and so it goes...

My beautiful willows are now bare... all the leaves fallen from them. I miss them already. But with the falling of the leaves and the cooling of the air will come a great and wondrous season of snowflakes and sledding... magical walks through a wood covered in snow... and cozy nights spent sitting by the fire. I know this... but I am still a little sad to see the leaves go away.
I spent a good majority of the day today and yesterday out in the garden... raking, digging, bagging and preparing for the coming Winter. It felt good to be outside. It seems to have been weeks since I've had a nice long time outside. But today... it was perfect. I feel renewed.
My raised beds are now empty... no more vegetables and fruit to be had. They served us well over the course of the Summer and early Fall. And my perennials are all cared for and ready to wait out the Winter. I am looking forward to seeing them rise in the Spring.
Bags of leaves and branches are ready to go to the recycling centre. They will be made into compost for the city's use. We have way too much for our own compost.

And so it goes... another year is slipping away. In some ways I am sad, but in most ways I am looking forward to the coming Winter months... Christmas, the New Year and all that it will bring. And to that time once again in late March, when I see the first sign of a bud coming forth. The cycle of life...

I feel like Autumn today

"I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content."
~Lin Yutang~

I feel like Autumn today...

Goodbye October

Halloween has come and gone, and with it so has the beautiful month of October. As hectic as October is for us, it is a favourite month in this house. It is the month both my husband and my son were born, the month that we celebrate one of our traditional Thanksgivings, the month of Halloween, and the month of enjoying the beauty which is Fall is Alberta. A wonderful month indeed.

Here are a few pictures from last night to share with you...Enough candy and goodies to last a year. Some will be going back to J's school, for there is a local dentist that will donate a certain amount of money to the school for each pound of candy that is brought in. And we will be keeping some of our favourites... tootsie rolls, peanut butter cups and various others.

I will have to apologize for not blogging much lately. I have started a new job that has been taking up some of my time. It is part-time, only during school hours. But I have been doing quite a lot of research at home as well. I am settling well into the position now, so hopefully it will allow me more time to craft and blog. It feels good to be settling in... the newness was very exciting, but the settling feels good. And I miss my crafty time.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

October 24, fall leaves and under the weather

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."
~Emily Bronte~

The leaves from our willow trees have finally fallen. The deck was clear last night, but we had a quick but heavy/wet snow fall this morning, and down came the leaves with the snow. I'm going to wait a few days before raking them up... this is a lovely part of Fall. But once these leaves have been raked and bagged, our Fall will be almost over and Winter will soon arrive. Autumn is over too soon up here.

We've been feeling a little icky around here. Seems our house has been struck by a sickness... not too bad but still leaving us all feeling under the weather. Coughs, sneezes and general ickiness. I find when I am feeling unwell that tea always helps. I think my favourite tea when I am sick may be Lemon Ginger tea. Or even a black tea with a strong hit of lemon and honey.

Here's a little something special that might make you feel better if you're feeling a little icky.

Blueberry Tea

1 ounce Amaretto
1 ounce Grand Marnier
Orange Pekoe Tea
This tea smells wonderful. Make sure you're not taking any other medication that might react with the alcohol.

Hope you are all feeling well out there. Take care.

Happy Birthday Little Man

Today my little boy turned 6 years old. I'm not quite sure where the past six years have gone. It feels like only yesterday that I held that sweet baby boy in my arms, and kissed his sweet brow. Well... it was just yesterday... but you know what I mean. There he is... my 9lb 11oz new born baby. We had a difficult time getting him into this world... I won't go into detail. But it all turned out perfect in the end and we had a beautiful little baby boy.
And today... he is 6 years old. We had his big birthday party with his friends on the weekend and had a little family get together before that, so today we celebrated... just us. Above is the little banner I made him.
And cupcakes... must have cupcakes. Must have chocolate cupcakes.
Make a wish my little man... I am sure it will come true. One time I made a wish... and you came true for me.
Here is a picture my nephew took at J's party this weekend... some of the boys waiting to go on the go-karts. The party was fun... go-karts, mini golf, climbing wall, laser tag... and it lasted for 6 hours. We didn't plan for it to be 6 hours... that is just how it went. Too much fun to stop. :)

October 20, Halloween Movies

Sorry that I missed a couple of days of posting, but we've been busy with birthday parties and such. Not much time for crafting.

So here are my top 5 picks for movies to watch over Halloween.

Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

If there is one thing that takes me back to my childhood, it is the Charlie Brown holiday specials. I love them all, and this movie gets watched at least 10 times during the Halloween season.

Practical Magic

"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!" ~ Aunt Frances

"Of course you're going to see me again. We'll grow old together. It's going to be you and me living in a big house... these two old biddies with all these cats. I bet we even die on the same day." ~ Gillian

"I dream of a love that even time will lie down and be still for." ~ Sally

Lost Boys

This was one of the first Vampire Movies I ever saw, and I still think it is the best. Funny and scary... but not overly scary. A good pick to watch. And it has a young Kiefer Sutherland in it... he was a cutie, even as a vampire.

The Others

Some people didn't care for this movie, but I loved it. Spooky house... spooky people... it was great! And loved Nicole Kidman in this one.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Need I say more...

Do you have a favourite Halloween movie??

Enjoy your movie watching over this Halloween season. :)

October 17, jack-o-lantern juice

Some goodies for your Halloween party. Roasted pumpkin seeds and jack-o-lantern juice.

Decorate your favourite glass with cut out jack-o-lantern faces. I applied with removable scrapbooking tape. Then add your favourite orange drink. We love a mix of orange juice and Sprite for a quick and easy Halloween punch. Above we used an orange carbonated drink.

Short post today as we have a tonne of stuff to do for a birthday party. More on that later.

Enjoy!

October 16, man cave decorating

My hubby isn't nearly as into the spirit of Halloween as J and I are. Holidays in general just make him shake his head (crazy... I know). But deep down I think he enjoys the decorating I do... even though he doesn't want any in his 'man cave'. This is his room, where he has his big screen TV, stereo and huge speakers, hockey memorabilia and other such men type things. It smells a little... it is slightly messy... but it is his and he likes it that way. I do not look at the room often for it would drive me crazy. I watch the occasional movie down there and sometimes I'll play a game or two of Wii. So he does share the man cave from time to time with a girl. lol After some thought, I finally found a way to add a little of the Halloween spirit to the room.
Why yes... that is a life size cardboard cutout of Formula 1 driver Juan Montoya. Doesn't everyone have one of these in their man cave???

Happy weekend!

October 15, potions and stuff

Three Witches from Macbeth
by William Shakespeare

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights hast thirty one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting.
Lizzard's leg, and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

I love Shakespeare! Do you all remember in the movie Practical Magic, when the Aunts make midnight margaritas. They pull a few lines from the above quote and make up their own special little 'potion'.

Eye of newt, toe of frog, wing of bat, tongue of dog.
Adder’s fork and blind worm’s sting…
Barbados lime is just the thing.
Fragias salt, like a sailors stubble…
Flip the switch, and let the cauldron bubble!

Love that scene!

We made a few potions and things to go into potions today, to decorate the kitchen. I had a few unused bottles, so we searched the house for things to throw in. For a love potion and some bat blood, a little water and food coloring did the trick. Cauliflower in a little vinegar became rat brains. And a rubber snake in some cooking oil passed perfectly for snake oil. We're still roaming the house looking for other things to use in some of these potion bottles. And the labels were printed out on cardstock and inked to give them an older look.

As soon as this snow melts away, I'll be decorating more outside. A chinook is rolling in today, so it should all be melted by sometime tomorrow.