Saturday Surprises

What a gorgeous day!  And even better, I have no where to be:)  It has been lovely to spend some much needed time in the yard tending to the much neglected garden patches.  I had time to pull up the corn stalks and prop them up in the middle of the weeded-out pumpkin patch.  I secured the scarecrow to the cornstalks and added some pumpkins my dad had made long ago.  

As I was setting this up, I was pleasantly surprised by quite a few pumpkin seedlings!  The squash vine borers got all but two of our pumpkins this year, and I had let some of them rot in the patch.  And now we have new sprouts!

Add to that, my son discovered something untoward growing amongst the spent soybeans in the field across from our house~watermelons!

There were quite a few winding themselves throughout the field.  Our two sons helped us hunt around to see how many we could find.  
Last, but not least, my last task of the afternoon was to weed out my poor neglected herb garden.  At the end of August, my oregano, lemon balm, mint and lavender had called it quits.  I was delighted to discover sprouts of each coming back:)  I found there is nothing as peaceful and refreshing as the smells of fresh herbs in the breeze as you brush up against them.  

Fall!

I do so love fall!  It is my absolute favorite season:)  I love the colors, the crisp, cool air, the holidays and mmm...the food!
This year, I will not make my annual trip to Winston-Salem.  No Kopper Kitchen's breakfast or lunch (their collards set your mouth on fire and put some shine in your hair), no Sweet Potatoes or Old Salem Tavern (sigh).  I love their food (and no, I don't go to Winston-Salem just to eat).
While my home doesn't present the same ambiance as the aforementioned establishments, it does have a working kitchen and a closet shelf full of recipes.  I grabbed the instructions for Sweet Potato Pecan Bread Pudding and Pineapple Upside-Down Pumpkin Gingerbread.  Added to that~ some garlic pork tenderloin and collards.  (Yes, I know it's not truly collard season until after the first frost gets them, so I put my batch in the freezer for a few days).  Almost as good.

The beginnings of Sweet Potato Pecan Bread Pudding.

Ready for baking.

  Pork tenderloin, collards, and the bread pudding with maple whipped cream.

Syrupy pineapple goodness...

with pumpkin gingerbread batter on top...

Mmm...45 minute wait to let it cool before...

Time out.  I must admit here that all was not wafting as scrumptiously as can be imagined.... The syrupy goodness ranneth over and made a big smoking mess.  The family scrambled to open up windows and doors to save the day and once the smoke and burnt smell cleared up, YUM.  The wonderful aroma of pumpkin gingerbread meandered through the house.  

So here I am, on a rainy Saturday kicked back in my armchair with a full tummy, the prospect of dessert with a dollop of maple whipped cream in my near future.  Bliss.  Absolute bliss.

...flipping out a delicious,  oh-so-wonderful cake.

100+++ Things

I finished Dave Bruno's The 100 Thing Challenge tonight at my son's soccer practice.  I had big plans tonight.  A list.  Of things to buy.  Which would have put us getting home a lot later in the evening when we were already tired.  Dave Bruno is all about simplicity.  Railing against American-consumerism (you know those American-consumerists~kinda remind me of Grinchy Jim Carrey's Who-ville neighbors).  Okay, he's not railing~just stating the obvious and working on living without having to buy a life.  How revolutionary.
I was truly inspired by the reading.  I felt a shift inside and had an AHA moment.  Things and the buying of things do not make a life.  They may help you pretend, but they do not satisfy or fulfill.  Things simply beef up your wishbone.  They justify the excuse "Well if I had such-and-such, I would be happy/could be like ____(fill in the blank)/all would be right in my world".  NOT.  Not gonna happen.  And I am proof through practice.  Buying things just creates more stress.  The momentary lift deflates as soon as that coveted thing permanently takes up space in your home. Then it's off to the races again to fill that void.  Or it's time to worry over money spent, time lost, wishes unfulfilled... My son and I went home. 
Since it's a long drive there and back, I started to count how many things I owned just in my bedroom.  One room.  Not counting each item in my two nightstand drawers, I waaaayyy surpassed 100.  And I had cleaned out the bedroom a couple of weeks ago!  Dear Lord.  And hmmm...if I have at least (and I do) 100 things in my bedroom, it is safe to assume that every other room in the house has at least 100 of my things.  Panic at the disco!!!! Oh, and the basement (which is the WHOLE length of the house)...
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Sorry readers (all 1 of you), I just had a moment.  I have work to do.  And I think this time the work might actually work.  In my 43rd year, I may just live life fully instead of trying to buy a full life.  I said last night I'd no intention of pairing down to just 100 things,  I am not a Spartan.  I like stuff.  I just don't need as much stuff as I have now.