Autumn/Winter?

There seems to be some confusion as to what season we are in at this moment in time. I was walking my neighborhood like I do at least 5 days a week. I can do more of that in spring and summer. I love looking at the changes in a neighborhood I see everyday. Looking with fresh eyes is best if you can’t change location during these Covid controlled days.

Brilliant red and some green. But it’s really Autumn

I put up amber colored lights on my front porch this year for a touch of fall to be used through Thanksgiving. Then of course I will put up my colored Christmas lights but still not sure whether we will do any further decorating. Some of my neighbors seem to be in a hurry for winter or at least for Christmas.

Wait! What! There is no snow here nor has Thanksgiving arrived yet.

This plant thinks it’s spring and quite cheery.

I’m not far behind but still have too many things to accomplish to rush things. I’m truly enjoying the autumn right now. We’ve had some massive rain, which we love but the drier moments are stunning.

Further up the street is this delicious golden orb of a tree

There was enough dry time to trim my rosebushes and the rosemary along with trees and shrubs in front. I’ve received mail after sending out hearts so I know they have reached their destination.

I keep a list in my phone and in a notebook my blogging friend Alys gave me for my creative projects. Even though I keep getting things done, the list keeps getting longer.

Notebook and card from my organizing friend. I still want to print out small photos to go with the lists

The back of the card.

project list

Partial list of machine embroidery projects.

Another page in the notebook

Is someone adding to it in those few hours when I’m sleeping? I’ve been so busy with the making, so now it’s time to do what Alys taught me and clean up before the next project gets underway. She was a lifesaver in the organizational department. Now I know where everything is and waste less time.

One of 10 so far

Two done, 8 to go which includes Santa. Then it will become a quilt if I’m determined enough.

There was even time to read a short book that has been on my headboard waiting way too long. Everything has it’s right time and I had a night where sleep just eluded me. The book fell on my head wanting to be read and I couldn’t put it down. I’ll get back to the sewing tomorrow. Maybe.

Autumn or winter? Which is it now? Do you have a distinct marker of change or do they blend?

 

From my heart to yours,

 

Marlene Herself

Notebooks

Happy Fall everyone. I’m so ready for it.  Time for a change. Agreed?

Cathy at nanacathy posted about her notebooks recently. That led to an online discussion when I said mine were not so pretty, mostly utilitarian. I have more notebooks in my house than dishes. She challenged me to show them. Since my children insisted they not be left for the fire to burn,  I had many in one location; the floor of the car. Do you know how heavy years of journals are?

A box of large journals and a couple of small notebooks

Some years writing was sporadic, others more consistent. I told my daughter they should just be shredded and forgotten. After all, my journals were full of frustrations about my behavior and everyone else’s in my life. When I looked back at my writing, I realized that I often complained about the same thing.  Then I realized it was finally time to make changes and the journals were for planning a new attitude. They helped me see my patterns and come up with ways to change those patterns.

Write. A favorite

Short gnomes, big journal

Worth every penny All 50 cents

Another good find

Utilitarian

I’m a person with little proper sense of time. Not like the kind where you are late for everything. I will never be late. It’s rude to think someone’s time is less valuable than your own. If you ask me when something happened in my life, I often can’t tell you. I have to look it up. Even if it was last week. Time is fluid for me so keeping it on paper helps ground me.

Gift from blogging friend

Story ideas

Cathy also keeps a daily planner. I had stopped doing that when I got a smart phone. It remembered and reminded me of everything. My grocery list went to my phone because I always lost my paper list in the store. That still holds true. When I decided to go back to see when I’d last had a haircut or a doctor’s appointment, everything but major holidays were GONE!

Now I keep a small daily planner and Cathy gave me new ways to use it. I’m making a brief note of anything I might need to remember later. It’s quicker than looking back through the journal like the day our city caught fire and we had to evacuate and another note when we were able to finally come home. It’s working out quite well and the planner takes less room to store.

Not much going on.

I have a separate small journal that is used nightly, no matter what to write what I am most grateful for that day. Just one line on a page to focus on what is really the blessing in my day. I can expound on that in the nightly dump journal which is only one page long.

Newest gratitude journal

I am still doing morning pages though sometimes it’s only one side of a notebook page. Other times it will be all three pages as I work through the days challenges and give them some order. Then I wander out for a cuppa and watch those plans go right in the bucket. It gives me something to laugh about at night.

Each notebook holds a year

2 years worth of morning pages

 

Do you keep notebooks and are yours pretty or serviceable?

“Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open” ~ Natalie Goldberg

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself