Catching Dreams

Last week, on yet another beautiful autumn day, I loaded the car up with snacks, colouring pencils and paper, audio books, and two kids, Reece, and his little homeschooling friend, and we traveled to Little City Farm for another gathering of like minded families. This time the workshop involved making dream catchers. Little hands worked carefully to shape dogwood branches into a circle, and then string was used to create intricate designs. Later beads and feathers were added. Our instructor shared with everyone the best place to hang them, and explained that bad dreams will get caught in the dream catcher, and good dreams will be allowed to float right on through.

It was, as always, a very enjoyable afternoon, filled with fun, crafting, and a little play to finish the afternoon. I can't tell you how much I enjoy our trips to Little City Farm, they fill me up in ways I can't explain, and make me feel connected to a wonderful community of people.

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  "A photo of my little man, once a week, every week, in 2015"
 

Reece, sweet boy, you light up my life, and make me feel like the luckiest mama alive. I love you little man.

Joining Jodi for the 52 Project

Leaves and Beeswax

Living a life close to Mother Nature and her seasons is important to me. Recognizing the shift in seasons, exploring and fully connecting to each season, really sinking into the magic each season offers brings a certain comfort to my year. With each season there are rituals that appear year after year, little things we do to celebrate the beauty of nature, and this week we turned to one of those rituals. Reece and I collected a lot of beautiful leaves on our weekend hike in the woods, and knew exactly what we were going to do with them. With them pressed, and the house smelling of beeswax, we set ourselves up to wax our leaves yesterday morning. It is something we have done for the last few years, enjoying the calm, repetitive action of dipping, letting drip, and then setting to dry, before starting again with a new leaf. As we dip, favourite leaves are picked out and put aside, others are left to dry, and later strung to make a garland, and others are bagged up to share with friends. It's a ritual we have both come to love over the years, and one I know we will continue for many autumn seasons to come.

An Autumn Walk

We woke to a chill in the air, and frost on the ground. The woods called, and we heeded the call. As we stepped on the trail the leaves crunched beneath our feet, and the wind whispered gently through the trees. As leaves slowly floated to the ground, little hands tried to catch them, laughing the whole time. As we walked we filled our hands with colourful leaves, and filled our souls with the power and strength of nature. We walked hand in hand, we talked, we laughed, we stopped and listened. The birds sang for us, the squirrels chattered, and all around us nature shared so much. There is nothing quite as glorious as the woods in autumn, and yesterday, my little man and I soaked it up, together.

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  "A photo of my little man, once a week, every week, in 2015"
 

Reece, I looked at you this week, from afar, as you climbed and played in a tree, and I noticed just how much you have grown. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but observing you in that moment, I was. It is hard to believe that next month you will celebrate your 7th birthday, 7!!! Seven years of mothering you, of walking with you on your path, of learning and growing alongside you. You are the most amazing little man, and being your mama is the greatest gift.

Joining Jodi for the 52 Project

Around the Fall Garden

The fall garden clean up has begun. We were blessed with beautiful weather last weekend, and I spent one entire day in the garden. Most of that time was spent cleaning up, removing plants, harvesting the last tomatoes (yes, I harvested tomatoes on Thanksgiving weekend), adding compost and manure to the beds, and tending to the fall/winter garden. By the end of the day, I was dirty and tired, but goodness I got a lot done.

Still growing in the raised beds are carrots, strawberries, and raspberries. We are expecting a frost and snow this weekend, so this will be the last few days of harvesting berries. The carrots get sweeter with a frost, so we are really looking forward to harvesting those as we need them over the next few weeks.

The tunnels and cold frame are doing really well. The cold frame has spinach and salad mix in it, and the tunnel has bush beans, Swiss chard, kale, beets, and carrots. The tunnels are hinged which makes getting into them so much easier than our experience last year.

Next up on the gardening to do list is to cover all the beds in leaves. I think by next week there should be enough on the ground to start raking them up, and piling them on the beds. Also next week, the garlic will go in the ground, and get a thick cover of straw for the winter. The strawberry bed will also get covered in straw, and the blueberry and raspberry bushes all need a little tending before winter fully arrives. And then the last thing I need to do is get covers on the tunnel frames on one of the other raised beds, so it is ready for an early spring planting.

Still lots to do in the garden before it gets covered in snow, but all of it connects me to this land, and to the food I eat, and it truly is work I love to do.

How are things around your garden?

Gratitude

~ for the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet

~ for the beauty and glory of autumn

~ for the healing power of nature

~ for the love and support of friends and family

~ for my little man, and the joy he brings to my life

~ for creating the time and space to do the things that make me happy

~ for slow and simple days

~ for the courage to dream

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!!! What are you most grateful for today?