The Lucky One

As it is Monday, it is time to choose someone to receive the gift of the two CD's of George Winston piano music that I love so much! I used Random.org to select the winner from among the comments on the post, and

Dreaming of Living A Dream is the lucky one!

Dreaming, I hope you and Doc and Pippin enjoy the music during this season of good things and giving! Send me an email with your address so I can get those in the mail to you!

I really enjoy his music, and think many of you would as well. You can follow this link to see a list of his recordings, as well as learn more about his music and he may even be performing near you. I've been to one concert and would love to go to another!  Consider it if its an option for you!

I like this sharing of good things! I might have to do it more often!

Now, keep reading the next post to learn about our adventures with the sunflower seed circus!

The Season of Good Things and Giving

Autumn to me is the season of good things and giving. There is something in the air, even at the first hints of the coming of Autumn, that electrifies my soul. Autumn feeds my senses with delights.

When the first colors start to make their appearance, my eyes feast on the variations. There is something thrilling about discovering the first leaves of color change. I love the colors of Autumn!

I love the tastes of Autumn. Surely you've noticed that the flavor of our food completely changes when the season changes. I start to crave things like beef stew and soups, home made bread and pecan pie. My newest craving is for some of these sticky-bun pumpkin muffins Mom made last weekend. Just their name has "Fall" written all over it! I can't wait to try the recipe when we get home.



The food falls into the scents of Autumn as well. I can just imagine how wonderful those muffins must smell. But even more than the scents of the food, I love the sharp smells the outside air takes on. The smells of baked grasses, warm earth, and so much more. I couldn't even really pin point what all goes into the "smell of Autumn" but it does have its own smell and I enjoy every whiff I get.

I love the sounds of Autumn! The crunch of dry grasses under my boots, the rattle of the breeze in dried leaves.

Even the birds songs seem to change. They are just as pretty as ever, but they seem to carry a new message, a note of "hurry," a calling together of friends to prepare for what's to come. I love listening to the birds songs in Autumn.

Another sound of Autumn for me is the music of George Winston. When I was a girl, my mom shared a record album with me. It was called December and I loved it. I've loved it ever since.  When the colors start to appear in the trees, and the grasses start to crunch, and good food starts to be craved, I get my December CD out and start listening to it.

It wasn't just the December album that my Mom gave me really, but a treasure of good music. I have since acquired a number of George Winston's albums and listen to them frequently. My other favorite of his is his Autumn album, and it too gets played frequently during this season.

There is just something about this season that speaks to me. Does it speak to you too? There is something exciting about it. And I love to share good things with my good friends. I can't share those muffins with you when I bake some, and I can't go for a walk with you on a beautiful fall day, but I can share the music of autumn with you! Here is a little sampling. Can you hear why I love it so much?

A few of my favorite songs from my favorite two albums are on that playlist. And since Autumn begins, at least for me, a season of giving, I'm going to share the music of my favorite pianist further by giving these 2 Cd's to someone. I'll draw a name from the comments list next Monday, 10/10/11. If you would like a chance to be the one receiving the the Autumn and December CDs, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post and share with us what your favorite thing about Autumn is.

(And before I go, I just wanted to share a note on the cabin pictures in this post. This cabin sits by the road down near the summer pasture. It is an old log church, with a tiny graveyard hidden in the tall grasses nearby. I know nothing about its age or history, but hope to learn more about it in the future. I bet it has a story to tell.)

Winner of the Christmas Gift

Good morning. Hope you all had a great weekend and Monday morning is going well for you as well. We're sitting here in Spokane, WA waiting to get unloaded. So far the mornings going OK, except that I did an update on our log book program, and now its not working. I have to wait 12-48 hours for an activation code. Hmm...that could make things interesting. We haven't kept paper logs in almost three years. Hope we remember how to do it!

Anyway, I got Malcolm to draw a name out of the hat this morning for my Christmas gift, and he drew (drum roll)....

Small Farm Girl!

SFG, if you could email me your address at beyondthefencepost@yahoo.com
and I'll get that in the mail to you just as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy the book and bookmark. The story is very touching.

I had planned to catch you all up to date on the last few days, but after the whole log book thing, I'm feeling a little deflated. So....I'm going to put that off till tomorrow or maybe later today. Enjoy the day and the count down to Christmas!

A Christmas Gift

I love Christmas, and everything that goes with it. To celebrate my most favorite holiday, I'm going to have a give away. I know I don't have 300 readers like those other blogs that give stuff away, but I'm doing it anyway, and my lack of followers just increases your chances of actually winning!

I read, at the coaxing of my sister, a short and sweet book that has such a powerful message in its story. It is also a Christmas story. And so I'm giving away a copy along with one of the beaded bookmarks I made.

Here's what you need to do. Simply leave a comment on the next post telling me what your favorite Christmas ornament on your tree is, and if you don't have a tree, then which of my pictured ornaments did you like most?

This will be my last post till Monday, so you have till then to comment. And on Monday morning I'll draw a name and post the winner, so check back on Monday to see if your getting the gift. Make sure you leave your name on your comment, as some of them are really vague. Like if your name is Susie on your comment ID, please mention that you are Susie Q, or something like that. And anyone is welcome. You don't have to be on my followers list to be drawn.

Hope you have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday.

Now scroll down to the next post to see my Christmas ornaments.