Cool Temps Here in the Suburbs!

How wonderful it is to feel the cool temperatures once again! The weather has been so Autumn like and that gets me so motivated to do all the things I want to do! I had started my Fall decorating before Labor Day and now will start my Halloween decorating! Today is the perfect day to start as the weather is going to be stormy--windswept rains they are saying so I think I will start my inside Halloween decorating!

We have been getting a lot done here. We planted the rest of our 28 cypress in the yard. I am so happy how our yard has improved since the damage last year of Hurricane Irene. My son split and transplanted many of our hosta to new areas of the yard and we planted a new Holly bush too :)    Yesterday we added some ornamental cabbage and mums to the garden bed at the end of our driveway. I love the color of mums so much. My son and husband got to do some yard work together. My husband has still been quite busy with his business so it has been a great thing that my son loves doing yard work, but he did find some time to work together last weekend. It was a pleasure to spy on them outside my kitchen window consulting with one another about the positioning of the bushes, the planting, digging, sweeping, etc. I know if we had a farm, Bill and Billy would work well side by side in the fields just as a father and son should.

An Old Salt's home

Northport Main Street

Busy restaurants

Fonzie's Car

weathervanes & cuppolas

lovely sky

After their work in the yard, we took a trip (only 15 minutes away) to our Northport Village to walk by the boats and through the town. It was a busy night--so many people filled the little seafood restaurants, walked the dock, sat on the benches with their dogs~~a lovely evening. I always love the houses in Northport; old homes that were once owned by sea captains. They overlook the harbor and have been brought back to their original glory by the owners. Magnificent homes that are so majestic. I always think of the old tv show I loved THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR . Northport reeminds me of another favorite place of mine--Gloucester, Mass. As we walked through the park, we saw a beautiful 1957 Chevy and the kids were eager to see it up close. I asked permission from the owner who let us see inside. Caitlin said it was a "Happy Days" car! (She knows I loved the Fonz) :)     I bet it would be something Fonzie would ride in if he wasn't on his bike of course! The sky over Northport  was amazing, and we had ice cream in town. We passed Northport Hardware which had a great display of weather vanes and cupolas in the front window. I told Billy that we need a cupola for on top of our garage. I think he agreed; I can't remember. I'll remind him two or three hundred times :)

apple abundance

tailgate lunchtime

This Sunday we went upstate to Warwick in Orange County, NY for our pumpkins and apples. We picked our apples from Applewood Orchards and got a nice big bunch of Macintosh and Empire. The whole family went (pretty much)...we were missing some nephews but my sister and her husband, my brother and his wife, my Mom, and my niece and her husband came .  Caitlin climbed the trees to get some good apples from the top :)    that's where they hide them, I guess.....We tailgated for lunch and it was a great day. Now it will be time for applesauce and apple crisp, a pie maybe...and the kids like to dip apple slices in caramel. Yum! I want to get some larger ones for baked apples drizzled with walnuts and brown sugar/maple syrup. hot out of the oven... soooo good. Great..now I'm hungry!

new flag

When I went into the little store on the premises I snagged me a real bargain on the clearance table. A new flag for Halloween and one for Thanksgiving as well! $4 each originally $14-$17. I love me a bargain! We got some pumpkins from Pennings Market in Warwick. Not our usual place as they didn't have pumpkins yet. I got a few nice big ones and a lovely white one. I am looking for a large gourd to make into a birdhouse; I'm sure you have seen those! I think it may be a butternut squash you make in to the birdhouse.I love them. I looked up the directions from the computer about how to make and paint them. I didn't find a good size one yet though. I may just check the supermarket. Oh, check out the photo I posted of my Halloween flag. Doesn't it look great?
Such a fun day. It's so nice to do things with the whole family.

The only thing that did happen was that when we got home I left my pumpkins out on the front porch--I figured they would be safe over night from my squirrel friends. Yesterday when I woke my husband up for work at 5:30 and I went down to plug in the coffee pot and start my day, I thought to myself "Let me get those pumpkins in so I can wipe them down." Well, we had some nibbles already...really?????? With all the peanuts and cookies I give my little buddies out there they STILL had to sample my pumpkins......I forgive them.   :) 

Back to the decorating, here are a few shots of some of what I have done so far. I'll be busy all day adding more and more! Have a great day!