Hello Girlfriends! I just want to say, your touching comments about our Dads (!), the Peter Rabbit Room, Domesticity City, and the newest recipes, plus all the connections we’ve been making with one another have made me so happy; I’ve been trying to think of a way to show you how much I’ve enjoyed reading them! This Fall Giveaway is the result! xo
Plus, October arrives this weekend! So let’s celebrate all us kindred spirit vagabonds and our wild gypsy blood with this . . .
. . . gorgeous quilt, which will soon be in the hands of some lucky winner! All you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment at the bottom of this post, and answer one simple little question: What’s YOUR favorite thing about fall? ♣ Here are some hints and possibilities, to get your clock a tickin’ . . .
If you win, you could do this with your new, old, vintage quilt, and that might be your most favorite thing about fall this year. Putting the sweet in Home Sweet Home.♥
Or maybe you love outsmarting the first freeze and getting the last of the tomatoes in from your garden to ripen on the window sill… because they look so darn cute up there!
Or is it the cozy quiet back-to-school kind of morning when you’re alone in the kitchen with the cinnamon toast?
Or is it the way your house smells with your little dinners of acorn squash and homemade chicken and mushroom soup? That could definitely be it! ♣
You could eat that soup in front of this wonderful old movie, which if you haven’t seen, you would love. Have dinner with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Bring your twelve-year-old daughter. ♥ ♥ ♥
Or maybe the change of season is so wonderful because we get to have more fires, turn off all the lights and pretend it’s 1840.
Or could it be the sound the leaves make when we crunch through them and kick them into the air? Don’t we just love it when they cartwheel down the road, tip to tip? Or, when we get to make wishes on the ones we catch in mid-air?
Or is it this, the smell of cedar, juniper trees, bayberry, musky rotting leaves, thick dampness in the air, salt and ocean; being swept along the dirt road by the wind filled with flying leaves; looking at Joe, cute in his black beret, the woodland around us laced with spider webs sparkling with dew on foggy mornings . . . could this be it? Yes, it could!
Or, it could be when we reach under the leaves to discover the freebies in the compost heap, volunteers we didn’t plant? We even got a spaghetti squash this year!
♣ ♣ ♣
It’s a season of the little things in life that make it so special. Let the fun begin! What do you love most about the sweetest season? And btw, not to forget, Hellooooo down there in Aussie Land and everyone south of the equator! Tell us all what it is about spring that makes you fall in love all over again??? Inquiring minds want to know! xoxo Have a wonderful Day! You have until midnight tomorrow night (Wednesday Sept. 28 est.) to comment and be entered!
With Love from the Heart of the Home and Me! ♥
I love fall, but living in South Florida, it’s alot more subtle. Still I look expectantly for it year after year. We are living almost 3 hours north of my birthplace and have a sycamore tree in our yard that is turning colors ever so slightly. The Sandhill Crane babies are starting to get their red crowns. The northern birds are beginning their yearly visit from the frosty north. The maples are sporting tips of red on their leaves. I do love the colors of fall, but I think my favorite aspect is the cooler, crisp air which is such a treat for down here. I love being able to open all the doors and windows and live by “natural” light, with maybe some candles for the evening. I love fall baking, even if it requires a little more creativity in our gluten free home. This year I will also be nesting, as I await the birth of our little baby girl after this life threatening and scary pregnancy. The weather has not started really changing here yet, but each morning we visit our front porch to see if we can detect it’s arrival. A quilt to snuggle in with my family would be the icing on the cake!
I love how the cooler weather makes me feel so alive and excited for all that is to come. The anticipation of beautifully colored leaves, pumpkins, the smell of pumpkin spices as you bake autumn quick breads, the fun of putting away summer and welcoming autumn with your autumn house decorations, wearing sweaters!, and just the excitement of the time to come – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I get so excited. It is also a time of acknowledging the Earth who has given of herself so abundantly during the summer and honoring her time to rest and renew in the quiet of winter. It’s just wonderful. I read a piece once about the beauty of our aging – it was likened to leaves in the fall when they are just about to die. At this time they are with their most beautiful color and brilliance. Just as aging brings with it the expression of our soul in its most beautiful brilliance and glory.
There are so many things I love about fall…the colors, the cooler weather, the decorations but my favorite are the smells. :o)
I think of Tasha Tudor in the fall and getting her Vermont homestead ready for winter and how I grab my journals and notebooks and start making lists for gifts for the holidays. What can I make, what do I buy, what would Tasha be making tonight by candlelight … I just get that nesting feeling, hibernate with books and slippers and socks while hubby makes a loaf of bread. We do take a trip to Ohio in our motor home always in October so I can admire all the amish farmhouses decorated. We also have the family all over for a cider pressing party and send them home with gallons to enjoy.
So many wonderful reasons to love Fall! I love the little chill in the air, just so I need to wear a sweater and socks (not so much that I need jacket and boots!) – I love baking again after a summer of over 100 degree temperatures. My fireplace, teapot and knitting – walks in the early evening when the sun is going down – the smell of wet leaves – and especially the colors of Fall!
My favorite thing about fall is going to a So. Cal community called Oak Glen! Here we buy apples, cider and crab apples to take home to eat, can and bake. It is beautiful there. A chance for lovely fall colors in Cal and delicious crisp weather. Did I mention the wonderful Apple Dumplings? What a glorious time of year!!
Fall is my favorite season! I love the gorgeous colors of the scenery that surrounds me … the trees, pumpkins and mums 🙂 Snuggling under a quilt and taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon is the yummiest!
The leaves changing color, the quilts to cuddle up in, the warmth from the wood stove as it gradually warms the house on a cold evening, the gathering with friends as the traveling of summer comes to an end, the foods that aren’t made all summer long, and shopping for the fall birthdays of the grandchildren and for Christmas.
Oh, Autumn… The smell of fires burning in neighborhood fireplaces, pies baking and cider being warmed on the stove; the sounds of leaves crunching and marching bands playing on football fields; the feel of the cool crisp air and the warm sun of Indian Summer on my skin at the same time – they all take me back to my youth in NW Ohio… How I wish Central Texas would cool off already!
It’s just breathing in the refreshing fall air – with all the spicy sweet scents of pumpkin pies, apple cider, ginger snaps. Seeing little ones excitement as they start school. Looking forward to cool nights, good books & hot tea. Football games, bonfires, hayrides. What’s not to love?
My favorite thing about autumn is that my wedding anniversary is September 25th! We went to a B&B in Vermont for our honeymoon. I imagine the beautiful countryside in my minds eye each year. Love the changing colors!
My favorite part of Fall is planning our annual Halloween party with my two sons and husband. We’ve been doing it for years, and even though my sons are teenagers now, it’s still a highlight of our year. We gather together and decorate the house and yard all spooky and scary and I make lots of creepy recipes and we pick out our costumes with care (even the Westies, Calvin and Teddy, wear costumes). Once the handmade invitations are out we sit back and wait to celebrate with our friends.
What I love about fall is football season, sweatshirts, socks and blankets. Watching the color of the leaves change and waking up to crisp morning air.
With love to you, Sweet Susan, for such a fun post ~ inspiring pictures and ideas on making October the BEST month of the year! Wow! What a giveaway (although even with no prize, I could not contain myself from answering this question!)
♥♥♥ It’s my absolute favorite month because it’s my ♥♪♫♪ birthday month ♪♫♪♥ ~ and everyone knows that your birthday month is your ♥ favorite ♥ ! How very delicious that apples are ready for harvesting to make pies and applesauce, the weather finally cools ~ there are brilliantly colored leaves , gorgeous mums!, sunflowers (still here in Virginia), pumpkins from the local church around the corner sale (pumpkins ALL over the lawn ) ~ even Hershey kisses are wrapped in autumn colored foils to celebrate
Watching “When Harry Met Sally” ~ “Random Harvest” ~ “Cranford” ~ “Poldark” on cooling nights ~ Even in our warmer clime, pulling out quilts, deeper toned linens, pillows, candles ~ decorating, decorating, decorating for coziness and birthday party for me to celebrate my friends and our friendships. And that’s really what makes October my favorite ~ a time to gather friends, take the birthday drive up north for visit with family ~ sharing my favorite birthday month with others ♥♥♥
♥♥♥Thanks for giving us all space to share our Octobers with you!!! ♥♥♥
♫ Happy Birthday to you Mari! ♪
thank you! You must be soooo enjoying all these wonderful posts!!! I’m at work, and I’m thinking that I want to take my laptop and a cup of tea tonight and just read through everyone’s posts and smile!
They are so amazing, I just keep thinking what a great little club we have!
There are so many things to love about the fall season….the cooling of the mornings and evenings after summers’ heat, the beautiful clouds that accompany the storm patterns that move in announcing that summer is moving on and autumn is on its way (and the BEAUTIFUL sunsets these produce!), the colors everywhere heralding this very special time – a call to quieter, more reflective days, the joy and smells of feeling free to use the oven again and not worry about heating up the house (mmmmm…..casseroles, pies, breads, etc….), the look on the children’s faces when they come home from school to the smell of good things cooking and a slice of fresh, warm homemade bread with butter and honey, and long evenings by the fire curled up with a quilt, a good book and a cup of tea and the wonderful company of family and friends…..ahhh!! What a gift autumn is!!
Amen! Isn’t it wonderful that we can reflect on our Autumn experiences
and express our gratitude?!! As I journey through life, I love Autumn more
and more for the lessons it holds in its’ days and the meanings it brings to
our hearts. Lessons of change…letting go…becoming more aware…using our
senses to meditate and appreciate life…lessons of silence and emptiness. Autumn invites us to listen…to wait.. and to enter into it’s mystery.
For awhile it will be our teacher .. encouraging us to look deeper into
ourselves and gather the gifts of love that have been given to us. When
Autumn leads us into Winter our hearts will be filled with love and
gratitude and joy and warmth!
Thought you might enjoy these words of George Elliot, I came upon today..
Delicious Autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird,
I would fly about the seeking successive autumns.
I often feel this way..You too, perhaps! Happy Autumn , Susan! You are
a gift!
correction…I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns,
Sorry! Thank You!
Being able to throw open the windows to enjoy the brisk cool fall air. Also, making a huge pot of chicken and sausage gumbo served with Jasmine rice and potato salad. There’s nothing better.
I have to say this has to be the most generous giveaway ever.
Thanks
I especially love my walks with Best Boy ( my black Lab) in the late afternoon. The leaves are crunchy, and if it’s windy..it’s “snowing” leaves that almost hurt your eyes from the dazzling color. We walk in to a warm ,cosy home, inhale your Bean soup ( from HEART OF THE HOME), make a pot of tea, and Best Boy warms my tootsies, while I knit in front of the fire. Couldn’t be any better! Besides, doesn’t everyone love their birth month?
Love your posts and I love us!
Awwww, Best Boy . . . love him already. Happy Birthday.
What fun! In Southern California it’s the hint of Fall in the night air, when the screen doors get closed at dusk instead of open all night. From that HOPE of fall comes the desire to turn on the oven again and BAKE. The house is closed up and the way it smells is wonderful!
My favorite thing about fall is going to the pumpkin patch with my children. We have been going to the same one for almost 25 years – it is at an organic farm – with a beautiful revolutionary era house, an old dirt road and there are chickens and farm animals roaming around. We always pick a late October afternoon and spend hours there. We pick so many pumpkins that we can bearly carry them up the hilly dirt road. I’ll miss summer (my favorite season) but we make the best of whatever season is here! Martha
Fall is spectacular!! The gorgeous colors, the nip in the air, getting out sweaters that have been packed away, fall recipes like pumpkin cake, and the anticipation of the coming holidays!! What more could anyone ask for?
Can’t think of anything better than sitting under that beautiful quilt with my kitty Maggie at my side, cup of tea in hand reading a good book ( REBECCA comes to mind) while the fire is crackling, wind and leaves swirling outside and a pumpkin pie baking in the oven. It all just fills the senses.
I love all the little ghosts and witches, princesses and super heroes at my door on Halloween night. Candied apples, spiced cider, caramel corn and one pot meals.
Oh how funny – I was just talking about a quilt for the bed in the quest room. I’ve been busy making it super cozy for this Fall/Winter!!! Autumn has always been my favorite season. Since I was a little girl I always said I wanted to be married in October (still waiting and believe me, I’m not a little girl anymore!!). I love clearing up the garden and putting away all my ornaments for next summer, washing up the furniture and storing it in the shed. Planting bulbs for Spring and decorating the house with all my Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations. I love, love, love it! I think it’s a nesting thing. Two years ago almost to the day I bought Lavender Cottage and it’s just part of the Autumn fun. I have tons of trees and bushes and critters (some that want to come inside…..) and I enjoy every minute of it right up to the first snowflake. This is my happiest time of the year. I think I need to go home and cook a pot roast tonight. That sounds about right!!
Mmmmm pot roast, yummy!
Boy! Wish there were pictures of Lavender Cottage! It must be just dreamy with a name like that, Margie!
Fall is the gateway to a season that brings families together! With the lovely weather and holidays that allow us to see people we love and miss; it has made me very sentimental this year I lost my mother to ALS last February and she has this special way of making this time of year magical and wonderful that when I was with her I felt like a little girl again and all the wonder of fallen leaves and making jam made you feel like you couldn’t be happier than you were eating toast with the ‘fruits of your labor’ piled on top! I see her spirit in every little dancing leaf and take my little children out to dance with Grammy! And laugh and realize she taught me how to spread and feel that same joy!
It gets dark earlier so evenings are long for stitching by the fire.
My very favorite season! The cool crisp air is like a reward from nature, everything about this season says heart and home to me; the colors, the scent, the crunch of leaves, the warm tastes. Love it!
As a September ‘baby,’ I love all of it: the colors, the scents, the flavors, and the activities. The quilt looks lovely! I always wanted to tell you that I used to live in McCook Lake, SD and that I want to travel across the country via train someday.
You know that’s where my Grandma spent her summers right? Of course you do. We have pictures. That’s so wonderful. xoxo Thank you! And Happy Birthday too!
Your blog today may be my newest fave thing about fall!! 🙂 Actually, I love the change of seasons and love decorating for them – mostly with my own quilts. I love it that the air conditioner isn’t on and the furnace hasn’t kicked on yet, so the house is quieter. I love opening the windows and feeling and smelling fresh air in the house. I love seeing the first tint of color in our local trees. And I love that I’m still hearing crickets chirping outside at night because we haven’t yet had our first frost here in Northern Virginia.
Mine too, if I ever, for an instance, thought I was alone in my thinking, it’s over now!
Girls: The air conditioner/furnace thing is the one thing I forgot to put down. I love listening to the outdoors…day and night. The peace is outstanding even with kids playing and dogs barking etc. It’s different from Spring.
The most scrumptious thing about fall … the baking smells! Particularly the aromas of cookies … pies … apple crisp … cinnamon … spices … mmmmm!! Did I mention warm apple crisp with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream on top?! Heaven! ♥
If I had to pick just one it would be all the beautiful colors – but really I love all of it: the colors, the leaves, pumpkins!, the first fire in the fireplace, baking – pies, cookies, pumpkin bars, the decorations, the cooler temperatures, the cozy clothes, watching movies, the geese flying overhead and getting ready for the holidays, Fall is the BEST!
Hi Susan,
I love the smells of Fall. Cinnamon,Apples,Squashes,Nutmeg and so many other wonderful smells. I have been reading cookbooks today planning some wonderful fall meals.Thank you for hosting this wonderful drawing. The quilt is beautiful.
Have a blessed day.
Elizabeth Quigley
Loved your post. Fall is my favorite time of year and I love so many things about it. The cool weather, the beautiful colors(although we dont get enough of that here in CA) using the fireplace, getting to snuggle under a well loved quilt, decorating my house are among a few of them. I also love to bake and making all kinds of pumpkin treats.
Autumn is my absolute favorite season! I love the colors of the trees, the smell of burning leaves, pumpkin pie and apple cider. The kids (and adults) indulging themselves on Halloween (I decorate more for Halloween than any other holiday). The cold, windy nights and the cool, sunny days. A good book to read on those cold evenings. Grilled cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate in front of the TV. And extra quilt on the bed at night. It’s just such a COZY season with Thanksgiving and all that it stands for following the fun of Halloween. How could anyone NOT love autumn?
…
Ah, Fall! This is when I thrive….a time to turn over a new leaf! second chances, here’s to a change in color, a change in the temperature of the air we breathe, a change in my outlook! what does this southern Cali girl love best about Fall? hands down, in every form, PUMPKINS!! pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkins to line up my walkway, Pumpkin spice cookies! and last but not least, “It’s the Great PUmpkin Charlie Brown”!
Fallin’ in love again 😉
I love our latest fall tradition: driving out to a pumpkin patch in the country and then bringing the pumpkins back for a family pumpkin carving contest, plus we toast the seeds for eating too. Once Halloween is over, there is always a pumpkin smash in the nearby community garden – the kids love throwing the pumpkins against a brick wall for a satisfying smash (and then it gets turned into compost).
I`m remembering my growing up during my Indiana years and kicking through those colorful Autum leaves…. all bundled up with my favorite scarf while walking to Kindergarden in my long black wool stockings and red wool cap with a tassel bouncing on my neck As we marched down the street both going and coming home , I remember the waves of multi-colored leaves , doing acrobatics as they were being spept by the wind off Lake Michigan ….what we liked more than anything were the smells — a combination of burning leaves and Pumkin Pies with Cinnamon ,Nutmeg and Cloves — wafting by us on the watery sunshiney breeze that was an everyday thing there in our little town near Chicago and knowing that my mom would have a steaming cup of hot cocoa waiting when I got home ….My autums were wonderful as a little girl These days I live out west and we can notice a bit of a seasonal change up here in the high desert. But as you know Susan being there on Marthas Vineyard …with your woods and your walks , as described in your previous commentary , with big ole Joe — there isn`t much can compare to the rapture of bright Fall day such as that …
we envy and love you both at the same time ……..jeanie
This was written by my Dad’s wife and my dear friend Jeannie, and wasn’t that beautiful? Love your little tassel, I can just see you in it now! 🙂 xoxo Love you both!
That was so sweet….I can picture that little red cap and black woolen stockings, too! Sounds like a wonderful friend you have there, Susan! (sorry I’m commenting so much…this all is so wonderful…and “fallish”! Love it!)
I grew up in San Fernando Valley at the same time you did! I lived just around the corner from you in Sylmar. Graduated in 1963 when the best thing about Fall was the football games between the local high schools! We got to stay out past curfew because the evening wasn’t complete until we cruised Bob’s Big Boy on Sepulveda Blvd!! Hmmmm, I can still taste those wonderful hamburgers!
Now I live up in the far east corner of California, we pastor a church and live by a river. The deer are plentiful in the fall and the trees present themselves in all their glorious colors. We coax the beautiful birds to stay with sunflower seeds, but the deer have figured out how to raid the feeders! It’s so different from Southern Calif up here. It gets cold enough to really appreciate beautiful quilts and snuggle up with my hubby! I love it!
I LOVE everything “autumn” but mostly sharing my autumn birthday with my autumn born Mom. I feel so blessed to have been born on what I am sure was a beautiful autumn day in Devon, CT. I lived in Connecticut for the first nine years of my life an d will always be an East Coast gal! The seasons in No. California are not the same with the exception of wonderful autumns! We have lovely big trees in our front yard that drop thousands of golden leaves every year. My Mom comes over just to walk/crunch through them. Add to that…pumpkins, crisp apples, cool breezes, and snuggling on the sofa under a patchwork quilt and reading a good book!
Happy Birthday to you and your Mom, Sharon!
I love the fall returning because all of the Snow Birds come back to Arizona for the winter. I can hardley wait to see all of my friends.
Autumn leaves me breathless with anticipation. Around every bend, I find scenery awash with color. Bonfires warm us when, close by, we are covered only by starlight and a radiant harvest moon. It is my time for reflection. Memories stir in the firelight and sparks rise to meet the stars. It is time to pull out the big soup pot and delve into favorite cookbooks for tried and true recipes. Time to freshen the quilts, layering extras on the beds for chilly nights. Cups of tea, held tightly in gloved hands, offer warmth and solace as I view my world through multi-colored glasses.
I love all the little ghosts and witches, princesses and super heroes at my door on Halloween night. Caramel apples, spiced cider, and one pot meals. The colors, the smell in the air, blue skies and early evenings. It refreshes and warms my soul like no other season can.
Trees changing color, leaves skittering down the street, a cozy warm home, spicy smells, a quilt on my lap (complete with kitties!) all are my favorites, I can’t pick one. But there is one day that says autumn is here, regardless of the month. Everything combines to make it a perfect fall day. The color and smell of leaves, the sky that just right shade of blue, pumpkins on porch steps,and clouds running with the wind. That day might come in September, October or November, and when it does that’s when autumn starts for me. My other favorite is watching the geese fly. My husband thinks I’m a little crazy (okay, so he could be right), but whenever I hear the geese honking overhead, I race outdoors to see them fly over. And, yes, I do wave at them! I found a poem in a magazine called “Wild Wings” by Ruby Stover. One line says,”must my heart ever ache when wild geese fly?” I can answer, yes, yes it does, but it is a heavenly feeling! From a sister with “earthbound feet but a sky-ward heart” (from the same poem), thank you dear Susan for sharing yourself with all of us!!!
P.S. Your books are always part of my holiday decorating! Love them, love them, love them! =^..^=
Love the summer because its warmer here(Netherlands)…but LOVE the cozynesh off fall the colors..warm jumpers/socks(I am cold very quickly)the nice burning fire…the whole feeling about it…picking the apples from my Bramley Seedling tree(maybe 70 years old i think)…making applesauce and apple pie so great with these apples…making jam off the last raspberry’s(the give fruit twice a year)…
so many things to love about …love the quilt too..such a great gift!
In the fall we always attend the local farms in our area. We love apple picking, hay rides, and experiencing making cider in an old press and how wonderful it tastes. Collecting leaves and walnuts (before the squirrels) and chestnuts.
It is so cozy with all the quilts and comforters on the beds. Homemade soups and pies, We also love to cheer at our high school football team. Go Tigers.
Thanks for always making our fall season so exceptionally special with all your pictures and ideas . You really are a treasure in our lives. Thank you again.
Thank you Jannine!
My favorite thing about Autumn is the change in weather! I LOVE the cooler days with the crispness in the air – such a relief from the stuffy hotness!!! And then, all the things that go with it – fall colors, putting out my candles, sweaters….
I LOVE the movie, “Suspicion”!!! And your firescreen is so beautiful!!
Hope you’re having a wonderful time in California!
Found it at a garage sale! Love Suspicion too, hope everyone gets a chance to see it. California is good, but I am too busy reading all these good answers to know it!
Yay! Secondhand things are the best!
Do you know how I can add my picture beside my name?
I haven’t done it myself yet, but I bet someone knows!
My favorite fall activity is the round-bale pumpkin painting party at my dad’s farm. We have a ton of food, take a late afternoon hay ride, and take lots of pictures of the kids and family! I also love cutting my beautiful flowers just before the first frost… zinnia bud vases all through the house! Thanks for your kind and generous giveaway… can’t wait to see who wins! So fun!!
I love the shades of autumn colors — indoors and out! I love that pumpkins show up everywhere — in my garden, on porches throughout the neighborhood, in fields that I drive by, piles in front of the grocery store and in piles of minis inside too! I love the feel of flannel sheets and that on Saturday morning, you can pull those sheets up and stay tucked inside the warmth they provide, while the crisp morning air drifts in through a slightly opened window. Autumn brings out our nesting instincts and brings us together more than any other season. Autumn is beautiful!
Dear Susan,
You nailed it! “Fall” is the best time of the year….in our humble opinion. I love all the things fall. My very favorite thing about fall brings me back to my childhood…….burning leaves! There is something so magical, so romantic when I smell leaves burning. Childhood memories! Not many places allow this anymore. But this wonderful smell just sends me back in time when life was simple; we would rake the leaves out into our little neighborhood streets and watch them smolder. I was born in 1948; your mixing bowls, aprons & vintage kitchens remind me of life in the 1950’s…..I think I can smell burning leaves now. Thanks, Susan!
Crisp fall air, sugar cinnamon donuts and carmeled apples! Yum!
I love getting back into a routine – bell choir practice at church, a class at my husband’s college, volunteer work. Kathie L in Allentown
Oh my! I think you’ve mentioned all my favorite things here already. Even the cinnamon toast, and don’t forget the apple pie! September is also my birthday month—a most wonderful time to celebrate that too.
BTW: Hope you enjoyed the street fair in Costa Mesa–I used to live there long ago (back in the 70’s) in a little cottage on the bluff, overlooking Huntington Beach. Thinking about you guys there made me smile and brought back many memories.
Happy Birthday Vicki! xo
Living in the south, many times our summers are real scorchers! So when fall arrives, it’s so wonderful to have the crisp clean air, the mild mornings and evenings, taking a drive up to the mountains to see the leaves change to those glorious colors, and pick apples or buy them already picked at the stands alongside the road. Everything is more beautiful in the fall. I also wanted to tell you that’s a lovely quilt, and the winner will be ecstatic when they discover they’ve won. That will be one lucky person. Great giveaway. Thanks for your generosity.
You are more than welcome!
Susan, thanks for this wonderful opportunity! Just thinking about what I love about fall is a reward in itself. I love the smell in the air when the leaves have started to fall when I’m out walking our Sheltie Oscar, the sound of the fallen leaves under our feet, and the look of the trees with the bare branches starting to show through the turning leaves. And then, of course, coming home to a warm and cozy house. We are very lucky!
My husband is from S.E. Kansas & the biggest celebration is “Neewollah” (Halloween spelled backward)…everyone decorates, there is a festival, a parade and of course “Queen Neela”…now we live in Northern California ranch country near the coast and watch for the “Pumpkin Patch” to open each fall. Busses bring school children from town to the farm and they pick their own pumpkins…they can even milk a cow and learn about the farm! It reminds us of Kansas and the tradition that is part of Fall in the midwest. Of course, molasses cookies are part of our Fall too!
I love fall for the crispness in the air and also the smell of leaves being burnt by my neighbor. Fall always is the time for soup making, pumpkin pie and baking of all sorts and acorn squash. Your quilt looks wonderful and if I won it I would use it as a tablecloth. I use most of my quilts as tablecloths, that way I can enjoy them all the time.
What a generous giveaway! I would very much love to be the new caretaker of this lovely quilt. Please put my name in the hat. My favorite thing about fall is because it’s soup/stew season. I can’t wait to get a big pot of chili or soup going the first sign of a chill in the air!
Fall is my favorite season. It is hard to say what is the best part about fall with the changing of leaves, the smell of wood burning and the beautiful harvest moon. But I think I would have to say that it is Halloween night when the leaves are on the ground and the little ones dressed in funny, scary and pretty costumes come swishing up to the door. That Sound is Fall. My daugter who is now in her 30’s with a 2yr. old of her own would never let us rake the leaves until after halloween. She always said a part of fall and Halloween is the swishing and rustling of the leaves on that fun night as little feet came through the yard. The amazing things our children show us through their eyes.
Precious Cindy!
If I had to pick just one thing about this season, and that is hard, picking just one thing. If I had to pick it would be how families seem to come together, to renew relationships and to truly enjoy time together.
I love the long shadows across the lawn in the afternoon. I love driving in leaf showers. I love the memories of falls past and the anticipation of the coming season. I love the scent in the air of the first wood burning fire in the neighborhood; and I think most of all I love the colors of Fall. Most importantly,
I am grateful for the senses to enjoy it all.
1. The beautiful colors of Autumn! Deep rusts, golden yellows, burnt oranges, and brilliant reds!
2. Sausage soup with pumpernickle bread!
3. Cooler temperatures with no humidity!
4. Boots and capes!
5. A whole new array of different flowers!
6. And then Indian Summer arrives for one last fling. It’s glorious!
Every season has its own magic. Fall is a drawing in closer to one another to snuggle and just sit back and watch mother nature work magic with colors. Nothing better than sitting under a tree listening to the breeze rattle drying leaves and hearing acorns falling. I love to listen to the crows fussing off in the distance in the mornings, vocal geese flying south, watching butterfies searching for another taste of necter. Hearing the combines harvesting in the quiet of the evenings just before dark. Everything around is busy in its preparations for the next season–enjoying the last bit of sunshine and warmth before old man winter makes an appearance.
Susan it used to be going home to Virginia to enjoy the wonderful fall colors and mom and I made that trip over the North Carolina mountains to visit family in Charlotte where the weather was so much warmer for those few days. It was sweet to go from the brisk fall air to the pleasant warmth of seeing family in Charlotte.
Brisk days, warm homes, smell of leaves burning, enjoying walking in the crunchy leaves, baking smells in the kitchen, rosy cheek children coming in after walking home from school, the freshness of everything, putting on a cozy wool sweater, smelling clothes fresh from the outdoor pulley line, a feeling of love around the table with everyone home, birthdays (mine, my brothers, two of my sons, and my father-in laws plus my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary…now I can add a granddaughter and a great grandson to the list). The cleanliness of fall and the joy of going on daylight saving time to have just a little more light in the daytime.
The coziness of a throw blanket of wool to wrap around you while you finished an interesting book, etc. It was my favorite time of the year……
Your love for quilts brings me back to those my mom had made and were always on our beds. My eldest daughter hand quilted us a kings size quilt from fabric scraps of mine and also made two pillow covers for throw pillows. We use it often. It was truly a gift made with love. They tell a story of times when mothers had to use any scrap of material they had to cloth and keep their family warm; nothing was wasted.
You are such a ‘real person’ in today’s phony world.
With gratitude,
Sylvia Faye
xoxo — thank you!
I live in New England. What’s NOT to love about fall?? The colors, the sights, sweater weather!, apple orchards and hay rides, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, my birthday, my anniversary, and my daughter’s birthday are all in October (5th, 20th, and 17th respectively). The shorter days make for cozy evenings. Hot soups and stew. I love the smell of woodstoves and bonfires in the air. Mmmm….
Last fall I hosted a Flat Stanley for a second grader from Texas and had a lot of fun going around sightseeing with him. I even discovered a trail in the woods deep in color I want to go back to and walk again in a couple of weeks! Visit from Flat Stanley
It has to be the lighting – the way the sun comes in low and intensifies the blue skies. Fall leaves, to crunch and dance around in. The jeweled colors of cozy sweaters and crazy quilts and flannel p.j.’s. Susan Branch’s Autumn Cookbook – Corn Pudding – and homemade Hot Cocoa and Marshmallows and her dazzling painted pictures and recipes! Homemade pear tarts w/ pure almond paste. Homemade Pumpkin Pies and Irish Stew. The table set with brown and white Wedgewood plates and colorful napkins and candles. The annual Chili Cook-off at my cousin’s Ranch (set down in the turning Cottonwood trees). Pumpkins set out next to blooming burgundy and golden mums. So, so, SO very much to be THANKFUL for!!
So hard to pick just one thing about my favorite season, the smell of the leaves, the crispness to the air, that back-to-school feeling (even though I haven’t been in school in 30 years!), and the aroma of my all-time favorite recipe (yours) baking in the oven…Cranberry Apple Crisp!
For me I love to cook a great soup or a pot of beans. That way the house smells sew good. And then put on an old movie and and work on one of my sewing projects. And if it’s raining outside it’s even better. You know our weather on the central coast.
There is not one thing that I don’t love about fall. Little did I know that the best thing in my life would happen in the fall. My dearly beloved husband asked me to marry him in October. We both thought we would never marry again, I was very admant about it I thought. I was wrong. I said yes We had a glorious seven years before he became sick. Even though he is no longer here physically with me he is with me every day. And in the fall it is very special. The memories seem to be even sharper. Fall gives me that gift.
Oh! Forgot to include: every year since we’ve been married (20+ years), I’ve spent a weekend in Wisconsin making applesauce from local apples, as my husband loves applesauce. Last year, two bushels’ worth. It makes me happy doing it, and I love seeing all those quart jars of applesauce, lovely and pink.
Autumn/Fall is my favorite season of the year! All those gorgeous leaves in multihued colors……the smell of burning leaves……pumpkin pies on the shelves cooling……..and my favorite pumpkin stew cooking with all those yummy scents floating in the air! These are just some of the things I love about this time of year…..the quilt is gorgeous and I would love to win it and snuggle under it this year!Thank you for such a generous giveaway……..
Lovely, lovely post Susan. I love all the things you have mentioned. The fire in the fireplace, oil lamps, baking more….It is a beautiful season! Thanks for the reminder. Am enjoying being along with you on your adventure…A beautiful day to be in So. Cal.
It sure is!
Having grown up in a neighborhood of mostly boys, leaf piles meant reinacting scenes from favorite horror movies (a variation on hide and seek). Someone would get buried, then become the monster looking for its prey. I also loved being called in to set the table just when it was getting dark and you could smell the aromas of everybody else’s dinner.
I love Fall anticipation …halloween, football games, the first rain here in the Bay Area – so many things to look forward to.
~ Oh Leaves Oh Leaves of deepest burgundy and brightest orange, where oh where shall we meet? Looking for you on every street ~
~Love the cool brisk breeze on blustery sweater kind of day…. blue skies with billowy clouds that have a hint of silver around….. the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin spice….
~But the colors, oh the colors, so warm and cozy. L-O-V-E AUTUMN.
~Sitting on the swing in my backyard wrapped in a cozy blanket with some spiced tea to drink….. just gazing at the beautiful sky, trees and flowers…. while kittys play gleefully….
I love everything about fall – unfortunately (for this time of year…not unfortunate in wintertime) I live in Florida! I love to plan a trip to Virginia and North Carolina to see my daughters and their families – and especially enjoy the fall weather, leaves falling, the delicious smells of outdoors in the fall. I love the colors, apple cider, pumpkins all over, and the feelings of gratefulness to our creator for such a beautiful season. And I’ve loved every one of your posts – I feel like you are writing FOR me! Thanks.
I actually feel like that too!
Going for fall walks with my honey while looking for treasures-acorns and leaves for decorating!
My favorite fall thing: the extra hour we get (due to daylight savings) that allows me to celebrate my Fall wedding anniversary even longer!
Thanks, Susan, for allowing us to share with you our special thoughts and ideas!
I think one of the things I love most about fall here in northern California is going to the Farmer’s Market to experience the change of the seasons through produce. As the tomatoes, corn and stone fruits of summer make way for the squashes, beans, mushrooms and pumpkins of fall, I look for new recipes featuring the beautiful autumn veggies that are available. I also enjoy thinking about the tasty, fragrant soups I’ll make this winter with the bargain boxes of tomatoes and corn that I freeze now. Since I have no place for a garden, the Farmer’s Market allows me to remember my gardening days back East, smell the earthy smells of fall and cook with the freshest of produce.
Snuggling with my hubby ofcoarse!
It was the first week of October, 34 years ago when I moved into a new apartment building on my own…met my next door neighbor in the elevator…we have been married 33 years now! This is my favorite time of year and I think the most romantic!
♥
PS…the best part of coming to this post late is reading what everyone else wrote…I agree with all of them!
Fall Favorites…crisp apples, plump pumpkins, red maple leaves, cooler weather, soup for supper! 🙂 Thanks Susan for inspiring us all!
I live in sunny Florida but I still love fall. About mid September I get the urge to put up my fall decorations. We don’t get to see the leaves change and I still miss that. I love to bake that first batch of beautiful moist pumpkin bread – one for us and one to share. Most of all I think I love fall because of the anticipation of all the holidays that follow and a time to be with family and friends.
I live in Pennsylvania the trees are fantastic they really take your breath away. This time of year is my favorite because you just have to step back take a look at all the beauty God has given us to enjoy.
Hmmm…being from the most southern part of California (San Diego), I would have to go with smell and scent of crockpot cooking all day long; i.e., Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, Chili, all kinds of stews. AND being able to wrap a beautiful and soft scarf around your neck to take away the “sort of” chill. (I’m like 325th on this comment line and it just popped up; what an awesome following you have, Miz Susan!)
Awesome!!!
PUMPKINS – everything pumpkin. The color, smell, taste, sight and even touch of pumpkins!! We grow them, then go buy more at the apple orchard, then cook with them (pumpkin nut roll is the favorite – made one on the first day of FALL!!) and decorate with them. I love everything pumpkin (even my kitchen wall color is pumpkin) and will enjoy them thoroughly all the way through until Thanksgiving when we bake pumpkin bread, pie and more nut rolls – even pumpkin whoopie pies. Did I mention how much I love pumpkin?
Yes, I believe you did! Earlier one of the girlfriends mentioned pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips … doesn’t that sound gooooood?
IT SOUNDS YUMMY…Who has the recipe…Susan?
It was a couple hundred comments ago! I’m not sure, but when I was reading it, I wrote back and asked her for the recipe, so maybe we’ll hear from her again!
I suffer with S.A.D. so I have to work hard to stay upbeat and cheerful as our days get shorter! I DO love that the days are cooler (Texas and we were GLAD to say goodbye to those triple digits!!!) and that the roses will start to bloom again. It is cooler enough to work in the yard and visit the municipal gardens. And eat outside. See, there are sooo many blessings that come with the autumn! Thanks for the giveaway, too! I love quilts!
Did you read my little SAD blog? I have it too … scroll down 4 or 5 posts . . .
Yes! I did read your post. Sooo, I just now went back and read it again. 😉 I don’t have a light box but I DO try to be outside EVERY day for at least 15 min during daylight hours. NOT a hardship. I love being outside. And EXERCISE.
BTW, I love, love, love your books. And now your blog. Do you ever get to Texas for the Roundtop Antique Event?? Thanks for all you do to keep your fans happy people–you spread sunshine, you know.
I’ve always wanted to go to Roundtop, but haven’t made it yet! Thank you for your sweet comments!
I love it all but clambakes on the beach are my favorite!
My favorite part of Autumn is my husband and my anniversary (27 years this Nov), my daughter’s birthday, fall leaves, puffy white clouds, fire in the fireplace & the smell of the air…(you didn’t say I have to pick just one).
For me, the best thing about Fall is that very first Sunday afternoon fire, when the rain and chill seem to be felt all over the house- a snapping fire, a mug of steaming coffee/tea, Vivaldi playing while I’m snug under a quilt on the couch watching the leaves swirl outside and stitching away on the handiwork project of the moment. (and ideally a furry friend is on the couch with me, but they prefer the closer spot to the fire)
I love FALL…and it brings on the urge to make SOUP and CHILI….and I love quilting, or at least piecing quilts …and I LOVE LOVE vintage quilts of any kind and color. WHAT a fun thing to do, making a quilt available for some lucky person. Personally, I do not see how you could part with it…but that is so YOU, generous spirit that you are.
Makin me cry.
Thanks, Susan
I love the cooler evenings and gorgeous sunsets here in Colorado. It’s so nice and cozy to sit and drink a hot cup of spiced tea and watch the sky turn blazing colors of gold and orange.
I love the clear crisp cooler days of Fall in Southern California. The foggy overcast days are gone and the ocean views are amazing! The shorter days allow for more family time with my husband and our 2 daughters. Even though it does not get very cold here, we love to make soups and stews and enjoy them by the fire. This is my favorite time of year!
Love the blog!
One of my favorite things about fall are the colors. Green, gold, orange, red, there are so many. No matter which direction you look it is hard to miss the colors of fall.
Fall has always been my favorite season…love the colors of nature and the coziness of the fireplace in the evening while we enjoy hot ceylon tea and banana nut bread. This year I have an extra reason to enjoy the season as we will accompany our new little grandaughter on her first trip to the orchard and pumpkin patch.
My favorite season, as so many have said before me. And this year, we have a new treat..Susan’s blog to read every day! What fun..you make us really appreciate the simple things that make life wonderful: gorgeous autumn colors, cozy kitchens with scents of pumpkin and cinnamon, sweaters and sweatshirts, longer evenings by the fire reading or hand-sewing, with kitties on my lap….thank you, God!
One of my favorite fall activities is going to our hometown high school football games on Friday nights. When we lived in Washington and Montana we brought blankets and hot chocolate. Now that we are living in central California the kids wear shorts and eat snow cones. 🙂 Either way, we love supporting our team and my husband-a coach!
I love absolutely everything about Autumn!! My husband and I love the season and will celebrate our 15 year anniversary in October! One of my favorite things to do each fall is something that my father and I did when I was a child, which is to burn a crisp leaf (carefully, of course) and enjoy the woodsy aroma! We call it the burning of the ceremonial leaf, and it is a tradition that I look forward to all year long!!
I love the change in weather (course today it is 100 degrees in Southern California), our leaves don’t change until January so I instead make it Fall through baking yummy Autumn recipes, with pumpkin, cinnamon, and anything else that we can eat to make us pretend it’s cool outside! 🙂
Here’s something different, Susan. What I love about fall is – when all the leaves are down and the tree branches are bare – on each branch are several little bumps that hold the buds for next years leaves. They are the promise of spring – that life will be renewed again, and what has always been will be again. Through the long winter I watch those little bumps on the branches and await their awakening. It’s a sign that life will go on after nature’s beautiful farewell – Autumn!
Fall in Southern California is quite a bit different that most of the country, but I put out the gourds, pumpkins, fall fragrance candles, fall colored leaves, the works! One of my favorite things about Fall are cooler nights, baking and homemade soups for dinner! You inspire me, Susan Branch, to enjoy all the little things in life! Thank you!
Thank you too Paula!