Beautiful Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I missed the change of seasons when we lived in Florida. I am so thankful to live here in Tennessee. The weather has been wonderful. Cool, crisp nights and mornings with comfortable afternoons. We have enjoyed having the windows open for a month now.

I love to see the leaves raining down. There is a mountain ridge that runs at the back of our farm. The trees on that ridge have been wearing the most beautiful colors. Reds, Golds, Yellows and Oranges and a few splotches of green here and there. God is showing His majesty everywhere we look.

On a few of the colder nights, our neighbor's wood smoke has drifted tantalizingly across our farm. I love the smell of woodsmoke....fall isn't complete without it! We have already had a couple of bonfires for toasting smores and enjoying the glorious heavenly display of stars. Shooting stars seem to be thick this year.

The boys are talking about pitching a tent and spending some nights outside....I sense adventures in the making. They have spent the last few afternoons in a little rowboat on our farm pond. Evidently some beavers have arrived here and are making a home at our pond.
This is NOT a good idea. It is out of character for beavers also since the only tree near the pond is a beautiful weeping willow. Beavers can do a lot of damage. Our pond is home to a variety of creatures at different times of the year. We often get Canadian geese, Mallard ducks, Blue Heron, and deer stopping by for a drink and a rest. This is our first year for Beaver.

The horses and goats are getting their winter coats. They always get darker and fluffier in the winter. Isn't God's design awesome? The darker coat in winter helps them to absorb the warmth of the sun and the lighter coat in the summer helps to reflect the heat.

We put the buck in with the does for breeding. We have laughed ourselves silly at the mating ritual of bucks....not the act itself but what leads up to it! We have talked of building bleachers and selling tickets....just to watch the faces that a buck makes...well....it is too hard to describe...ya'll will just have to see it for yourselves someday. Guaranteed belly laugh!

I have been busy gathering herbs for seasonings and medicine this winter. Roots from Echinacea, Comfrey, Elecampane, Astragalus, Dandelion and more. Leaves from Comfrey, Mullein, Motherwort, Mugwort, Rosemary, Stevia, Tarragon, Lavender, Thyme....they will be gone before long.

I have more time for cooking now - something I truly enjoy. Fall and winter is my time to try new recipes that I have been gathering...last night I baked a Caramel Pecan Pie - it was a big hit! Last week Julie encouraged me to try Taco Soup - it was absolutely delicious and will become a frequent meal at our house. Seems like I am too busy from March through October to do much experimenting in the kitchen.

God has been leading us to pare down our possessions. Each time we do this we sense a greater freedom. It also seems that it reduces our desire for acquiring more. It gives us more time to spend with each other instead of taking care of things. We will be having a garage sale this weekend and using the proceeds to purchase a commercial style ice cream maker. We make our own ice cream and the results are amazing...we just can't stand the stuff from the store anymore...not even the gourmet brands. We burned the motor out of our last store bought ice cream maker so this time we are going for the heavier duty model. I hope we have homemade ice cream for the holidays!

Tonight is family game night for us. We love playing games as a family. We enjoy Scrabble, Clue, Uno, Lost Mountain of God, Dutch Blitz, Dogopoly, Set, SkipBo and others. We also love jigsaw puzzles. We have been working on a HUGE Noah's Ark puzzle for almost a year now....I hope we finish it before Christmas!

Guess I had better get busy putting stickers on things for tomorrow!

Ya'll have a blessed weekend!