The Cozy Chronicles

Linking up with Jennifer for the Cozy Chronicles. It's a fairly new monthly link up and this month's prompt is preparing our hearts and home for fall.

I like that the prompt includes preparation in two very different and distinct ways: preparing our homes and our hearts. The one is super superficial (but fun!) and the one is so much deeper. I love "fluffy" things but deep as well (in a variety of genres such as books, movies, blog reading and writing, etc.)!! Unfortunately, I don't have too much to offer in either category, but I will share what I have. 

We still have a few calendar days left of summer and here in southwest Ohio, we have the next several days of summer weather as well. Temps are going to be in the 80's for the next week. We are also experiencing a pretty severe drought. But, of course, fall will arrive in calendar form and weather wise as well. We normally have some lovely fall weather for most of October and I am looking forward to it. 

Around the home, like many, I display pumpkins decor and some festive lights. With daylight ending earlier and earlier, the addition of lights is nice because there is more time to enjoy their ambiance. A couple of years ago, I embraced a unique aesthetic for the kitchen and that is "blue pumpkins." It is what its name implies- simply decorating with motifs and actual pumpkins (obviously fake!!) of blue pumpkins. 

Blue pumpkins

This may be too much- I reserve the right to change my mind and move these elsewhere :).

Speaking of the kitchen, I would love to say that I bake more in the fall than in other seasons, but I am not sure that is true. I probably do more baking in the fall than in the summer but I am not sure of that; I tend to bake for occasions such as get togethers with friends and those occur as much in the summer than other seasons. I like the concept of baking more in the fall. One thing that I will miss that I used to have is a pumpkin cookie jar that I displayed in the kitchen. It was my usual tradition to fill it with something baked when I first displayed it (I did not keep it filled throughout the season- I'd be 400 pounds if I baked treats non-stop!). I broke the jar on accident when I was putting it away for the season last year. Hmm, perhaps I could get a new one- a blue one :). (The old cookie jar was orange.)

The two trees in our front yard have finally grown fairly large with beautiful verdant leaves to provide shade and beauty in the spring and summer. In the fall, the leaves take a turn to cerise before they make their descent and land at the bottom of the tree. Last year, I enjoyed photographing the trees. When I walk down our stairway, the trees are all I see out our big front window. Last fall, unless I looked down every time I walked down the stairs, there was no way to fail to notice the changes to the trees over the course of the fall. I enjoyed taking these photos and I plan to take them this year as well. 

I took this photo last Sunday morning to show how green the leaves still are, with just the tiniest hints of color changing. My plan is to photograph it every week to track pictorially the changes to the tree over the course of fall. 

The temperature is too warm now, but it is time to think about getting comfortable and cozy when cold weather hit us. To that end, I utilize throw blankets and think about getting my dog bed out from the corner of the family room that it is currently in. Wait a minute, dog bed? When did we get a dog? We don't have a dog. The operative word is MY dog bed!! The bed is a small one that Donnie bought for me to sit in when I sit literally in front of the fireplace. We have tiles in front of our fireplace and they are not super comfortable. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to see me turn the fireplace on (it's gas...) and sit right in front of it in the fall and winter (and spring on cold days). The cushion of the dog bed is as good a way as any to keep tactility comfortable.

As for preparing my heart for fall, I am not sure how I do this. I know that I look forward to fall every year. That is about it for preparing my heart for it :).