Over a Cuppa: Sixteen (All the celebrations!)

Hi, Hey, Hello!

Goodness, I’m so happy to see you on this beautiful Autumn day! How the heck are you?!

What can I get started for you? I’m brewing up some black tea with milk and honey (obviously) but also have coffee or any herbal tea your heart could desire as well as some apple cider pressed from our orchard in the fridge I could easily heat up for you.

It’s a gorgeous, blue skied day, with some cooler weather (and maybe some snow) forecasted for the week ahead. Shall we sit on the front porch and listen to the birds while we chat?

Recently

The last week has been nothing if not eventful. I knew it would be, but sometimes our plans can roll up on us and into one another, ya know?

It all started a last Saturday with a big (look away if you’re anti-meat) culling day with the help of my brother and his partner and my eldest daughter and her husband. Together we culled 20 turkeys, ducks, and chickens to fill our freezer and our bellies.

Next, on Sunday, we all headed to my brother’s house to celebrate my dad’s 69th birthday with a Pizza Party! My Aunt Polly, my dad’s youngest sister, was travelling through on a rare trip so we got to see her, too! And yes, of course I had to pull everyone together for a group shot because it could be a long while until we’re all together again like that.

My dad barely tolerates photos, so I get them when I can 😉

And yes, that’s me and my little brother in the other shot below. He passed me in height way too young and just kept going.

Thursday was, of course, The Big Meal. There were ten of us around the table and it was absolutely amazing. So many good dishes and so many good people. Big gratitude for my little family and all the love we share.

Believe it or not, I didn’t get a single photo that day!!!

We usually wait until the first weekend in December to put up the Christmas tree, but the dates line up a funny and waiting until the 6th felt a little late… especially since we take it all down before January 1st. So, we decided to put it up and pull out a few other festive items on Friday!

The cats were happy and so were we.

Do have traditions or time frames around holiday decorating?

Finally, yesterday was my 49th birthday. It was celebrated quietly with my wife and youngest daughter at home with lots of yummy food, a few sweet gifts, and the perfect amount of downtime. I read, drank copious amounts of tea, did a solid meditation, and pulled a year-ahead spread with my favorite oracle deck, The Rooted Woman.

I even took a selfie to mark my 49th year 🙂

Outside of all the above, plus cleaning again and again, and puttering about with various small projects around the house and farm, I listened to two books, both enjoyable in their own right:

• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• Ten Thousand Doors of January my Alix E Harrow

Have you read any good books lately?

Next week we snap back to the work and school reality for a few weeks before enjoying two weeks off for the holidays and our slide into 2026.

2026… Wild, right?

One day at a time.

That’s all Folks!

I so appreciate you sharing space and time with me today, let’s do it again soon, OK?

Natalie is taking the weekend off so we are linkless as a group. I’ll pop around and try to find everyone, but please feel free to leave a link in the comments if you have a #weekendcoffeeshare post and I’ve somehow missed you.

Onward,

Melissa