The first snow blew over the plains yesterday. I stood at the kitchen window mixing venison sausage for breakfast watching it fall.  When the grass was frosty you could see the outlines of the jackrabbits clearly as they bounded over the field. We normally miss them unless they are very close since they blend into the buffalo grass so completely.

The little boys are ready for winter. Moira needs some warmer skirts and boots. Her mom does too. Tess is ready for church shoes. Plans for Christmas decorating are already floating through my head. Fall is going way too fast isn’t it? I am trying to savor every second.

To that end I hung around Susan Branch’s site this weekend and played with some watercolors.  We are also going to mess around with the bag of pinecones we picked up before the snow ruined the rest of them. I read you should heat them at 250 for 20 min to kill any bugs inside and open them nicely so that will be our first step. Next we plan to wind floral wire around their bottoms and fix them to either a foam or wire wreath frame. I think we can repurpose one of the rapidly multiplying wire hangers for that.

We also have some fall leaves pressed into a book to use for setting our Thanksgiving table.  Susan suggested (dont miss the Country Living link here for lots of ideas!) a simple napkin fold with a single leaf atop as a place card. She wrote the names in gold pen. Very simple, very lovely.  That sums up my vision for the coming months.

We begin our round of appts today and Allen has some extra work "stuff" over the next few weeks complicating things. This is not what we shoot for, just an unhappy convergence of to-do’s. It is ironic coming on the heels of the Down to Earth blog exercise. Allen says it’s ok – it reminds us what we do NOT want to do and helps us keep our goals in clear focus.  Still, we have to get through these weeks. So, we are keeping lots of things simple but special.

Our school year has been chugging right along nicely despite these interruptions. The older children are following a modified Robinson curriculum style schedule and have read a nice chunk of lit this month. We are using their writing exercises for grammar practice and all in all I am well pleased with their progress. This plan, along with their Montessori cards and notebook pages, has meant that school can carry on smoothly even when life calls. What a blessing!  It reminds me how very simple learning can really be. Good books, good friends, good music, good art supplies, and lots of time outdoors. 

I hope fall is treating everyone as well. : )