I love October! It’s one of my favorite months in the year as the leaves begin to turn, the temperature begins to cool down, and all the fall activities are available here in the Deep South.

These are the days we are celebrating in October:

October 4-The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

October 9 – Our youngest child will be 12! He is very excited for his birthday!

October 31 – Halloween, which really is low key in our house, but All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are big!  You can see a back post about Halloween In The Waldorf Home, and this one about preparing for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day

We don’t have time for our mid-October camping trip this year, which stinks, but I am hopeful for other outdoor activities!

The little things that make ordinary October days magic:

Playing in the leaves

Apple picking

Pumpkin farm visits

Making pumpkin muffins and breads

Longer nights with deeper and later sleep

Warming foods

Fuzzy flannel sheets

Warm teas

Lantern making for Martinmas

Finding ideas to make for holiday gifts

Some ideas for celebrating:

Besides, the above post, I always think about

Warmth

Warming Foods – this back post is from January, but it might give you some ideas for warming foods

Autumn Circles and Autumn tales for little ones

Make lanterns

Re-instating tea time – so warming and lovely

If you have small children, you might really enjoy this post from Liza Fox about meaningful work for toddlers

Things Going On!

On the farm, we are finishing up an interior barn renovation. The exterior of the barn will be done in the spring, but this renovation should be enough to move all of our horses home, which is very exciting! We still have interior house renovations to do, including insulation, and are tackling these bit by bit.

We are planting bulbs for spring. Our fall crops should have gotten in the ground, but didn’t, so that’s on the list too!

Our bees are ready for winter. Our hive is only in average shape, but we will spend some time this month planning for spring and when we add additional hives. We will be ordering beekeeping supplies.

Homeschooling Fun!

Our sixth grader has made his way through mineralogy and we are moving into Greek and Roman History, which I think he will love. We have been working hard on math and spelling, and busy doing things with 4H and our youth group at church. He has an outdoor program two days a week and an outside math/science class one morning, so we are homeschooling at home with limited time whilst I work outside the home, but it’s working okay this year!

Our high school junior is most busy with horses, but also is doing really well at her four day a week outside high school program. The PSAT is this fall, and the ACT is in the spring. Not sure what the future holds for our little junior after high school, but just getting things in order for any future plans!

My husband and I celebrated 33 years of the day we met on October 1, so that felt pretty special to have had so many years together. My life was forever changed for the better on that day, although it feels as if we have lived a million lifetimes since then. Growing and changing together!

Personally, I have been busy in my work as a pelvic floor physical therapist and lactation consultant. It’s a busy time of year, and it has been stressful with all the different things we are juggling as a family, but I am looking forward to the holidays and that inward seasonal impulse that has me wanting to renew my own self-care.

I hope you are having the most glorious golden October! Please tell me what you are up to! Are you excited about autumn?

Blessings,

Carrie