Fall is ...

Fall is my most favourite time of the year.   The cooler 

weather suits me a great deal better then the heat and 

(especially) the humidity of the summer season.  And

I love the decorations that can be put out on display to

celebrate all things Fall.    When I began hauling out

my Fall decorations I realized that I couldn't remember

just exactly where I'd put each item the previous year.

Well of course not .... everyone knows how short my

memory is.   So I winged it and just put things where

they felt right to be.   And then I took a picture so 

that next year I'll have a visual reminder of where 

everything goes .... as long as I remember that I

took a picture.

Today is one of those dull, dreary, pitching down

rain Fall days that inevitably appear at the end of

October.   Colder temperatures and a brisk wind

make it rather unpleasant to be outside today and

this morning we had the first scattered flakes of

.... gulp!!!!! .... SNOW mixed in with the rain.

(Taking deep breaths here)  And yet we also have

had some brilliant sunshine to tease and entice

us to venture outside for a while to enjoy the

fresh air and the waning garden.  DH did just

that, planning to do a bit of gardening work,

and got caught in the inevitable return of the

rain.

And still I love the Fall.

Not a lot of cross stitching going on 

around here, although the urge has 

hit me strong and I may just pick

up needle and thread pretty soon.

Meanwhile this year I've become 

enamoured with Zentangling ....

or Zendoodling and have been 

making tentative attempts at my 

own creations.

The above is more of a doodle and 

represents an afternoon on the deck

in August with pens and paper in hand.

A zendoodle for sure.   I'm learning

all the various patterns ... and there

are lots and lots of them being 

created all the time .... and some

are easier then others.   I like adding

colour to mine with markers since I

am not too great at adding shading

for depth

And here is a Zentangle mandala 

that I made.    

There are a ton of great blogs and

websites on the net with Zentangle 

patterns to see and tutorials on 

how to draw them.   

I received a lovely Halloween treat in 

the mail on Friday from Paula in Portugal

who stitched this terrific Prairie Schooler

design for me.     Love it!!    Thank you

dear Paula for your thoughtful gift.

A year or so ago I read Sarah's Key

by Tatiana De Rosnay.   A tragic

story, so incredibly sad and disturbing

but very well written for all that.  So

last week I read another book by the

same author and enjoyed it as well.

A bittersweet story about a man's 

search for the truth about his mother's

death when he was a child.

Oh look, the sun is back out again.

Cheeky thing. 

Cheers!