October rushed in with a bit of a bossy behavior. Although we’ve had our share of foggy mornings and rainy days, the sunshine has taken center stage in my mind. We’ve had some gloriously beautiful sunny days, and we are soaking it in! Here are some photos and details around my cozy home in October.
It’s nearing the end of the month, and my children are still playing outside barefoot and in summer clothing. Their creative imaginations continue to run wild. And mine, too, really. I’m always looking for ways to add a little whimsy to our home, either through refreshing the library book basket, a collection of gathered leaves on the dinner table, or placing a stack of old books under a houseplant on the floor.
Here’s what I’m noticing about my cozy home:
The slider door is often left open, and crunchy leaves collect in the sunroom. Evidence is below 🙂
My children come down in the morning to the smell of sourdough bread baking.
Quick trips to the skate park leave my boys grinning all evening.
We’ve been frequenting the local post office with our weekly letter-writing school assignments. And… the coffee shop 😉 so much so that they know my name and preferred caffeine amount.
Finding a cherished note in my drawer, saved from a past Christmas, puts a grin on my face.
Seeing a familiar face when out & about still brings me a lot of joy. (I really love small-town living.)
I’ve jumped into the soup-making wagon with no regrets! Soup, salad, and sourdough are on my rotation at least once a week. 🙂 I’ve found a fun trick to making soup a little easier and 200% tastier. After purchasing a couple of rotisserie chickens and pulling the meat off (for the pot, of course!), I make bone broth. I then add about 10 cups of water to my Instant Pot (and sometimes throw in some veggie scraps from my freezer stash). After 110 minutes of pressure cooking, the bone broth is ready. It’s so easy to make 🙂
Letters to My Sister (my new mail club) are on their way to a handful of states. Welcome, Letters, to Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, Indiana, Oklahoma, and California! And thank you to all who joined the mail club 🙂
What I’m reading: a memoir on writing by award-winning author Harlan Coben.
What I’m enjoying: a lot of water! One full glass before my morning coffee, and then as much water as I can through the rest of the day. I like to drink water from a large mason jar with a straw, and I keep it in the kitchen since I’m in there so often 😉
What I’m proud of: Yesterday, the kids and I tackled a huge organizing project in the basement I’d been putting off (for months, tbh). We’ve had a gorgeous fall season, and the sunshine has brought me outside rather than to our basement. But yesterday, I said, Enough is enough! We must work on this project. I asked the kids to put on their tennis shoes and join me in the basement. My eyebrows expressed all I was thinking, and then we jumped in. I was the Director, my kids were the Runners, and 2-½ hours later we finished. I’m telling ya, I slept great last night 😉 Whether from the relief of knowing we finished a boring yet important project, or the physical effort said project needed, I’ll never know…
What I’m creating: our beloved tea drawer in the kitchen. I place my kid’s favorite mugs in there, along with easy access to tea. The electric kettle moves from cupboard storage to the counter, since we use it so often during these cool and cold months. What are we drinking? Lemon ginger, fruity blends, and cinnamon spice are our current favorites.
What does your weekend look like?
We are planning to be outside this weekend quite a bit, and with people we adore. I’m hopeful for warm weather and insurmountable peace.
xx, Maggie
