Fall Nesting

Melissa, over at The Inspired Room, is running her 2009 Fall Nesting Week to inspire us all to enjoy the season and to bring that enjoyment into our homes.  I have been so excited ever since she started giving us notice that this week was coming. 

One of her suggestions was to read her "20 Things To Love About Fall" list and then to write your own.  Such fun!  Here's mine:

1.  the quality of the sunlight

2.  the smell of burning leaves

3.  acorns and chestnuts

4.  the smell of cooking applesauce

5.  Thanksgiving

6.  cable-knit sweaters

7.  plaid wool blankets

8.  cinnamon

9.  big pots of mums

10.  Indian corn

11.  cool evenings under a warm blanket

12.  misty mornings

13.  the smell of turkey

14.  piles of leaves

15.  looking at the light in house windows on a dark evening

16.  the excitement of little kids trick-or-treating

17.  freshly baked pie

18.  farm stands of pumpkins

19.  the shape and colour of gourds

20.  feeling thankful

I would like to do a second list - things I want to do this fall:

1.  put big pumpkins outside the front of the house

2.  take Pk to the pumpkin farm

3.  change the route I drive home from work so I can drive by my favourite pumpkin stand

4.  cook turkey for Thanksgiving

5.  take Pk to pick apples

6.  decorate the front of the house and the dining room

7.  make hot cider in the crockpot to scent the house

8.  go for at least one walk with the dogs in the forest

9.  take lots of photos

10.  get up early and sit on the porch on a cool morning to drink tea

I always decorate for fall.  I am trying to do more each year.  This is our front stoop last year.  The front of our house is ugly but with our fall decor, it really improves and looks more welcoming.  Last year, we got cornstalks, bales of hay, pumpkins, gourds and mums.  My only complaint was that I love the deep crimson mums but they were sold out by the time I got around to buying them.  It looked wonderful.  I hope to do something similar this year.

Inside, I keep most of the decorating to the dining room.  I love linens and tablecloths and I love the rich colours of fall.  I have several deep burgundy table cloths, a pretty runner with embroidered leaves with matching placemats and dish towels that I always put out.  If I can, I gather acorns and chestnuts to fill a pretty glass bowl and I use beeswax candles, which fit my colour scheme and smell wonderful as they burn.  We don't do much Halloween decorating (other than a couple of Jack O'Lanterns), it just seems so limited after the rich autumn colours and the wonderful smells.  Of course, that may change a bit as Pk gets older but only to a small degree - I find the over-the-top goulishness bothers me.  I don't mind other people doing it, I just don't see tombstones on my front lawn as being up my alley.

When it comes down to it, for me, fall is all about colour and light.  There is just something about the sun that goes from a hot white light in the summer to a warm, golden glow in the fall that makes everything look prettier.  As things chill outside, it is so wonderful to bring that warmth indoors.
And of course, I can always rely on Dh to keep things from becoming too serious...