Of what's brewing in a witch's cauldron!

I’ve been living in the garden these past few days; parting from it only to do the necessary. As summer slowly fades away, my heart years to be here, to love, if I could love any more, this small plot of land I call "my Paradise."

Gently swathed in the stillness of this September afternoon, I treasure everything I see and hear: The slow movement of afternoon light across the porch floor, the measured flight of geese against the blue sky, the sway of sunflower making shadows along the garden wall. Summer won’t last forever, but for this moment it feels like it could. Just a little while ago a silent flight of geese in their journey south flew by. Out of the blue they came, and disappeared almost instantly in the horizon... fortunately, I was lucky to captured a glimpse of their fleeting shadow on the garden’s floor, and above my head the strong, swift sound of their wings as they flew by... swish swish—the rhythmical sound made by their powerful wings mesmerized me. A bright September sun shines high in the sky, it is warm and lovely and yet, unseen changes are taking place... there is this magical feeling in the air that captivates my soul; it speaks of changes unseen yet so powerful; so real... it speaks of cozy evenings by the fire and apple cider and pumpkin breads and a landscape mysteriously being transformed before my very eyes... The firsts autumn leaves from the young maple tree confirm the unseen changes taking place all around me; in the sky, in the air and in the atmosphere of the garden... it looks lonesome and somewhat peculiar this little autumn leave among the petals of my last roses...

So I’ve been collecting memories... memories in the form of petals and departed roses...

I love my roses so much that it’s hard to even discard lifeless petals... fresh, or dried they’re so precious to me... I collect them; I fill baskets with them and dry spent roses that later I'd place everywhere around my house... I have to admit I have more dried roses in my house than I should, but it’s so hard to part from them... I found this chair on someone’s trash the other day on my way to work... It was in perfect condition, so I brought it home and it's been living in my garden ever since... It was sitting here for a while... ...but then I decided it would looked pretty here too... if you are like me, you know what that means: contemplating your garden as yet another room in your house is the norm. So, just as I do inside my house I do in the garden... I arrange and rearrange things around, move things around, bring things in take things out and just enjoy what I have. Sunflowers make me happy; they’re the sun’s smiles upon me—extra sweetness in the garden. I have decided I will have sunflowers in my garden from now on. Can their seeds be saved for planting next year, or would I need to buy new sunflower seeds next spring? Do you know? I have discovered a new candle fragrance from Bath & Body Works and now my house smells of cranberry woods. This is by far the prettiest of fragrance I’ve come across lately. Cedar-wood, cranberry and currant berries... just lovely and perfect for the mellow seasons ahead. I have an overly developed sense of smell (and hearing too)… have I told you that before? For better or worse, I can smell people; perceived their presence just by their scent even before their presence make presence... does that make sense? I love my new glass votive holders... so vintage, so romantic; in lovely emerald green! They have this feeling of antiquity to them that I just love! I got them on sale at Michael’s at .50 cents each. So this is how my big square table looks now... I love to create new arrangements for my table. They usually go with the seasons, or what I have on hand or how I feel... these votive holders are perfect for fall, I think... they go in accordance to the season’s muted greens... Our church moved to another location early this spring, and in the process many of our church mobiliary were sold or given away… I brought home an old church bench blessed with plenty of character and history... I painted it white and set it out in the back porch. It had been there all summer, until recently, when I, aware of the changes brewing up in the horizon, have started thinking of cozying up my nest... ...and thus I have brought it inside, and it is now sitting in our bedroom filled with pillows, and books and things I love… it immediately have added our room the cozy feeling I was trying to achieve… I love it! I know me too, this post makes me think of a hotchpotch in a witch's brew of ingredients ranging from bay leaves to bat wings, but it was intentionally done this way! ;) You see, I am going to be away for awhile and thought I’d give you an excuse to come back and read what you cannot, or wish not to ready today... ;) So I hope you don’t get bored waiting for me… ;) See you then!