Come In

Our little orange boys are growing so fast we can barely keep up with them. 

They keep us constantly entertained and amused, and bring so much love and sweetness to our household.  

It is chipmunk season out on our patio and James and Jesse are ready for them. Fortunately, for the chipmunks, these are indoor boys. 

On what may be one of the last good days for painting, I am sanding, gluing, waxing and yes, painting. Time to relish these last autumn days while it is warm enough to work outside. 

The leaves are at peak now and that means with with the next storm they'll likely fall. Time for soup. Time to air out the wool blankets and find the flannel sheets.

 Time to think about coming inside.

Cozy. October. Home.

Some days it feels like all we do is move stuff from one room to the other, from the car to the garage, the garage to the storage unit and then back home again. Oh, how I long for the day when our barn is built. Schlepping R US. 

In the meantime, I think we've finally completed the final purge of the downstairs office so it can soon become home for my new photo station. I'm looking forward to having everything in one place and all organized and labeled. I am a true Virgo after all...

There is no turning back for Autumn anymore. The temps are struggling to get up into the fifties and the leaves are reaching peak color. Our daily hawk visits will soon end as they slowly wend their way to warmer digs for the winter. I'll miss them. 

Today we took in a lovely barn sale, pushed shopping carts through Big Lots and Lowes and are now settled in for the night. Steaks on the grill, apples, cheddar and nuts for dessert. We are living large! 

Cozy. October. Home.

Pro-Choice

Happiness.

It's a choice.

Enough is Enough

When is enough, enough? How do you do your job well and get it done in less time? Are these two things mutually exclusive? These were questions I had when I was firmly ensconced in the Ivory Tower and questions which remain now that I'm living the dream of working for myself.

When is enough, enough? This was the topic of two separate conversations I had with two different friends yesterday. Both women, both single, both trying to do it all and still preserve sanity and good health by the end of the day. None of us has the solution, but one of us is on to something. 

All three of us are "doers". When we something that needs doing, we do it. Who cares if it's "not our job" or whether there's actually time for it or if it's even on the grand to-do list for the day. All three of us finish our days with numerous tasks, projects and jobs left undone and yet only one of us is beginning to figure it out. I wish it were me.

Her answer? Choosing effectiveness over efficiency. Tah-dah! Crate of light bulbs going off over my head. I get it. I really do.

Now, can this high mileage human unravel her old way of doing things and learn a new trick or two?

Say When

Let's start the day by banishing the whole notion of "if".

 Here's one thing I know. When you're not looking, IF erodes around the edges of hopes and dreams, and makes big old fat cracks for self-doubt and cynicsm to move right on in.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no room for the if of it all when it comes to hopes and dreams. Happiness is a choice and so is confidence. So today I'm declaring that IF has left the building. Hopes and dreams? You can flow right on in. I'm ready for you.

Plan B

It's a plan B kind of day...

A little extra sleep? Sure I should be grateful for that I guess, but it's mucked up any plans to get from here to there in time to be somewhere else and then head on over to this other place in time for ...  you get the idea.

Our kittens are now firmly in their teenage months. They're able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, have no fear of the stove or the drier, and will do almost anything to get a taste of the big girl's food. 

Jesse has found a friend in Lillie,

and Pippa seems to think we returned the boys to the SPCA when they're sequestered upstairs in their room. 

She falls for it every time. Her hope and dreams dashed daily.

James fetches better than any cat we've ever had, jumping into my chair with a toy in his mouth and letting it drop into my lap. I love watching him play with Peter's favorite toys.

So on this Plan B kind of day I'm going to try to make the best of it. Going to try to roll with it and not get stressed. Going to try and get something other than what I had planned, done...or not. I think I'll try a more kitten-like approach to things today. 

It seems to work for them.

Something New

Treasures secured, unloaded, cleaned and tagged. Ironstone, metal, wood, glass, stoneware. 

My favorite find of the day, a beautiful cut glass square cake plate. Very petite and so pretty. Also a tin wall pocket crafted by local tinker, John Forshee who died in 1974. There is a lovely little video about him produced by Jack Ofield on folkstreams.net. I love learning something new every day.