A Whisper of Fall

After Sunday's drenching twenty-four hour typhoon (compliments of Hurricane Irene) petered out, yesterday dawned bright, clear and clean. If you looked beyond the debris strewn about the lawn by the high winds and ignored the trees resting precariously on the power lines out back, there was plenty of cool air and sunshine to enjoy – a whisper of wall lingering on the edges of the day.

Fall is by far my favorite season, and I've been craving the taste of fresh apples for weeks already. I can't wait to head for the orchard and bring come a couple bushels to simmer down into applesauce and pie filling. Yum!

But the reminder that September is nearly upon us prompted me to think about all the things I wanted to have done before the days start getting colder. My handsome Love came home last Thursday (thank God they got in before the storm!) and we have already tackled a few projects.

Saturday we painted our bedroom. It's been on the to-do list for a while, but we finally buckled down and got it done – I wish we'd done it sooner! We chose Benjamin Moore's Sweet Innocence, which is an elegant blue-gray color that makes the whole room seem warmer and more sophisticated without closing it in. (I'd never used that brand of paint before, but it did a great job! If you're planning a paint project, I'd definitely recommend it.)

My generous husband also bought me a step stool for the pantry so I won't have to keep climbing on pickle buckets every time I have to get the vinegar down. (Which is often, now that I've realized vinegar and lemon juice do a better job of cleaning the hard water stains off our tub than bleach!) It doesn't sound glamorous, but little things like that go a long way towards a happy marriage...

I also realized that somehow we've misplaced the camera (which I know I JUST used), reminding me that if I want to do any serious cleaning or re-organizing, now is the time. Before it gets too cold to have all the windows open and use the balcony I need to pull everything out, give it one last scrub down and start thinking about snuggling in. (Of course, one could always subscribe to the theory advocated in this poster I saw. Lol.) Will we have plenty of warm, sunny days left? You bet. But Murphy's law guarantees that if I count on them, winter will come early!

Finally, this year I am going to be very intentional about approaching fall. There are always things we want to do and never get into the schedule, and the holidays sneak up before I'm really ready (though I'm usually ready to be done with Christmas music ages before the holiday actually gets here). So I've pulled out my planner and picked up my phone. I'm scheduling in the really important stuff NOW – before everyone is overwhelmed and schedules are full. Apple picking, Christmas movie nights... will I actually make them happen this year? I hope so!

Are you ready for fall?