Where did the October go?

Burdock in our countryside orchard.

Oh, days of October. The most beautiful of them all. Time when leaves start to turn their hues to dark yellow, auburn, crimson red and brown. Time when days are filled with the same rhythms and smells, scent of brewing cacao with cinnamon on top, with sense of holding that warm mug on cold balcony and view of fog covering tiny house roofs. Time when riverbank is covered with wet, rainy sand and water is more wild with its moody waves. Time when beeswax candle is flickering auburn light in the early mornings and evenings when we are awaiting dark. Tablecloth spread over kitchen table, warm homemade bread sliced and ready for some rosehip jam and honey. Smells of ginger and lemon and chamomile tea. Mugs pulled more that ever before from our white, reused, old kitchen cabinet for making some warm potions. On the sidewalk, we hear footsteps and when we poke out from our balcony in the evening, we can already see patches of cold breath from people walking and talking by our building.

“His beard was all colors, a grove of trees in autumn, deep brown and fire-orange and wine-red, an untrimmed tangle across the lower half of his face. His cheeks were apple-red. He looked like a friend; like someone you had known all your life.”

~ by Neil Gaiman

This is how I feel about October and autumn. And just like Anne of Green Gables, I simply cannot think of world, of home and of time without October and its falling leaves. Just like I loved watching my grandfather, walking down the old stone road with his cane in his hand, a brown knitted waistcoat hugging his shoulders, a gray hat on his head and old boots on his feet, with a few gray hairs sticking out from under the brim of his hat, as he sits down on his wooden bench and listen to church bell under linden tree. I look forward to arrival of autumn with such curiosity and nostalgia. She always seems so familiar, so close to my soul, always welcomed across my doorstep as she sits quietly and then gently over time gives up her place to some white winter tales.

What I've been doing over these auburn October days?

Walking up and down this stone path.

Well, to start, for a whole month now I've been spending my mornings in the park with my little one. Now that darkness creeps through our windows a bit earlier than before, I wanted to really cherish those autumnal mornings and be in nature. Those mornings our feet were greeted with autumnal shoes and our shoulders with some warmer jackets. On his tiny head there was always his little yellow beanie. We would walk under golden leaves, along that moody riverbank, pick some twigs and some pebbles in our blue bucket and ramble around about our little wonders. Leaves would cling to the soles of our shoes, and drops of dew from the canopy would fall on our shoulders and cheeks. On our bike rides, we would only hear the rustle of a heap of leaves under the tires of bike wheel. Here and there we would hear the sudden fall of chestnuts and walnuts from the tops of tall trees. Crows and magpies cawed all around us and threw nuts with their beaks on the asphalt path to get to that tasty food inside.

Also, we've been reading a lot of picture books with our candle flickering on the living room table and hot cacao waiting to cool of in our mugs. My sweet boy was all in his pajamas around 6 PM, and not to lie you, I was often too. The sun would set with its marvelous colors early and quickly. We would be talking and talking about dark outside (you know, because kids love repeating stories and listening to them) and moving back to our reading and lighting our lamp too.

Basket full of apples.

At the beginning of October we were at the countryside with our families for a whole week. There we saw this moody and beautiful season creating its hues and poems along the winding paths and plum orchards. As I unpacked our bags with some summer clothes in it and a few fall pieces too, I looked through my bedroom window and saw our orchard changing its colors, our horse Lisa running over dark green fields and our small woodshed where my father was already picking wood logs to start first autumn fire. The evening when we arrived at my childhood home was really cold. And the other few days too. So we ended up wearing our warm clothes the most. We visited lake Sovsko, hiked up there with our little one, with my sister and her friend. There, we enjoyed the views of changing nature and falling leaves up on that hill and around that green water with tall sedge stems. In some places, a snake could be seen crawling quickly towards the beginning of the water, frogs were still croaking loudly, and here and there a small hawk flew over a stranded tree log. Each tree has its own wooden plaque with its name printed on it, and then on one big panel you can find descriptions and history of that tree. It was interesting to see trees completely unknown to my eye and to read some interesting facts about its beginnings and its long life. We spent some time at my grandma's old house, speaking with her, spending time with her and listening to her old stories, some of them involving me and my siblings when we were still living there and creating some childhood memories under the old mulberry tree. Begging my grandfather to try the mud cakes we would make for him, helping the family put harvested autumn corncobs in the house attic, exploring the little apple orchard above our yard and looking for backyard forest tunnels to make up new stories about later. It was a nice beginning of our little lives. And even now, I would rather, just like Henry David Thoreau, sit under that mulberry tree in chunky knits and with green muddy boots on my feet, seeing this autumn season with my loved ones, than on some nice cushion.

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

-by Henry David Thoreau

Candle season.

When we came back to our city apartment I was so ready for creating warmth, preparing little cozy corners and picking some recipes to warm our bellies too. Morning moments in our apartment are moments I cherish the most. When the sunshine splatter patches of red and orange color over my white kitchen table and when I hear those squeaky sounds of my old wooden floor I feel really pleased to greet and meet autumn here. I would wake up, jump in my wool socks, go on my balcony for a few fresh breaths while water is boiling for my tea. And my book, notebook and candle were awaiting me at the living room table for some gratitude journaling. I would observe, quietly and still, some tiny and some tall house roofs poking from the trees and trying to reveal itself from that early fog. When I open my door and meet simplicity in every corner of my little home, walls, some bare, some filled with loving photography pieces and my art, floor with some scattered toys, picture books in a basket and a tiny yellow stool for helping my little one reach that sink while brushing tiny teeth. Everywhere I look there are imperfections, but I love them, I cherish them and they feel familiar to my soul.

Christmas ornaments I made last year.

October is usually the start of creativity stage in my life. It always is. I guess autumn in an inspiration to me because I tend to create, repair, repurpose, mend and sew a lot during this season. So I would wake up every morning, staring for a minute or two at my living room gallery wall, at one dark red flower stalk that I saved from my wedding bouquet three years ago and inserted and framed together with our wedding photo. I stare at it and ideas about creation pass through my mind. I still have a lot I'd like to do before Christmas. Some Christmas decorations, white wool wreaths with golden bells, wool candy canes in natural colors, fabric Christmas mushrooms etc. I would love to mend Christmas bunny ornament I made last year. I would also love to sew a skirt for the Christmas tree, make new stocking for my little one and sew an advent calendar. I know, lots of ideas. Maybe too little time for it. But I'll try and take it day by day, night by night.

I already made some things for my home during October and organized a lot. I finally organized my stationery items and some crafting supplies with few small space solutions like toilet paper rolls, Masu origami paper boxes, paper sacks, metal clips and storage wooden boxes. I thought about sewing another canvas bag solution for my embroidery threads but at the end I decided to keep it for now in one small wooden box I found at Ikea. I also repainted my father's old tool box he gifted us, in white color and now we stash some art supplies in it. I pulled out all our fall and winter clothes, did some laundry, some mending and organized it in our drawers and wardrobe closets. I organized our pantry and decluttered it again, because somehow we always have something in there we don't use or it isn't even ours (usually my mom's so I return it to her). Also, I ordered a few Christmas presents and started on preparing paper, fabric and some sewing ideas for wrapping Christmas gifts. This year, my husband and I decided on gifting only our little boy and to buy one gift that will be useful for mine and one for his family. I prepared next year's calendars for my sister and me. I simply design it in Canva with some illustrations I found on Pinterest, and now it awaits printing. Oh, and I finally started making some homemade marshmallows for my hot cacao and coffee.

October was filled with simple mornings, walks in nature, lighting our beeswax candles, quiet evenings, craft time, creativity sessions on my own (usually late at night), waving farewell to loud flocks of wild geese flying away from our lands somewhere south, somewhere warm. October was such a nice, rustling and crisp beginning of this beautiful season. It looked like an auburn postcard ready to be put in some red, vintage postal box and sent to me, to put it on my desk and seek inspiration in it everytime I sit here. And just like that, with those flocks of wild geese, October also flew away behind these hills and auburn valleys, somewhere far away to rest and await another season of crimson red apples and rolling mist. Another time, another year, same hills and same valleys will welcome it again, covered in brown foliage and sounds of running deer.

What I found/thrifted/bought?

• For a year now, our little one has been brushing his teeth standing next to the sink on our old, white, wooden cabinet, which contains baskets with our necessities such as soap, shampoo, hair brushes, and like. After searching for and not finding a solution, we decided to buy this yellow Ikea stool. In the beginning, I was not at all in favor of that color, but now that it has arrived at our place, it is as if it has always been with us. With its vintage shape and small enough, it is perfect for our bathroom and our little one too.

• My father gave us his old green tool box. I painted it white and now my little one keeps his creative materials like wooden coloring pens, crayons, stamps and chalks in it. Additionally, I decided to add labels to some canvas pouches that we keep our supply of these materials in.

• I think I finally found my favorite tea. Normally I'm not a fan of tea, but I try to drink it in the morning. So far, I have been drinking my favorite ginger and lemon tea, which I used to make myself in a homemade version. But this month, my little one and I went one morning through the streets of the city towards the square and there I found this Pukka tea in a small shop. It says it's crafted with soothing herbs, fennel, chamomile, oat flowers and cardamon and it will naturally seep you into a tranquil mood. So far, so good. It's more on the sweet side, so I love it.

• I've finally found this children picture book, Karl and the Hooded Company by Rotraut Suzanne Brenner. It is a sweet story about searching for a lost chicken with the help of friends and we've been reading it for weeks now.

What I've been reading/watching/listening to?

• I finished Memory Making Mom. This book is a wonderful way to dive in to what traditions and memories you already have with your family. It also suggest some ideas you can implement in your traditions or even create new ones. I was encouraged and empowered to continue my traditions and to create some new ones too. I plan to write my own little review about this book soon, so you can expect a post about it.

• I also started reading a few pages of Life is worth living by Fulton John Sheenin in the morning along my journaling and it's been so nice to fill my mornings with those words.

• Since I started writing on Substack too, I've subscribed to few others. Among them I've been enjoying reading stories from Katherine May and her Substack page, The Clearing. Also, I read Gratitude Journal, by Alex Elle. She's writing about her own gratitude practice and giving us some introspective reflections. Along with her Substack page, I've started listening to her and Libby DeLana's podcast on Spotify, called This Morning Walk. It invites you to experience the transformative power of a simple walk. Libby DeLana has her own book under name DO/Walk which I read and it's great read for all of us, walking lovers.

• I have watched Dead Poets Society and Stepmom. Well, there were tears, sadness, but also beautiful autumn scenes, ideas for some autumn outfits and possibility to use and combine clothes I already have without buying something new. Both movies are very inspiring, with beautiful scenes, conversations and Stepmom is my favorite movie ever. I love the main actresses and the movie itself always makes me remember my childhood, the moments my mother spent with us, reading children's books, making things, spending our evenings talking together, snuggled in blankets after a bath , with warm cacao in our hands and her gentle gaze upon us.

Some beautiful words I found and loved this month:

“Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there? But am I talking too much? People are always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn't talk? If you say so I'll stop. I can stop when I make up my mind to it, although it's difficult.”

― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Little suggestions:

• These autumn mornings of mine are filled with some routines, and a big one is practising gratitude. Read more about that here.

• Want to know some of my autumn essentials for creating cozy and warm home? Then click and read that story here.

• Read about days of welcoming autumn in my home.

• As I said, October is usually starting point of my inspirations and creativity season. You can see what I created lately here.

• Where did the September go? Click to find out more on that.

• Also, I started writing my stories on Substack. Read more of them on Notes from Meadow.