"THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS!"

The new photo on my header was taken very early this morning on my morning walk.  I was able to get a long walk in this morning, the walk that takes me along the east side outskirts of town.  Part of my walk is in town, and the other part where the picture above was taken is right along the CN rail line on the road coming into town.

As you can see it was early, the street lights were still on.  I think it was about 7:45, it was also quite cool, and there was the odd ice pellet being driven by a very gusty North wind.  Lucky for me I was walking South, so the wind was at my back.

The school buses were out, but not much else moved.  I could hear the geese.  They are deafening over in this part of town, because they overnight at the town retention pond which is just on the outskirts of town.  They were making noise, but they hadn't started to take to the air yet.

All in all it was a great morning to walk, if I had thought to take my big camera I would have walked all the way to the highway and around to the west side of town, but I was returning from work, so I only had my cell.

I took this picture as well...

Okay, so I decided to have a little fun with this one!  Maybe tomorrow I will continue walking further down this road until I come to the highway.

It might seem desolate to some of you, but truthfully there is nothing as restful as walking down a country road.  You can just let your mind go wherever it wants.  Nothing is claiming your attention but the placement of your feet one foot at a time.  There are no horns, no sirens, no people, no exhaust fog, only the occasional friendly wave from someone you might not even know as they pass you by.

That twenty minute walk was the best thing I could have done for myself today.  Hopefully tomorrow I can make it longer.

I leave you with these most appropriate words - for a day like today - for a walk like this morning's...

A SLUMP AND A GIFT!

I must admit that I have been in somewhat of a slump for awhile now.  I can't seem to focus on anything! 

I know we all have days where we feel this way - sort of useless and down, but my useless has lingered far too long.

It started when the weather turned rainy and cool in September.  I guess after four months of almost solid sunshine, the dark, damp, cloudy weather would affect one's psyche... but it's more than that.  Since the rain and cloudy weather, and sometimes snow has been lingering now for almost five weeks, I haven't been able to be outside to do any of my "normal" fall activities.

I miss the outdoors, the garden, the birds, even the work of keeping up our property.  I really miss the activity.  I especially love fall clean-up... Days where I would have spent my whole day outside, cleaning up the flower beds, planting spring bulbs, putting away my yard lights and ornaments, sorting out the garage and shed... that kind of thing.  I miss working outside with a hoodie on, having fresh air blowing on my skin...

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I have done none of that.

What I have done is start projects that I don't really want to be working on - knit slippers, blankets, socks...

I have started recording movies - lots of movies... and I have watched far too many of them as well.

I've been cooking, baking - and eating...  With no way of working off the calories.  Not Good!

I have been doing a short morning walk to and from work,  but long walks with or without my camera have been few.

Today I made some lists...

A Christmas Card list, and a gift list... and...  A Christmas Card gift list!

Do you want to be on the last one?

Here's how:

If you want to receive a card, with a handmade by me gift inside, all you have to do is this:

1. Be a registered follower of this site... you will see the button on my front page to the right... click follow.

2.  Leave me an email or a message with your name and address  at:

erndalesnmore1@gmail.com

Or if you read my blog from my Facebook Page, send me a message on Facebook.

It's that simple...

Don'y forget to FOLLOW...

And Thank You for helping me get through this rather frustrating slump that I am in... I do appreciate it!

A PERFECT CAMERA DAY!

The progression towards winter couldn't be more beautiful than it is this year... at least for us here in the Riding Mountains.  We continue to have rain, but last night there was a little bit of snow mixed with it, so this morning everything looks like it has been dusted with powdered sugar.

I used both cameras this morning, just because I could.  Both cameras being my iPhone and my SLR. 

Alberta residents have been hammered with heavy snow, and lots of it.   It's a mess out there, and while I do like snow, even I would agree that it is much too early for the white stuff.  However without a bit of it, I wouldn't have been able to snap these awesome pictures early this morning.

I have begun to drag out all my unfinished knitting projects of last winter, and I have even finished a few of them already.  I am getting a nice silk/wool blend of yarn from my friend Diana, to make some beautiful soft socks for a gift.  I am not a fan of knitting socks.  I find knitting with 4 needles a bother, but for a special person I will endure.

So those of you getting the big snow storms, hunker down, make some chili or soup, put the tea on, get out your favourite movie, or your knitting needles, and just cozy in and enjoy your snow day.

We have no control of the weather, but we do have control over how we deal with it.  I choose to embrace it, grab my camera and just let Mother Nature do her thing.

So here are today's images, taken about an hour ago.

Keep warm and safe everyone.

 

KISSED BY JACK!

Isn't this beautiful?  To me the flowers look like antique paper flowers, or something artificially made to look like they have been around forever, sitting in a vase in some Grand Old Lady's Boudoir.

How fanciful of me - they are of course, my very own summer Zinnias, beautiful as they were all summer, equally beautiful now after they have been kissed by Jack (Frost).

Jack has been busy in my gardens.   

He has planted his lips on all of my annuals,

And even some of my perennials. 

It is a bit early, even for here... but in a crazy sort of way, I am sort of happy.  

It was my intention to pull all these Zinnias's out as I did most of the other annuals, but I don't think I am going to.  I might be making more spring work for myself, but I think I am going to leave them right where they are, just as they are.  

My hopes are they will stay upright, and contrast with the white snow all around them this winter.  They will be a remembrance of summer when summer is far from our memory.   Come spring, hopefully they will shed their lovely seeds upon the ground below and seed themselves into a brand new season.

That is my wish on this first day of October.

A promise for another season of beauty  - be it winter, spring summer or fall.

It's all beautiful!

RECIPE THURSDAY BY SPECIAL REQUEST.

Thank you all for your generous comments about my photography here on my blog,  on Face book and email.  It is always so nice to know that one's efforts are appreciated and enjoyed by others.

So Thank You -  very much appreciated!

I'm sure there will be more photos on my morning walks as the fall season progresses.  It is one of the reasons I love this season so much.  Things change so quickly, and so completely.  One day green, the next colour, and maybe the next - it's all gone.  At least here in Manitoba that might be the case.  But we won't think quite that far ahead just yet, even though we did have snow here on the weekend...

We have had frost, and yes snow - so I hurried to bring the very last of my garden harvest in just in the nick of time.

7 cooking pumpkins ( 3 very small ones) and 3 butternut squash!

What a harvest!

This variety of pumpkin is a true cooking pumpkin, it has very little water content and very dense pulp.  Perfect for baking a pumpkin pie, muffins or cookies.

So I made muffins and cookies, and yes, that is my snowman cookie jar.  Family tradition states he appears on the first snow of the season, so he's here until spring!

 

One of my Face book friends has requested the cookie recipe, so Sherry - here you go... enjoy!

PUMPKIN COOKIES

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1- 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin ( canned or fresh cooked and mashed)

2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp.  salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves ( ground)

1/4 tsp. ginger

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts.

Cream butter and sugar together well.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time.  Add vanilla and pumpkin.

Stir remaining ingredients together and add.  

Mix well.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased pan.  

Bake in 375 F  oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 5.5 dozen

Notes:

This is a very soft cookie, and stored in a cookie jar makes them softer.  But they are so good, that they won't last very long anyway, so you might not have to worry about this issue.

also

I only got 4 dozen from my batch...

I am off tonight, on a new adventure - well new for here, but not new for me.  I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

Till then...

                   

TIME TO GET BACK AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOO!

Here we are -  soon coming to the end of September, and I am just getting myself back up to my desk to start back to doing some serious blogging and writing.

September has been a bit of a weird month, really.  I have been up and down, physically and mentally, so it has not been my most productive month ever.

But first and most importantly - I will start with the Happy Birthday Wish!

Our Dear sweet Thomas turns 12 yrs old today!  Happy Birthday Thomas!  I hope you have a wonderful birthday!  We Love You!

While I am on the subject of Thomas, I will also tell you that Thomas has been very ill.  His journey with childhood cancer has not taken the best turn.  He is currently in isolation at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, awaiting a match for a Bone Marrow Transplant.  This is not the outcome anyone ever imagined for Thomas and his family when this journey began over two years ago.  Any prayers you could spare, would be greatly appreciated.

So many of my loved ones are enduring so much right now.  Cancer has hit hard in Thomas, but also in my brother Wayne, my cousin Lorne, and my Dear friend Sharon.  Having had cancer myself, I know how hard it is to stay positive, and I also know how very important it is to stay in that mindset - but even I am struggling with it while I watch those I love fight this ugly monster.

While my mind has been struggling through this, I have neglected my own health, and now I am paying the price for that negligence.  So this week I started a plan to get myself healthier.  I have started taking long morning walks for some much needed exercise, and I am back to eating a diet rich in the things that are good for me, and not the things I love.  I need to loose weight, I need to get off some medications that are holding me hostage, and I need to feel better.

It's not going to be easy - I tend to fall off the exercise bike very easily... so to speak.  Thankfully I live in a beautiful corner of this country where my eyes can feast away, even if my tummy can't.  I have a partner for my morning walks, and tho I try and not stop too often, my partner sometimes really needs to take very short pit stops.

Here are just a few of my partner's pit stops for you to enjoy!

Blessings to you all...

THE TRANSITION OF SEASONS!

I don't usually write a blog post on the weekends, but today I am in somewhat of a reflective mood, and I just felt the need to sit down and write something.

Fall sort of does this to me every year.  I seem to have to go through this reflective mindset of reviewing the spring and summer that now has past.  I see change happening all around me, but it is more what I feel than what I see that makes me want to pause and let it all sink into my psyche.

Am I the only one that gets this "feeling of change"?  This feeling of slowing down; gathering in; putting away; storing up?

It's comforting, in it's own way - this feeling of change.  For me, it's like I now have permission to sit with a book, gather some yarn and needles in a basket close to my chair; bring out the throws and afghans and snuggle into them whenever I feel like it, set up the spinning wheel, and place it where it will be used frequently.

Is it any wonder that I love this time of the year?  I get to do some of my favourite things without really needing to do them at all.  It's my choice if I do, or I don't - nothing is spoiled, either way!

I have loved the spring and summer gardening season - but I am really looking forward to the settling in of fall and winter.  Shorter days, and longer sleeps.  Nice thick socks:  woolly PJ's;  long sleeves, and yes snugly afghans. 

Meals that warm your tummy; hot drinks; soups; stews; casseroles; turkey dinners, cranberries, turnip...

And writing...

I have been really wanting to write again.

And so I shall...

Starting with a Short Story for an open writing competition from CBC  Books.  Deadline is October 31st,  and already the story has wandered into my brain.  I can't wait to start typing and see where it takes.

But for now, on this cloudy cool Saturday in Western Manitoba - I think a pot of my very own grown Chamomile tea is in order, and then maybe I will wrap myself in my afghan and take a nap.