Five Fall Faves

It's Friday and time to post a "Fave Five" reflection.  It seems like my week flew by but without a lot of dramatic things to write about so I thought I'd tell you about five things I really enjoy about the Fall season which is creeping into our area.

1.  With the colder temperatures, we can start sleeping with more covers on at night.  Now, this isn't our bedroom but since we were speaking of "covers", I thought you might enjoy seeing the type of "cover" that my family in Asia has to sleep under to protect them against mosquitoe bites.  This is their current apartment in a poor neighborhood in a big city over there.  Bringing things back to Pennsylvania, I've always felt "uncomfortable" sleeping without any bedcovers.  It's the same feeling that I get if I have to ride in a car without a seatbelt (which is hardly ever, thank goodness).  It just doesn't feel right.  I like to snuggle under covers.  Now that it is colder, I can burrow under a sheet and blanket to my heart's content.

2

2.  The colder weather moving in gives me more incentive to get going on my knitting.  Here's a pic of the latest project I just finished.  It's called the "Wrap Me Up" Shawl designed by Chris de Longpre.  It's a long rectangular shawl composed of quite a few different blocks in various stitch patterns.  I did this shawl in Noro Cash Island accented with two different Noro solid colored yarns and a bit of Cascade 220 yarn here and there.  I still have to block it but I really like how it came out.  Quite a unique look.  Now I'm starting on some Christmas gift knitting.

Photo courtesy of Photos8.com

3.  Fall brings a riot of colorful "mums" to our area.  We have a small Farmers Market near our house that always has a great display of colorful mums and pumpkins set up this time of year.  I'll try to get a picture of them to put in the blog sometime soon but in the meantime, you'll just have to envision yards and nurseries filled with these great Fall plants.

4

Photo courtesy of Photos8.com

4.  Apple cider is beginning to make its appearance once again.  On a cold night, I love to sip a mug of hot apple cider.  I have a great recipe that I got from a Navy friend years ago for "Old English Grog" that is wonderful, non-alcoholic, and makes your home smell terrific. I thought I'd share it with you:
Cloves
4 oranges
1 quart orange juice
1 quart apple cider
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 sticks cinnamon

Stuff the oranges with 12 cloves each and then bake them for 15 minutes in an oven at 350 degrees.  Mix the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil on your stovetop.  Prick the oranges and add to the pot.  Let the grog simmer for a few minutes and serve warm.  Enjoy!

5.  It's the time for many of my favorite TV shows to come back from their summer hiatus.  I always hate it when I'm left with a cliffhanger and then have to wait months before I find out what happens next.  Thank goodness some of my shows are starting back up this week and next and some new shows are being introduced that sound promising.  That's when I do the bulk of my knitting.

If you'd like to write about your own Friday's Fave Five, visit Susanne's blog at Living to Tell the Story.  She hosts us each Friday and it's a great way to reflect back over your past week or to focus on the week to come.