Fall is in the Air

I can feel it. I can smell it. Fall is in the air! I am soooooo happy. I have a confession. I hate summer. Well, not all of it. Just the heat part. Actually, some heat is ok but this summer's heat was stupid! I hated it. I love fall. I love the changing of the leaves. I don't exactly love them them falling into my pool but I'll happily scoop them out if my weather will keep going like it is now. We actually had 2 mornings in the 40's. 40's!!!! I opened all the windows in the house for a few days and turned off the a/c. It was heavenly. Ok, I turned on the a/c in the late afternoon because it was almost 80 in the house and people were starting to complain...and smell. But the fact that I had several hours of breezes blowing through my house just made me so happy.

Another fact of fall is that it is now pecan picking time. We have 16 trees that we harvest from. By hand. All by hand. Mostly my hands. Hubby keeps asking me why I am not making the kids help and I tell him to listen...What does he hear? Nothing! THAT'S why I don't ask the kids to help! It's quiet. Just me and the birds...and the falling pecans. FYI-those suckers hurt when they fall on your head. Just sayin'. Right now, the picking is fun and easy because the leaves haven't really started falling yet. Once they do, the picking becomes much more time consuming because the leaves and nuts are the same color so it's hard to distinguish what is what. For now, I am enjoying myself. I'll make the kids do the hard picking later while I stay in the house and enjoy the quiet inside!

I am looking forward to some apple picking, too. We used to have a couple of apple trees but we had to cut them down because they weren't very healthy but, just a few hours north of here is Blue Ridge, GA and some pretty good apple picking! Plus, the scenery is amazing in that area. I want to get plenty of apples for canning, baking, snacking and any other use I can think of!

Looking forward to fall festivals close to home. Our church does one and it is a pretty good time for the whole family. We also have a few places that do corn mazes and haunted walks so there won't be a lack of seasonal delights.

All of this will lead up to my absolute FAVORITE time of year....winter!!!! I love EVERYTHING about it. The weather (always the possibility of snow) the holidays, the holiday parties, the decorating, the music. I love it all! I am definitly a cold weather person. I love to bundle up in front of a fire with a mug of hot chocolate or tea. Hubby pretty much hunts every evening from October to January, so I get to do as many crafty things as I please in the evenings. I have also gotten pretty good at getting the fireplace going so I no longer have to wait for him to come home to start a fire. Funny, I can already feel my mood lifting just by talking about it :-)

What are your seasonal delights? I would love to hear them!