Autumn Inspired

I've been away from my blog for a bit...Hard drive issues, lots and lots of projects to "try" to get handle on, and life in general.  This summer has been "different".  Extreme heat for an extended period of time, an earthquake, hurricanes, and floods...Enough already!  Time to push the reset button.

Autumn, this is my favorite season.

I enjoy the Country Garden Cookbook series.  The images are wonderful and will warm your heart.  The recipes that I've tried have turned out very well.  This one is currently on my counter.  I picked up some Honey Crisp apples from Whole Foods yesterday and made a wonderful salad of apples, pears, cranberries, arugula, lettuces, walnuts, and some maytag blue cheese.  Yum!

When the season changes, my projects change.  I spend a lot of time in here.

This is a corner of my family room.  That's a cinnamon broom; smells great.  My featherweight lives here year round.  When I get ready to use it, I move it to my sewing room.  The sampler is a recent finish (one of those aforementioned projects that I had to get a handle on).  Since taking this photo, I've raised the sampler up a bit.  I wasn't so sure I was happy with it here but after looking at it in the photo, I like it there.  The bottom of the frame is now even with the bottom of the quilt...To lazy to take another picture.

Cooler days inspire me to make yarn...What is that hanging on my spinning wheel?  It's a blend of 50/50 Icelandic wool and Alpaca.  It makes a wonderfully warm yarn.  I have a pound of it.  I plan to knit a hat, a cowl, and use the rest to weave a shawl.  As of this post, I've spun-up 600 yards of it.  I make sure I don't leave wool hanging on the distaff...Don't want to scare a late night visitor to the kitchen (lol).

Cooler days means it's time to decorate for Autumn...Bring on the sunflowers.

Today I will be spending a lot of time in my kitchen rearranging my pantry and countertops in preparation for a "new to me" kitchen activity...Dehydrating food.  I cook a lot of soup and stews in the colder months so I'm hoping that by dehydrating the fresh vegetables and putting them up, I can have healthy meals quicker and not have to spend so much time going to the market.  I'll keep you posted on how it's going ( maybe I should start using my twitter account).

Have a great day and remember, your blessings are many--count them everyday.


Linking to these wonderful blogs:  Inspiration Friday ,Home Sweet Home Friday, Farm House Friday and Feathered Nest Friday