Transitions

This is a transitions time. From outside to inside. Getting that warm and cozy feeling in the home. I never really stop doing things outside. My focus just changes more to inside. In the fall, I tend to bring more flowers inside to enjoy than during the summer months. When it is warm, I enjoy the flowers and plants as they grow. This year, we have had a warmer fall, so the flowers keep blooming. They are so bright and cheerful these chilly mornings.
One of the transitions is having a warm spicy drink in the mornings. Homemade chai tea is so yummy! The making becomes a little ritual. The aroma of cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, nutmeg, and ginger fills the house. I spend a few moments contemplating the day ahead, and enjoying memories of "before".
My dear friend, Hannah, grew up making this tea in Kenya. It's a recipe to play around with and adjust to your taste.
3 C whole milk
2 T black Tea
2 3" sticks of cinnamon
4 whole cloves
several cardamon seeds, ground
1/2 t nutmeg
slice of fresh ginger
2 peppercorns
3 C water
Put it all in a pan and bring to a boil. Watch out! Don't let it boil over. Simmer the tea for about 30 seconds. Strain.
Add honey to taste.
Yum. Mum mm.
A wonderful way to wake in the morning.

More Fall

I pulled out the old window from storage. Something simple to add a little make do fun. I used acrylic paints, with little detailing,just to give the feeling of harvest. I'll add a hay bale or two and pumpkins. So I'm off to the pumpkin patch for supplies. We are having a birthday party tomorrow and I want the front porch to be a harvest welcome.

A Few Fall Things

The weather finally changed over the weekend. It went from the 80's to the 60's overnight. We are now experiencing our typical Northwest autumn. So up go a few autumn and Halloween decorations. Many of my decorations are years old. I painted these pumpkins over twenty years ago, when the children were young, and thought they were scary.
They went trick or treating with these quilted pumpkins.


Wooden bowls of small gourds and multi colored corn rest on tables.
Small ears of corn rest in this cast iron corn bread pan.

Fall leaves are scattered on table tops. The room glows with candlelight late evening, in its autumn colors.

Of course there are some fall wool mini quilts around.
The wool bird is standing on the pumpkin, resting for a moment, carrying the heavy acorn.
When fall comes, I still spend time cleaning up the garden, but most of my thoughts and time are for indoors. I tend to nest. Furniture is rearranged, quilts and throws are layered, for a warm, cozy feel and look. The scents of cinnamon, cloves, and apples waft through the house. It's time for baking bread and making soups. The quilting project, set aside for summer, is brought back out. Candles are lit in the evening. Home is experienced in a different way, comforting us, as the season changes. I see twirling leaves through the window and can't resist going out to walk and play in them. Letting the experience invigorate me, I go back inside, renewed, still smelling the crisp air, to continue nesting.