Just Getting Started!

Now that Autumn is officially here (three cheers!!!), I'm trying so hard to decorate, craft and prepare! I have a list in my mind a mile long of everything I would like to do! We've had a busy first two weeks of school but the kids and I are managing to get some Halloween fun going! We are kicking off our Halloween season tonight by watching Hocus Pocus and having our special snacks. We have done this since Billy was a toddler! And every Friday night in the Fall and Winter, we choose either a movie or shows we like, have some favorite snacks, and cuddle up under the quilts on the couch and enjoy! We usually turn off the lights and just let the glow of my candles (real and artificial) and any light up Halloweeen decorations in the house, light our night! It's very fun. Disney has Halloween movies every night, plus ABC Family does, and we have taped over many years the classic tv show Halloween episodes and we just LOVE them! My favorites are the 1974 Happy Days episode when they go to a Halloween party in a haunted house! and I love the Dick Van Dyke Show episode called "A Ghost of A Chantz" when they go to a haunted cabin! I'm excited just typing it!  My son is 14 and still looks forward to this, I'm happy to say!  Movie time is at 8pm! Hocus Pocus is our favorite! It truly is my FAVORITE movie of all time next to Holiday Inn.

SO I've been doing some decorating:

This little chair I bought in Lancaster is working out so great in my foyer! See the creepy spider on the top? and that is one of my favorite tin signs!

Also in the foyer, we put our mini lanterns on the shelf in front of the mirror. My son bought these about two years ago and this is their "home" for every Halloween since we have them!

I added my little ghost to a small wreath I bought at AC Moore:

And also decorated the table:

Still working and adding! Are we ever really done? I know I'm doing last minute tweaks all the way up until I have my first trick or treater!  We started decorating outside, but I'm not ready to show you that yet! Plus, my three witch lady friends (aka Winifred, Sara & Mary Sanderson) have appeared so you'll see them soon enough too! It's just a little HOCUS POCUS! 

Chilly Saturday!

It is sweater weather here! Last night we had storms and the cool front collided with the warm front and the winds were blowing and oh boy! All that good stuff! You could feel the temps dropping by the hour. It was a chilly one today! I was pretty busy unloading some boxes from the shed and doing my usual household chores and I wanted to squeeze in a little post cause Sunday is a pretty busy day around here! I have been reading so many of your blogs at night and taking notes with all the great crafts and decorating going on!

First of all, if you have never read the blog "Mennonite Girls Can Cook", well please go to my sidebar and read! And make sure you take a pad and pen with you. Recipe after recipe is delicious! Today I made one from a week or two ago of a creamy pasta/sausage dish. It smells so good! I made some nice biscuits to go with it, and can't wait for dinner tonight. This is one of those meals you especially love on cool nights.

Tuesday, Billy and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe it has been 25 years already. We've been spoiled by several friends and family members already--for instance:

And it is all silk flowers! We received this last week and it is so big! 25 years is a long time to be married (these days anyway!), and I truly am blessed to have my Honey in my life all these years. I have loved him since I was 10 and he was 12, we became a couple right after high school and married five years later. Let me save you the math..I'm 48 now, and he is 50! :)   I love how in the "About Me" it's " I'm a 40 something...." I should change that. I AM 48!!!   Back to my Bill,  well,  he is one patient, loving and generous man who has made all my dreams come true! And he is pretty darned handsome too!

I mentioned in my last post that I had been doing some shopping and garage sale-ing. Most of the garage sales didn't have much but I did pick up this old metal Halloween sign that is really cool! I snatched this up for $1. I won't dare put it outside as I don't want the elements to rust it so I must find a spot in the house.

It's about the size of a cake plate. Most of the other Halloween stuff I came across was either gore related or just in bad shape! I did have better luck at stores though! This great Happy Halloween owl sign I got recently but I don't think I posted it. It is painted so nicely and has glitter so it really glows!

Here it is up close! The green glitter glows so nice--I have to remember that when I do crafts! green glitter, green glitter, green glitter.....

I got a nice wreath which I will probably use all year 'round as it has all my "house" colors--burgundy, mustard, green, brown, black. Not bad for $6.99!

Then I received this gift from a friend who knows I have a love for owls. It is supposed to be for Christmas and he has some glitter snow on his wings, but I am displaying it in my parlor! He's too nice to put away.

 

Just a few more!

 

Meet this cute fella!

 

 

On the way out of one of the stores, I saw him and picked up one for me and one for Mom. I have had these fabric pumpkins for quite a while so they fit in the bucket nicely! Filled Mom's too!

 

A new glowing witch candle holder.....

 

 

And how could I pass up a bag like this!

I bought it because it's good to use these bags to save the earth.....(I'm supposed to say that) .... I bought it because of the graphic, silly! But I do love to save the earth too!
Oooooh it's time for dinner! Thanks ladies from "Mennonite Girls Can Cook"! I'm going to really enjoy dinner tonight!

If I Was A Bird, This Would Be The One

It has been a long and busy week but such a good one! The kids are back to the school routine and many chores and appointments are getting done around here! I am so happy tomorrow is Friday. The temps are going down and it will only be in the 60's tomorrow and Saturday! Yahoo! The Halloween boxes are coming out of storage on Saturday and little by little IT'S COMING OUT!!!! I just can't wait!

Well, the other day I was waiting for someone and seated in an office with very old magazines. I had a choice between Golf Digest (pass), Pharmacy Almanac (pass) and National Geographic (okay, I'm interested cause the cover has a picture of a 4 million year old woman and how they unearthed her skull.)Very interesting!
 But then I read this amazing article which I will share and hope that you don't move on to another blog (!) about this amazing bird---who likes to decorate! It's a Bowerbird from New Guinea. The name of the article is "Build it and they will come!" and it's fascinating! This adorable bird spends countless hours "decorating" his nest. I don't mean just gathering twigs and moss---after he's done the building, he "collects" items to make his nest attractive and he lines them up and makes displays with beautiful precision! And they are meticulous about keeping their decorations in order and clean! The article says "These birds can build a nest that looks like a doll's house! They arrange flowers, mushrooms, stones in such an artistic manner!" And the reason they do this is they know that "The nicest nest in the neighborhood will attract a mate for life."  How adorable is that! I would be your country decorating Bowerbird.

 See him below in his foyer?

 And below he has built a "pathway of love" with his decorating to attract a wife! I love his little piles of treasures. One of the pictures showed a Bowerbird with his bottlecap collection! I'm not kidding!

I just love that! Decorating your home makes all God's creatures happy! I believe that!

Oh, the last thing I wanted to tell you about was my bountiful harvest:

Yeah that's it.......We may have about three more ears of Indian corn but the pumpkins are gone ( they got squishy squashy /no pun intended with the squash--y) and the gourds started overtaking EVERYTHING like a bad sci fi movie....I pulled them out before they got Caitlin, the chickens, and possibly the car for all I know...they were out of control...BUT I am not defeated! I enjoyed growing the garden. Surprised is the better word for it that it even grew! I will plant veggies next year and more sunflowers! Life is good!

School Time

Today was the first day back to school, and I am pleased to say it went very well! Even better than I expected! My Billy started 9th grade so he went to the high school, and my Caitlin went to her new school (Intermediate) for third grade. It was a day of "firsts"! Whereas Billy prefers I not take his picture on the first day, Caitlin happily obliges :)

For the first time she did request that I refrain from using her little nicknames I call her....Miss Mousey, Miss Mousey Tail, Bugaboo, Bugly, chickieboo, ... and the list goes on. I understand. I can only call Billy my "pumpkin pie kitty cat"  behind closed doors. But once she's off the bus, well it's Miss Mousey Tail once again! They both returned home happy declaring it was good day! Billy maneuvered his way through three floors to find his classes for the most part...., and Caitlin was thrilled that her teacher complimented her manners!

I know this is just a short post, but I was wondering if you are aware that Lowes offers a very nice creative magazine for free! I have been getting it several years and for a free magazine from a big box store, it is pretty darn good!

It has several good articles about decorating, building a fast table for displays outdoors, decorating with nature, etc. If you go on to the Lowes website you might want to subscribe. It's free! It comes out four times a year. Just letting you know!

Next post I have to show you some goodies I purchased over the weekend but for now it's time to make sure the backpacks are packed and ready for tomorrow!

Do Scarecrows Have Feelings?

I think mine do. I think stuffed animals have feelings too. Before you think I'm completely crazy, don't you ever find you have difficulty parting with something that has a little face? Think of all those dolls and stuffed animals at yard sales....they were once loved. Kind of like the plot of Toy Story II, I know....Well, in doing my Fall decorating in between my usual household chores, I was unpacking a box of scarecrows. Some of these I have had for YEARS. I'm talking the first year we were married in 1988 and they have worn....they've been used and used and used some more. I just can't part with them. So I spent some time repairing, reglue-ing, combining some together and embellishing others.  The two below is an example:

Some beaded Indian corn, leaves, fresh corn stalks and they live for another Fall. I just can't dispose of my good ole friends! Friends till the end!

One last thing for this short post:  you  know Dollar Stores are buying out old stock from other stores when you see a package of decorations that look like this...and in these strange shades of orange and green! Even the baggie that they are in felt different! I got two packages...Strange--- but I like them. It's Halloween 1975 all over again! Funny thing is, I bought two packages from the same store last year and they are here again. Of course! No one else would buy them!  Just me! I think he is finally sold out---38 years later.

Here they are:

Happy Psychedelic Fall!     BTW, the tongue in the pumpkin's mouth is kinda creepy. Just saying.

The Artificial Leaves Are Falling Once Again

Fall is officially here in our house! When the leaves go up, the season begins! With the sun streaming in, it's a little hard to see them all but trust me there are HUNDREDS of leaves on my windows! The good thing is they stay up till the day after Thanksgiving. When I put the Halloween decorations up, I just rearrange the leaves around them. These are just a few pictures.

Caitlin and I decorated the windows and the front door sidelights.

We even redid a little Autumn rake that we have had for many years!

I also took out some of the Fall arrangements I have made.

And remember those greens I got from the nature preserve that I sprayed with acrylic?

They will last nicely! I'm a little crooked with the picture taking today! Sorry!

And if you love Fall the way I do, and believe it is a state of mind!, as I do, then you will understand why I like to see leaves when I do my dishes!

My little friends below are waiting patiently for more boxes to come out.

In the meantime, I picked up this magazine yesterday and loved it! I had never seen this one. It's not that there were so many new ideas but what I liked was that there was nothing difficult. Nothing too time consuming and complicated. I lose interest in a craft or recipe that takes too much thinking! 

I picked this vintage cookbook up for Caitlin. From 1957. She loves to cook with me and wants to do it more and more. She was flipping through it and looking for recipes to make.

 She found a Pumpkin Face Cake. I think we'll be adding this to our Halloween Menu!

Have a wonderful day!

Time for Fall!

Good morning! The photo above is not a postcard; it's a photo I took on Sunday at a great picnic we had! This labor day weekend was full of fun and no labor!

A super nice bbq with friends and neighbors on Saturday and the picnic Sunday! Cook-out, canoeing, and garage sale-ing along the way.

The leaves haven't started turning yet but they will soon. My horse chestnut tree in the backyard in front of the tree house is dropping its leaves fast! We are saving some of the leaves for the Winter cause our three bunnies LOVE them! The artificial leaves are going up on all the windows and doors today. I got clearance from the family to hang them! Let the fun begin!

My roses are still blooming! The secret is to keep on clipping the finished buds! They just keep on blooming!

Our newest garden addition is  my gladiola bulbs are blooming!

A really nice burst of color in a garden that is starting to finish for the season. They just pop out at you! Tall, beautiful flowers!And of course blooming sunflowers! They are waiting for my scarecrows to join them!

I almost forgot to show you my garage sale finds! Silly me! 

Good Stuff!

A lovely enamel fry pan and it's match.....

and a pretty three compartment dish for entertaining! It's on a little stand. Love it!

I'll be traveling back that way soon as there is a yard sale man who has a spinning wheel! But he wasn't there :(   He usually sets up every weekend, I was told,  so I'm going to head back there and check on its condition and it may possibly be coming home with me. I have wanted one for hundreds of years! hahahahaha The town we passed through on our way to our picnic area has a strip called "yard sale row".

Caitlin is learning a new craft. Perhaps your kids are doing it too? Rubber band bracelets. A friend at the bbq showed me the "loom" they use instead of buying the expensive version from Michaels or AC Moore--

It works out just fine and the girls at the bbq were having a ball making colorful bracelets. So simple and fun. Caitlin is learning! 

Have a great day! I can't tell you how much I love reading everyone's blogs and seeing all  your projects and your Fall decorating, baking, estate sale treasures, renovations, restorations, trips, family pictures.....if Blogland was a real place I would move there tomorrow!