The Autumn fairies

Autumn has moved here, and now she lives with us—of course, I’m referring to the season, and from the windows in my kitchen you can tell she’s been adjusting nicely to our environment in her beautiful aquarelle colors… 

Outside, on the other side of the windows, it looks and it feels just as magical.  I cannot begin to explain or even try to fathom the splendid magical feelings this time of year conveys in me, and you sit quietly taking it all in; taking all what surround you and encompasses your very soul through your senses in a deep in dreamlike and magical manners under the crispiest and purest and pristine skies and air.  

Roses mingling with autumn leaves...

Colors more beautiful than ever!

Then, some very dear fairies came over to stay for a day or two... or more!  Phew!

They made a huge mess everywhere!

Hunting for treasures!

We put some-lots of makeup on, and then went outside and had a bubble contest... upps, missed a bit with the eyeliner! lol

We picked ripe grapes from the grapevines, making sure we left some for the birds too!

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good! ;)

Then, before we even knew it, a witch show up out of nowhere!

She only changed her outfits 300 times!

The sun was shining bright and warm, and the afternoon was crisp and golden as an apple. The leaves were all falling, and they were falling like they were falling in love with the ground, and with the garden and the little rumbustious little fairies…

Green grasses mingled with golden yellow leaves and crimson canopies, and the quality of light that lingered upon everything like some magical veil of peace and purity, was just too majestic and too gloriously beautiful to even begin to describe.  Oh stay… stay with me a little longer, October days; stay with me!

I hope you're enjoying these lovely final days of another October, as much as you can my friends!  Look for magic everywhere, for there's always some of it to be discovered!

Of hoarders and roses

The other day I went around my house collecting treasures and later donated quite the bundle to one of our local thrift stores.  It feels so good to get rid of things you know you won’t be needing any longer, or simply you're just not fond of any more.  Have you seen the show Hoarders?  This show goes into the lives of people with a mental disorder that causes them to obsessively collect things, even if the items are unnecessary and unneeded. It shows their effort to get help and recover, and it totally freaks me out.  So, from time to time I’d perform a ritual of sorts by examining my closets, drawers and nooks and then discarding things I don’t want any more… 

This closet here holds an entire assortment of princesses’ dresses… all beautiful and very much loved by some very dear princesses, so instead of giving them away, I keep adding more and more to the collection… these little princesses I'm telling you about love them all, and love me for that too! 

I have more… oh I have more stuff I’d need to get rid of, but I can’t seem to part from them yet, plus, it really isn't that much anyway—compare to other people, that is! But, it is always best to be on the minimalist side, me thinks!  So, I guess I’m safe for now.

Roses were still gifting me some glorious jewels until recently; until I decided to get them ready for winter and pruned them this week, even if they were still blooming… because, you know, it is already getting pretty cold around here my dears, and when temperatures change like that, and the atmosphere gets frosty and tiny ice-crystals hung from the air almost invisible to the eye, but not to the bones, I just prefer to stay inside, and won’t dare go outside… so, on foreseeing all that, I went ahead and pruned off all the roses... 

...then I made some lovely bouquets to bring inside and also embellish birdbaths and fountains, as well...

I few weeks ago I removed the climbing Royal Sunset rose that took so much of my strength, and then the following day two more rose bushes were taken out as well—those in the same border along our bedroom wall, and which had also gone wild by whatever reason and, having been replaced by the rooted canes of the rose Dr. Huey hadn’t put any flowers, and never will.

Most roses are budded onto a different rootstock. In the U.S. most commercial growers use a variety called "Dr Huey" as the rootstock and then bud different varieties on top of the Dr Huey roots.  Dr Huey is a climbing rose with dark red flowers. So, if one year you planted a yellow rose and the next year you get dark red roses, (or no flowers at all) that means that the top variety got killed over the winter and the Doctor Huey roots are sending up shoots. And time to replace your roses, my friend! 

Hope y'all are doing splendidly my friends!

The sand dunes

I enjoyed our last voyage to the sand dunes so much last weekend, that this weekend I beg the Fisherman to set out for the desert again… and thus, we did.

Strong winds blew incessantly lifting up sands everywhere and with such impetus, that from inside our cozy tent it sounded like a furious sea, with big mad waves crashing onto some lofty sea cliff.  Tumbleweeds toppled down and rolled around trailers and tables and every wall in our gypsy caravan groaned and shock violently.  So pugnaciously winds blew, and howled, that we thought about packing everything up and head back home, but the dunes had taunted us with sunshine and coyote songs and we decided to take a chance and stay.

I had bought new blankets and colorful mandalas to decorate and spice up a bit our gypsy caravan, and thus, both sleeping quarters got a beautiful makeover.  New softer, puffier pillows and pillowcases too.

The campground wasn’t as crowded as some other times and we drove down to the sand dunes and walked around beautiful solitary spaces sheltered in the flora of dunes and lake that reminded me so much of the wildernesses of Israel. Then came back to our cozy tent to hide from the wind, and made us a late lunch of Italian wedding soup, tamales and Pot-stickers...

That afternoon we read and worked on our computers and ate chocolate chip cookies and drank lattes, until we couldn’t hear the wind blowing outside any longer, and everything calmed down and the night came upon our gypsy caravan in soft murmurs.  It was cold and dark in the desert, but inside our cozy cocoon it was the most pleasant place in the whole wide world, warm, comfy, snug, comfortable, colorful, romantic and inviting…

The following morning turned out to be one of the pretties, pristine days of the year for camping. Our bed felt so cozy and warm, it was hard to get up... 

We made our coffee and had a breakfast of cranberry-walnut toast, cheeses and mini taquitos...

Then, we bundled up and headed out to walked the sand desert paths... it was so beautiful, with a beautiful warm sun shining down on us and the desert revealing itself in languages of love and mystery and wonder...

We walked all the way to the lake and sat at the dock for a while, with only the company of the mallards and birds.  

What a beautiful, beautiful place this is!  But I think this was our last gypsy outing of the year, because days and nights are getting too cold already to continue roaming the world out there, plus in the following weeks we will be super busy babysitting and visiting some other places too, although by air… so that’s it!  Until spring, dear Gypsy Caravan!  Thanks for all the good times you have gifted us there!