Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting;
and His truth endures to all generations.  Psalm 100:4-5

I almost feeling like I should apologize for “more fall pictures” but I won’t.  I know some of my lovely friends&sisters like to enjoy this time of year through the camera lens because they are in other places (for instance, deserts or the deep South), and do not get to experience first hand the autumn colors.  So, I keep blogging these (this is quite possibly the last) fall pictures because I can’t help myself; it is my favorite time of year, and because I do want to share my little bit of God’s beautiful world, with you. 

In these harvest days, the leaves on the trees turn different colors, fall to the ground, and after a while they get gloriously crunchy.  Seth and I walked on the edge of the road today so we could hear the crispiness.  The smell that comes up from these dry leaves is sweet and earthy, a distinct smell all it’s own.

I do enjoy the color combinations that God Himself designed into nature.

Brown and deep Yellow

I looked for a long time at the tree (in the left-hand background) and the pink of these leaves. 

Beige, Gray, and Dusky Pink

Pink and Green

This next sight was fun.  It stopped me in my tracks again (the children are SO patient!)……

A single red leaf surrounded by pinks and greens.  All arranged and designed, seemingly just for me!   

One of our neighbor’s artful front stoop:  six potted mums, a birdbath, and a bright blue milk jug

(sitting here, wondering if I should anonymously print this out and pop it into their mailbox? with a note saying their decorations were appreciated?)  would that be weird?

street curb

street curb plus a cute boy

On our way home we found our cat.  He is a prowler…….we find him all over.  The other day he was in the neighbor’s cabbage patch watching birds on the other end of the road. His territory is the whole neighborhood, apparently.

His name is Spot.  My grandpa gave him to me when he was still alive and living in the old farmhouse.

Seth got all tired out on the walk, though you wouldn’t think it possible.  He said, “MOM.  When we get home I AM GOING TO NEED A BREAK.” 

(I might add, “to tire him out” is one of the purposes of these almost-daily walks). 

Sarah Joy was along, but she was in her stroller until we got home.   I unbuckled her and then she got to play in the leaves, too.

“Then lift up the head with a song!

And lift up the hand with a gift!

To the ancient Giver of all

The spirit in gratitude lift!”

Amelia A Barr

Grace, you’re such a doll.  I love you…and hope you’re having a good day at school today.

Dear Friends,

Hello!  How are you today?  I hope you are well and enjoying your day so far.  I just put Seth and Sarah to bed for nap time and finished up some homemade applesauce.  I have an “apple cider” candle burning on the table, right next to a bouquet of autumn leaves that we picked this morning.  It smells sweetly of apple in the house.

It’s an apple-day here today because yesterday after church we went and got some nice ones from the apple farm that we visit every year.

The lady had two huge apples up by the register.  She said the orchard guys brought them in to show her.  They were bigger than I’d ever seen. 

We bought several varieties of apples, a warm apple pie, a dozen freshly-made donuts, frosted pumpkin cookies, honey, and fudge.

Seth and Sarah sat with me outside this morning as I began peeling…..and peeling…..and peeling.  I honestly should get one of those apple/peeler/corer/slicers that they say work so well.  I peeled some of the skin off my thumb knuckle.  Seth tried to help but he’s still too little.  They both took little nibbles out of a lot of the chunks before I threw them in the pot.  It’s sunny and windy, a very pretty fall day, good for hanging clothes on the line (which I am also busy doing; tackling the laundry mountain).

I finished up the peeling inside, at the table.  I left Seth and Sarah eating their lunch here (in chairs sitting nicely) as I took the scraps down to the chickens.  When  I came back I found them……….

….under the table having a great time.  One of the joys of each day is watching these two develop into best friends.  They do everything together.

I put a little sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg into my homemade applesauce.

The butter is out because in a little while I am going to bake a big pan of my Aunt Mary Ellen’s apple crisp.  Oh, my fat!

Bubbling applesauce.  It tastes that much better, homemade, with a thick, almost creamy consistency.  You close your eyes and say a dreamy, ‘mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm’

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My soul is delighting in the Lord.  It is a joy to come through spiritually “dry” times and back into a satisfying goodness of His Word.  The preaching yesterday filled me up, as does the Bible study I am participating in, and the book I am reading.  (Life in Jesus, a Memoir of Mrs. Mary Winslow).  Almost every evening lately, after dinner and the children are clearing away the dishes, I sit at the piano and play the old favorite hymns.  Then, in other times, the music and words come back to our minds and I hear the children whistling or humming the familiar songs.

quotes:

“Every new trial, and every fresh cross, drive me into the very bosom of Jesus; and it seems as if I could lie there, and feel the very throbbings of His loving heart.”

“Whatever draws or drives us to Christ is a mighty blessing.”

“Dear child, all God has said to us in His word is true;  heaven is true, and we are very near it.  It is all around us.  Jesus is there before us–there to welcome us.  Oh, to realize it!”

“My sweetest meditation, lying down and rising up, or walking in the night, is HEAVEN.”

“What would we do, in this poor dying world, without a throne of grace, and a God of grace upon the throne, in our every time of need?  Oh let us keep close to Him who loved us with an everlasting love, and with loving-kindness has drawn us to Himself.”

~Mary Winslow (b. 1774, d. 1855)

love.

i found it.

It was a great morning all together.  After breakfast, we went for a long walk.

It rained a lot yesterday but the sun was out today and we very much enjoyed the beauty all around us.  (there’s nothing like clean woods, I drank the air.)

Up at the top of the mountain we looked over the railings of the look out tower; miles and miles of views.

The days can be so busy with school and scedules, it’s a sweet blessing to have Rich and the children around me on the weekends.  Feels right, and all is well.

We went to Moe’s for a taco lunch after our walk.  I heard someone from another table say, “That’s a large family!”  She was smiling and I did, too.

Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.  Leo Tolstoy

Give a nature lover a camera in New England and that person will take endless photos. 

I have a lot of pictures to share with you today; hoping that the very small glory of them will grow into a deeper delight into the very magestic glory of our awesome God-creator of all.

My friend Mary takes myriads of photos of the California sea, each one breathtaking. 

From the other side of the USA, I will show you pictures of the leaves. 

 “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”  l.m. montgomery, in anne of green gables

On Friday, I met my friend Kathy at Old Sturbridge Village (a history reenactment place).  The drive there was pleasantly distracting.  After days of rain, on this morning the sun was out beautifully.  By the time we arrived, I was seriously craving a hot apple cider.

With hot drinks in hand, we strolled through the village chasing our toddlers over carpets of crunchy leaves.

“The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like
they’re falling in love with the ground.”   A. Gibson

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When we got back home, I put Seth and Sarah to bed for naps and went outside.

I sat by the pond and enjoyed a pumpkin muffin and pumpkin spice coffee with my new friend crawling around in the leaves under the picnic table.

Celebrating the season with books;

Even my chickens have beautiful red leaves to look at.

At this moment, they were more interested in the prospect of a treat.  Alas, I don’t share coffee or muffins.

(A glimpse of our house)

Ordinary riches can be stolen,

real riches cannot.

In your soul are infinitely precious things

that cannot be taken from you.

Oscar Wilde

My children have another day off from school today.  If it’s anything like yesterday we will be eating apples, tossing the football around, baking cookies, digging in dirt, hanging off the monkey bars, collecting leaves, drinking hot chocolate, and playing games.  All with just enough sibling rivalry to keep things interesting.

Happy day, friends!

In the past, Sarah went flying off the end of the slide one too many times, landing in a heap.  She got tired of it and decided not to go down slides again, it was way too scary.  It’s been months and months of playground play without sliding….until this weekend.

I’m so proud of her.  She finally got brave enough to go.  Once she did it, she wouldn’t stop; up and down, over and over, saying “weeeeeeeeeee”.  It made me smile every time.  Watching her was also a nice little reminder to not let fear stop me from living a full and happy life.

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Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.  ~A. Koestler

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.  ~Author Unknown