Image Crafting

Leaves every shade of the rainbow.  I'm not sure if there's ever been a fall so brilliant and magical as this one.  I keep thinking, this must be the color peak.  Only to discover that I'm wrong.  Some of the maples are starting to lose their leaves, but then the elm, chestnut and sycamore are doing their thing.  Quite nice.  Makes for some lovely morning walks. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking on the subject of Image Crafting.  It's a term that's been used in reference to Facebook and the impression you can give simply based on your profile statuses.  I know that it's something that can easily happen with Twitter and Blogging as well.  There's a strong desire to put the best foot forward, be optimistic, to give the impression that you've got it all together.  There's also a conflicting desire to keep it real, to let it all hang out.  It's pretty fascinating--the dueling inclinations.  I'll be honest, I like posting happy things, pretty things, good things, funny things, because it helps keep my mind in a better place.  I've struggled with depression for so long that I try and utilize everything I have to keep the movement going forward.  But, I also don't want to give the impression that my life is pure bliss.  I almost laugh at the thought, just recalling this past week.  The kids were fractious, particularly near the end of the week, and I was weary.  I think I even remember locking myself in the bathroom so I could order a cheese pizza for lunch--they were clamoring for my attention to such a pitch (read: screeching and crying).  Oi.  We struggle.  We despair.  We make horrible decisions.  We are momentarily brilliant.  We laugh at each other.  We learn to be kind.  And soak up those special moments of beauty. 

I'm a big advocate of marking Great Days(s) on the calender.  So you don't forget when you're in the trenches and ready to do something drastic--like duck tape your children to the wall.  You can look at the calender and think, oh, that's right, not every day is like this.  I think my blog is another way for me to mark those beautiful days.  When brother and sister are kind to each other, sharing their toys, smiling and happy.  Sometimes it's fleeting, and they fall and bonk their knee, or push each other over.  But, that picture, snapped that second, is a keeper!

Chilly Morning Walks

 

I love those morning walks when the kiddies need their blankets with them--for the extra warmth!  I usually walk out the door with mittens and a scarf.  They prefer "ka-chow" and "bankie".  Whatever makes them feel cozy enough to keep the layers on!  Anyone with a toddler will understand the frustration of keeping the warm stuff on their little hands and feet.  

Autumn is my favorite season.  Hands down.  The leaves, the pumpkins, the butternut squash soup.  The ease into chillier temperatures.  Temperatures that demand blankies, mittens, and multiple cups of tea.  I cut out leaves from a sheet of water color paper I had my way with and assembled our fall door decoration.  Also, those mini pumpkin muffins?  William will grab one in each hand and call it breakfast.  M will grab one and leave a trail of soggy crumbs throughout the apartment--which no one will know about until we step on them. 

Pumpkins

Pumpkins!  Heaps and bunches of them.  Bright orange pumpkins the size of Madeleine.  And muted green pumpkins next to warty peach colored pumpkins.  Crazy!  These pictures were taken the other week.  As there were a mountain of them to go through, they took a while for me to post.  The babies and I started the day out with a box of doughnut holes, then met up with our good friends and their little boy.  We hiked and explored all over Maple Acres.  Met turkeys and friendly tractor drivers.  William helped me pick apples for our fruit bowl at home while Madeleine secretly stuffed flowers into her pockets.  I think we were fairly mud-encrusted by the end of it all.  I had to literally round the babies up to get them back to the car--they had no desire to leave. 

Good Morning

Madeleine woke up early this morning.  I pulled her into bed with me to see if she would go back to sleep.  Or at least rest.  I gave her Andrew's old cell phone we use as an alarm clock and that entertained her for 10 minutes--open, close, giggle, open, close again.  She would sit up, eager to start the day, I would settle her back next to me and whisper "go back to sleep."  Regardless of her energy and her lack of awareness of how tired her Mama was (is), I adored the feeling of her close to me, her curls tickling my nose.  Good morning, Monday!

To Do List

I'm slowly learning how to manage my To Do list these days.  The first step is to write it on a small piece of paper.  That way I fill it up with five or six tasks and feel a surge of delicious accomplishment with every one I cross off.  Plus, over-extending myself helps no one, let's be real.  The second step involves writing in a freebee--a long walk, make dinner, do laundry.  All three need to happen on a semi-daily basis.  So, those are three I can cross off no matter how chaotic the day gets--and, yes, pulling a pizza out of the freezer and baking it counts as "making dinner".  The third step is future-oriented.  I write one or two things on my list that I know I won't get to, but, I feel strangely on top of, if I write them down.  My thoughts ramble in the following way: Oh, that's right, I need to re-open my shop at some point--what needs to happen before then, or Christmas cards before the new year would be a good thing, right? 

So, on my list the other day was "bake pumpkin bread."  I've been trying to tweak the recipe for a few weeks.  It's part Maine Pumpkin Bread (off the internet) and my mother's recipe.  It's moist, dense, and very spicy--just how I like it!

Pumpkin Bread

3 3/4 C flour
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 T cinnamon
1 T nutmeg
1 t ginger
1 t cloves
1/4 t pepper
3 C sugar
1 1/2 C canola oil
4 eggs
29oz can pumpkin puree

Stir dry ingredients together and set aside.  Mix oil, sugar and eggs together.  Add pumpkin.  Slowly add dry ingredients and mix till smooth.  Pour batter into greased muffin tins or loaf pans.  Bake at 350 till firm.  The bread is best the day after baking.

Foliage

Although we have the air conditioning on today-way too humid and sticky for me--fall seems to have arrived in Chestnut Hill.  At least in the form of changing foliage!  Maple trees are always the first to start the transformation.  The rest seem to follow suit shortly after.

With my shop closed for the fall I'm finding my creative energies being channeled in other directions--making Happy Birthday garlands, hanging pictures, writing letters for my Correspondence Project.  Feels good.  Like a deep breath that fills your whole body.

Sending love,
Jewels