Hearth and Home
It seems like all the US bloggers and facebookers are talking about Autumn/Fall – so many people love autumn and I do too! The colors of the trees to the crispness of the air, it’s just so refreshing and invigorating. I am enjoying you all enjoying it while here in Santa Rosa we continue in the Rainy season of almost daily rains, a few hours of sunshine and then really cool evenings/nights. And green, green everywhere with lots of flowering vegetation. It is beautiful and I love it but … I remember “Autumn” of other years …
Most of us like to match the season – we pull out warmer clothes, we cook differently, add a little here and there in the home, and even decorate the yard all to match this wonderful season.
Here are some items that may add a little warmth and coziness to your lives.
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Autumn: A Spiritual Biography of the Season By Edited by Gary Schmidt & Susan M. Felch Gary Schmidt, professor of literature at Calvin College, has culled a collection of thoughts and reflections to aid in clarifying the spiritual themes of the season. Take advantage of this opportunity to explore centuries of fine literature focused on fall.From Autumn: A Spiritual Biography of the Season Autumn, with all its traditional images of colorful trees, frost-covered pumpkins, and piles of wood stored up against the cold of winter, can be a season filled with anticipation. The harvest, the imminent onset of cold and snow, the resumption of old routines, and the beginning of the school year all require preparation and planning. If summer has been something of a pause, autumn helps us to see the passage of time more clearly. Autumn is a season of fruition and reaping, of thanksgiving and celebration of abundance and goodness of the earth. But it is also a season that starkly and realistically encourages us to see our own limitations. Warm and stirring pieces by E. B. White, Anne Lamott, P. D. James, Julian of Norwich, May Sarton, Kimiko Hahn, and many others in this beautiful book rejoice in autumn as a time of preparation and reflection, when the results of hard labor are ripe for harvest. |
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Fall Foliage: The Mystery, Science, and Folklore of Autumn Leaves By Charles W.G. Smith Photographs of vibrant reds, oranges, yellows and greens grace every page as we read of the folklore, science and majesty of fall foliage. From Ash to Viburnums, over 35 different varieties of trees, shrubs, and vines are explored, including what region they’re from, shades of fall color and where specifically to find them. The concluding chapter explores the best places to see the displays of fall color, trails & roads to take, towns to visit and a list of resources. 130 pages, softcover. |
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Fall Is Here!: Counting 1 to 10 By Pamela Jane Fall is here! Count the ways this season is so wonderful–from 1 acorn dropping and 5 children romping in the leaves to 10 enormous orange pumpkins! The pages get bigger as the numbers get larger until we see all the reasons why fall is fabulous! Recommended for ages 4 to 8. |
![711803: P Is for Pumpkin: God"s Harvest Alphabet](http://ag.christianbook.com/g/thumbnail/7/711803t.gif "711803: P Is for Pumpkin: God"s Harvest Alphabet") |
P Is for Pumpkin: God’s Harvest Alphabet By Kathy Jo Wargin & YaWen Ariel Pang For God made the Earth–He made everything! |
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Count Your Blessings Flag, Small Garden size applique flag features simple design with timeless message Count Your Blessings; 12″ x 16″; 100% durable nylon for display indoors or out. Cornucopia spilling over with pumpkins for fall decor at home, church, or school;available exclusively from Christianbook.com . |
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Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, Small Art Flag Traditional horn of plenty, spilling over with nature’s bounty, pumpkins and fruit of the harvest is displayed in realistic design on decorative flag for indoor/outdoor use. With words from the doxology, Praise God from Whom all blessings flow; autumn decor and Thanksgiving gift idea; for home or church. 12″ x 16″. Created exclusively for the Gift Collection at Christianbook.com. Art flags are valued for their detailed design and quality reproduction of fine art. Because of the unique printing process, words are readable from one side of the flag. |
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Give Thanks Oval Chip and Dip Tray In time for Thanksgiving, our scalloped oval glass tray with separate center bowl is designed for chips and dip or appetizers at your holiday gatherings. Shaded leaf design with multi-colored berry accents, and brown border trim the 12″ x 16″ platter. Oval inset bowl features Give Thanks in raised lettering; bordered in brown, with green leaf trim; 9.5″ x 6″. Use the bowl and platter separately as desired. Handwashing recommended. |
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Give Thanks for Many Blessings Pillow More than just a decorative autumn accent, our fall pillow is embroidered Give thanks for many blessings. Corner fall motif embroidery with fine workmanship and piping edge finishing; 12″ x 7″; green with autumn shades. Stay in touch with friends and family when you send this unique Thanksgiving keepsake gift! |
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Our Daily Bread Mug with Gift Box Ceramic mug in matching gift box features pretty artwork by Shelly Rasche of country bread basket design with blue checked border and inscription Give us this day our daily bread. On the reverse, The Lord’s Prayer is inscribed in its entirety. Mug holds 10 ounces and is safe for microwave and dishwasher. Affordable autumn gift favorite. |
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Books on Organization and Dealing with Our Stuff – what? this is not clutter! Or is it?
Our Hearth and Home can sometimes be turned upside down and inside out and if it is filled with clutter … well, it can be one big MESS. Here are some good books to help you make some decisions about all your stuff before you are forced to do it (like a move, or someone’s death). Face it. We all accumulate more than we need … we become hoarders of stuff and it ends up owning us!
You can read more about this at Road to Abundance … the note Owned by Stuff!!
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Signed, Anonymous: Shedding the Need for Acknowledgment By Jon Johnston * We live in a culture that celebrates giving by listing names on an alumni donor list or in the church bulletin. Calling believers to travel a different road, Johnston encourages you to experience the joy of anonymous giving. Discover the true meaning of charity by embracing the way of a generous heart in inconspicuous, humble service. 192 pages, softcover from Beacon Hill. |
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The Quick-Fix Home Organizer: Making Your Home Beautiful and Your Life Clutter Free By Emilie Barnes Got a minute? Use it to your advantage when you put Barnes’s fast and easy ideas into practice! Sharing ways to infuse peace and personality into your home and workspace, she helps you start and finish projects successfully, organize paperwork, get the most out of your daily planner, and more. Formerly titled The One-Minute Home Organizer. 144 pages, softcover from Harvest. |
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101 Ways to Clean Out the Clutter By Emilie Barnes Better than a how-to television show, this compact resource written by home management expert Emilie Barnes, can help you transform your home, church, or office into a clutter-free zone. With 101 tips to choose from, you’ll soon be on your way to ridding your rooms of piles, stacks, and disarray. Paperback. |
More on Hearth and Home ….
“There’s no place like home” is a old expression probably made popular with Dorothy’s famous lines in The Wizard of Oz. But, you know what? In the real world of the here and now … well, it is absolutely TRUE! There is no place like our own home, be it ever so humble. I don’t care if you live in a mansion, a bungalow, a cabin, a mobile home or a tree house, our home is where we ‘hang our hearts’. Or at least it should be.
You can read more on this topic at Abundance … just remember, if your home hasn’t been what it should have been, don’t despair, you can start today building the Home Of Your Dreams – a wonderful place where those you love can flourish! Let the transformation begin!
Here’s some great tools I’ve come across — but, do you have some you can share, too?
Amazing Families
Type Talk
Country and Reminiscence are some cool magazines I have always loved – they will
enhance any home – in fact the whole circle of Reiman Publications is pretty
amazing and I love them all! Check it out for yourself!
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One of the ways we feel ‘at home’ in our houses is to have Christian decor … little reminders of who you are sitting here and there can be a reminder to keep God in the middle of life and it’s wondrous adventures.
Check out some beautiful gifts here – for yourself and those special ones in your life!
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All of the projects around your place would be much easier if you had a sheltered place to work, with room for all of your tools and work tables and storage space for your supplies. You just might need a workshop!
You can get started on one right now with these plans. In fact, you can even learn how to build your own shop or work with your contractor to save big on construction costs. Now, you can choose from 41 great designs and print all of the building plans, as often as you want, with one easy purchase. And, your cost will be less than single set of shed plans from many other websites! I love DIY (do it yourself) projects and after you check out this site, you will see “you can do it”. It’s great to have the whole family building together – the sense of accomplishment is something nothing else can compare to. If a group of teens can build a ‘house’ in a day in Honduras, then a family can use these simple instructions and build a small out-building. My son-in-law chose to go this route and saved his family 100’s of $$.
Take a look and start dreaming of building!
Click Here and see some ‘do-able’ plans you can use today!
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Not only do we decorate the inside of our homes, we care about the outside as well – I truly believe we need to be as natural as possible as far as the use of chemicals in our lawn care and gardens.
Click Here and you will see some Fabulous Ideas for Organic Gardening !
And, from a few years back, here are some pictures of our own family’s “organic gardening” and the subsequent Harvest of Abundance!
This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 10:01 am and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
