A New England State of Mind

This painting by Will Moses reminds me of the area where I live in Wisconsin. I love all of his work, and while I know he is painting New England I always feel at home in his scenery.

There's a quote by Mark Van Doren in my Autumn Susan Branch book that reads:
"New England has a way of doing this to people; they can be homesick for it even if they have never seen it."

Boy, does that ever sum me up. For as long as I can remember, I've had an obsession with the area, and I have no idea what started it. I've never been fortunate enough to visit in person, but I love to read books of the area and they have taken me there.

Until I get to visit in person, I'll just have to keep "pretending" I'm there. This isn't too hard to do in my little town - we have an adorable harbor and marina, two lighthouses, a quaint downtown with cafes and friendly little shops, very old cemeteries and churches, and beautiful woodland areas. But for me, there's something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe someday, either through my reading or an actual visit, I'll figure it out.

Board Game Suggestions, Please!

Last night it was cold, windy, and rainy here - definitely an evening for putting in a fire and eating vast quantities of Annie's Kettle Corn. I guess I finally surrendered to the fact that more time is going to be spent indoors than out for the next 6 months. Besides stocking my pantry full like a squirrel, I want to have some things ready entertainment-wise, and I'm thinking I'd like to get a new board game or two. We already have all the basics - Scrabble, Boggle, etc. but I'd like to find some new ones to play when we have friends over. Over the years we've really enjoyed Pictionary and Taboo, but there have to be some new fun ones out that we're missing. Do any of you have a suggestion?

Reading, Watching, Listening

Here are some things I've been enjoying lately:

Reading:


All books by Patrick McManus
Have you ever read a book by an author and find yourself only in the mood to read another and another by the same person? That's what happened to me recently when I accidently found a group of Patrick McManus books at the library. He's been compared to Garrison Keillor and Mark Twain with a little Dave Barry thrown in - a lovely combination if you ask me. He mainly writes about his activities in the great outdoors, and as an "outdoorsy" type I can relate to many of his follies. His books also consist of anecdotes that run just 6 pages or so a piece, making it possible to grab a book any old time and enjoy a quick laugh.

Watching: Monster's Inc.

It's unusual for me to find an animated movie that I like, let alone LOVE, but I found it in Monster's Inc. My kids saw it several years ago but it was just the other day that I watched it for myself. I found it to be hilarious, mainly because of the many, many humorous details directed at adults.

Listening: Indigo Girls, Rites of Passage
There's just something about this cd that says "October" to me, and I'm not quite sure why. I love the first 8 songs, especially "Galileo" featuring Jackson Browne and David Crosby. Beautiful lyrics all around, with a song for Virginia Woolf to boot!

Embers, woodsmoke, well house, reading!

Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Home

Teatime comes early at Stillmeadow now. I hang the kettle over the embers, bring out the toasting fork, and open the sweet-clover honey.
When the air is blue with haze and smells of woodsmoke and the sun is gentle and dreamy, I sit on the terrace by the old well house and read, turning the pages slowly and most of the time just sitting.

-Stillmeadow Calendar

Testing! Testing!

Testing, Testing! My first blog photo!
I've been putting it off & off, but today I sat down in front of the computer and told my hiney it wasn't moving until I got a photo on. It ended up to be quite easy, but I can tell that the hard part is going to be getting my hands on our camera (it's usually riding around in my husband's car).
This is a photo of an abandoned house on a property down our road. The kid's think it's haunted, of course. I think it's beautiful!

Tea Time/Nature does not hurry...

Friday's Quote

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." -Lao Tzu

These are the words I found this afternoon as I opened up my new box of tea. Isn't it a perfect quote for a tea box?

If any of you are tea drinkers, I'd love to know your favorites - I'm always looking for new ones to try. :)

Put a trinket on!

I just love this poem by good old Emily, especially the trinket part - I'm sure many of you have heard before, but here it is again!

Autumn

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

Emily Dickinson

Flannel Sheets

Is there anything more cozy than climbing in to flannel sheets for the first time of the season? That's what I'm in for tonight, and I can't wait! For as long as I can get away with it, I continue to wear my summer pajamas just so I can feel the flannel on my arms.

Just another rite of Autumn!