Jacques-Au-Lantern Compote

1 perfect small pumpkin
2 cups tart apples, peeled and diced
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Wash and dry pumpkin. Cut off top, leaving a generous slice for lid. Clean out and place on a  pie pan. Combine all other ingredients in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour apple mixture into pumpkin and cover with lid. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, until apples are tender. Serve as a accompaniment to savory meal. Scoop out some pumpkin with each spoonful of fruit. Delicious hot or cold. 
Serves 8
recipe by Elizabeth Gullander excerpted from "Bach for More - Fireside Classics"  

pumpkin courtesy of...

Autumn Is Not Timid

I shan't be nostalgic for the summer sun.
I shan't morn the aphelion of July, the warm lazy hours of August.
September has a long sweet kiss-off to summer, then October
makes you want to cry with its beauty as you remember each moment
you shared under the sky. Tangling fushia clouds in the
lingering sunset, streaked pink and orange and full of a cold promise,
the Autumn
grabs you with cooling fingers as scarves are pulled tighter.
I will respect the turning. I will not doubt the cold and dark.
I will keep the candles burning and watch the birds fly south
in the gray parade of atmosphere.

The Witches of Karres

"And all because those harmless-looking little girls were in fact three of the notorious and universally feared Witches of Karres"
Amazon

The Joy of Manifesting Good Things

photo credit

Blog:  hey it is so much fun to be turning 4 today! 

I love birthdays.

Me:  you are such a pretty little thing I really enjoy

every minute I have known you.

Blog:  did you make me a cake?

Me:  well you know I don’t eat grain any more but

we’ll have a super pot of pumpkin baked with some

pure maple syrup, cinnamon spice and coconut milk.

October really does offer up

so many delicious offerings. 

Would you like candles on that?

Blog:  oh yes please! Small brightnesses at the turning of the year,

mine and the seasons of Earth, candles remind me of hope and love.

I know you love astrology, does this make me a

Libra?

Me:  why yes little blog dearest, I never realized 

that before,

consciously anyway. Many of the most wonderful 

people I know are Libras. 

I think of beautiful and lovely things around you

and tend to try and balance my Sagittarian 

feisty opinions.

And I know you like to look your best - I promise 

we will

try and do a little spiffing up very soon. I am so happy 

you have many

friends to play with in the blogosphere and some come and visit you often.

Blog:  I am so happy to be here, life is so exciting. 

So many wonders and

blessings. I will try not to be afraid to look at everything,

good and not so much,

and to say what is in my heart. 

Thank you for your Birthday wishes  - lets be friends forever!

Gusto

note                           

straw, feathers, dust –

little things

but if they all go one way,

that’s the way the wind goes.

~Wm. Stafford

vortices far away

Storm at the Coast

What moves on, moves far,

here. What holds, holds long.

But it is the wind and water will stay,

after the cliffs are gone.

~Wm. Stafford

Learning to Live in the World