Cranberry Morning: Hodgepodge November 1

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Hodgepodging the End of Autumn

My lone fall decoration

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1. What does/did Halloween look like at your house this year? Did you decorate? Pick pumpkins? Carve pumpkins? Expect trick or treaters? Wear a costume to a party or event? Make a costume? Feel glad you didn't have to come up with a costume? Cook a Halloween themed treat? Eat all the leftover candy?

Halloween is pretty uneventful at our house. I have one fall decoration (see photo above), not Halloween, didn't carve pumpkins, but I did pick the squash that was in the garden and brought it in so that it wouldn't freeze. Does that count? No costume, no Halloween-themed treat. We did get some bags of candy, which undoubtedly will be eaten this weekend rather than tonight (It's Halloween night as I write this, and usually no one shows up. I wonder why. Out in the middle of nowhere, long driveway, bats and lightning...), when the family is all here for our Early Thanksgiving.

An ancient photo of our third son (now 29 years old)

as we celebrated Reformation Day

He was way cuter than Martin Luther.

The most ghostly photo I have in my files

Shaughan Seymour on a London ghost walk

2. What are you waiting for? Elaborate

Right now I'm waiting for ambition :-) The family is coming here for an Early Thanksgiving this weekend, and I have a lot to get done. And I know, waiting for ambition is not the most profitable way to go about it. I think I'll have a coffee and cookie and most likely things will improve.

3. Do you wish you were friendlier, braver, more creative, more athletic, or something else? Explain.

I wish I were more generous. I'm working on it. With lots of daily prayer. And practice. I used to pray for patience, but it didn't happen fast enough. ;-) I do think our prayers are answered, probably never as fast as we want or necessarily in the way we want. Praying for God's will to be done is a lot different than praying that our will be done and God set his stamp of approval on it.

Our wonderful Dragon Wing Begonias

hung on until the bitter end,

which came just a few nights ago.

They gave us almost five months of lush beauty.

I reminded Mr. C. of this fact because they're

also the most expensive plant we buy in late May.

But they're worth every penny.

(I'd rather you didn't ask his opinion on this)

4. When it comes time to paint are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you hire someone? What was the last paint job completed at your house? What room most needs painting now? How do you feel about wallpaper?

I'm a do-it-myselfer, which means that the last paint job completed at our house is in my distant memory. Almost every room in our house could use fresh paint. How I feel about wallpaper?? Don't believe it when you read that you can size your walls and later the wallpaper will peel off when you go to replace it. That is a LIE!! I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about the wallpaper in our bedroom/bathroom, and if I could be certain that trends of the mid 1980s would return sometime soon, I'd probably do nothing (although it's hideous). I know that wallpaper will come off a speck at a time with great effort, so I'm tempted to paint over it. Or maybe wallpaper (shudder!!!) over it with something less obnoxious. Does anyone paint over wallpaper?

Me in my painting duds

I don't dare disclose to you how long ago this photo was taken!

You might hate peppered red, but I love it in our library.

That board on the wall, by the way, is where we hang our huge set of roll-down world history maps.

Most of that red wall is covered by white bookshelves now.

5. What is one specific thing you felt gratitude for in the month of October?

I've been grateful for many things in the month of October. Family, for sure. And then the opportunity to worship the Lord of the Universe in various cathedrals in England. They always put me in mind of how small I am and how great God is, and inspire awe for our risen King.

Southwark Cathedral, London

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our nearest village (2 mi)

Photo from October of 2013

And now I'd better get busy and declutter, clean, tidy, and get the food preparation underway. I'm definitely looking forward to the family being here for Early Thanksgiving!

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