Pickles & Apples

It was a fun weekend for our family, and we squeezed a whole lot into it. So happy that Fall is officially here now ! And I have seen so many houses decorated for Halloween already. Every year people are starting earlier and earlier~~which means I'm not the only crazy Halloween lover in the neighborhood! Thursday and Friday school is closed for the Jewish holidays so I think I'm going for it! Halloween is out as of Thursday! Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!

Saturday my husband and son left early for a doctor's appointment then went for a hike through Bear Mountain. Three hours of hiking in the beautiful mountains just the two of them and encountering one beautiful image after another including lakes, historic trails and a beautiful place, Bear Mountain Lodge set in the beautiful State Park. My son captured it all on film.
While they were hiking, Caitlin and I and a few others were at the Pickle Festival near our town at that farm where my husband recently did renovation work. I did a whole post on it a couple months back. Wow was it ever crowded! So many people!!!!There sure are lots of pickle lovers on Long Island! I happen to love that little pickle below on the right :) We bought some pickles, went to a barn market, went on a hayride, explored a corn maze and took a ride on the antique train. Oh, and ate more pickles! Pickles on a stick, pickles and peppers, garlic pickles, horseradish pickles, chipotle pickles, a dancing pickle...we saw and sampled it all! And it benefited the Greenlawn/Centerport Historical Society! Hurray!

The next day we were back upstate for our annual apple picking. We've gone to a number of orchards over the years and this year we returned to Maskers in Warwick, NY. We picked a great big bunch. I'm actually making an apple crumb pie today too! So many types were ripe! We got macs, jonagold, delicious, and empire! The trees were just bursting with them!

Caitlin and Billy picked a great big bag full.

 She climbed into the trees to reach the best! I think the jonagolds are my favorites! Oh and Caitlin got an apple painted on her face by the Masker face painters!

But now it's time for us to get down to the business of decorating! Our Halloween sleepover party is Friday night October 24th...there is so much to do! Caitlin has a list of 10 girls to invite. We are making our plans for food and fun. But first it's decorating time! Have a great day!

Just a few things to mention!

Happy Friday...evening. We are feeling the chill here and it feels great! I had told you about that wonderful recipe I was making for tonight's dinner --the crock pot one with the tortellini :)  DELICIOUS! I mean really DELICIOUS! and I wanted to tell you tonight so that you can make it this weekend! You will love it! Put a little parmesan on top too and have some crusty garlic bread on the side.

Remember in the Spring I had a couple of posts about the woodpeckers who made a nest in my chestnut tree? It was so thrilling watching them go in and out and feed their babies, etc. Well, I think one of their children has decided to stay because I have a perspective tenant on my front porch attempting to make a home in my decorative gourd from Lancaster! I was so excited. But I'm not thrilled that they chose that gourd as it has a lovely Amish horse & buggy painted on it and says "Lancaster County, PA". I feel bad to make them vacate. I'll let them stay. We'll see if he officially moves in anyway!

See his head sticking out? This was photographed through a window so it is not as clear as it could be. Look how sweet! He's peeking!

Has anyone been to Home Goods lately? I picked up this heavy ceramic pumpkin there that I love!

It's pretty big too. You can see just how big it is on my foyer table. They had lots of good things. Unique things!                    

I also picked up this great painted on canvas Halloween scene for my friend Mary. I'm gonna try and save it for her Halloween present. We always exchange Halloween gifts but sometimes it's hard because she tends to shop where I do. I want to get her stuff she hasn't seen. I know she doesn't go to Home Goods!

She just gifted me this great picture below! She had it framed in the perfect frame. I hung it in the kitchen/dining area.It's a Halloween poem but what struck her when she saw the print was that it names and shows everything we love about the season from apple cider to cooler temps to crows and ghosts.

And who doesn't love those things??????? Have a great weekend!

Some Special Items & A New Recipe

Tomorrow it's supposed to be quite chilly here and I am so happy about that! I have loved the cool temps this month! I'm going to make a new recipe that sounds like it will be perfect to warm us up for a nice Friday dinner. I saw it on the internet. And in the picture above that would be my little Jinxie being a nosey boy to see what's cooking! Such a curious kitty. Here's the recipe:

In a slow cooker set on low:   mix a bag of frozen tortellini, one bag of fresh spinach, 2 cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, 4 cups of veggie stock, 1 block of cream cheese broken into pieces......cook for 5-6 hours.
Sounds good, right? I double the recipe cause we are big eaters :) and I also prepare meals for Mom. I'm thinking I'll make some nice Bisquick biscuits with it. Good way to start a chilly Friday night...

The other day I was the recipient of something special! A surprise from someone who is so thoughtful and nice. My neighbor went to a garage sale and saw this chalkboard painting and thought of me seeing the chickens and all!  And she got it just for me. Touched my heart so. I love it. I live among some wonderful people here in Commack; I really do.

So I went back to my favorite thrift shop cause there was a turkey I had wanted and somehow forgot to add into my pile of goodies on my last trip. I spotted this adorable lamp. Made me think of a 1930's livingroom and I had to have it for my parlor.  I think this lamp would be in Nancy Drew's living room or bedroom.  :) The milk glass is quite heavy and the light turns on with a key. It's in perfect condition.

And I did pick up the turkey too! I love Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving decorations go up immediately after Halloween. I've expanded my Thanksgiving collections quite a bit.

DollarTree has had some great items too. I got one of these for Mom and myself:

"Welcome Fall". I put it in my plate rack. They get some great things there! I've been moving things around and changing stuff here and there. A couple of more weeks till Halloween galore! Have a beautiful day!

Fall-like Sunday

Sunday was just a fun, fun day. It was so cool out! I am just loving that Fall weather has started earlier this year. I feel so much more comfortable! This morning it was quite chilly and Caitlin wore long sleeves to school and long pants---bye, bye shorts I think :)   Although at various times my son was not feeling his best, we had a nice day on Sunday just doing things near where we live. That was the beauty of the day--not being further than 15 minutes from home. We were invited to lunch by the owner of the Mexican restaurant my husband recently built. We had quite a feast of Mexican fare and it was all so good! He even sent us home with homemade guacamole and salsa. I love Mexican food and homemade as opposed to fast food ---oh my--no comparison! 

After a quick stop at the Dollar Tree (got some good stuff for Halloween!) we took a ride to Northport village and walked through the main street down to the water. The store windows were already decorated for Halloween!

I've blogged about my love for Northport many times. I am so blessed to live so close and can pop over for lunch or just ice cream and the playground. It's such an old fashioned fishing area. Filled with beautiful homes that overlook the water. Houses like from the tv show "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir". And lotsof great places to eat:

 We always have our ice cream at the Sweet Shop. The store owner is the mayor. Hasn't changed a bit since it opened many years ago!

 That's the mayor scooping the ice cream. The building has the original tile floors and walls from the 1940's.

A real step back in time. We got our cones and egg creams and walked down Main Street. It really felt like the old days when a bunch of cars passed us by:

And there were more...even a Munsters style roaster was parked nearby...

We brought Caitlin to her favorite candy shop....she had no problem picking out some of her favorites...

 Then walked by the water. There were lots of people walking their dogs, car enthusiasts with their classic cars...lots of nice people to talk to. Because contrary to what people in other states may think, we  New Yorkers are friendly :)  We really are!   We just need to slow our pace down a bit perhaps and gain a few more patience...believe me we weren't rushing yesterday. The weather was lovely.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Feels Like Fall to Me!

Feels like October here this morning and that sure makes me smile! I just love crisp, cool days. It makes me energized to do all the Fall things I love! It makes me want to decorate, craft, nest, cook, be outside in nature...everything! We are looking forward to a few festivals happening around and then soon it's upstate for apples. I saw the above sign on the internet and LOVED it. It turns out it's a doormat. What a great sign it would  make. There must be one around somewhere. I'll have to check the next time I'm in Sleepy Hollow. We recently had a great dinner in Sleepy Hollow and the stores were already getting ready for the season.

How far have you gotten with your decorating? I have all my Fall up but I still add things. Halloween boxes are down in the shed and ready to go but not till the end of the month. I was lucky thrifting this week and picked up a  few goodies to add for Halloween and just some stuff in general...

An adorable cloth wall hanging: 

A ceramic ghost (sorry, a little blurry) and this great old felt pumpkin bucket type item:

This was a great find still in the box. Dept 56 Up Up & Away Witch for only $3! The witch revolved around and around circling the ground below. Perfect for my Halloween village. This originally retailed for $50 so that was a great buy!

She revolves around by electric. So cool to see.

This little yarn pumpkin guy. I have a love for pumpkins with felt faces. Like the bucket above too. Look how sweet he is. Couldn't pass him up for 25 cents!

Non Halloween items include these sweet little piggies in a sack. I kept passing them by on the shelf and looking at other things. 

Then I saw the eyes.... Look closely..they are saying "take us home, take us home.." Home they came...

A great ceramic turkey for Thanksgiving! Love me some turkeys!

And this ceramic rabbit. I know she's from the the 90's but she was still sealed in her box and I thought she would look pretty sitting in my parlor especially since I am getting a new couch today. I'm gonna sit her on the edge of the couch. She has a ceramic head and lovely clothes.

Not bad, right? I was happy! My friend Mary added to the collection of collectible shops she gave me (if you remember from an earlier post they are musical and the items in the window revolve. )This  time she gave me the Soda Fountain. It plays Rock Around The Clock and the door opens and a lady exits with a tray.

She has, I think, one more to give me and that is the auto repair shop. I need to find a place  for these. I had them on a shelf but now they don't fit as the collection grows! 

Caitlin and I are making plans for our Halloween party. We are just in the planning stages but have decided to make it a small Halloween party/sleepover. Maybe ten girls. We are going to have games,crafts,  food, and then movies...with lots of little frights for them throughout the evening once they settle down for the evening to watch.... We are thinking spiders in the sleeping bags, bumps in the night and foot steps...nothing terrifying just a little scares to make it fun! Plus a few tricks! 

Have a great weekend!

More Fall Decorating!

Good Morning! It's just like an Autumn morning here today! Cool and crisp. I am loving it so much! I hope you are all having weather you love too! I've been decorating for Fall (not Halloween yet) and I'm just about done. Below is some of my front porch:

It's so much fun to open the boxes and take out some of my favorite things.

Everything lights up with small white lights. I love that.

I had some cousins visit this last Saturday and made that apple cake I told you about. If anyone needs a nice apple loaf cake recipe, shoot me an email at blackbird365@aol.com and I'll pass it on.

It was perfect with a nice cup of coffee. 

Hope you have a great day!

Saturday Surprise

This past Saturday, my sister-in-law visited and gave me this incredible surprise! A Halloween pumpkin coach! She saw it in the Christmas Tree Shop and said it was all by itself in the middle of an aisle and there were none around it... the only one...She snatched it up and put it in her shopping carriage for ME! She said as soon as she saw it, she knew she had to buy it. Funny thing is, as she was walking through the store, people were asking "where did you find that?"  and "what aisle was that?" and she said "I don't know. It was just there!" Isn't it cool? It has a place for a candle in the center so I got a large battery operated pillar for it. There is a seat for a driver so perhaps I will find just the right witch! It's pretty large and made of metal! A wonderful surprise from a wonderful sister-in-law! Thanks Linda!

I've gotten some more Fall decorating done. I keep adding and changing my foyer table:

I also decorated a little chair in the foyer:

Little by little, box by box! I also completed a couple more rooms in my tower but I have to get better photos. The ones I took have a glaring shine and you can't see the image well.

I'm making a new dessert recipe for some company I'm having for lunch on Saturday. An Apple loaf cake with brown sugar! I'll let you know if it's a keeper!