Tree leaves have been falling for a couple of weeks with most of them lying on the ground now. They sure have been pretty to look at but they blow around and make a mess of things.
Their bits and pieces will disintegrate into dust and before then they eject “stuff” into the air. I don’t know what it is but my running nose I blame on the leaves breaking down. There’s not a lot of things blooming right now, so the pollen that can make us sneeze and feel miserable is at a seasonal low. Is it leaf dust?
Autumn can be a bummer for those who dread winter’s cold dark days. Trading the heat of the summer for a chill in the air and lots more rain usually doesn’t help to put on a smile.
Daylight Savings Time ran out this past weekend. I wish we wouldn’t ever change the time clocks. It is so hard to get used to dusk at 5 o’clock in the evening.
Pets have to be re-trained to a new feeding time – Spring is so much easier than Fall – and any outdoor work has to be wrapped up too quickly for darkness comes fast in the afternoon.
How can you feel better when there are months of cold yet to come?
It’s all in the attitude, so try to think of these days as ones where we get to make our own sunshine. That was a saying from my grandmother that I hold close to my heart.
Go ahead, force a smile! You’ll feel better for it. 🙂
So, what will you be doing to make your own sunshine?
Take a little time to look around your place and do what you can to reduce clutter and clean things up. That always makes me feel better to see the place looking nice. Who wants to be stuck indoors in a dingy, dark cluttered place?
Here are a few ideas to make your indoor time a little more enjoyable:
- Brighten up the house with some new lighting. At least be prepared with some fresh light bulbs to replace the burned out ones.
- Get rid of stuff lying about to reduce clutter. Recycle or donate magazines and books, clothing and household items.
- Clean out the food cupboard and find some cans of food to donate. There are hungry people in America and plenty of food drives need your help.
- Set up a family game night or a fun-to-cook night once a week. All the participants will have something fun to look forward to.
- Get your windows cleaned. You’ll appreciate looking out that kitchen window a whole lot more when the view is clear of dirt, dust and spiderwebs.
- Plant some bulbs indoors, like Amaryllis or Paperwhites, and marvel at how fast they grow into beautiful flowers. Excellent project for children and adults. Take pictures as they grow!
- Plant a couple of favorite herbs for the kitchen. A west-facing or southerly window works best to keep them fresh.
If cats are in the household for those last two ideas, good luck!
By the way a tip for cat-lovers is to make sure to provide your felines with a cat tower or kitty condo. If they have a place to call their own where they can scratch and do cat things, your life will be a whole lot easier.
At a minimum they need a scratchin’ post for them to mark with their claws, instead of using your furniture for that.
Somehow, those rope-wrapped posts are very attractive for scratching and marking one’s territory. Our cats have never clawed the furniture as they preferred to use the posts instead. A Cat Tower
Cats give me some sunshine on a dark winter day, so it’s important for me to make sure they’re happy, too.
So, recognize whatever it is that gives you sunshine on a cloudy day and pump it up.
Order Amaryllis bulbs
Keep them in a cool closet until you’re ready to wake them up, then have fun watching the bulbs grow into very attractive and colorful flowers.