Thankful Living: Autumnal Blessing #3...

Today we Celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi ~ Patron Saint of Animals.

Blessed are the Animals ♥

Much Blessed are we to have them share our lives with us.

***

Archer tried on his new Halloween costume "for size".  Since we adopted him he has gained a few pounds.

 

I think he makes a pretty cute dragon!

 

We derive immeasurable good

uncounted pleasures,

enormous security

and many critical lessons about life

by having a dogs

~Roger Caras~

***

 

 

Thankful Living: Autumnal Blessing #2

 

Gathering

 

 A potpourri of gathered treasures ♥

 

True wisdom

lies in gathering

the precious things

out of each day

as it goes by

~E.S.Boulton~

***

I am a gatherer ~ I like to bring home little treasures from Nature.

 

  At this time of year, I am usually walking home with  a handful of beautiful leaves in red, gold, orange and yellow.  I'll place some under our dinner plates, some under votive candle holders, tuck one in each dinner napkin ring, and a few will be pressed in books.

A few days ago, Archer and I were walking amongst a park full of Oak trees and there were acorns everywhere ... An interesting fact about Oak trees is that they can start producing acorns when they are 20 years old, but sometimes they can take up to 50 years to produce!  Like people, some Oak trees are late bloomers :-D

At home, in my own garden, I'm snipping off the very last petals from the pansies, and gathering  seeds from the Cosmos &Larkspur.  There haven't been as many this year to save as we had lots of Yellow Finch enjoying them, but enough to fill a few seed packages.

~Happy Gathering~



Thankful Living ~ Autumnal Blessing #1

~ Happy October~

 

This weekend, we Celebrate Thanksgiving here in Canada.

My cookbooks now have little yellow post it notes poking out from the pages

so I can find my "tried and true " traditional recipes when I need them.

Even though we may try one or two new recipes, there are those ones that are a must make ...

like Apple Pie :-)  This year we will also be enjoying a "raw" apple pie thanks to my vegan daughter which I know will be delicious.

 

Thursdays here on the blog are Thankful {things I love} Thursdays, but in honour of the month of October, I thought I'd do something different & celebrate  Autumnal Blessings with  a month of THANKFUL LIVING posts ♥

Home comfort cooking ♥ creating ♥ decorating♥ and of course ... quotes!

 

Since we are a family of apple lovers, a visit to the pick your own Apple Orchard is a Fall family tradition ~ so Autumnal Blessing #1 is Thankful for a beautiful Autumn crop.

 



Autumn Bounty

Texture : Kim Klassen - Urban 

***

Take rest,

a field that has rested

gives a beautiful crop.

~Ovid~

***

 

APPLE PIE

 

6 cups  (6-8) tart apples, cored, pared and thinly sliced

1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on your taste)

2 TBSP all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

Pastry for 2-crust pie

2 TBSP butter

 

If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with 1 TBSP lemon juice.

Combine sugar, flour and spices and mix with apples.

Line a 9" pie plate with pastry.  Fill with apple mixture and dot with butter.

Add top crust, seal edges &  cut slits for steam to escape.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 min.

 

 Today, I am also joining in Texture Tuesday  @ kimklassencafe.com

 

Thankful {things I love} Thursday...

What a wonderful surprise I had the other day, when I found the latest Stampers' Sampler

magazine poking out of my mailbox.

 

A few of my watercolour envelopes were inside.

 

I love creating these ~ they are super easy and make sending a note to a friend & loved one just that little bit more special ♥

All you need are a few Manila envelopes, watercolours & favourite stamps. I use the pages of damaged books that I've picked up at garage sales and charity shops to create in a lot of my art work, and for the envelopes, they were turned into flower petals, leaves  and hearts :-D

Embellish with some ribbon and buttons and slip a lovely handwritten note inside xo

 

I am so Thankful to  have my work published in this amazing magazine! 

GRATITUDE

can transform

common days

into

Thanksgivings

turn

routine jobs

into joy

and change

ordinary opportunities

into blessings

~William Arthur Ward~

Gardening Helper...

 

 

Every leaf

speaks bliss to me

fluttering from

the Autumn tree

~Emily Bronte~

***

 

Happy Autumn!

My favourite Season ...

crisp air

comfort food

wool sweaters

turtlenecks

country drives

boots

leaves twirling in the air

quilts

dinner by a roaring fire

long walks with the crunch of leaves underfoot

fall fairs

scarecrows

candy apples

acorns

hot chocolate

flannel sheets

hot water bottles

frost

Thanksgiving

pumpkins & gourds

 

 

***

I love it all ♥♥♥

*I am such an Autumn Girl*

Sunday Serenity...

 I love to think of Nature

as having unlimited broadcasting stations

through with God speaks to us

everyday

every hour

and every moment

of our lives

if we will only tune in

and remain so

~George Washington~

***

This adorable little chipmunk was playing a game of hide and seek with me on a recent walk through the woods with Archer :-)

I spotted him, walked up a little closer to take his picture, and he would hide in one of the nooks and crannies of this fallen oak tree.  I never knew where he would poke his little head up again :-)

Patience paid off though, and I managed to get a few really cute photos of him

D

A Receptacle ...

Ah ... September.

Moving into my favourite season ~ Autumn.

This past weekend, we were at a Craft Show and spotted PUMPKINS at each fruit stand we passed ♥

The garden urns have had their Summer plants removed and replaced with Burgundy Chrysanthemums. I am just itching to get out the Scarecrows & decorate the wheel barrow with bales of hay & stalks of corn :-) 

We also went to see WAR HORSE - the most magnificent show I've seen in a long time! Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, I am looking forward to reading the book.

I've had horses on the brain ever since & was thrilled to find a lovely rusty horseshoe for sale at the craft show.  Not sure where to hang it yet, maybe on the fireplace mantle with the open side upward for luck :-)

We  saw "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" at the movies.  I loved this movie. It was sweet and funny and you left the theater feeling good.  The cinematography was stunning!

 This gorgeous spiders web was created on our front porch.

What a work of art!

***

The artist

is a receptacle

for the emotions that come

from all over the place:

from the sky,

from the Earth,

from a scrap of paper,

from a passing shape,

from a

Spider's web.

~Pablo Picasso~