Simple September

Before I start a blog entry, I usually go back and look at my photos from the month I want to write about. Turns out, maybe not very much happened in September. Or rather my September seemed pretty simple or straight forward. And this is maybe typical to most of how I feel about Septembers as a whole. It is the January of the summer months. This means that I am sick of summer and ready to move on to fall, but, usually, its not quite ready.

We did have a slight fall preview this month, but it very quickly got back up into the mid 80s where it stayed the rest of the month. I find this exhausting. I hated it in Kansas and I hate it here too. I am over the summer heat. I am sick of wearing summer dresses and want to get out my sweats and sweaters. Overall, I am very impatient about the summer to fall transition. (And now that it's October, I am worried the bottom is just going to drop out all of a sudden). And apparently, I make the "it's not quite fall weather" my whole personality as this is the main thing I can think about to talk about my life in September 2025. (Is that sad? Pretty much. Oh well).

(I also feel as if I should mention that the world is very much on fire these days and a lot of very terrible and scary things are happening in the world right now. I don't talk about world events very much in this blog, but it doesn't mean I am not aware of what is going on around me. Or that I don't feel things deeply. I just want to acknowledge that as I talk about the mundane of the every day).

My September was very simple. Just a lot of  walking the dog, "going" to work (I literally just walk up a flight of stairs to get to my desk), "going" home (again, back down the stairs), make supper, work on a puzzle and/or read until I go to bed at a ridiculously reasonable hour. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It's a simple life but it is actually quite nice. Here are a few highlights outside of that little list.

1. I finally went to my neighbor's festival literally called "Hot Times." It's literally just a few blocks away but I had never gone until this year. It was fine. (I went pretty shortly after they started for the day so it wasn't very well attended when I was there). There was some good music going on and I listened to that while I waited for my Nigerian food to be ready. Overall, everything was fine. Lol. Not a raving review, but I am glad that I went and supported the neighborhood.

A very poor photo of my fufu and strew with chicken

2. We celebrated Blake's birthday with a delicious Turkish meal for family dinner. I always make dessert for our family dinner and this year Blake requested creme brulee. This was particularly fun for me now because Levent gave me a kitchen blow torch for my birthday this year. So it was fun (although nerve-racking) to make. It turned out beautifully! And I didn't burn it (or myself or others lol).

3.  We did our annual applesauce processing, which is a lot of work, but also kind of fun. And it's really nice to do it with a lot of people so it doesn't take so long. Although, we were canning three bushels of apples (or 3 large boxes) and it took us three hours to do everything. My share was 22 quarts. We will enjoy this all winter long.

Also that same weekend that we processed applesauce, I also canned pears. (We got them from the same farm outside of the city. Although technically, I think both the apples and pears are from elsewhere. Maybe Pennsylvania). It was a lot of work, but something I am already grateful to have on hand. I canned 9 quarts total.

4.  I had a cousin date with Betha last Friday night. We went out for supper at Cap City Fine Diner and Bar, which is apparently, according to Betha, a Columbus institution. I had this giant plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes (it was very good) while I got caught up with my cousin. I love being able to hang out with her, even if I don't take photos of us, just the food. lol 

5. Last Saturday morning, I walked to German Village. This is something I do every once in awhile since it's not too far. (And now Levent has the car for work on Saturdays so it's one of my options if I want to get out of the house). I had a cute solo breakfast at Emmett's Cafe before I visited the farmer's market briefly (just for some apples) and then hopped into the Book Loft to finally spend a gift card I had since June. It was a nice morning outing. (And so fun to go into a bookshop with money to spend!)

6. And finally, I am taking sewing again through the Columbus arts and rec department. I wasn't planning on it, but then the instructor from my first class emailed us and told us that she was going to have an open studio for anyone who wanted to keep working on sewing projects. Technically since we took the first class we were intermediates now, which I find very generous for my current ability. Since it was an open studio and not a class, it was cheaper, so I just decided to go for it. I am glad I did. It's fun although I still have a long ways to go before I am actually an intermediate sewer. I am currently making a tote back for the grocery store.

And that was my September. Like I said, it was rather simple. But that's okay. I actually think October is going to be a bit of a dozy. So it was nice to have a calm month, even if it was hot.