Fall Preparation and Halloween Decorating

Good Afternoon! Alert! This is a picture heavy post! I've been working on my house with my goal being "get it ready COMPLETELY" before October 1st because I want to truly enjoy the Fall decorations and the whole season with everything. I'm actually on track! Yay for me! I try to get all my work done around here without being distracted and then concentrate on decorating. Besides that, someone very close to me just bought a house five minutes away and she will be moving in to her new house in November so I've been busy helping her as well. Alot going on but all good things. 

Billy and I made a trip to our wholesale grower for all our mums and decorative cabbages. The metel signs are all new too. I needed some fresh things for outside. We worked hard but I'm really happy it came out. as we planned. 

 We have Fall like weather this week and the temperatures are dropping even more starting tomorrow. I'm so excited about that. 

My daughter is having a Halloween party so I'm thinking up a menu too. I am ordering a 6ft hero but I still like making alot of extras and Halloween desserts. We have time. Gosh, my husband and I went to Christmas Tree Shop last week and the store was so packed that the line to check out wrapped all the way around the store. I reluctantly left my cart. The wait they told us would be two hours! Luckily my husband took me back Sunday morning and I got what I wanted. I think everyone is so excited for Holidays now because of the pandeimic. We missed socializing so everyone is into decorating and visiting. It was unbelievable to see the amount of people but then again, I was there too so I'm equally guilty! 

Time to go get dinner started! I'll check back in a few days! Don't forget to hit the Follow button and leave me a comment!

In the midst of it all!

 

First Day of School here on Long Island! My daughter started 11th grade today. Exciting yet scary that time is moving on so quickly.  All week Facebook has been sending me photos of years gone by and the first day of school photos. It's amazing that she is 16 and already a Junior!

My kids have always started school with the house decorated for Fall. Once Labor Day comes! In many of our "First Day" photos  you can see my decor in the background. I think they expect me to do it (lol) They love the season too. My daughter wants me to do a coffee bar for Fall; usually i just do one for hot cocoa at Christmas. I'm thinking of it. I need a few more things from Hobby Lobby for some things I'm working on. Believe me, I don't need an excuse to go

This is my nesting time! Preparing for the cooler days and colder months. Many of my flowering baskets have finished or have really out grown their containers and my vegetable garden is just about done though I'm still getting peppers and tomatoes and herbs. Rethinking my whole garden next year..it was not a big success this year and I don't know why. But that's next year!

Looking through my recipes and  I know my neighbor gave me her great recipe for pumpkin bars. Sadly, I'm the only one in the whole house who loves pumpkin flavor! I still make pumpkin things anyway but I wish they loved it like I do. So many great baking recipes for Pumpkin! I love the butternut  squash soup from Panera! That's my Fall favorite. But my family does love apple cider donuts! 

Visiting  with my brother and his family recently and  I wanted to photograph his backyard shed that my nephew painted. I love it. Since we live on Long Island and there is the Montauk Light house, the shed is a nautical theme!

Well, time to go get dinner started. I am making alfredo pasta with chicken and veggies tonight. My son likes to eat when he gets home from work so I better get rolling! :)  

Hello September!

 

I wake up really, really early every morning! I just do. BUT TODAY!! Well, the excitement for the unofficial beginning of Fall is what woke me up long before the sun was rising!  Maybe because the weather was not really good this Summer...rain, extreme humidity...BYE!!! I'm so glad to welcome Fall!

My decorating is in full swing. My leaves are up on the windows, I've taken out most of my stuff except Halloween which will stay in storage a while longer. 

What's new with everyone? It's been pretty quiet. We did have an engagement party for our friends' daughter which was very nice and we went to see a show in the town near us called Northport (I've mentioned it many times before)....We have some plans with family on Labor Day too.  I asked my husband when he wanted to go and get the ornamental cabbages and mums for the house!! He said SOON! I'm really relieved we weren't t affected by Hurricane Henri but my heaart goes out to all those in Louisiana How scary and sad.

Well, just wanted to stop in and wish you happy decorating! Happy Fall!

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. 

Vacation!

Good Morning! I hope who ever is reading this is well and enjoying their Summer. We've had quite a wet July here on Long Island; I know many states are also having a humid, rainy Summer too. I'm a Fall girl anyway! But my garden is certainly loving the rain. Everything is growing HUGE. We went on vacation July 4th and I'm glad we really didn't experience too much precipitation. A few night storms but that's okay.

We started our trip in Boston and walked the Freedom Trail. That was something I really wanted to do for a long time. Finally I got to visit Paul Revere's house, which I've wanted to do for years. And I've been going to Massachusetts since I'm a little girl but we never spent time in Boston. Loved the cobblestone streets! Old North Church, Paul Revere Park, Boston Common, the USS Constitution...all good things! We went to Quincy Market and ate at the famous Union Oyster House! Then we watched fireworks from our hotel because it was too hard to access Boston Common for the fireworks. Great time! Then we moved on to the Salem, Gloucester , Rockport area. We ate dinner in Sudbury at Longfellow's Wayside Inn, which is our tradition.

So many great places to see. Some still closed or had abbreviated hours but still fun.

The Fisherman looks amazing lit up at night! The park that surrounds the famous statue is beautiful.

Fun in Massachusetts then on to Lancaster. Visited my favorite spots and did tons of shopping at farm stands and Amish farms. Most of the trip was driving the backroads looking for those special spots and we found a bunch. The car was loaded with goodies when we left!

Back home and working on the garden, and I'm in a Fall mood! I dont know why every year after 4th of July passes, I am so ready for Fall! This afternoon I plan to sew and stuff some pumpkins! I know it sounds crazy but I have fun! I'm on the hunt for fabric to make corn! Cloth indian corn. A trip to Hobby Lobby is in my future. Wondering if anyone else is starting Fall projects. 

Here are some photos of my yard at night all lit up. i love sitting out there with my coffee and enjoying the evening. 

Well, back to housework, garden and the chickens! Have a great day!

Summer is Here!

Good Morning! I hope everyone is well. It sure feels like Summer is here already here on Long Island Hot temperatures and thunderstorms but cooler nights. I'm not a heat lover but I do enjoy what comes along with Summer~bbq's, flowers, vegetable gardens, beach visits, porch sitting.

So its been pretty busy here. Besides helping to care for a relative who is ill, we also had a Sweet 16 party for Caitlin. Her birthday was March 28th but we wanted to celebrate outside. Glad we got the new patio done. Everything worked out well. 

 We had about 40 people and the weather was perfect. Everyone loved the slushy machine, the candy table and all the games we had. It was a fun day. I mixed up the menu with all different stuff from Sushi, to Italian, to Mexican! A very fun day. Kind of glad its over though because we've been planning it since the Winter and I'm ready to move on LOL 

I spent most of yesterday working in the yard especially in my gardens. I picked some strawberries, broccoli, oregano, parsley, scallions and lots of romaine lettuce. I still want to plant more and it's early enough. Waiting on my tomatoes, cabbage and peppers. They are growing well but I have nothing to pick yet. I need to plant zucchini. Next year I want to make room to plant potatoes. 

One of the things I've been doing is changing up some of the meals for dinner. Something different. I was inspired by so many of the options my kids order when they go out. They order poke bowls or acai bowls. I don't know if they are popular anywhere other than the Northeast but they are super popular here. So its like making a bowl and pretending its compartmented and you have some of several items! A fruit, a grain, a protein, produce, etc.  So tonight on my menu is grileld shrimp from the bbq, butter rice, romaine salad, sliced tomato with hard boiled egg, a slice of cheddar, and sauteed zucchini. and add a fresh fruit! Trust me when you arrange these in neat portions ina circle, it's not only pretty but delicious! I do different dinners all the time. The other night it was grilled chicken, pasta salad, broccoli, hummus with bagel chips, some raw carrots with ranch.  It's a lot of food but in smaller portions. They seem to like eating lighter in the Spring and Summer. 

That's about it for me! I hope everything is wonderful in your life or as good as it can be!