I drive by this field almost daily, all through the year. It is a simple pasture, sometimes dotted with cows and steer, and their babies. It usually catches my eye though, for through the seasons it is filled with simple, rustic beauty. This late November, the grasses have turned a beautiful burnt sienna that looks beautiful against a brilliant sunny blue sky, or perfectly moody on a rainy day. It’s a small thing that gives me pleasure whenever I see it.
Now that November is here, we’ve had plenty of cool, moody days that make me want to be inside more. I’ve picked up knitting needles again, and of course lost my mind and started a new quilt before I’d finished the one I was working on (strange, how that happens, isnt it?)
All my shows and open houses are now finished, and there isn’t any more to do other than pack and ship orders and prepare for Advent and Christmas. I’ve been struggling with inspiration lately and am in the process of letting my mind rest, and thinking about what I’d like to focus on in the coming year. I know that I’d like to give living history projects and events more time in my schedule, and learning new skills that I can practice and bring out to Hunters Home when I am out there. Late autumn is the perfect season for ruminating, I think. Especially on a nice long walk at the park where the landscape is so gorgeous…
I have been painting when I can and when the mood strikes, however. And I know that my work will improve as I ‘fill the well’ of inspiration. More history inspired work, more prim and rustic and focused on the crafts of days gone by, and slow living. This is what I’d like my work to focus on as 2020 draws near…
I hope that you too are enjoying some beautiful autumn days and some chances to work on things you love…
Til next time,
Take Joy!~
h
Sleightholm Folk Art 
Your photos of the prairie are beautiful with the sienna colored grasses, and late Oak leaves bursting out. Fall is just such a warming interlude between the long hot and burning Summers and the cold, wet and damp Winter. Here in Florida, we are beginning to have some of those same late fall changes appear. My Shumard Oak is dropping colored leaves, the wild prairie Asters at Paynes Prairie are all ablaze with their yellows. The Cyprus trees are turning their sienna colors and the southern red Maples here are staring to come alive with reds, orange, and yellow bursts. We haven’t had a frost so most of the landscape is green but the small but beautiful late season changes are coming out. This is the time of year I want to hang on every moment and take in the these long awaited for changes that even include some cooler days and nights between the warmer and humid days.
Meanwhile the Christmas tree lots are beginning to fill up with northern trees and pumpkins on porches are being replaced with Christmas lights and holiday attire. I try and look over these impending changes and hang on to the season that most speaks to me: beautiful, rustic, and heartwarming Fall.
Thanks for sharing your photos of both your home and the surrounding landscape. Like you, I have been inspired to break out the knitting needles and enjoy the feel of wools in my hands as I try and make the simple basics the cooler days of late November need. I do find that the late days of November most strongly reach out to our desires to live more simply and in synch with the seasons. Early evenings, colder temps call for homemade breads, slow simmering dinners, hot beverages, and a warm fire in the living space. The frenzy of autumn harvests, canning, and outdoor work has been completed. Now the time is for rest and gathering until the Earth turns towards Spring and the outdoors awakens once again for a glorious show of renewal and color.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours out of that beautiful heartland Prairie!
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