gather. {drive-by inspiration}

Because I love house-y things, and because I loooove fall, I make sure to allow time for a little drive-by fun to gather some autumn inspiration. (Actually, we do "drive-bys" in every season, but fall is my favorite!)

The girls and I grab our pumpkin spice iced coffees, and off we go in search of beautiful houses and pretty fall wreaths and pots of mums and piles of pumpkins. Often we find that the most "beautiful" homes are not the biggest or grandest, but the ones that are welcoming and well-loved. 

I loved the little pumpkin line-up over this transom window. Of course, I am also swooning over the color of the trim and that molding and those lanterns. 

This porch looks inviting, doesn't it? Maybe I'd sip a cup of apple cider on a crisp autumn evening. 

The yellow door pops, and works well with autumn color.

This is one of our favorite houses in any season!

Lancaster County offers lots in the way of house-y inspiration! Those folks do autumn well!

Love me a pile of pumpkins!

How about those window boxes filled with autumn bounty?

I saved my favorite drive-by shot for last.

This is a house on our regular route through a nearby town, but as we drove past that day, taking in all the fall decor, we noticed a little something extra special. Do you see him? 

I wonder how much they had to pay him to decorate their autumn porch?! Perfect! 

Do you ever go on rambling drives, looking for house-y goodness?

This is day 17 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {for morning time}

Gathering for Morning Time is one of my favorite parts of our homeschool day.

In the first year of my blog, I talked about Morning Time...what it is, how we do it, and why we do it:

Several years ago, I stumbled across an idea that breathed new life into our homeschool. “Morning Time” has become an anticipated and much-loved part of our day, and I believe that we are all the richer for it. It is a simple idea, and yet it is profound. I first read about “Morning Time” one summer on Cindy Rollins’ blog, Ordo Amoris (which is always full of mind food). She wrote about the benefits her family has reaped by dedicating a small amount time each morning to learning the things that she had deemed important. Cindy shared this childhood poem to illustrate what she was trying to accomplish: Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean, And the beauteous land. She wrote, My Morning Time is a way to collect little grains of sand. It should not be a way to complicate life but a way to simplify it. When I read this, I knew that this was something I wanted to do! You see, there were things that I wanted my children to learn (actually, I wanted to learn too!), but they were things that were too often overlooked or put off for another time. I wanted my girls to know the words to “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”, to recite Psalm 100, to recognize Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, to recite “The Swing,” to begin each day with the Living Word...and “Morning Time” seemed to hold an answer. So come the beginning of our new school year, we gave it a try. And, several years later, it remains an integral part of our day and (I am repeating myself here) we are all the richer for it.

Homeschooling mom, if you want your students to memorize Scripture or view great art or read poetry or learn Shakespeare, consider setting aside a bit of time each day for your own Morning Time. (Yours can look entirely different from ours; you will include those things that you deem important.)

Our Morning Time for this autumn looks something like this...

BIBLE READING
This year we will be reading through various books in the Bible that correlate with our ancient history studies. Currently we are reading Genesis.

BIBLE MEMORY

First verse of the year: Galatians 2:20. (We will continue to review Romans 8 from time to time.) 

SING A HYMN

We are learning "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" by Isaac Watts.  We aim at memorization which usually takes 6 to 8 weeks per hymn.

POETRY RECITATION

Each of us recites the poem we're memorizing. Bekah has almost mastered “The Mirror” by A. A. Milne. She'll soon be ready to chose another poem. I am learning Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" and I am by no means ready to move on.  

POETRY EXPOSURE

I choose a poet to study for a time. We read a selected work of our chosen poet two or three days in a row and sometimes read a biography. Our poet for this term is William Shakespeare and we are reading from Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare.  

LISTEN TO A PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

This term we are listening to the music of Niccolo Paganini. We are reading Paganini: Master of Strings by Opal Wheeler.

ART APPRECIATION

We began this year (actually during our summer break) to study the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Kristin was teaching a unit on FLW to her children, and invited Bekah to join in some of the activities. (She was thrilled! One of the activities was to design a house!) She was so interested, we checked out a few books from the library, and watched a Ken Burns documentary on Wright. 

Currently, we are studying the art of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  Because we have recently read about the Tower of Babel, I have chosen his interpretation of the Tower as our first Bruegel painting. We are also reading What Makes a Bruegel a Bruegel?

The Tower of Babel
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563

And that's our Morning Time plan for this term.  Small investment, great returns!

This is day 16 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {pumpkin fool}

I have talked about pumpkins so often recently, that you probably think that I am the "pumpkin fool" referred to in the title of this post! But, although that may apply, the fool that I am talking about today is a super easy dessert. 

(Fool: a cold dessert made of pureed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard.)

Last evening, I gathered the ingredients for pumpkin fool using a recipe from a November 1988 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. Although I used to make this often (I even served it as a Thanksgiving dessert a few times), it had been so long that neither Kati nor Bekah had ever eaten it. 

I whipped up the dessert before I cooked dinner. I put four servings in dessert dishes from my Aunt Lynn, placed them on a wooden tray, grabbed this charming vintage table cloth (given to me by my dear friend Frances who knows me well), and took it out on the patio to catch some evening light for my photos. 

The girls were returning from a walk in the woods and Ron was in his shop working on a project, so after the photo session, we got all crazy and ate dessert first! (I suppose we were pumpkin fools!)

PUMPKIN FOOL

serves 8

2 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 30-oz. can pumpkin pie filling (not pumpkin puree)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 square semi-sweet chocolate, grated

* * *

In small bowl, with mixer on medium speed (I use my stand mixer), beat cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until stiff. 

In large bowl, mix pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Fold whipped cream into pumpkin mixture to create a marbled effect. 

Spoon mixture into dessert glasses or bowls. Garnish with grated chocolate.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This is day 15 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {to celebrate}

If you've read here very long, you know that we love to celebrate...and we never miss a birthday!

On Sunday, we gathered to celebrate my dad's birthday.  

The candles were "sparkling" candles. 

I hadn't really thought about what that meant. 

I simply liked that they were colorful and skinny and taller than the average birthday candle.

But when Gampy tried to blow them out, those crazy candles surprised us all and kept coming back!!

Birthday surprises can be fun! :)

Did you notice in the photos how his great-grandchildren are gathered around my dad, fully participating in the candle-blowing and the birthday-singing and the gift-opening and the card-sharing?

It brought to my mind this verse from Scripture...

"Children's children are the crown of old men." Proverbs 17:6

We are never sorry that we took the time to gather in celebration!

(If you'd like to read more about celebrations and how we do them, 

you might want to read my 2013 series CeLeBRaTe!!)

This is day 14 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {the many faces of Ben}

My camera could hardly keep up!

This is day 13 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {a time}

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Oh God of glory and grace, give me the grace to keep silent when that is right, and the courage to speak at the appropriate time. May I accept the time of weeping and mourning as peacefully as I accept the time of laughing and dancing. In all times, may I honor You and bring You the glory that You are due. I pray for the discernment to know one time from another, and the wisdom to choose wisely and rightly.

This is day 12 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {still life photos}

When Bekah (13) asked if she could arrange a vignette on the kitchen island, I told her to do it. I like to encourage my children's creative efforts in the home. It's great practice for them to learn to care for their future homes...and their touches of art and beauty delight our family now! 

After I saw her display, I thought of this month's photo challenge: Still Life.  I asked Bekah if she could set up her vignette out on the patio to take advantage of the natural light. Then we both took our cameras out and snapped up a storm! 

What? you ask. Another pumpkin?! (Insert sheepish grin.)

Here are a few of the shots I gathered...

(All photos were taken with my Canon Rebel T3. I edited in PicMonkey, increasing shadows.)

Here is one of Bekah's...

(Bekah's photo was taken with her Nikon Coolpix L320.)

Thanks to Donna for hosting another photography challenge! 

Click on the button below to see more.

What are you gathering this weekend?

This is day 11 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.

gather. {gift wrap supplies}

Today, I will be gathering supplies for ready gift wrapping. There are several birthdays coming up...not to mention that there will be Christmas gifts to wrap sooner than I'd like to think! 

I'll be wrapping a gift for this little guy today...our adorable grandson Ben who is now six!! 

Do you ever end up with a gazillion different gift bags, only to discover when you go to wrap a gift, that neither one of those gazillion is right? It happens to me all the time! I mean, you have to find the right size for the gift, the right occasion (can't give a kid's birthday gift in a wedding bag). Often, you need a gender specific bag, or an age appropriate one. 

I have tried to come up with a simple solution for the "gazillion gift bags" dilemma. I still have to toss or give away bags from time to time, but my system usually ensures that I will have the right supplies to wrap any gift without a last minute trip to buy a gift bag or wrapping paper. 

Here's what I gather...

A big roll of plain brown mailing paper. 

In my travels, if I see other variations on the brown paper theme (especially if they only cost a dollar!), I purchase them and add them to my stash. (Target's Dollar Spot is a good source for the variations.) 

Brown paper gift bags in different sizes. 

Variations are good here too, although I use the plain ones the most. 

Packages of colored tissue paper. 

If it's on sale, even better. I once found red tissue on clearance after Christmas. (What? Don't we use red after Christmas too?) It was 24 cents per package. I bought every one...and I'm using it still!

Gift tags that will go with the brown paper packages.  

A roll of jute...

...and/or spools of colored ribbon, raffia, or baker's twine. 

And there you have it! 

Collecting a little bit here, a little bit there...over time...keeping with my general theme...and I'm ready to wrap a gift lickety-split!

At Christmastime, I have a similar theme. I try to find large rolls of brown wrapping paper printed with red or green checks or with a natural Christmas design (pine cones, holly, etc.). I will pick these up as soon as I see them, whether it is in July or October. I add coordinating ribbon, and checked or solid tissue paper. I have a whole bag of gift tags that I have collected over the years, many of them at after-Christmas sales. 

photo by my friend Frances ~ 2013

2012

My daughter Kati has her own 31-day series this month: It's a Wrap! She is featuring some adorable gift wrap ideas...that are also quite doable! Click over to Kati's Little Corner for some creative gift wrapping inspiration! 

One of my favorites...

or is it this one?

This is day 10 in the series gather.  Click ~here~ to see more.