autumn

I am ready to accept that autumn is here. My sister bought me a cute bird bath on Vancouver Island and I was all prepared to put it outside when I spied all the leaves dotting the lawn and decided that perhaps its best to wait until next summer. I collected some drying lavender and bee balm to capture the smell of summer and bring it indoors for a few more days.

The weather turned this afternoon - the sun disappeared and the wind picked up creating spinning funnels of twigs, leaves and bits of grass. I celebrated the changing season by cooking a meal my sister suggested as I was leaving her house today: roasted chicken breast topped with caramelized red onions, fennel and diced apples coupled with some roasted red baby potatoes. It's a perfect meal for an autumn day, especially when accompanied by a great, light tasting red wine.

Have a great weekend everyone.

alternate paradigms

There is a quote I read somewhere that says that a thousand miles begin with a single step. I am trying to own that statement in preparation for my marathon in a few weeks. It has been a rather difficult journey training for this race as I have been dealing with nasty bouts of shin splints along the way - seems I am prone to them. Someone asked me 'why bother training for a marathon .... you can just drive 42 km and get there a lot faster!!' I had to laugh at that one, but sometimes doing something difficult just opens you up to an alternate paradigm. Those of us who are knitters clearly understand that we can go buy a great sweater; but that does not give us the same satisfaction as knitting our own.

unmade bed

I was walking around aimlessly this morning examining my house, and pondered some random things. Like....I don't make my bed unless someone comes over. I am a tidy person and our housekeeper Betty makes certain the house is clean at least once a week, but there is something about NOT making the bed that just feels good in a rebellious kind of way. When Betty comes over to clean, she always makes the bed and it drives me crazy. I also noticed that there were a lot of sunbeams around the house today and sunbeams make everything look so great... sunbeams also expose all the cat hair that the resident feline blesses us with every second!

The other thing I realized is that I have cereal for breakfast almost every weekend and it HAS to be in my favorite bowl. Cereal does not taste the same when it is not eaten from my favorite bowl. And this morning, the cat was getting high again. I kid you not. She goes and licks my Runners World magazine... something about the finish on the paper makes her high...she rolls around and growls and then runs back and forth like a crazy whirlwind!

Have a great weekend.

morning dance

I just can't believe it is September already. Somehow it snuck up on me and tapped me on the shoulder and said 'I have arrived'. I am pretending it is still summer and pretending that life is not starting to pick up significant speed. I think I will put real life on hold until after this long labour day weekend. The weather is still mild here and the pathways along the river are beckoning me to go running. I have been negligent in knitting duties and have one sock finished with the second barely started... there will be plenty of time soon enough to play with yarn as the leaves start turning yellow and the air gets that definite chill that signals that autumn is here. But for now, coffee in my garden is still the primary activity around here. The resident feline is in full agreement as she makes following the warmth of the sunbeam her task for the day.