenery in the house. I suddenly realized what a cozy place this is, and what a fine home it has become. We have learned in the house to adapt to the weather, to take care of our lawn and garden, to weigh what things are really necessary, and to enjoy many of life's simpler pleasures. I feel really blessed by the years our family gets to spend here.

Simplicity

Tara called me out on my top ten list. I tried for several days to decide if I would try to defend my list, or if I would add a couple new things. But the fact is, there aren't too many things I regularly spend a lot on. Not that I don't spend money; there will always be something on my christmas list like really expensive raw pigments or a video camera. And from time to time we'll buy these things.

But as a general rule, John and I try to live without a lot of unnecessary things, not for money sake, but to simplify our lives. When I think about it, it's funny that I even tried to come up with that list now.

John and I have both been reading A Plain Life, by Scott Savage, and as a result we are asking ourselves how we can simplify even more. It certainly isn't just about giving things up, or being ascetic, but it is really about weighing convenience against community. It is about filling our lives with people instead of things; having a sense of place rather than always going somewhere.

Post-Nap