(blog visiting)

…the little pink roses that you see in my web-home banner are still blooming and I bring them in, often. I will change my banner to something more autumnal sometime soon, but as October is waning and the pink roses are still blooming outside here, they are part of my autumnal. And I am finding that a note of pink suits my autumnal tastes just fine…

The weather continues mellow here, tho’ a storm blew through yesterday and our temps have dipped a bit, but still no sign of frost in the forecast. I sit outside in between tasks, soaking up the sun and warmth, knowing it won’t last forever. One task was bringing out the seasonal clothes, but when I opened the wicker chest full of autumn and winter garments last week, I found everything rather musty…one of the downsides of no air-conditioning. So everyday has seen a load of laundry washed and dried, sorted through, some now in bags to send to the thrift store, some hung and folded in closet and dresser. Just the chest to wipe down now and the sorted summer clothes to tuck away.

(freshly washed and dried linens)

Signs of deepening autumn are everywhere…outside, of course and inside my home as I begin-rather belatedly-to switch out curtains and coverings and bring as much of autumn in as I can. Such a delicate, lovely, bittersweet time!

It’s been especially poignant to capture in film this year. I’ve managed to get a second film put up at youtube already and have too, too many little captures waiting to made into the next seasonal glimpse. I am finding that it is a lot of work, tho’ interesting and good work. Finding a window of time to tend it in my week will take some discerning, especially now as I finish up the Daybooks for next year and prepare to fill my shop.

(a wedding gift of antique napkins and napkin rings)

How I wish I could still stay up late in front of my computer, designing and fashioning everything into beauty as I did in my forties when I discovered this vocation-beyond-mothering! But computers at night and me no longer get along well, if I want to sleep. So I try this rhythm and that in hopes of finding the peaceful, nurturing one that will hold all I would like it to.

It’s a beautiful time of year to be exploring and experimenting with it all, with the autumnal breezes setting the leaves dancing and the sky so blue and white. Tho’ invitations, pulls away from home and the nearing of the holidays are beginning to be acknowledged within me as a strong desire to get settled with much in these next several weeks. I used to think that January was soon enough to find winter’s quiet and stillness, in my days and in my heart. Now I know that December is its sweetest if I can enjoy it then, too.

So it came to me that I want to create a proper  Advent  for  Advent  at Wisteria & Sunshine this year. Last year, with the usual, treasured holiday traditions very much up in the air, I didn’t have the heart for it. Thankfully this year-tho’ there are still uncertainties-we are all vaccinated and can look forward to being together in something like the usual ways this Solstice and Christmas. A joy and a privilege, but I cannot deny that there is a sigh somewhere within me over the thought of the effort it will require. All the more reason I’d like to fill November with small endeavorings towards more simplicity and calm.

Here is an updated little video of what our Advent for Advent is about…

I would love to have you join me.

xo

Lesley

Almost two weeks ago I discovered silent vlogs on youtube. Just one of those videos that youtube serves up…and I was captivated. They are so quiet, so gentle and usually capturing the everyday moments of beauty that we all experience and savor. Since then, I’ve been learning about starting a youtube channel and watching lots of silent vlogs to see how they are done.

For years now, I’ve taken short films of laundry billowing on the line or rain outside the window and shared them at Wisteria & Sunshine. And for years I’ve tried to capture movement with my camera…the boughs of a tree waving in the wind…the leaves falling in autumn…the steam rising from a cup of tea. It’s tricky, tho’, to get the lighting right and be there on the spot before the movement has settled into stillness again. But I’m getting better at it with this new creative enthusiasm.

I’m so looking forward to sharing some peace and beauty in this fresh way…and in enlarging the circle of those making such videos. Tho’ I’ve appreciated almost every silent vlog I’ve discovered, I soon noticed that they were all young women…and there is often a lot of food preparation…and fondling of flowers. : ) And some of them are staged and arranged just so, which is often satisfying to my eyes, but a little lacking in how it touches my soul.

So I’ve begun a channel myself, with little films of glimpses of my days…the season unfolding around me…any loveliness I want to share. You won’t see much of me, at first, because I am learning how to film myself (from the back, mostly!) and in the midst of losing-weight-but-not-quite-there-yet (I’ve rarely been comfortable with photos of myself in my plumper seasons) and because it is definitely more complicated to bring myself into the picture. But…except for makeup videos and aging “advice” you don’t see many rosehips in youtube land. I’d like to change that in a very small way.

And I also want to keep it as real as I can, while also making films you will want to watch and listen to. So I won’t be staging settings, but I will tidy up in the usual way of things. I’m finding that the camera shows all too clearly the deep cleaning I haven’t been able to do for many months…but my daily, chronic pain has been backing off a bit lately, so perhaps the windows will shine again soon. In the meantime, I’ve put up the one, very short video I made in the first few days of my new crush. And I hope to have another film up sometime next week.

So, time to get back to my learning and practicing! If you visit my channel, watch my film and think you would like to watch more in the future, please subscribe so you will know when I post again…and so that I know you have visited and enjoyed. Comments and likes would also be encouraging. I’ve all sorts of ideas for films and am writing them down in my Daybook so I don’t forget. If you have any ideas for something you’d like to see me put together, do let me know. Or if you have any favorite such vlogs of your own.

I hope your October is unfolding in peaceful ways,

xo

Lesley