Sunshine After the Storm

 

Good Morning!

I hope everyone is well!

Luckily,  Long Island was spared Hurricane Henri for the most part. Several areas were flooded and some lost power. Usually we get hit pretty hard!  I'm very grateful that this time we did not suffer much more than a soaked and soggy backyard and an abundance of wet leaves all over the garden beds and lawns. Let the sunshine in! I'm looking forward to the cooler weather and Fall. I also keep an eye on the weather though because of hurricane season! 

I had some of my Fall decor handy and began my decorating. I made several new Fall arrangements which I will show you when I know I am really finished with them  I keep tweaking them. I did work on my end counter where i display faux food. I both make i and buy it! I just love how it looks. So cozy! The mugs are candles that I purchased at Jake's Country Trading Post last trip to Lancaster. I also bought the candle peach pie.  The other items are homemade and purchased from talented crafters from my Country Home decorating page on Facebook. There is so much talent out there! People are so creative in their home businesses, and I try to make many purchases. 

More Fall decor and the cute little mice you see were also purchased from a creative home business!

School starts September 9th here. My daughter is entering 11th grade. So hard to believe! My son's girlfriend graduated college with  a marketing and business degree and we are so proud. We happily celebrated with her family at a lovely graduation party bbq last week. Happy to be celebrating some good things since this year has been sad with the losses we have had of close family members. More good things to look forward to in September is my 33rd wedding anniversary! Always looking for the positives! We have to! 

Have a beautiful day! 

 Good Morning! I hope everyone who is reading this is having a good Summer. I hope you got to enjoy some beautiful weather, spent time with family and friends, sat outside in the evenings or even got to the shore. 

 Honestly, its been a strange Summer for us. It had a combination of good things (Sweet 16 party, vacation, new patio) and then sadness with the loss of another close family member. Whereas I hate dwelling on sadness, this loss really hit us hard. I keep my spirits up by immersing myself in my hobbies and family. I have to value all that I have. I am blessed. Life is beautiful. Life is hard. Loss is devastating. Losing relationships is devastating. Ultimately, life is still beautiful. 

I'm really excited for Fall! I promised my husband I wont start decorating till September 1st but I have started some crafts. I'm currently working on some new Fall arrangements and I sewed some fabric pumpkins that I am stuffing. I'm making a Fall sunflower wreath but I need some more supplies. Keeping busy keeps me calm and happy. Its also a way for me to process the loss of both my Mom and this other family member. I bought a few signs from dollar tree that are elongated. Rather than hang them, I'm mounting them on stakes to make signs. As long as they don't get wet,  they will be fine so I will probably add them into outside displays that are under my covered porches.  I had cleaned and organized my craft room which had been a mess since Caitlin's Sweet 16 party so now I am committed to keeping it neat!

My garden is another story. Peppers did great. Zucchini...everyone gets ton of zucchini but not us. I got only one! And I have ten plants with lots of zucchini flowers but no zucchini to pick! Tomatoes were slow coming and rotting on the vine. My husband is currently investigating WHY. Herbs, celery and cabbage did okay. I think next year we need to change up our gardens. New plans. Disappointing but still fun to work on. Now that my husband finished our patio in June, he is currently making an outdoor kitchen area with a counter/stools. An area for our smoker and BBQ and an outdoor fridge. He is always filled with awesome ideas. I wish he had more time to enjoy all the great things he does for us. But it's Fall I'm waiting for!

Fall fills me with inspiration and excitement. I want to bake! I want to get cozy! I want fluffy blankets out and Fall scented candles burning! I like to plan ahead for my trick or treaters and make my pumpkin people and dressed crows! We have two trails in mind for our bike rides. Hopefully we will get in apple picking. We will do our pumpkin picking and we have a trip to PA planned again.  All good things and I am grateful  I know God is in charge.