September ends...October begins

 

So as September comes to an end (boy, it went by so fast), Autumn is once again upon us and yes, it is a beautiful season.  The trees have exploded with leaves of gold and red and yellow.  The air is crisp and brings thoughts of apple cider, homemade soup and warm quilts.  Gone are the temperatures that hovered in the mid 70s with sunshine lasting till almost 10pm.  These have been replaced by temps in the 50s and 60s and in some cases, 40s.  Shorter days with darkness until after 7am and beginning at 8pm bring a somber feeling this month. The colors of summer are starting to fade away and in their place are bursts of the Fall colors of gold, red and orange.  Clothes have changed from shorts and sleeveless tops to long pants and sweatshirts.  It is becoming "sweater weather" as my mom used to say.  Deer walk across the field frequently enjoying the delicious apples on the trees and small creatures are starting their annual hording of food for the coming winter months.  Geese are calling their goodbyes as they fly overhead toward their southern winter home and plans are being made to put away deck furniture, cover the bushes and plants, store the lawnmower away for the season and prepare the snowblower for the coming weather.  Meals are beginning to change as well from corn on the cob, steak on the grill and tart lemonade to hearty soups, stews and chili, homemade bread, hot chocolate and black coffee.  Heavy quilts and cozy flannel sheets have been put on all the beds and soon every window in the house will be closed tight against the freezing cold temperatures of the outdoors.

October Begins...

Dentist annual checkup-I am fine but B has some problems with his dentures.  We need to go back at the end of the month for work on them to be done.

We went on our annual trip to the Keeweenaw.  This is in the northern most part of the Upper Peninsula.  It is about a 3 hour trip but it is worth it for the beautiful colors of Fall.

 

 

 

B and I decided to take everything off the back deck.  Most everything was removed and put in the garage for the season.  However, since the umbrella table and couch have become too heavy to move on our own, we elected to leave them on the deck covered in a tarp for the winter.  All that is left to do is the front deck but we are going to work on this in the next week or so. 

Saturday was the hottest day for October.  It got to 86 degrees here!  Amazing!  However, our house was nice and cool so B decided to paint the ceiling in the guest bedroom so we would be ready to put the flooring down in two weeks.  The ceiling turned out nice but the room is in chaos and that will probably drive me crazy until we get the flooring in and I can straighten it up.

*Message to Jackie and Maebeme and others.  I want to let you know that I do read your blogs every day and enjoy them alot.  However, for some reason, I cannot get my comments on your blogs to post.  So I thought I would let you know here that I appreciate your blogs and the posts you share.

That's a Wrap for September!

The last week of September turned out to be busy as usual.  It's that time of year when most of the chores were to prepare for Fall/Winter.  But B and I did take some time to do some fun things as well.

We visited a new Farmer's market that opened near us and found some wonderfully tasty fruit.  We splurged on peaches, plums, tomatoes, bananas, and grapes.  The price was right and the tastes were delicious.  We love farmer's markets. 

I brought in a number of plants that had been on my front and back decks over the spring and summer.  I am hoping I can keep them going over the winter in the house but one never knows.

B and I are going to be putting new flooring in the guest room.  To do that we needed to pull up the old carpeting and pad. We decided to do it now because we have trash pickup guys coming with their big truck to clean out our garage and we wanted them to take the old carpeting and pad at the same time.

I got my monthly B12 shot and afterwards B took me to a used book sale at our local library.  I came out with 3 books and B picked up 3 for a total of $7.  I love used book sales.

Sunday was my Sister's birthday (no ages here, I promised) and we laughed over memories of our mom telling us every year how old we could be so she could be younger than she was on her birthday.

I have always looked at September as being bad and good.  Bad in that it will soon be the beginning of the cold months, the long cold months here in the UP and I never look forward to that. However, the good side of the end of September is the beginning of October...October is my birthday month!!
 

 

October Message I Want To Share

I read this article a few weeks ago and just loved the message it sent.  Thank you Christina for allowing me to share it on my blog.

5 Lessons for Family Life: Learning From St. Thérèse and St. Teresa of Ávila

By Christina Mayeux on October 9, 2019

The month of October brings with it crisp, cool air, falling leaves, and football. For Catholics, it also brings the feast days of two special Carmelite saints: St. Thérèse of Lisieux on October 1 and St. Teresa of Ávila on October 15. These two Teresas hold a special place in the hearts of devotees worldwide and are powerful intercessors in time of need. Although they were both cloistered nuns who lived years ago, their lives and writings can serve as guides for us in our family lives, even in modern times. We can look to their teachings for wisdom in attaining holiness and apply it to our own lives and to the way we form and raise our children.

Pope Paul VI said, “The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children.” (Lumen Gentium #11) We are obligated to create and maintain a spirit of love and communion within the walls of our homes and to foster spiritual growth and love for God in our children.

Just as St. Thérèse and St. Teresa lived out their religious vocations in their respective Carmelite communities, we are called to live out our vocations as wives and mothers in the “domestic churches” of our homes. What can we learn from the lives of these two saints about Christian motherhood?

1.  Bearing patiently with the faults of others. Members of religious communities live in close proximity with each other and must exercise charity and patience. Similarly, in a family, we must love one another and bear with each other’s faults and shortcomings. Within the pages of St. Thérèse’s diary are many examples of her heroic dealings with the slights she encountered from her fellow sisters, along with her kind and gentle responses to their faults. She refrained from complaining when splashed repeatedly with dirty water at the wash pool. She smiled as she assisted an older nun who found fault with the saint’s every action. Her example of charity and virtue is an example to us all as we strive to live in harmony within our families.

2.  Finding God in all things. “Everything is grace,” St. Thérèse remarked. In our daily lives, do we see God’s hand in the events that unfold, both good and bad? We don’t need to go in search of profound spiritual experiences to do God’s will. St. Teresa of Ávila was a very practical woman and once said, “God walks among the pots and pans.” What a comforting reminder these words are! We can be assured that by performing the mundane tasks of motherhood, we are, indeed, fulfilling our mission and our vocation and God is present as we go about our day.

3.  Prayer is key. St. Teresa of Ávila is known for her mastery of the art of prayer. She emphasizes the need for all the faithful to practice daily prayer, which she describes simply as a friendly conversation with Jesus, who loves us. Though we may be busy during the day, we can set aside a time for prayer to reconnect with the Lord.

4.  Trusting and depending on God. A hallmark of the lives of both of the Teresas was complete trust and dependence on God. They credited their spiritual success on his grace and power and took no credit for themselves. Like little children, they depended on God for everything and they were not disappointed.

5.   Loving God above all else. St. Thérèse declared that her vocation was to LOVE, and to love God above all else. In a letter to her sister Celine, she eloquently exclaimed, “There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing – He does so want our love!” In the vocation of motherhood, we can feel pulled in many directions. Like Thérèse, we can remember that if we seek God first, everything will fall into place and we will have peace in all our daily activities.

Copyright 2019 Christina Mayeux

For more writings from Christina, her Facebook page is @thewayofthewildflowers & Twitter is @czmayeux