Category: Life (page 2 of 84)

November 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, November

Hello, November. We’re ready to see where you take us in these new chapters. So far, our fall has been a whirlwind. As if we have been swept up with the leaves and formed a little leaf tornado. Blowing and twirling in the breeze, dancing down the street as we go. And that is what an adventure is all about; taking the road less traveled.

We’re ready for evenings to close in earlier with candles lit, board games or cards flowing and hot apple ciders at hand. We’re ready for all things apple. We’ve already been making batch after batch of applesauce, with the most luscious Kissabel apples and it is the reddest applesauce we’ve ever made and it is simply glorious!

We’re ready for Bonfire Night and Thanksgiving. We’re ready for gingerbread cake and pumpkin pie. We’re ready for our annual “Alan Alda Weekend”, where we make stew or pot roast and watch “Same Time, Next Year” and “The Four Seasons”. Two of my favourites. While staying tucked in the house all weekend, feasting, watching and just being, happy as always in each other’s company.

We’re ready for crispy morning strolls where the remnant smells of woodsmoke still cling to the air as we make our way to a favourite breakfast joint to feast on waffles and eggs and hot coffee.

You hold so much in this season of Thanksgiving. And we have so much to be grateful for. Welcome, November, we’re ready for all that you bring.

{“Forest Children” by Loré Pemberton | Pinned HERE}

October 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, October

Hello, October! We’re ready for more crunchy leaves underfoot and these cooler days to remain. The nights are drawing in sooner and there is a definite change to the colour of the light and shift in the shadows. Evenings have a distinctly different kind of glow with the sunset now.

We’re ready for all things apple. We’ve already been grating apples into yogurt in the mornings and eating slices with cheese and crackers as the perfect afternoon snack. Soon our annual weekend apple butter making session will occur, so we can relish in those jars of reddish chocolate gold for the months ahead when your season has long past, but we can still taste it, savoured over oatmeal on a cold winter morning.

We’re ready for the Fall break you bring at the end of this month and the chance to slow down for just a bit. As well as all the Halloween movie watching, popcorn eating, long stroll taking, museum visiting plans we have.

We’re ready for pumpkins, shaded in all the glorious bejewelled tones of fall. We’re ready for the first hot apple ciders of the season while gobbling up fresh gingersnap cookies alongside and listening to a nice fall jazz album.

We’re ready for all that you hold. There is a magic to one season slipping into the next and we’re not going to miss a moment of it.

{Image FOUND | Pinned HERE}

September 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, September

Hello, September, are you listening? We’re sad to see our summer fun come to a close as it was a luxurious gift to be surrounded by those we love so dearly. But as Shelby says in “Steel Magnolias”, “There are still good times to be had!”

We’re looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of a new beat as school begins again. This year that’s going to be a different pace entirely for us, we’re heading down a path unknown. We’re ready for new chapters to unfurl for us on this adventure. And like the anticipation on Christmas Eve, we excitedly wait to see what our next story holds.

We’re ready for our table to still be graced with the late summer bounty as I still haven’t had my fill of heirloom tomatoes. I shall treasure those until they disappear till next year.

We’re ready for the leaves to start to turn and become crunchy near the end of the month. We’re ready for quiet weekends after full weeks. We’re ready for the subtle shift in light as you carry in the first touches of fall. Even though you normally grace us with a beautiful Indian summer. That sweet warmth to remind us of all the glad summer times that have been.

Hello, September we’re ready for all that you hold.

{Socialite Patricia Buckley wearing green pajamas, sunglasses and a straw hat on the phone with her dogs in her house in Stamford, USA | Photograph by Ernst Beadle for Vogue | 1976 | Pinned HERE}

August 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, August

Hello, August. We’re ready to stretch out under ceiling fans while we read our books. We’re ready to watch old episodes of “Bewitched” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” while we eat PB&J sandwiches on fresh bread with salty potato chips for summertime lunches.

We’re ready to eat our weight in popcorn watching summer classics projected onto our big screen. We’re ready to spend all day at the beach and come home to hot dogs and fresh steamed ears of corn dripping with butter.

We’re ready for early morning walks and hot coffee on the beach. We’re ready for homemade strawberry shortcakes for lunch when the strawberries are still warm from the sun and they sit nestled on a pillow of whipped cream.

We’re ready for the lazy, hazy, days of summer to blend into one another, where nothing and everything happens.

Welcome, August! We’re ready for all the summer magic that you hold.

{Toy Sailboat Collection FOUND | Pinned HERE}

July 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, July

Hello, July! You’ve marched in hand in hand with the ongoing heat wave. Which we’re taking in our stride with lots of ice water and ice cream sandwiches on standby. We’re ready for the blessed event that you herald in near the end of the month, when you’ll utter those four magic words: SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!

We’re ready for banana splits for dinner on hot summer nights. We’re ready to stay up late watching old movies with our projector. We’re ready for early morning walks when the air is still and the world is still asleep.

We’re ready for our annual Fourth of July celebrations; our table is already decked out in red, white and blue for the occasion.

We’re ready to celebrate “Christmas in July” with a gaggle of loved ones. We’re ready to keep beach music grooving long into the night while we dance and talk.

We’re ready for those heady days of summer that you bring where the hot air is filled with the smell of honeysuckles and we revert somehow to childhood, where the possibilities of FUN are endless and the days seamlessly blend into one another.

Welcome, July! We’re ready for all the magic that you hold for us!

{Audrey Hepburn at “La Paisible“ in Tolochenaz, Switzerland | Photographed by Andrew Wald | 1967 | Pinned HERE}

June 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, June

Hello, June. We’re ready for all the adventures you shall bring us this month, especially the one where we run away to the circus for the day.

We’re ready for the days to continue to get warmer, the nights are already deliciously longer. We’re ready for the strawberries to begin to come into their full ruby red glory and we eat our weight in shortcakes with strawberries swimming in their vermillion juices and pillows of fresh vanilla whipped cream on top.

We’re ready for more heirloom tomato sandwiches, May gave us a few bites of that glorious taste, but there is more to come. We’re ready for long walks that end up at the ice cream parlour.

We’re ready to keep dancing in the kitchen to a favourite “yacht rock” playlist, while we make dinner. We’re ready to watch some of our favourite summer movies with a huge bowl of popcorn between, sitting in the dark with the hum of the projector behind us.

We’re ready for all that you bring. Welcome, June, we await you with arms spread wide.

{1950s Kodachrome Bathing Beauty | Found HERE | Pinned HERE}

May 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, May

Hello, May! We’re excited you’re here. You’ll start and end your month for us with Bank Holidays and the realisation that that was occurring this weekend, made me do a happy dance. Three whole days together this weekend is just the cherry on top of the cake.

We’re ready for the days to get warmer as they have slowly been doing in these last weeks of April. We’re ready for evening strolls after dinner before twilight sets in. We’re ready for more walks through the fields as we watch the baby lambs growing by leaps and bounds and the bluebells undulating in the breeze and dappled sunshine.

We’re ready for the heirloom tomatoes to start coming into the green grocers. We’ve already had a mini taste of what’s to come as one of our favourite grocers had some in and now I can’t wait for the first BLT of the season and slices of thick tomatoes on toasted bread with salt, oregano and EVOO for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You bring with you a month of love for us as these two honeymooners shall be celebrating their anniversary before the month comes to a close. What a gift to be able to continue our journey through this lifetime together.

We’re ready for lazy sunshine filled Saturday mornings working on crosswords over coffee or playing another round of UNO late into the night. Hello, May! We’re ready for all that you bring. We welcome you with arms wide.

{Natalie Wood in a publicity still for “The Great Race” | By Giovanni Coruzzi | 1965 | Directed by Blake Edwards | Costumes by Edith Head | Pinned HERE}

April 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, April

Hello, April. You bring with you a long awaited Spring school break and the Easter Bunny too. The light and shadows are already changing. They have been as March was drawing to a close and that will continue to progress since we “sprung forward” this past weekend.

We’re ready for for the fuller days of light you will bring as we truly come out from under the cozy blanket of winter. I watch the light dance around the room in new spots where it wasn’t glowing at that time the previous week. We’re ready for the Japanese magnolias to begin to fully blossom and unfurl their pink blooms. A favourite street of mine is lined with them and they are a glorious sea of pink. We’re ready to dye our Easter Eggs and for the Easter Bunny to fill our basket with chocolate goodies and maybe a surprise or two.

We’re ready to do more “Spring Cleaning” and tick a few jobs off our organisation list. Slowly and surely we’ve been making our way around the house, deep cleaning and organising and it brings me such utter satisfaction and joy to see a space made anew and refreshed.

We’re ready for longer strolls where it’s spring in the sun but still winter under the shade. We’re ready to watch the tadpoles grow at one of our favourite ponds. Last week, a number of them had already hatched. We’re ready to drink in all that you have to offer. We’re ready for you, April with arms open wide.

{Close-up of a “Scotties Facial Lilac Purple Tissue” Print AD | 1961 | Pinned HERE}

March 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, March

Hello, March. We’ve already started moving into “spring cleaning” mode and dusting away the cobwebs of winter and that shall continue as this month progresses. I find it extremely satisfying to deep clean and reorganise a space, it’s a freeing experience for the mind and soul. You are mentally and physically decluttering.

We’re ready for Lady Spring to begin to fully come into her own this month. Nature’s signs are all around us that spring’s pending arrival is upon us. We’ve already spotted snowdrops and purple and egg yolk hued crocuses dotted around on our strolls. Frogspawn has filled a favourite pond almost to the brim and we look forward to the hundred of tadpoles that will soon be swarming in amongst the lily pads.

We’re ready for more sunshine filled days with a frosty crispness in the air. We’re ready for the start of Lent and the season of reflection that walks in tandem with it.

We’re still chilly here and will be for awhile yet, so we look forward to eveningtide where we sit over a hot cup of tea with lemon and honey and share a few cookies between us while jibber jabbering away.

We’re ready to keep the records spinning and dance in the kitchen while we make dinner. We’re ready for St. Patrick’s day and the “Wearin’ ‘O the green” and my Nana’s Irish soda bread flecked with juicy golden raisins and caraway seeds that will grace our table.

We’re ready to continue to embrace the seasons, enjoying the riches that each gives us. Welcome, March, we stand ready with open arms for all that you bring.

{Vera Mouse forming an “M” | Marjolein Bastin | HERE}

February 1, 2025 / 0 Comments

HELLO, February

Hello February, we’re very excited for your coming. For you bring along with you St. Valentine’s Day and a winter break from school which feels luxurious this time of year. It gives way to the opportunity to move more fully to our own beat even if only for a short time.

We’re ready for our long winter evenings to continue marching on for a while yet. We’re savouring nightfall with our eventide rituals of drinking tea enriched with lemon and honey or hot chocolates studded with marshmallows and watching cozy movies while snuggled under blankets.

We’re ready for more “breakfast for dinner” nights in which we feast on scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits or pancakes dotted with blueberries or waffles with lashings of butter and syrup.

We’re ready to continue to enjoy winter. Slowly and surely the earth is awakening. I see bulbs shooting up with their green heads from the soil and the smell of damp earth permeates the air. But, I’m not quite ready for Spring yet, I’ll enjoy her when she arrives, but I like each season to have its due.

We’re still keeping our fingers crossed for one snow day in there, where school is closed and we get to stay home reading books and chatting while lingering over a second cup coffee and stopping mid sentence to watch the snow fall and breathe it all in.

We’re ready for quiet weekends mixed in with long London strolls seeing where our feet take us, stopping for coffee and pastries when we need a break to warm up again. We’re ready for all that you bring in this last month of Winter. Welcome, February! We greet you with arms open wide.

{Walt Disney “Once Upon a December” poster, 1954 | Found HERE | Pinned HERE}