Welcoming Autumn

“The Autumn Equinox is just around the corner. With the coming of fall and winter, it’s time to gather, store, organize, and wind down from the summer’s quick pace. As leaves fall to the ground we, too, are in the process of letting things go to gather only what is needed for this next phase.” ~ Becca Piastrelli

I attribute my Taurus rising sign to the fact that keeping my home and yard tidy and beautiful is a priority for me. And it’s one of the numerous ways that I express my artistic creativity. Add in having Virgo parents and you’ll understand my strong work ethic of “taking care of business” and doing it well. AND if you know me at all, then you know that I’m passionate about healthy FOOD! So those are the topics of this week’s Welcoming Autumn blog.

TAMING THE OUTDOORS

About this time every year, the Oak and Sequoia trees in my yard let me know that it’s time to get ready for Fall. Pretty soon the ground will be covered with leaves, pine needles, branches, and more. I’ve found that giving the outdoors a good clean up before that happens will keep it looking pretty good with only minimal effort throughout the slower pace months of Autumn.

Having lived on rural properties for the last 30 years, my style has become to just tame what’s happening naturally in the yard and then add plants in containers that may or may not become one with the natural landscape over time. I have lived at this property for 17 years. When I moved here the yard was completely overgrown with blackberry bushes. It’s come a l-o-n-g way since then.

After this year’s “endless winter” everything went a little crazy over the summer. Time to cut back the dead stuff, prune and shape the plants and blackberry bushes, trim the ivy along the walkways, and give everything a good wash down. Then I went to Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery to pick up a few things to add a bit of fall color at my entry way and to fill in some pots on the deck.

(I only worked one hour a day for 6 days to get ALL this done - which kept my 70 year old body (and my chiropractor) happy.)

CLEANING THE INDOORS

Spring and Fall are the times of year that I deep clean my home. Fortunately, my cottage is small and, being a Minimalist, I don’t have a lot of stuff - so that’s pretty easy to do. Since most of my home is built of cinder blocks and I live in a damp environment, mold can be an issue so it’s not just that I’m OCD!!! Okay, well maybe a little… (:-D

I like to use room by room cleaning checklists. I don’t miss things that way and it feels so good to check things off as I go. Did you know that checking items off of a list releases small amounts of dopamine that then fuels us to keep checking off more items and getting more done? Another hack I use is to listen to YouTube cleaning and organizing videos while I’m working. I find them inspiring and motivating and helps me stay the course.

Also, I make my own multipurpose cleaner that I use for most cleaning jobs. I fill a spray bottle with water, 1 tsp dishwashing soap, and 10 drops of essential oil. This time of year, I use Young Living’s Thieves Oil. (The original thieves oil was created during the Black Plague by French “thieves” so they wouldn’t get sick when robbing plague victims.) It contains a powerful combination of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary that are antiseptic, antibacterial and antimicrobial - and smells amazing!

Once everything is clean and tidy, I add a few pieces of Fall decor to celebrate the season. Since I already have a lot of orange and brown in my home, it only takes a couple of items and some blankets to create a warm and cozy feeling.

(I also use this time to add new weather stripping as needed, make sure I have flashlight batteries and candles, and update my “to-go” bag in case of emergency.)

SEASONAL EATING

The healthiest diet comes from eating seasonal, organic, unprocessed, & local foods. The closer we eat to nature, the better for our body, mind, and spirit. Eating as close as possible to the seasonal harvest offers natural protection from nature's seasonal shifts and provides seasonal microbes that help connect us to nature.

The harvest season is the time to decrease our intake of cooling summer foods and start to increase more cooked and warming foods. Autumn offers a bounty of grounding and nourishing fruits and vegetables that are just what our bodies need. One of the main reasons that I do a Nutritional Cleanse Program near the fall equinox is that it helps our body strengthen it’s immune system ahead of the colder months.

As we welcome Autumn, now’s a good time to clean out the pantry and fridge and restock them with lots of staples and produce. Here are photos of some of the seasonal recipes from my 23 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER YOU! Pinterest Page to give you some ideas.