some pictures, you say?

1035. changing of the seasons

1036. fall in a bowl

autumn stew, and - coincidentally - all local and organic =)

1037. the first month of not paying rent and mortgage!!

1038. and knowing that is an answer to prayer

1039. driving around last week, 6 stores/stops in 2 hours ... umm, yes I can navigate the south west Milwaukee suburbs, thank you very much

1040. a bag of tulips, my favorite purchase

1041. my husband, the chief financial officer of our household

1042. and did I mention that he bakes too?

ahhhh, yes, pumpkin pie #2. they just keep getting better and better, baby!

1043. chilly bike rides with Loki where he rides like his tail is on fire. Seriously, a pronounced change from a few weeks ago ... maybe because it is cooler?

1044. gifts from friends: mango salsa from the Rochester farmer's market, this super cute purse and fun slippers

don't they say you are supposed to change purses in the fall?

1045. beets. umm, I love beets - who knew? from the farmer's market, naturally, my new favorite place

beet risotto, further proof that my husband is a culinary genius

 1046. time to be still, quiet and reflect on my God, my rock and my redeemer

 1047. Whirlwind MN trip #2 ... at the risk of sounding redundant: 

1048. friends and family and the fact that every time that we took a breath, we were headed off to the next fun thing

1049. seeing both my brothers for an entire evening

1050. feeling like a "doggie mom" and missing Loki when we weren't in the same place (yep say it with me "awwwwwwwwwwww")

1051. holding Megan's hand as we walked through the Mall of America

1052. and seeing how much Ethan has grown since July

1053. dinner at Good Earth with Ian (I am so happy we are friends)

1054. church. 

1055. hugs from our Rochester peeps, enough said

1056. watching Chris' face light up as friends said they will be coming for Thanksgiving dinner (esp. Eva)

1057. and knowing that Mom B will welcome our friends to Thanksgiving dinner

1058. coming home with 2 baskets of clean laundry, free of charge (now I know that someone (my parents and Chris') DO pay for the water and electric that helped our laundry get clean, but it was nice not to also feed the washer and dryer.)

1059.

and

My parent's elderly neighbor recently passes away (not what I am expressively thankful for -- it takes some explaining) and she wanted me to have her knitting stuff which, in itself, is a small treasure.  But more importantly, it made me remember many years ago when, after a visit to my grandma's where she tried to teach me to knit, I walked next door to ask Dorothy because I really didn't understand. And she watched me struggle for awhile and then said in her crisp British voice "here, let me help you" and I, eventually understood and learned to love it. And then, not too long ago, I walked over with a project that wasn't exactly right and she looked at it for awhile before she looked at me and asked in her crisp British voice, "did you check your gauge?" but she knew I didn't even though I should. 

And so to one of the woman who passed one the love and knowledge of her craft to me and now, her needles, yarn and patterns complete with notes: thank you.