Fall has Arrived!
That first flash of fall, at least for me, is bittersweet. On one hand, I am sad that, for the most part, summer is over and that winter will soon be upon us. On the other hand, after the heat of summer and all that pollen that floated around this year, it's a bit of a relief. The flip-flops and shorts are no longer part of my wardrobe, now it's sweatshirts and layers, not to mention shoes...still no socks though!
This year's garden was one for the books! I raised enough green beans to provide for three families, ours, my sister's and my nephew's! Plus I gave away beans here and there to people who just wanted a meal or two for eating. I have frozen enough hot peppers to make a lifetime's supply of salsa! And the rest of the garden was just plentiful and beautiful...in spite of a bumper crop of weeds! And, of course, after all those great veggies are harvested, we have to preserve what we can't eat fresh. Canning season 2023 is now done, the canners are put away and the veggies line my basement shelves. We have been blessed, but it has taken a lot of time, and I am ready to move on to other things in life.
In the olden days, like when I was a kid or newly-wed, fall meant a fall housecleaning. And this was like 6 months following the spring housecleaning! I seem to remember that every piece of furniture was moved, every wall and ceiling was washed down, every curtain was washed, every carpet was cleaned and every window in the house was washed. Since I have missed every spring and fall housecleaning for the past 50+ years, I will probably settle for washing some windows. Housecleaning has never been my forte, we settle for comfortable and homey, not sterile or minimal. But it is nice to be able to see out and let the sunshine in. It will take a nicer day than today, however. This chilly wind isn't the best weather for washing windows.
Another fall project that will soon need to be done is rake the leaves out of our yard. Today the red maple is just beginning to turn red, but I seem to remember last year that it took just 2 short weeks to go from just turning red to a bare tree. So all those leaves plus the leaves that fall from the neighbor's trees will need to be raked up. I have threatened for years to just rake them toward the curb and pray for a wind to blow them away, but that just makes them someone else's problem. So I will probably load them in the pickup and run them out to the dump. In the old days, leaves were raked and burned, but that practice is now frowned upon, justifiably. Too many houses too close together plus that offensive smoke makes it taboo to burn leaves. 
This morning's temps hinted really hard at frost, and according to the forecast, tomorrow's temps will no long be hinting, it's going to be the real thing! Good-bye, garden!
My summer's flowers amounted to one pot of flowers given to me for Mother's Day. Miraculously, I managed to keep them alive all summer. At Labor Day a friend gave me a pot of mums, and they too are still alive! Maybe my thumb is finally turning green! I will try to remember to pull them in off the step tonight so that I can enjoy them for a few more weeks.
So, officially my summer is now done. Garden is finished, canning and freezing done, flowers winding down, flip-flops and shorts put away. Now what?
Well for one thing, these long, cool evenings make for some really good crocheting times! Actually, any excuse to crochet or knit works for me. And it's craft fair time plus time to sell for the holidays, so I have work to do.
I have already been in the kitchen this morning stirring up a pot of vegetable beef soup. When I think of soup, my mind goes to several kinds of soup we really like, chicken noodle, chili, cheeseburger soup, and vegetable soup, to name my favorites. Mike tends to think oyster stew or tomato soup, which makes me think potato soup. Warm comfort foods are now on the menu at our house!
In the olden days, like when I was a kid or newly-wed, fall meant a fall housecleaning. And this was like 6 months following the spring housecleaning! I seem to remember that every piece of furniture was moved, every wall and ceiling was washed down, every curtain was washed, every carpet was cleaned and every window in the house was washed. Since I have missed every spring and fall housecleaning for the past 50+ years, I will probably settle for washing some windows. Housecleaning has never been my forte, we settle for comfortable and homey, not sterile or minimal. But it is nice to be able to see out and let the sunshine in. It will take a nicer day than today, however. This chilly wind isn't the best weather for washing windows. 
Another fall project that will soon need to be done is rake the leaves out of our yard. Today the red maple is just beginning to turn red, but I seem to remember last year that it took just 2 short weeks to go from just turning red to a bare tree. So all those leaves plus the leaves that fall from the neighbor's trees will need to be raked up. I have threatened for years to just rake them toward the curb and pray for a wind to blow them away, but that just makes them someone else's problem. So I will probably load them in the pickup and run them out to the dump. In the old days, leaves were raked and burned, but that practice is now frowned upon, justifiably. Too many houses too close together plus that offensive smoke makes it taboo to burn leaves. 
I hope that fall is finding you all snuggled down and seeking comfortable coziness while sipping a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate. We had a great, if busy, summer, and I hope you did too. So enjoy that fall, that will hopefully last for the 3 months that fall should last, before we give in to the snowy cold of winter. Happy Fall!
Hi Sandi, nice fall blog post. I did one today, too! https://www.sandygbenson.com/1498807_my-favorite-time-of-the-year :-)
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