Happy fall equinox to you,
​~Miriam

Love the idea of living with the seasons?  Looking for more inspiration?

You might enjoy 14 Ways to Embrace the Shorter Days of Autumn, an in-depth look at some inspired ways to jump into the season with all your heart.

It's Hygge time.

​As the seasons shift to colder and darker days, rather than yearn for the return of summer, Nordic lifestyle embraces this time with a concept known as "hygge". 

It's not just during the fall and holidays though.

For me, now that the holidays have passed and the days have settled into more of a peaceful cadence, I'm really enjoying more time and space to settle down late in the afternoon with some hot tea and a good book, and also planning and preparing more of those comfort-food meals.  

You've heard the word "hygge" I'm pretty sure.   

What is hygge, though?
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Today is a Swedish holiday known as Santa Lucia (sometimes spelled Sankta Lucia).  Lucia means light, and this is a celebration of hope and light.  It is always on the 13th of December.

This is the cultural and traditional time to celebrate the darker days of winter and the coming solstice when the days will again begin to get longer, and lighter.

This year, the Winter Solstice happens on Thursday the 21st.  

So what is the connection between Santa Lucia and the Solstice?  And how can you celebrate?

After working with a client to design and create a stunning garden or landscape, I check in often.  More often initially, and then a bit less frequently through the first year.  

The success of a landscape is really mostly about a fantastic design, and then the ongoing maintenance of it over the long haul.  While the installation is often the most exciting step in the process, it's not going to be successful unless it's cared for properly every month and for the years to come (and well designed in the first place).

We don't do garden maintenance at The Whiskey Porch, but I wanted to put together a series of garden keeping checklists to help keep you on track.  Whether you are going to do it all yourself, or bring in a maintenance crew to do much of it for you, these monthly guides should be useful to you if you live in and around Prescott, AZ.

This in-between seasonal 'angst' that we can sometimes feel, right around mid-February, is real.

We've enjoyed (and survived) the holidays, the freshness of New Year has begun to wear off, and the days are ever-so-slightly getting longer. Those blue skies and sunny days are so promising.

​But, especially for us up here in the high country, the winter storms just keep popping in to remind us that it's still winter, and it's not quite time to let go of the hygge-vibe just yet.  
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Today is summer solstice.  "Midsommar" in Sweden.  I wanted to celebrate by sharing a lovely poem by an American Pulitzer prize winning artist and author who's parents were Swedish.  He lived in North Carolina and his home is now a National museum.
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However you celebrate, be sure it's outdoors and slow down to really observe and find the beauty all around you.  Let me know in the comments below what you think about this sweet poem and what you did to celebrate!

~Miriam

If you're looking for more inspiration, check out the other blog posts about Living with the Seasons here.

One of the key themes I come back to at The Whiskey Porch is "seasonal living".  It's an aspect of a Simple Lifestyle that adds texture, and color, and variety, and a natural flow to things.

When we talk about living with the seasons, what does that really mean?

To me, it's simply shifting your lifestyle with the seasons.  Doing different things in different spaces, as the seasons progress through the year.

Focusing on the connection to the landscape and the outdoors is just as important as the creature comforts and floorplan that you incorporate into your home design.  So, the interior isn't entirely separate from the outdoors and the landscape that your home sits on. 

By creating this connection intentionally, we craft a direct link between our daily activities and the cycle of the earth. 

And.  We can greatly expand the amount of living space available to us.

Let me explain.

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One of the fabulous things about gardening in the high country of Arizona (Prescott) is that, for the most part, it's a 9-month season.  The shoulder seasons are most definitely a bit unpredictable.  But it's really a gardener's paradise.

This week our first frost is coming.  Bit early - but if we can get our gardens through the odd frost here and there we will often be enjoying the fruits of our labor well into November.  

This year, because I invested so much in getting the new kitchen garden raised beds built and seeds started, I just couldn't let this cold snap claim the end of my growing season.  So, I spent some time getting prepared ahead of time and have actually enjoyed the process (rather than feeling like it was the end of a glorious summer, it was thoroughly enjoyable).  

I wanted to share a few tidbits from the process here.

​How do you celebrate autumn?

I mean truly embrace it?  Not the "holidays" but the season.

We know that it's obvious to talk about pumpkins, and pumpkin spice, and then before you know it holiday decorations... BUT there is so much more you can do to truly connect with this cooler season with it's soft, low light and briskly shorter days. 

It's a time to celebrate beyond the standard holiday themes and hype.  In fact, I would honestly say that my deepest desire is to escape much of the commercial and cultural pressure and demands that are almost impossible to escape once Labor Day hits.  ​

We've compiled a list of wonderful ideas on how do just that...

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