Cozying

With the change of seasons, it is time to gather in the supplies to keep us warm and cozy and keep everything pretty around our home. Here's my list of fall necessities to purchase:

For the garden:
- bulbs to plant now for spring blooms

For decorating outside:
- cornstalks, various pumpkins, and mums
- Bitter Apple (This is a spray used to deter puppies from chewing on important household items...like chairs. I have found that spraying the outdoor pumpkins with a liberal dosing of it every couple of days keeps the squirrels from eating the pumpkins.)

For personal beauty:
- toenail polish in an autumn color
- shoe polish and rain protector
- body wash and lotion in a heavier scent

For the pantry and kitchen:
- dried cranberries
- canned pumpkin
- smoked cheeses
- crackers
- whole nuts for cracking
- teas
- Starbucks hot cocoa mix
- autumn cocktail ingredients
- bundles of sage to dry from the garden
- whole grain mustard
- apple butter

For prettying inside:
- small pumpkins
- gourds
- Indian corn
- sprays of bittersweet gathered in from the countryside
- pheasant feathers

For cozying:
- beeswax for making tealights to last through the winter
- pillar candle
- scented candle for the kitchen
- flannel sheets (or at least to make sure everyone still has an adequate set)
- throw blankets (or make sure they are all freshly laundered)

Like all the squirrels that are so busy snipping acorns from our oak trees and carrying them back to stuff into their nests, I am busy gathering in supplies too. To each their task!