Autumn Afternoon

 After what seemed like days of never ending gray the clouds finally parted yesterday afternoon to let the sun shine its warming rays down upon us.

I'm pretty sure we literally dropped everything as we made a mad dash for the outdoors before the rain started again :)

 We explored the fields looking for interesting fungi that have started to sprout with the onset of the autumn chill...

giggled as we stood under the giant maple trees while the wind blew oodles of stray leaves in brilliant colors down upon our heads...

 and gathered the prettiest ones to take inside to stash away for more rainy day crafting.

 The rain started again today so I'm thankful for those few short hours that we did get to explore outdoors. 

I have so many things to be thankful for these last few days. Many of you probably heard about the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook many parts of BC. We felt it here and in the aftermath it put all of the northern BC coast along with the northern part of our island where we live on a tsunami advisory. My husband who was at the time even further north was tied up at one of the marinas and emergency service crews got them to higher ground in the event that there was a tsunami but thankfully there wasn't one. So many communities up and down the coast from Alaska to Hawaii were on pins and needles as no one was sure of what to expect so I am so thankful that amazingly there seems to be very little damage for those families that were closest to the epicenter of the earthquake and that everyone that was evacuated is safe. 

It was if anything a wake up call to be more prepared. Our family has practiced earthquake drills, where to meet if we have to escape from our home and we have supplies on hand but I think we can do more. They tell you to be prepared for at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency but we're remote, rural and just a tiny blip on the radar when things happen. Winter storms take out our power regularly and we are always far down the list for repairs which at times have been longer than 3 days so when I think of what sort of destruction that earthquakes have caused in Haiti, Christchurch and the tsunami in Japan I'm not sure that 72 hours will cut it. How about you? Do you have your emergency kit ready just in case?

My thoughts and prayers are with those of you on the east coast tonight as you hunker down while hurricane sandy passes through your towns.

Hugs,

Rosina

Rhubarb

Rhubarb season is finally here and those bright red and juicy stalks are beckoning me *grin*.

The extended cool and wet weather we have had this spring has really allowed them to burst from the ground with gusto and I found a giant bloom on one of my plants!

Rhubarb blooms are really pretty when they open but I want my plants to continue to produce for a little while longer so I broke it off. The kids brought it into the house and we'll see if we can force it to open in a jar of water :)

The leaves of the plants are poisonous so you can't eat them but they make a wonderful natural insect repellent for deterring cabbage worms, aphids and other things. Just throw a bunch of leaves into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Pour the strained liquid into a spray bottle and treat any plants that have buggy problems!

I think for now we'll just enjoy some of the raw stalks dipped in a little bit of sugar. A yummy way to enjoy this tart treat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Fall Colors

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.

~ Emily Dickinson

I love the visual plethora that is fall with it's brightly colored crimsons, oranges and yellows. It's a feast for all of your senses. The sound of crunching leaves, the smell of wood fires, the touch of icy wind upon your cheeks, the flavors of pumpkin pies and harvest squash all molded into one lovely eye popping season of stunning color. Here are some of my fall photos from the last couple of days :)

Hubby just can't seem to get enough of the miniature pumpkins even though I keep insisting that they won't be much fun to carve *grin*.

Marveling in mother natures ability to create something as odd yet enchanting as the Purple Fairy Club mushroom.

Munching on the what's left of the grapes after the bear raided them the other night.

Taking advantage of the dry days that are coming less and less and watching the kids roar around on their bicycles.

This time of year just beckons to be explored. We have been keeping our eyes open for woolly bear caterpillars, orange fairy cup fungi and others and the chance to pick wild mushrooms like chanterelles for soups and stews :) Summer has it's own special moments but the cooler months are much more dear to me.

How about you, what is your favorite part of fall?

Hugs,
Rosina

Felt Leaves for your Nature Table

Yesterday in my linky love post I shared about the great felt leaves I had found in my bloggy travels and today we got down to business making some *grin*.

This is a fabulous fall project to do with your kids :) The sun was shining again today so we headed outdoors to collect maple, poplar, alder, redbud, oak and other leaves. If you plan on using real leaves and not images from your computer make sure you pick your leaves on the greener side because we had a few that were crunchier and they definitely don't do well when handled by little hands! LOL.

As you can see we didn't strictly stay with fall colors either. L being the girly girl had to do hers in pinks and purples. Hey it's all about personal interpretation :)

Even my oldest son got in on the project and made good use of his boy-broidery skills.

My 4 year old was pleased as punch with his mad tracing skills...

and he was just whipping along with the needle and thread to! I love doing craft projects with all of them. We're nearly to the point where each of them can just see what mama is doing and pick up their supplies and go at it... a few more years and the little guy will be there :)

To personalize our project a little more I thought it would be great to embroider the names of each of the leaves right on them!

These are going to be a FANTASTIC addition to our nature table! Crafting and education all wrapped up into one felty fun project *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina