Life is Good

Things have been busy around here lately, well, actually its almost always busy around here because I like to stay busy.  But, perhaps this time of the year, that busy-ness gets upped it a notch or two with thoughts of Christmas around the corner.  I like to make as many presents as possible and this year, I am making about 90% of the gifts we are giving.  Which means, if I don't want some sort of mad rush towards the week of Christmas, my hands are busy from the first of October.  One major project is done and wrapped and I am on to the next, but in between, I decided to make a couple of quilts for me.  A small machine pieced quilt for the cradle, which all the grandchildren still climb into, the bigger ones squeezing in with laughter, and then a quiet contentment that often leads to an unplanned nap with bent knees.   The second quilt, just a simple pinwheel design, with fall colors.  That one may not be hand quilted until after Christmas !  
We have had a few cool mornings, not cold yet, just cool.  Cool enough to motivate me to clean the wood stove and blacken it for another season of heavy use.   I love all the preparations for winter, its the New Englander in me.  Knitting hats and socks, and sweaters in the evening while Emery and I sit together chatting about the day and our plans for the future.  Its almost impossible for me to sit for very long without having my hands busy on a project.  
Cold season has arrived in these parts and what a blessing it has been to sip some of the Elderberry juice I made this year from our very own elderberry bushes !  Not only does this juice taste wonderful, thanks in part to a touch of honey, but its a powerful anti-viral, warding off all the nasty bugs going around.  Each morning, Emery and I toast each other to good health as we enjoy a wee bit of the sweet dark juice.    God is good in giving us things from the land to keep us healthy.   Again, "life is good".