October musings and plans

The barm for BBA bread No.2 is in the refrigerator.  Next weekend we will be baking Greek Celebration bread after refreshing the barm twice during the week.  This weekend was rainy and I didn't get my roses planted.  I couldn't paint the bathroom yet because the spackling still has to be sanded a final time.  SO, I took a long walk and thought about October.  The leaves are starting to change--the poison ivy and the sumac are among the first to begin turning red.  The crabapples are red and there are a few flowers still blooming in the garden.  Some coral mushrooms were peeking through leaves in the woods.  I always love the path I walked because there is an intense fragrance of pine from the cedars and yellow pines.  The path is soft underfoot from pine needles and moss.  I flushed out a bird but didn't see it. There were fresh tracks from a deer that heard me before I got there.  I thought about how much I love woods, fresh air, blue skies and freedom to enjoy them.  I came back from my walk, picked up a pad and a calendar and made a plan for October.  I listed all the things I love to do and the things that always make me feel stressed.  I decided to schedule my month on the calendar to find time for what I enjoy, for what I need and to begin to handle the stressful jobs that are always on my mind.  Karen and I agreed to follow this plan together.  We both have our exercise plan--mine will be to dance in the morning again and walk while the evenings still have some light.  We both want to have a home that's a pleasure not a chore because it's never organized and "company ready."  Those are the things that get in the way of having the energy and time to do what we find really important to us.  On my calendar I picked a room for each week of October to clean completely, but, more important, to organize everything in it in a way that should make it easy to maintain and to find what I need.  I'm not doing any of that on the weekends--I'm not missing the fall--I'll be baking, knitting, and spending time outside on weekends.  The evenings will be really busy.  The first week of October I'll work in my sewing/knitting room upstairs. My knitting needles need to be organized and I could use a better system for storing my yarn and fabrics.  While I'm at it, I'll reorganize my "linen closet."  Both rooms will take a lot of work--don't know if I can get done in one week.  I want to paint and redecorate but that'll be round two after all the rooms get organized and cleaned.  The key to this plan is that the things we love to do are also on our October calendar to make sure they aren't lost in the usual shuffle of "too busyness."