Hi Friend,
I love the autumn and I love the frost. I love the cool crisp air and I love having a window cracked to bring in that beautiful fall smell with the fire place going. I love the winter and I love the sense of anticipation of the winter that the autumn brings.
Usually in Vernon, fall starts in September, well before the official first day by the calendar, but this year – this weekend – this late into October is the first feeling of the new season. Perhaps it’s because of the cold foggy mornings, the fire in the fire place, the frost on the grass, the colours of the leaves, the smell of the air, the smell of the apples hanging over the valley, the smell of the cow corn in the fields or the sudden absence of wasps; with the sun low in the sky, this is the first I’ve felt the need to starting cooking things that take the better part of the day and to stock up on squashes and apples and bread. I feel like the autumn is heree now.
I’ve been spending quiet afternoons in my kitchen with rays of sun screaming through the windows at oblique angles that blind me, making it impossible to see what I’m doing, but nonetheless, I’m making out fine. Except yesterday.
Yesterday I took a walk with Swimmy and the pupscicle up the hill behind our house into the grassland at the edge of the aspen woods, before the ponderosa forest to do some foraging for wild-crafted rose hips. (God, I love where we live!) We made out pretty well, avoiding bears the whole while, and I got them all sorted and cleaned and had just set them to boil down when I came to check on them and they were all burnt to the bottom. So I had a mess to clean up. Today we picked again, with Jeremy this time, and tomorrow I’ll make rose hip apple sauce from our bucket full of hips. If it’s tasty, the recipe will follow!
In addition to the picking and the time in the kitchen, we took a drive out to the Shuswap on Friday to check out the spawning salmon and we didn’t get to see many fish, but we did have a great time and I took loads of photos. I’m learning my little point and shoot digital better, now that I have to stay out of the darkroom until I’m done nursing babe. Even so, I get frustrated with the limitations and it’s making me want to get a proper digital SLR. (I know how to use real cameras, just not the little ones!) Having said that, I’m getting some happy results.
It’s been a truly beautiful weekend and anyone who knows me can attest to my need for music during anything I’m doing. It’s how I get inspired, remember the best parts of my experiences, relax and just enjoy moments. I have to share a soundtrack with you to give you the mood of my weekend. Here are some highlights and if you don’t have these fabulous tracks in your life, I highly recommend you go out and BUY THEM:
- Stan Rogers’ northwest passage
- Aidan Knight’s altar boys, jasper, hewlett place
- We Are The City’s astronomers
- Shad’s rose garden
- Jill Barber’s chances
- Hawksley Workman’s autumn’s here, you and the candles, goodbye to radio
- Sloan’s who taught you to live like that
- New Pornographers’ sweet talk sweet talk
- Dan Mangan’s about as helpful as you can be without being any help at all, there is a light that never goes out, postwar blues
Great photos. Love the ones of Swimmy. He is so adorable!!!