Autumn is upon us and I am so grateful for her arrival. This is my favorite season. The cold crisp air. The smell of the leaves. The sounds of leaves crunching under foot. Hot drinks, sweater weather, evening fires, and starry nights. Also, less bugs. That’s kinda a huge deal considering the whole bug world treats me as a snack.  I also love going on drives down back country roads while listening to classical music and watching the leaves fall from the trees while they dance in time to the music as they blow across the road. It’s as if, however brief it might be, this new found freedom brings them such great joy they can’t help but spin and twirl in a beautiful dance.

As fall settles in I am looking to do some settling in of my own. The passionate and bright summer months brought many new things into my life. I adopted some healthy new practices and started some new hobbies. Now I am turning my focus on nurturing those new found pieces of me to take root. I am working on building habits to establish a solid foundation, one that I can continue to build upon in the next season of growth. I am focusing on purging the clutter, cleaning off the dust that’s settled in, and adding some warm homey touches.

You know it’s been a little over two years since we moved here and I still have my most precious treasures stored in boxes. I think it’s time I take them out so they might feel at home too. I have been so focused on what I have been lacking that I forgot to see what it is that I already have. Cultivating an appreciation for how far I have come, as well as expressing gratitude for what it is that I already have, has really helped me feel more centered and rooted.

With the cooler weather I am also feeling the desire to do some more baking! I got a new cart for my kitchen to house my very large grain mill. Being able to easily access my mill has got me super excited to bake. I have a beautiful pie cookbook that was gifted to me for my birthday and I have yet to dive in. Perhaps I will honor the season of fall and start off with a pumpkin pie, or maybe apple? Hmm. Pecan might be good too. It will make good practice for Thanksgiving next month!

I also want to start cultivating a sourdough starter again. It’s been some time since I’ve nurtured one and I have missed baking homemade bread and baked goodies with discard like pancakes, cookies, cakes, pretzels, bagels, pizza…Gosh, now I am just hungry! Oops! I plan on freezing and gifting a lot of the baked goods so they don’t go to waste and I can hone in on baking with freshly milled flour. I have gotten pretty good at baking with fresh flour, and I am pretty good at baking with sourdough, but I have yet to marry both my skill of sourdough baking with freshly made flour and consistently get a loaf with a light airy texture and a good crumb. You know what that means? I’ll be giving away a lot of bread as I learn, I am sure my family and friends will be devastated!

This also brings me to what very well might be my next project for my business and this blog. I have had many requests for videos and content of me cooking and baking. I guess people are interested in my sketch comedy. Har har. But really while I am a pretty good home chef I can be pretty clumsy in the kitchen at times. I think my brother summed it up pretty well when he said he had heard from others that I was a pretty good cook but all he heard when I was in the kitchen was “Oops!” and “Uh-oh!” I will do my utmost to deliver at least one video of my adventures in the kitchen this season. Hopefully it is well received and I will make more.

I hope that your season of harvest is bountiful, grounding, and filled with warmth.