courting autumn

Do you adore Fall as much I do? Of course, if you live in the Northeastern US, it hasn’t yet felt much like Fall, but I’m still hopeful! The pumpkins have been gathered, the summer porch has been “Autumnized” (yes, I’m making up words) and we’ve gone out collecting cattails and lovely tall grasses and I am in my happy place! This is the color pallet that makes my heart sing and even though we won’t be blessed with our normal New England color this year, I’ll certainly be making up for it with natural, seasonal embellishments.

The summer harvest is bleeding into fall and I’m still roasting TONS of cherry tomatoes and freezing them in small batches for pizza sauce. (Grab the recipe here!!!) The dining room is still serving as the herb drying room, although, overall, my herbs were not very happy with the hot, wet weather this year and the harvest is down quite a bit from last year.

Although our first-ever bout with Covid slowed us down quite a bit for the month of September, I did manage to indulge in a little creativity (alongside the herbs, cooking, baking and decorating) and made myself a daily journal for list keeping. (Note the fall colors!!!) This journal reminds me of the Indian Summer Amulet bag, currently in my on-line shop, which was inspired by a sweet little Lakota legend that explains why leaves change color in the fall.

I’m looking forward to the garden slowing down and gaining more studio time as we move deeper into Fall. I also hope to take advantage of cooler weather and indulge in long woodland walks before the end-of-year holidays take over with the same demanding pace of this past growing season. For now, I’ll leave you with a heartfelt wish that you too find a slower pace to rekindle your connection with Mother Nature as she blesses us with her change of wardrobe and an invitation to move softly and gently into the last quarter of this year.