Laowai

The end of last week was lovely and warm and I tried to pick as many flowers as I could before a hard frost came.

 

I made Mark Bitman's pear upside down cake. Lots of maple syrup flavor and it was yummy warm, with a big dollop of whip cream.

I finished painting the interior part of the window jamb of my living room window. The last little bit of work that I needed to complete on that window. 

My lilac is confused again. It had two little blooms. How strange to smell that smell in October.

Brian returned from Sydney on Saturday.

The girls and I spent a weekend with a group of moms and daughters. It was an annual crafty weekend away in Union Pier, Michigan. We had a wonderfully fun time hanging out with everyone. Here are a few photos of a walk I took to Lake Michigan.

And here are a couple photos of the project I worked on.

I made a paper plant using instructions from Corrie Beth Hogg. I've come to realize how special it is to have a series of days completely devoted to crafting (along with lots of chatting a laughing). Devoting time and being able to focus on just making something is a treat. 

Claire devoted the weekend to puzzles – she worked with friends on two big ones. Bea made a painting of a fish and another painting of some coral.

Back home it was time for Halloween and this was another big change. The first time my girls did not go trick or treating. And the first time I didn't carve a pumpkin – I was fed up with squirrels eating the pumpkins before Halloween and I kind of ran out of time to get one at the last minute.

I went for a walk Halloween morning and there was snow. Brisk windy fluffy snow!

Everything was dusted with snow like powdered sugar on a dessert. It felt so good to bundle up with lots of wool wrapped around my head and neck.

When trick or treating time came Bea (the crow) handed out candy and Claire and I sat around the fire.

The next morning we actually had snow on the ground! Driving around doing errands, it was so pretty to see snow on the yellow and orange trees. And the sun was shining through – fleeting and magical.

Having Halloween over and seeing snow out the window I was completely in the mood to get out Christmas decorations. But I didn't. Instead I cleaned the mudroom and made room for all the winter stuff.

One last photo. I ordered some heavily embroidered linen – It's sitting there in my sewing room waiting to be made into a new dress. But first I must finish cleaning out the vegetable garden and putting pots away.