A Few Things. . .

 

Late summer fruit--peaches. These weren't as good

as recent peaches (the season ran late here), so I think

the last tasty peach has been eaten. Sad.

Oh, my. The second half of my speaking notes about "margin" are a mess. When I first ran across them, I only skimmed over the notes to get the gist of what I wrote, and I expected them to be clean-ish like the first half, but instead, they are a loose collection of quotes and jottings and too much repetition. I certainly hope that when I spoke at that brunch I was able to clean it all up and make sense of the topic!

I spent some time last night trying to put these too-messy-to-post notes into prose, and I made good progress (I'm nearing the end) but didn't finish. I don't have time to do so this morning, either, because I'm getting ready to head out of town for a few days to see my girls. There will be wi-fi at their house, and, depending on what everyone is doing, I might have a bit of time to post a thing or two (including the notes I'm trying to finish). If not, I'll get them done as soon as I return home.

At any rate, I can't wait to see my girls and do some things around town with them.

I've stayed home for the last three days to take care of some paperwork and get ready to start fall term classes. I've also been gradually gearing my life and home toward the autumn and winter seasons, not consciously, but naturally. For instance, it seemed natural on a recent cool evening to braise cabbage until meltingly tender and eat it with garlicky-lemony mashed sweet potatoes. Definitely delicious, and definitely not summer food. And when I was reading in the living room one evening, I got chilly, and since it's too early in the year to turn on heat, I brought out an afghan to wrap around me. Since I'll likely need the afghan again soon, it made sense to leave it on the couch.

As the seasons shift places, morning light in the house has gradually taken on a new feel. It is warmer, more mellow, and more fleeting. It's a cozy light that makes me want to bake something!

That is one cozy rug!

I snapped the photo when lighting was bad,

but click if you want to see better.

You can see my mess from typing my "margin" notes

on the computer table. And my coffee!

And a dish towel on the back of the chair. (?)

When I moved into this house in early May, these wood floors were cold! I didn't even like to come into the living room then, and since I don't want to spend this coming winter entirely in the kitchen, I've been looking for a really-inexpensive rug. I was hoping to find a sort of plush, light-colored shag. Normally I wouldn't go with a light color but this room is dark, and winter sunlight only touches the very edge of the room for mere minutes in early morning, so the room can use any brightness I can give it. I wanted a rug I could sit on and that my grandkids could play on when they come. So, I was happy when I found this fairly plush, cozy rug for an affordable (super cheap!) price.

Early in the summer, I began reading a book Aaron gave me for Christmas, but I didn't finish it. I've picked up Palace Walk again and am moving along in it really well now. The author won a Nobel prize for this book and the sequels that follow (written in the 1940's, I think). The book wonderfully evokes the atmosphere of its Egyptian setting and powerfully portrays the oppression of women in that religious culture. I love reading fiction, but I don't do enough of it, in spite of the strong encouragement from my son to do so (he thinks fiction is "truer" than non-fiction). :-)

And now I'm going to pack my things and get ready to leave. More soon!

(Hey! Does a new thing happen when you click on photos? It does when I click--it kind of opens up on its own, grey, transparent overlay--and I love how it looks.)