It's Been A Lovely Autumn

My tree by the front porch is losing the last of her leaves. I love the color of them. They are so vivid! What a beautiful Autumn it has been. I will miss you! I know the calendar says it is still Fall, but it seems as though it disappears the day after Thanksgiving as we start out preparations for Christmas.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house yesterday. I "ate myself full" as the Amish would say. So many good things to eat! And yeah for leftovers!
The day was preceded by a wonderful evening at Church for a special Thanksgiving service filled with music and worship and then Thanksgiving morning I made a big breakfast for my family to enjoy while we watched the parade. Today it's time to take down the turkeys and clean and prep the house for the decorations for Christmas. Billy will be taking down the boxes from our shed this Sunday I hope! In the meantime, I do have some in my closet upstairs and a few new goodies to add that I bought the other day at the Christmas Tree Shoppe. I look forward to decorating my big window with my mittens and hats clothesline; this year I'm adding Santa's over-alls! :)  don't know if I spelled that right.....I may also display for the first time my Holly Hobbie children's stove for Christmas. I have had it for years but never set it up. It's from the 70's, used and in it's box but in great shape. I love all things Holly Hobbie as you know.....In my foyer I set up a tree with just gingerbread decorations ( see in "pages" pictures of my decorations from last year and you will see my gingerbread tree) and I'm thinking I may set up my little stove by the gingerbread tree. How cute would that be? Yes, it must be brought out of it's box and maybe I'll set up my Holly Hobbie sewing machine.....okay, the wheels are really turning now.....Yes, I've talked myself into it! Get the ladder Bill, the stove is in the storage area over the garage, and me, being the klutz that I am, really needs you to get it or at least hold the ladder!
I will be hosting Christmas Day this year so I am also hoping to go through the recipes this weekend to add a few new ones. I think I might add homemade scalloped potatoes. So far I'm making a turkey but before I decide on the menu for sure I am going to check with my husband to see if that is still what he would like. Last month when discussing Christmas plans, he proclaimed "make turkey!" but maybe now he's in the mood for a ham? I may also make a pasta of some type as a starter since a couple of my nephews are pasta lovers. Maybe some stuffed shells or lasagna? Hmmmmm..........
Well, time to make a fresh pot of coffee and get to work on packing up my turkeys and pilgrims till next year. Have a terrific day!

A Whole Bunch of Stuff on a Chilly Sunday!

Good Morning on this lovely Sunday! It's chilly here today and it's been downright COLD at night! I love it! I am hoping it's very chilly for Thanksgiving! Good food, family and coziness! I love shutting the cold outside and enjoying the conversation of my loved ones on that day. Catching up and sampling some of everything. I look forward to it so much.

Yesterday I finished one of the wreaths I was working on. The actual colors may not be so great when you see it on the blog but in person the vivid solid color is like a deep rusty burgundy orange (!) It's pretty, please trust me! I was very unhappy about the quality of the Styrofoam wreath. I remember them being so much more substantial. Quality has really declined in so many things. I had a hard time pushing in my fabric without snapping it! SO it took a little longer to do because I had to work so carefully and sadly in the end when I was putting in the interior pieces of the inner circle SNAP! It broke in half! I have repaired it but I think I might take out my fabric and hold onto the squares till I find something more substantial! I looked in AC Moore and Michaels and both offered the same wreath. Very disappointing. I was thinking of saving the squares and stuffing them, sewing the backs closed and making a new wreath. My Mom used to do wreaths like that when I was growing up in the 1970's. They look like mini pin cushions and you attached them all to a wreath of some kind.  I still have her Woman's Day or Family Circle magazines from that time where she used to get so many of her projects. I love those 1970's crafts. I will get them out today! I remember her doing something called "punchinella". Anyone remember that? She did so many cool projects.

As you can see all the pets in my house seem to love drinking from our fish bowl. The fish seems to enjoy the attention as well. This comical habit of my cats has now extended to the rabbit! It's not like they don't have their own water bowl!!! Silly bunny. That one is Chestnut. He scooted away and ran to the fish bowl to take a drink before I put him back in his home.
The other little silly one this weekend has been Dutchess, our elderly Calico. We have Dutchess since 2006. She was already an adult when we got her. She blended right in with our family immediately and made herself at home. Dutchess has the nickname of Doodlebug and when Caitlin was learning to talk, she would hear me say  "Dutchie Doodlebug" when addressing Dutchess. She tried imitating my words and it came out "Dadooba" so that has stuck and we also call her Dadooba. Well, little Miss Dadooba who suffers from arthritis and tends to limp some days and enjoys being "boosted" on to my couch by one of us somehow jumped onto and has been sleeping on my new breakfast bar stools! I am amazed she can still jump that high and actually stick  the landing! And boy is she proud of herself! I didn't think she had it in her. I'm starting to think she just likes us boosting her on the couch or on the chairs out of her laziness cause how she can jump that high is beyond my comprehension. She now enjoys sitting high above the others and gazing at me over the breakfast bar :) She is such a big loveable pussycat.

Before I end the animal post I have done here ;)   here is a photo of my lovely (and last) remaining pumpkin. It's on my front porch right outside the front door. My little squirrel buddy must have used some kind of power tool to neatly drill a round circle into my pumpkin to EXTRACT the seeds. This squirrel  used precision  tools! I was amazed to see his work. He diligently removed his precious pumpkin seeds and didn't leave a mess. I think he did his work so neatly because he loves that I make him peanut butter sandwiches, and he was showing some gratitude.

Happy Sunday to you all!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

One week from today is Thanksgiving! My goodness, it was just Halloween ~~or 4th of July for that matter! Time is going by so quickly and before you know it, we'll be saying goodbye to 2011. I've been working with my Daisy Girl Scout Troop putting together Thanksgiving baskets for those who could use them. We also packed 14 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. My daughter loves the collecting and packing of supplies. All the girls decorated the boxes and gift bags so happily; I am sure their packages will put a smile on the receiver's faces. The message of "service to others" is not lost on these little ones. Bless their innocent hearts. And thank you Girl Scouts for promoting 'service" as a virtue.

I'll be visiting my sister's home for Thanksgiving. She lives locally so it's a short ride. We had thought of going into NYC for the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade (we live about an hour from Manhattan) before going to my sister's house in the afternoon but it seems the kids enjoy a big breakfast at home on Thanksgiving and the parade in their jammies! That's fine with me. Billy and I went to the parade in 1997 and it was magical. There are so many things going on that the tv cameras don't show you when you are actually standing along the parade route. It's super fun. I'm thinking we may go next year and my husband has been working extra hard lately so I think a nice morning home with a big breakfast in HIS jammies will do him good! My favorite float is the the big Turkey! and of course I love Snoopy. I also love Pikachu because when my son was little, he loved Pokemon so I have a soft spot for Pikachu. Last year, Commack High School was one of the bands that marched. Commack, Long Island represented! (besides being the hometown of Rosie O'Donnell and Bob Costas). We marched and we were proud!

This is also the time of year when I watch Holiday Inn. Please don't confuse this movie with White Christmas. Although that's a good one too, Holiday Inn came first and it features Bing Crosby & Fred  Astaire and takes place at Holiday Inn, an Inn in Connecticut open only on holidays. Bing Crosby's character wanted to return to the "simple life" where a man's hard work and the satisfaction of knowing he did his best for his family was reward enough. Whereas White Christmas is a wonderful movie, it has more glitz and it is in color. It's more elaborate Hollywood production. Holiday Inn is in black and white and the message just hits you! It is very powerful. One of my favorite lines in this movie is one Bing says to a woman who keeps looking for bigger and better and of course always finding disappointment. He says "Always looking for greener pastures and finding spinach."  Words to live by!

Before I end there is also a song called Counting Your Blessings that is on the Holiday Inn soundtrack but not in the movie and again, listen  to these words:   "And when you're worried, and You can't sleep, Just count your blessings instead of sheep."  That's what I do when I go to bed!

Have a joyous day!

Organization Time!

It sure is a foggy day here in Commack, Long Island! I could barely see across the street when my husband left the house at 6:30! It's gonna be a beautiful day with the sun shining through the trees that, incidentally, still have many leaves on them! I hope you enjoy some photos I have posted. Just some random shots of some things I've been adding or rearranging around here. It's a heavy photo post. I've been doing some straightening out of closets and such  and realize I have got a whole lot of stuff. I really do. I'm good about sharing and donating what I don't need any longer but still I have lots of stuff that I treasure. Thankfully, my husband had the good sense when he built our house to build me good size storage closets and many of them. What I need to do though is organize them. I find that when it's that busy decorating time--you know, when you are altering your decor from Summer to Fall to Winter etc, sometimes you just kind of put stuff in places they don't belong. I also Christmas shop all year 'round so I often put those bags of items in the closet and then forget I bought them....I had been so good about keeping a notebook of lists. That is my goal today! I am going to go through my things and see what I have. I know I have little gifts for people, craft items, things I put away to eventually do something with, garage sale finds that I just haven't displayed....and it certainly isn't doing me any good in the closet!!! As my daughter's teacher sings in the classroom "Clean up, Clean up Now it's time to clean..." I just need another cup of coffee.....

My little buddy squirrel friend is making a meal out of my pumpkins again this year. I feed the squirrels as you all know, and I love them. Well, even though I provided this little guy with his peanuts, he couldn't resist gnawing on my pumpkins. I was sitting in my rocker on the porch yesterday waiting for Caitlin's school bus , and he just continued his chewing. I'm so glad my presence on the porch wasn't a distraction to him (!)
Speaking of my Caitlin, she lost her first tooth yesterday! I believe the tooth fairy came last night to our house, but I'm not sure till she checks under her pillow :)

My son has been enjoying his Family Consumer Science class. In my day it was called Home Economics and it was only girls. The boys were sent to "SHOP" aka as woodworking. These days, both boys and girls do home economics and shop...HE LOVES IT! He made the frog pillow all on his own! I was so impressed because he could have opted for a square pillow but he chose the more difficult project. He loves the sewing machine. He said the BROTHER sewing machine is his favorite. He also learned the proper way to iron clothes with a steam iron. Family Consumer Science has come a long way! When I took it back in 1981 we made the ugliest wrap around skirts on earth and we made cinnamon toast. That recipe consisted of softened butter with cinnamon......tough one ;)

I'm just loving this time of year so much . I could keep up all my Fall decorations all year long and never tire of them. The colors are just magical to me. That's why we painted all our interior colors earth tones. The reds and mustards and browns are so lovely this time of year. And yellows....so beautiful! I'm big into orange this year. Oh, and my owls! I LOVE owls. All of a sudden I was just loving them! It started at Halloween when I purchased a few black silhouettes of owls. Then I kept noticing them everywhere I went so I bought a couple of owl cardboard decorations. Then a friend of mine gave me one as a gift....I love them.

I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving. My sister is hosting it, and I enjoy so much sitting in her beautiful dining room with my family around me. Our family has both increased and decreased and hopefully it will increase MORE. We lost my Dad from our Thanksgiving table in 2005, but we gained a nephew when my niece got married and I know they will be adding to our table in the near future (I hope). Each Autumn passes and you never know who will be at next year's table. My sister ordered her turkey from the butcher and she is planning her menu. Love all the preparations. My kids get so caught up in the preparation of a holiday especially when it is at our house. I'll be having Christmas Day.

Other little things I've worked on lately is a little bird  nest basket to hang from one of my windows. I bought the odd shaped twig basket in PA.  Oh, and see that wooden barn star with the bird house that's on my porch? I picked that up at an Amish farm when we went to PA. In case you haven't noticed, barn stars are theme throughout my house. We have several large ones displayed on the exterior of our house over the windows, several in the garden and by our doors and throughout my house. I think every room has at least one. Even my bathroom has shower curtain rings that are barn stars! My husband bought one painted with angels for our bedroom!

Well, time for me to get moving! Have a great day and I appreciate the time you spent reading my little story! AND welcome to my new Follower!!

Daylight Savings Sunday

Happy early morning Sunday! I woke up an hour earlier than my usual 5:30 am today and try as I might to sleep longer, it wasn't happening! My mind is so set for 5:30 am I can never shut it off ---even on Sundays! And this morning I would get an extra hour cause of daylight savings time but my mind said nooooooo. RISE AND SHINE! So before I start my day I thought I would update about a few things.
It's been a pretty chilly week and I love it! We have been lighting our fireplace every night. My son enjoys bringing the wood in from our yard and stacking it. I've been working on cutting squares for my poke wreath. I don't know if you can see the colors very well of this fabric but they are so pretty and so country. I've been working on that at night.
 I made an apple crisp for dessert the other night and used the last of my apples that we picked. It was delicious especially with a big dollop of cool whip!
 I was happily surprised to see a big box behind my door on Friday from my buddy Gina of Cat Nap Inn Primitives. She sent me an incredible box of goodies. I am showing you some of it but the other items I didn't get to photograph yet. Check out the carmel apple on my table! Isn't that adorable? And I put these great pillows on the bench in my kitchen. She knows I love roosters and chickens! They both fit just right there! She sent me this great wall hanging of a cat--love that too and I think I may be hanging that in the hallway of my second floor. She also sent me an adorable pocketbook that says "born to shop" and even a pocketbook for Caitlin with a mighty fancy handle---which Caitlin immediately ran off to her room to pack! We even got cup cozies. Thank you so much Gina. You know how much you mean to us. Caitlin has made you her own special thank you that I will be sending shortly.
Remember I told you about the chair that I refinished? Well, I know I posted a picture of it in a previous post....Well, my son went to a garage sale and came home with this great rooster pillow (he knows my taste!!) and look how lovely it sits on my newly redone chair! I put the chair in my family room. Just wanted to show that to ya!

The majority of my week was spent putting away my Halloween stuff and straightening up the house after our whirlwind weekend last week. My turkeys are up for Thanksgiving. I love this time of year, and I love Thanksgiving. For twenty one years I would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving with my sister-in-law Linda. We loved the hustle and bustle of all the shoppers and it got us into a Christmas frame of mind. We stopped last year,  and we found that we both LOVED being home the day after Thanksgiving! Just relaxing and munching leftovers. Last year we still went shopping together but we went the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving instead.  We plan on doing the same this year. Sometimes it's okay to change a tradition!

The Turkeys Are Up!

It was a wonderful Halloween weekend for us! I hope all of you had a great time as well! The weather had caused us to postpone our Halloween party from Saturday till Sunday, and I am so glad I did. Whereas many areas had gotten snow on Saturday, we had only received heavy rain. On Sunday the sun was shining and the kids had a wonderful time! We had games and fun and so much good food.
Saturday, in the rain, we headed to our haunted house in St James and had so much fun there with our good friends Mary & Guy. After the haunted house we visited their house to see their decorations. Mary, like me, loves traditional Halloween not scary, so we enjoyed her beautiful home festively decorated with amazing Halloween items. She is an incredible crafter as well and can embroider, sew and do needlepoint like you wouldn't believe. The first time I went to her home (23 years ago!) she had a trio of pictures hanging above a wall unit in her den. I thought they were paintings until I got a closer look and they were needlepoint! That's how well she does it! Anyway, that is Mary & Guy's house in the photo all decorated and she had lots of fun gifts for the kids and after some great snacks, we proceeded home. I had alot to do for Sunday.
On Monday, I went to Caitlin's first grade class for her Halloween party and parade and that was so fun. We trick or treated after school and then my husband took her and Billy after dinner. What a great weekend and Monday! This time of year is so special to me and I can easily recall my days of trick or treating and loving the smell in the air and the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet. It's such a nesting time for me, and I'm thinking of the many things I want to do before Fall comes to an end. I enjoy the Thanksgiving season too and I find it so thrilling when you go into the supermarkets and they have those special displays up for Thanksgiving for baking and for side dishes. I went in to Stop & Shop the other day to see a big display of canned yams, cranberry sauce, brown sugar, flour, walnuts...all piled up and of course, the ingredients for a string bean casserole! Made me smile!
Yesterday all my Halloween items got packed away. It takes me all day because I decorate alot,  and I carefully repack it. Then the turkeys came out and it's get ready for Thanksgiving time!! I will be working on more of that today.

Just wanted to post quickly to wrap up our Halloween adventures. I hope you have a great day!