An Autumn Catch-Up

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang."

lines from Sonnet 73, William Shakespeare

We've had such lovely autumn days where the air has been a mix of warm and crisp. Where the sun has made the red and bronze leaves stand out against pale blue skies. And no end of leaf piles to happily crunch through on our morning walks. There was no indication of snow on our weather apps so it was quite the surprise to find it snow-raining one morning when we woke. But since then, the snow has melted and we're back to the brown sugar look of late autumn.

If you've checked in here on occasion, you'll have noticed that I've been away for several weeks now. It's been expectedly, and unexpectedly, busy with family situations these past few months. And at the end of the day, my heart never quite felt up to writing in the midst of the ups and downs of it all. But the good Lord is gracing us with courage, kindness, and, yes, even joy to face each new day of challenges.

So what is helping me to carry on with some semblance of grace and joy?

1. Between all the necessary tasks and appointments, we continue to get in our daily walks (30 to 40 minutes). It's good to be outdoors as we watch the neighbourhood readying itself for winter. It's good to be in the present moment, taking notice of the beauty that's still all around if we but stop and look. 

2. My books. They are a great source of comfort and, more importantly, a good distraction these days. With so many things that need tending, and paths that seem to have no way through, my mind is ever diligent to stay alert and keep 'safe'—for there be dragons out there. And it's not so much from worry, per se, although there is some of that too, but it's that thoughts feel so unsettled, unresolved, and restless that they go round and round the ever squeaking 'gerbil wheel'. . . . And so I read to keep my thoughts from jumping back on that wheel. Getting immersed in a good tale relaxes and calms my mind from the frets, worries, and to-do lists.

One delightful book I'm reading is The Cozy Commonplace Book by Miranda Mills. Newly published, its chockful of seasonal verse, quotations, cozy book lists, recipes, and charming illustrations. It's one book that definitely takes me away from my more anxious thoughts.

At this time I am especially drawn to a few of my favourite mystery writers — classic Christie and Sayers, along with current authors like Louise Penny of the Inspector Gamache series and S.J. Bennett with Her Majesty The Queen Investigates series. Both have new novels out this fall, Miss Wolcott's Ghost and Death on the Royal Yacht, respectively. There is something about whodunnit tales that a reader can take comfort in — we know the case eventually will be resolved and justice shall be served. There's a feeling of safety and comfort in knowing it turns out in the end. Which, of course, is what we hope for in our real lives. Although it doesn't always work out that way, but we try to hope for better days ahead.

Other books that I have been dipping into include Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson; The Stubborn Light of Things, A Nature Diary by Melissa Harrison; Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year edited by Jane McMorland Hunter; and The Magician's Book, A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia by Laura Miller.

3. Things I keep reminding myself to remember:

❧ "Sufficient for the day". I ask myself, what's the next thing I need to take of care? And just focus on that for the moment. It's one task at a time.

❧ Rest. Both my body and my mind. Taking time to consciously be 'Off Duty'. And especially in the middle of the night when I wake and find those dreaded thoughts are right there. I gently tell my mind, Girl you're off duty now. No thinking about what you need to do tomorrow or next week. This little huge reminder has been a real help to me. 

❧ Watch for little joys that arrive as gifts that I can look forward to each day. Spotting a bright yellow leaf sitting on top of the snow. Berries hanging from a branch. Chickadees chatting in a tree top. The scent of coffee wafting up from the kitchen on a cool morning. The 'too funny' reel on Instagram. A friend messaging with a hello. All reminding me to take time for a bit of fun, some relaxation, a cup of tea, a square of chocolate, a nice book.

❧ This line from a quote someone recently sent me about their own struggles watching a beloved spouse dying from terminal cancer. The quote is by someone named John Blanchard: “So He (God) supplies perfectly measured grace . . . For daily needs there is daily grace, for sudden needs, sudden grace, for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace.” It's that last line that grabs my heart: "for overwhelming need there is overwhelming grace". Those words greatly comfort me.

Crows gathering at sunset for the night

Sunrise hitting the maple tree filling

a corner with light

A salad of leaves on our front step

after a wild and windy day

If Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes cartoon) were

in need of 50 different leaves for his school project, 

he'd have the assignment wrapped up in a wink.

One leaf defying winter on a

snowy morning in October. 

Evening scented stock buried

beneath crystalized snow

Almost time to switch from Autumn Décor

to Christmas - woohoo 

I hope that life will settle down again. But we don't know, do we? I think of you, beautiful readers, and appreciate you popping in once in a while to let me know you've been missing my posts. Please know I am missing you, too. I hope to post more regularly again, but I won't promise anything right now.

In the meantime, for all the turmoil and unsettledness in our world, personally and further afield, there is still so much for which to be grateful. So many little things to enjoy. Because it's still a beautiful life we're living on this amazing planet we call home.

❦

Heart hugs,

Brenda

Photos:

Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

Guest Blogging Elsewhere Today: A Loose Plan

Image by Gizelle Kei from Pixabay

Today I am writing on InScribe, my writers' fellowship blog. This month we are chatting about making plans for the rest of the year. I share my simple list, and I'd love for you to stop by. Here is the LINK.

Hope you are enjoying these autumn days.

 ❦

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Brenda

Five on Friday on Saturday: September Doings

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree."

EMILY BRONTË

We've had some lovely autumnal days where the sun was warm and the air was crisp. The last couple of days, however, have been grey and bitter with sharp winds from the northwest.

Autumn in all her moods unpacks... leaves are turning yellow... birds are gathering for long flights south... late roses bloom outside my window. It's a favourite time of year and a favourite combination of those warm yet crisply refreshing days. It's true what the Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges once said, "There is no day without its moment of paradise."  I find it especially so in Autumn.

Here is a little Five on Friday post... a little late but C'est la vie!

One: Mom's Move

The week went by in a blur. Everything was finally packed on Monday, moving day was Tuesday, and the last couple of days we worked to get everything unpacked and in place so Mom could settle, and nest, without having to sort through boxes and bins. There are still pictures to hang, but there's no hurry for that. She is already loving her new place—what's not to love about big windows and a room with a view that overlooks the garden, benches, and a glider swing for afternoon reveries, not to mention a greenhouse for keen 'resident' gardeners to work away in. My great joy is that Mom is now closer to where I live...a hop, skip, and jump across the street which makes visiting and helping so much easier.

Two: September Reading

I enjoyed gathering a few favourite books that I look

forward to reading this month. All are cozy and gentle reads.

  

September (novel)

by Rosamunde Pilcher

The Fortnight in September (novel)

by R.C. Sherriff

Autumn Anthology (National Trust, UK)

by Melissa Harrison et al.

The Country Commonplace Book

(Autumn Section)

by Miranda Mills

Anne of Windy Poplars (novel)

by L.M. Montgomery

Sense and Sensibility (novel)

by Jane Austen

Victoria Magazine September issues

(from late 1980s to current)

Three: Pork Chops, Apples & Onions

I found a lovely recipe on the Martha Stewart site some years ago using apples and onions with pork chops. It has been an autumn favourite ever since. The mix of apples and onions on top the braised chops is simply delicious. Mashed potatoes are a great side dish. Simply braise chops until golden brown (10 minutes), slice apples, onions and sauté them (eight minutes), finish cooking everything for another 15 minutes or so. You'll find the recipe HERE. (Sorry, no pics, I ate my supper before I remembered to take photos.)

Four: Seasonal Quotes

"She could not stay in the garden. The hollyhocks

and the asters and the late roses all seemed to be

waiting for something to happen. It was one of those

still, shiny autumn days, when everything does

seem to be waiting."

EDITH NESBIT, from The Railway Children, 1905

*

"Welcome to you rich Autumn days,

Ere comes the cold, leaf-picking wind."

W.H. DAVIES, from the poem Rich Days

I love that turn of phrase "cold, leaf-picking wind." 

To read the entire poem, click HERE.

*

"Winter is an etching,

spring a water color, summer an oil painting,

and autumn a mosaic of them all."

STANLEY HOROWITZ

*

"Oh, the joy of that lovely light that slants

into the house at this time of year."

BL

Five: Autumn Leaves

Found this leaf early one morning on our walk. It seemed almost translucent in the grass following a light rain in the wee hours. If you like that old 1940s song "Autumn Leaves" you can listen HERE. It's a lovely, melancholy piece which seems perfect for this time of year.

❦

On that note, I'm wishing you a beautiful day,

Brenda

Photos:

Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

August Sailed By

 “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”

 F. Scott Fitzgerald

I can't let August go without writing at least one post. I cannot believe where the summer has flown to. But life is just a wee bit hectic with family things going on. 

I'm looking out on my garden of flowers. The hydrangea shrub thought it was a grand bush this season. It has to have been all the rain we had. All summer it hung loaded with bubblegum pink blossoms. I  realize now how much it had suffered during our drought years to see the exuberant contrast in this year's growth. 

The sun shines and the evenings are pleasant. One evening we went out for pizza to our favourite pizza place for our favourite #10 medium (onions, mushrooms, fresh tomato) with a starter Caesar salad to share. As we sat at the restaurant, we got to thinking about how many years we've been going to this particular place ordering the very same thing. We started going there shortly after we married. And that's coming up 28 years. At first we'd try different menu items, but soon we discovered we both loved the medium #10. And as the astute young waiter said, after I commented how we always order the same thing when we come, "Don't fix what's not broken."

A happy book moment. A memoir I ordered earlier in the month arrived. It's titled Howards End is on the Landing, A year of reading from home by Susan Hill. She's a British author (born in 1942 so she's closer to my mom's age than to me, she was born during WWII).

"Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, in order to get to know her own collection again." - from the back cover

Already I love it. Reading it is making all sorts of memories surface of my own book collection through the years. And now her stories make me want to revisit those books And I'm even toying with the idea of embarking on a 'year-long' voyage of reading only my own books (but don't hold me to that, I am too beguiled by all the great new books coming out this fall). Plus, I have a couple hundred books on my shelves I've never read yet. They do beckon. Still, I don't know if I could not buy new books for a whole year - haha.

My niece's outdoor wedding in July was beautiful. The weather was nearly perfect. A lot of thought and planning had gone into the details. The bride was glorious in her beautiful wedding dress. She looked soooo happy as she came down the hill to meet her dad who walked her down the grassy aisle.

I felt a welling up inside at the perfectness of it. Like in a fairy tale. And then when the first dance with the bride and groom—they played "At Last" by Etta James—oh my, that was another poignant moment. Both 29 they had each been 'waiting' for what felt to them like a long while, so the song was perfect. I loved watching as they danced in their own little world for those few moments. Here is a link to the song should you want to listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qJU8G7gR_g

Our summer has been good. We've enjoyed the warm sunny days. Had chances to take little day trips to towns and places we haven't seen in a while (or maybe never). Doing more caregiving for loved ones. And we've been busy now getting Mom ready to move into her new suite (next week) where she won't have to cook for herself ever again—which makes my almost-91 mom very happy.

I can't promise what the weeks ahead will include... and whether I can get back to my regular posting on Fridays. But please know I think of you beautiful readers often and hope that you are all well. But I will try to stay in touch as much as I can. Thank you for your comments on previous posts—I do read each one even though I don't reply these days.

I am looking forward to September. In my books it's a hopeful month with new beginnings, like the beginning of a new school term. Where wanting to buy fresh notebooks and sharpen pencils and dig out the crayons still beckons with creative energy even after all these years.

I wish you a beautiful season ahead... whatever you are up to.

❦

Heart hugs,

Brenda

Photo credits:

Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

Six on Saturday

“The earth laughs in flowers.”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Happy Summer! We've had some beautiful weather. Calm and sunny mornings and long balmy twilight evenings. Wanted to share a few photos from a recent visit to our local botanic park. It was a busy summer afternoon when we went. Baseball tournaments were held in the next park. Various bridal parties posed for photos amongst the beautiful floral settings. We tried not to photobomb anyone as I took a few pics to show you.

One. Visit to the garden

One of our favourite local spots to visit from spring to autumn is the St Albert Botanic Park. An oasis of beauty and wonderment, this park is operated and maintained by volunteers (since 1992). It is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and boasts lots of well-situated benches for enjoying the views.

Two. From the gift shop

A small pottery bowl—large enough to hold a generous salad for two—caught my eye. I looked at it, picked it up, put it down, walked away, came back and popped the bowl into the shopping basket. I am loving using it. Many items in this delightful little shop are by local artists which makes purchases all the more special. 

Three. A cookbook question

Name a cook book on your shelf that's now well-stained or dog-eared pages from much use.

First is The New Purity Cook Book, The Complete Guide to Canadian Cooking (put out by the Purity Flour Mill back in the early to mid-twentieth century). Mom gave me a copy—it cost $1.25 at the time—when I was in high school to put away in my 'Hope Chest'. It's still my go-to for baking powder biscuits and pancake/waffles (you'd think I'd have the recipes memorized by now ha but I don't).

And the other is The Best of the Best from the Best of Bridge series, recommended years ago by a work colleague and friend. Favourite recipes include "Elsie's Garlic Mashed Potatoes", "Regina Beach Coleslaw", "French Toast Raphael", and "Orzo with Parmesan and Basil", to name a few.

What's the name of your favourite recipe book?

Four. Enjoyable summer reads

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

By Its Cover

by Donna Leon (novel, 2014)

Commissario Guido Brunetti gets a "frantic call from the

director of a prestigious Venetian library". Someone has stolen

several centuries-old books and cut illustrations from rare old volumes.

A visit to Venice via Guido Brunetti is always good for the soul.

In the Time of Five Pumpkins

by Alexander McCall Smith (novel, 2025)

Another venture in The No 1 Ladies' Detective series.

I enjoy Mme Ramotswe's gentle musings about life and living as

she and her cohort Mme Makutsi solve the current mystery of the day.

Under Gemini

by Rosamunde Pilcher (novel, 1976)

Flora impersonates her twin, Rose, for a weekend. It soon gets

complicated when she meets Rose's fiancé's family and uncovers

her sister's scandalous past. A lovely summer read.

The Forgotten Garden

by Helen Humphreys (novel, 2002)

A short historical novel set in WWII England.

Young horticulturist Gwen Davis leaves London for the

Devon countryside to instruct a group of girls in growing

crops for the home front on a beautiful but neglected

country estate. She also discovers a long forgotten garden.

Beautiful descriptions.

Five. A little Jane Austen

It was suggested on Instagram (it came up on several different pages) that some old book phrases from Jane Austen's writings should be reintroduced into our modern day lingo. Here are a few from the collection I found amusing; maybe you will too.

Expressions about someone you don't like:

"A man of no consequence."

"A woman of little understanding."

"A person not burdened by self-awareness."

"I see you've chosen to be yourself today."

Expressions of annoyance:

"What a vexing business this is."

"How excessively tiresome."

"I am not in the humour for such foolishness."

Expressions describing someone you like:

"A source of constant delight."

"A most agreeable companion."

"You are a welcome sight on any day."

Dramatic expressions:

"Good heavens!"

"Upon my word!"

"I'm entirely bewildered."

 

Six. A summer lunch 

"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't

use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words

like, 'What about lunch?'"

A.A. MILNE

It was delicious!

❦

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Brenda

Photo credits:

Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

Extra Photo:

Summer hat with cocktail

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay