Hydration and The Ice Age

The nice thing about chilly weather is that I stay hydrated. I am living off of a virtual deconstructed i.v. of hot beverages, rotating coffee and tea by turns...dreaming of a hot toddy tossed in for variation. Also, I keep up on my wash...there's no chore in the world that sounds better than folding clothes, fresh out of the dryer.

The poor chickens on the other hand and probly getting very sick of their breakfast time slipping further and further into the morning because the resident farmerette can't seem to get up the gumption to go tromping out through the frosted leaves and fill their water and feed. Brrrrr!!!! On the upside, I have a new coat (this is surprisingly encouraging for outdoor chores!) and on the downside, it is after all, only November.

A was talking to the boys the other day about the concept of an Ice Age and their eyes got pretty darn wide. They like chilly weather as much as any kid. Snow is twelve shades of fabulous and there's almost nothing better than dipping your mittens in mud puddles after you have scooped out the ice film on the top, as a stiff November gale whips down the driveway. All that aside, I think the idea of an entire era of frozen living with snow and ice that was higher and thicker and colder all the time put the fear of God into them. They keep checking with me from time to time now to see if an ice age is starting yet. I keep reassuring them that that's not how they arrive...and that this is just New England in late fall.....I think. Time for another mug of tea. 

We are off to Michigan to see my parents, a couple of my sisters and my much beloved grandma for Thanksgiving this weekend and even though travel is a hassle and family can be stressful...I'm really looking forward to it. Its so good to be with those you know and to settle in where you are well loved. It is also such a comfort to know that even if I do that ridiculous thing where I always choke at dinner--just for tradition, wear earrings that are utterly too large and glamorous for stacking wood, completely forget to be on time to anything or boss everyone around non-stop they all totally get me and while they might laugh at me outright or roll their eyes they laugh, nobody will be disowning me anytime soon. Its all  part of the great comedy that is family. I'm me and they all get it. I love it.

 I hope you all have a cozy start to the holiday season, and feel launched into familiar places of festive dreaming, warm knowing and brave new edges of growth.

Reasons To Love November

This time of year is kind of one those in between stages....its getting cold and soon will be drab but we're not quite to the holidays. It starts to feel wintery but its not technically winter for weeks yet. Its a kind of a lull in the calendar...not much on the docket until Thanksgiving at the very end of the month. BUT, nothing is wasted....all things have meaning.

Why must we remember November? Let's delve.

Reasons Why November Is Fabulous:

1. It is stunning! Where I live, leaf color really only begins in October and every year the truly breathtaking color is this month....at least some of it is. We have incredible frosty mornings that make you shuffle into slippers and catch your breath and then blazing, golden afternoon with sunlight shooting through every window of the house and making the maple above the garage simply radiate.
2. Bulbs! I love my garden and I always think bulb planting is such fun. It feels special and happy but its easy and can be very cheap, depending on what you invest in. Even dollar stores sell bulbs in November. My boys all love when bulbs need planting because its such a simple thing that they can all help. 
3. Hot coffee, hot tea, roasts, pies, baked chicken, slow roasted beets.....its oven weather! Finally, I can cook all the things that I have been dreaming about all summer and it feels so wonderful to open the oven door to have a peek and have all that deliciously scented heat curl out at your face. 
4. Its Native Heritage Month. This is a hokey sounding official designation that became a little bit of a family tradition in our house after my friend Ashley started making a point to spend November looking into teaching more explicitly about native culture in her homeschool. The boys and I have so much fun learning about new tidbits, especially about the tribes that live and lived here in Connecticut. So many fascinating groups, traditions, crafts, songs, clothes and stories. This year, I am really hoping to get to the Mashanntucket Pequot Museum, which is up the coast from us and sounds amaaaaazing!
5. Its early holiday season but its feels like the legit holiday warm-up to me. I am scouting cookie recipes, thinking a little about gifts, making my birthday wishlist (I have a December birthday) and mulling over menu plans for big meals together with loved ones and friends. This is the fun part....before the crazy hits. 
6. Hiking season! This is my top, most favorite time of year for hiking. The weather is cool enough to not be sweaty on the trail but all the wildlife is out in full array, trying to get their larders and bellies packed before winter. And best of all...the horrible, terrifying, completely disgusting ticks that carry Lyme's Disease so rampantly around here....are hiding because the weather gets too chilly for them. YAY!!!!!!
7. Gratitude gets the spotlight. I love this new trend of conscious and specific gratitude and right now everyone is all trending on Facebook with their daily November thankful posts. Sure, sometimes its annoying that every goes trite, starting with their family and having food and clothes but I love the thought and the occasionally sparkling and sincere grateful clarity about specific things in the lives of those I love. I try to use my Instagram account for a goal of making at least one daily post about some thing I was grateful for that day....and this month...I feel invigorated. 'Tis the season!
8. Darker evenings. I know that its hard on my mood and everyone I know complains but I have to say that having a mug of evening tea or a fire in the fireplace with the velvet black in every window is 10 x's better than the bright summer night athmosphere. Also, getting four boys to actually sleep is soooooo much easier when it actually gets dark. I have to say, despite the fact that I am posting this at 1 in the morning....I'm totally ready for bed myself every night in the the post Daylight Savings time of year. Cozy. 
9. Its Interior Decorating season. This time of year always has me re-invigorated about my house, renovation, moving furniture to different spots and painting things. I've been outside all summer...I'm ready to feather my nest. My new obsession is the show, Rehab Addict, a Netflix available, old house refurbishing kind of a thing with a young, blonde, mama lead character who brings old homes back to life while juggling the Little League schedule. I love it.
10. New Linens. I try to replace some linens in the my house that need a little love every year in November. Most years I buy myself a new pillow (I like them nice and fluffy), its my personal indulgence. This year, I saved up and treated myself to a batch of new, white bath towels. November is a good month to snuggle down. 

November Brewing

Am writing a budget for our eating and am spending all my waking idle moments (and some dreams!) plotting and planning all the ins and outs of this new and thrilling challenge. You might think I was being cynical. I'm not. I'm being authentic geek. I like these kinds of things. Am ready with this week's sample beginning and raring to hit the grocery aisles and see if I can come out still in the black!

Am also making bone broth for drinking on snug autumn mornings and evenings in a big heavy mug...plotting new quick bread adventures....sighing over the dream of a chest freezer (must find a way!!!)....planning to dust off my yogurt maker.....considering getting my kombucha on again....thinking about buying a little firewood....dreaming of chickens for next summer....and picking out a wall paint color for the boys room!

Stay tuned...lots going on in my little corner in this slate colored time of the year. November is for gleeful hand rubbing!

Why November?

November is one of those maligned months...it isn't very colorful, its the end of fall and before winter. And then the holidays come tromping and stomp right over whatever is left of November's own personal identity. Today we sing the unsung hero...what makes this month lovely in its own right?

10 Good Reasons To Love November 

1. All the leaves fall down and reveal vistas we forgot we had......suddenly the world looks all new again, even out our own familiar kitchen windows.

2.The bird feeder goes up in the window like ours did today. Its great to get personal with some of the birds again just as so many other are leaving for parts further south.

3.You can reliably light a crackly fire in the fireplace for the first time.

4.Our own local New England cranberries come into stores again! I love cranberries for their bright color, the way they naturally thicken when boiled down for a sauce or a jam, for their tart tang (I'm a tangy girl!) and the fact that they come so unmistakably from here. We don't get cranberries shipped in from Chile!

5. Hot tea becomes the thing again! I get to dig out my favorite, cozy mug and try to decide between English Breakfast, Chai and Earl Grey. Tough problems.

6. Roasting vegetables in the oven, low and slow sounds like a good idea again! Toasty carmelized parsnips and carrots and cauliflower and butternut squash is divine munching material. Toss any veg in olive oil and drop in snips of thyme or rosemary, generous doses of salt and spread them on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450 until toasty and fork tender!

7. Leaf kicking starts! October gets all the attention with the pretty displays but all through November the leaves are accumulating in drifts and piles and everyone is raking and leaf blowing huge heaps of crackling leaves. No time like the present to jump in!
 
8. Ticks, mosquitoes and other pests of the woods go away! I love being outside in crispy, worry-free November on a hike! Sets my mind right at ease.

9. Its stargazing season again! One of the things I love about summer night is their long light but it doesn't make for good star watching; for that you need early nights. I love that by the time we've come home from getting A from work the sky is dark and we can walk to the house with our heads tipped back enjoying the show.

10. The air gets cold enough to play dragon! I tell my boys that's what we're doing when we blow big clouds of misty breath in the cold. :)