She Looketh Well To The Ways Of Her Household

September is almost over and you can feel the difference in the weather as Winter prepares to make its debut. The mornings are chilly and we've had a fire a few times already to dispel the cold. The days warm up nicely, and it feels good to be outdoors soaking up the sunshine and, of course, cider pressing is one of the delights of the season!

As always, when Winter is near, I feel the overwhelming urge to "prepare". I'm not sure if that's an outworking of being agriculturally oriented or what, but I'm very in tune with the seasonal changes. My friend, Mrs. R, calls this Autumnal feeling "nesting" and I suppose that is as good a term as any. It's the desire (urge?) to make sure you have enough food put by for the Winter but it also entails the need to sew and spin and knit.

It's a very real need to know that you have adequately prepared your children for the upcoming season. I'm not sure if you'd have this feeling if you primarily bought your food and clothes. Is it only for those who have taken the tasks upon themselves? I don't know.

So, I'm busily stitching garments to keep the children's elbows and knees covered and I'm yearning to sit down at the spinning wheel and listen to its rhythm and feel the sensations of wool becoming yarn as it slides through my fingers.

I have a long list of garments still to be sewn including wool coats for the girls and some warm dresses. I'd like to do wool flannel petticoats but I'm not sure if that will come to fruition this year or perhaps it will wait until next year. Mr. G and the boys are cutting additional firewood now to add to what we already had so when the snow flies, we will be ready.