Free Fall Advice: 4 Ways to Welcome Winter

Back from my late summer holiday and a short trip to the Okanagan Valley and I am tucking in for fall. What can I say about fall? So love the turning of the season - long, warm days getting shorter and turning into clear, cool nights...

The vibration of excitement in the air: for some back to school and for others the planning out of winter projects. Work is serious again and I become industrious about organizing home, office and garden. I am much more inclined to resolution in September than in December - what about you?

Here are 4 ways I am welcoming winter at my house:

1. Organizing my books: Yes. I mean it this time. I have books in every room of the house. Shelves full of them, stacks tucked away in closets and cupboards, borrowed books waiting to be returned to rightful owners, bedside books on the bureau, cookbooks in the kichen (by the baker's dozens!) paperback thrillers in bags to send to my uncle, many patient volumes awaiting winter reading (or possibly spring!), and more books on the way from those lovely online providers ... this will result in the Great Fall Book Giveaway. Friends, look out. (Readers: send me one of your fall resolutions and I'll send you a lovely used book).

2. House Weeding: House weeding is a term coined by my friend and fellow-blogstress barnesgirl, and it is just what it sounds like. Winnowing through cupboards, closets and drawers and getting re-organized or ridding yourself of unloved junk and generally smartening the place up. My triumphs: t-shirt & nightie drawer, landry-room cupboards and - yes, under the kitchen sink! More to come.

3. Changing up housewares: With the changing of the seasons, I like to change up bedding, dishes, draperies and other household sundries. I stash away my cheerful fruit-patterned Mikasa and bring out my more sedate ceramics. Light summer sheets get replaced with cozy flannelettes and bright pillow-covers are exchanged with serene neutrals.

4. Watching Season Two of Larkrise to Candleford - (after all this is a blog about idleness). One of my guily pleasures is getting DVDs of favourite shows and watching them end-to-end night after night. Regular television pales in comparison - especially when it is feel-good period drama! My hubby bought me Season One of this charming British series for my birthday in the spring and Season Two arrived in the middle of summer. We both agreed to tuck it away for winter pleasure. The anticipation!

Don't forget: send me (via comment ) one of your great fall resolutions, activities or goals, and I'll send you a gently used book. Please include your email address so we can communicate directly :)

Link to information about Larkrise to Candleford: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lark_Rise_to_Candleford_(TV_series)

Link to Barnesgirl's blog: Time to Spend - http://barnes-girl.blogspot.com/

Browsing through Books: Summer Reads

In a few weeks, hubby and I will be setting off for a week of holidays - these will be during the dog days of summer and we are hoping to enjoy long, slow days of reading, walking, cycling and - of course - cooking, canning and eating. We will be housesitting for friends who have an acreage, near the seaside. Our lucky friends are touring France and we will look after their garden and rabbits and spend our days beachcombing, picnicking and visting local farms and market stalls to check out the fresh produce, cheese, fruit and seafood.

(I started out to blog about books and ended up on food. How does that happen?) Anyway I am gathering up my summer reads so I will have a good stock of books beside me on the deck, at the beach, and on the bedside table. My picks:  The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger (a period novel is a must-have!), The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (a kind of travel book, involving the search for happiness - for some reason, I love to read travel books when I'm on holiday - and I do love vicarious epiphanies!), The Tenth Muse, My Life in Food by Judith Jones - a memoir (about food, food-writing, Julia! - say no more) and Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey - (yes, this is a work-related book. I am heading to Harvard for a coaching conference in September and have signed up for a workshop with the author: Very Excited and Want to Be Prepared.)

I'd love to hear what you are reading this summer! Sign up with a google account and follow my blog and we can share book recommendations. Book club starts again the fall!