A Birthday Celebration

Happy birthday to us! My sisters and I celebrated our birthdays together since we were all born in September.
Diane and Linda are here visiting for a week.
Here we are…doesn’t it look like Christmas?
 
Diane received Olive Oil shower cream and body cream from Linda.

Linda is trying on her Chico’s belt from me.

These are my gifts: bird bookends, a Provence cd, bare essentials makeup, gold earrings, Godiva chocolates, and a flameless Candle centerpiece.

Linda with one of her decorative finials.
We’re not getting older, we’re getting better…and having more fun!

It’s looking like fall

The sun, the sun, streaming in the window. You make my world glow!

It’s time for mums. I transplanted these into my urns today. Now I feel like fall is officially here.


The bright orange is welcoming at my back door.


I added a checkered tablecloth on the little table so we can enjoy a few last meals outside.

This Italian dish is one of my favorites. Unfortunately it had a big chip, but I couldn’t bear to throw it away so I use it outside.

What a beautiful day. Don mowed the grass while I put away some summer decorations from outdoors. I cut back some straggly plants and dead stalks and the garden looks better now. I also spent some time indoors cleaning house. My sisters are coming to visit this weekend.

Tis Autumn and the leaves are gold

Hello to all the autumn fans, welcoming the crisp morning air and fluttering leaves. Hello to Tablescape Thursday hosted by our friend Susan. Please join her at Between naps on the Porch and visit all the wonderfully set tables throughout blogland.

My table is not the usual oranges and pumpkin faces, but a little more subtle this year.

Autumn begins with a subtle change in the light, with skies 
a deeper blue, and nights that become suddenly clear and 
chilled.  The season comes full with the first frost, the 
disappearance of migrant birds, and the harvesting of 
the season's last crops."
-   Glenn Wolff and Jerry Denn

"Come said the wind to
the leaves one day,
Come o're the meadows
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold."
-  A Children's Song of the 1880's

"October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter."
-   Nova Bair

"Summer is already better, but the best is autumn. 
It is mature, reasonable and serious, it glows 
moderately and not frivolously ... It cools down, 
clears up, makes you reasonable ..." 
- Valentin

"Listen ...
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break free from the trees
And fall."
-   Adelaide Crapsey, 1878-1914, November Night

I hope you enjoyed your visit. The small casserole dishes were a new find at the Christmas Tree Shops in Buffalo, NY on Monday. The green silverware was from a small gift store in Orchard park, NY. The hammered chargers were a great Goodwill find.

Keeping it simple?

For some people simplicity is natural…for me, it’s a challenge. I’m not from the “less is more” school of thought. I’m from the “more is better and more beautiful” school. When it comes to fall decorating in the past, it wasn’t unusual to see a plethora of garlands, lights, pumpkins and scarecrows filling every surface of my home. But something has come over me this year. It might have been the wisdom of one of my coffee friends who told me that she was finished with her fall decorating….she hung a wreath on the door. Could I ever do that?  Never! But I could try getting less out so I wouldn’t have so much to put away. So in the spirit of ECLAIRASSEZ (for those of you who don’t know the story of this word, I’ll fill you in. This is from 2006.

While my sister, Linda, was visiting we talked about how too many possessions can be a problem in our lives. Especially when you know you have something, but can't find it. We both agreed that we need to simplify our lives and pare down. I have been on that mission since I retired four+ years ago. I've done well to not buy as much and bring it into the house. I've also cleaned and organized and tried to find a place for everything. I still have a long way to go, since I've been a collector for years. Linda and I wanted a sign that said "Simplify" just as a reminder. I know you can buy a wooden sign like that at a lot of stores that sell crafts. But I told her that if we really were true to the concept we would make our own sign. So we foraged through some left over wood scraps from the addition and found a rectangular piece for both of us. But leave it to us not to do it simple. We looked up the phrase "Lighten up"and translated it into French....Eclairassez. We put this on our sign with a stenciled fleur-de-lis on each side. Eclairassez can mean lighten up your possessions, but it can also mean lighten up your spirit, don't take life so seriously. Or, as we laughed, it could mean "Eat more eclairs!!"

I decided to see how little I could use but still satisfy my artistic need to see pretty things. Here are the results.
On the piano three gilded pumpkins in ivory vases.


Just two white pumpkins on the buffet.



The baker’s rack looks a little empty, don’t you think?

 

The white pumpkins, grapes and berries are simple aren’t they?



And in the center of the table just a simple arrangement with apples, berries, moss and grapes.


What do you think? Is it simple enough? I can still go up in the attic and drag out the orange lights!

September projects

These waning days of autumn bring on last minute projects. Today Don resealed the courtyard. It looks like new now and appears wet even though it isn’t.

There is a big debate going on in my head. Should I pull up the summer flowers or not? Should I put away all the summer things? I could get a jump on winter and get the beds taken care of now. Or I could just let them go a week or two more. (Didn’t it snow last October? HMMM) I think soon we will have a frost and that decision will be out of my hands. I think I read once that not making a decision was actually making one. 

 

NEW FAMILY PICTURES

Viva la difference!

On the Oprah blog she asks the question: Do you think you’re normal. With me, definitely not. I think there is no normal..we are all so different. Take me and my best friend, Yrsa. Our friendship goes back a long, long ways but we are so different. I don’t have to worry when we go shopping together that we are going to pick out the same thing. If it’s jewelry, clothes, or decorations we just don’t have the same style. I love her style, but it’s not me. And the reverse is true. It’s our differences that make us unique. Isn’t it nice to surround yourself with people who are not carbon copies of yourself? You learn a lot more that way.
  I’m borrowing a quote from a blog which I love: Daisy Cottage. She sums it up.
”It doesn’t matter if you like all things black or white. Or if you love all things color or a little or both. All that matters is that you LOVE your things. You. YOU. YOU. You and what you love is ALL that matters.”

It’s definitely fall.

Ways to tell it’s fall:
1. I got out my leather jacket.
2. I turned on my electric heating pad beneath my mattress.
3. The lights go on in the daytime.
4. I lit candles to “warm up the room”
5. The dog goes for less walks.
6. I’m thinking about wearing scarves.
7. Even Sadie walks out the door and turns back around.
8. Cuddling seems back in style.
9. Those colored leaves are decorating the lawn.
10. It’s time to put away the air conditioner and turn up the heat.
11. Mornings call for the fuzzy white robe.
12. Tea time becomes a really good idea.
13. I’m visiting the library more often.
14. I see pumpkins on my tables.
15. My favorite time of day is “jammy” time.
16. Casserole recipes come out.
17. I’m looking at the outdoor chairs and wondering if we’ll get a few more sunny days to sit out yet.
18. TV becomes a way to pass the time.
19. I’m thinking."only 100 days till Christmas”
20. It’s time for my Literary Club to begin its season (and I’m president this year).


Just a reminder of what last October was like.

Blogging

I’m trying out a new template…do you like it? Yes, you…whoever you are. I blog because I enjoy chronicling my life and going back and looking at past pictures…it’s better than a photo album. I have just a few followers though I hardly ever hear from them. I don’t know how my blog is being received…do you like it? I see I have some lurkers from out of state..most of whom I know, but there are a few out west and occasionally one from South America..hmmm. Just for fun would you let me know who you are? Blogging is the most fun even if I’m the only reader!

Life Philosophy

While I was driving to coffee this morning after a brisk morning walk on Pitt Trail with Sadie and Joan I was listening to one of my favorite programs on XM radio, the Gayle King Show. For those of you who don’t know, Gayle is Oprah’s best friend and a real talker. Today she was playing a game with her audience and staff challenging them to come up with their life’s philosophy in just six words. I ponder over what mine would be. I know I’d have to use the word LEARNING since my life has been in education and I am happiest when I’m learning something new. Another word I have to use is POSITIVE, I’m always trying to stay upbeat and happy. ENJOY is another word that exemplifies my life. I try to enjoy each moment and get the most out of each day. So how about:

ENJOY EACH MOMENT, LEARN, LIVE POSITIVELY

What is yours…yes, you. click on the comment form below and leave me your philosophy of life. You can do it anonymously if you want. I’d love to see yours.

Hello, baby girl!

Is there anything more precious than a baby? Since we returned from Tennessee I have been missing holding little Sara and playing with Sean. It is hard living so far away when all I want to do is be with them.

How much is too much?

I have this weakness. When I see a space I like to fill it up with a beautiful, artistic vignette. Blank walls and minimalistic furnishings are not for me. I want to see something pretty everywhere I look. Nowhere is that more evident than in the new bedroom redo. (Somebody holler “stop!”)
     I didn’t like this:

so I added two photographs of the Biltmore Estate in ASheville, NC that I took when we visited one December.


I wanted something small for under the window, and in the spirit of “using what I have” I moved a vintage plant stand there and added a transplanted summer flower related to a violet.

I love my new bedroom now. I think I’ll stop decorating. (Actually there is no more room to put a thing…is this a clinical disease?) LOL

The Farmer’s Market

Here come the crisp days of autumn! Ilove the saturday morning farmer’s market when I come home with bags of lovely vegetables…fresh green beans, bright red tomatoes to put on the windowsill, acorn squash and peppers. Don loves beets and beet greens and i found a new variety of beets which have a red and white stripe when they are cut.

Family love

And big brother sometimes needs a hug of his own…

Ah, bed!

O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth to the weary head.

If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters.

Don't fight with the pillow, but lay down your head
And kick every worriment out of the bed.

The bedroom redo is just about finished. The new creamy yellow paint color, the floral spread and plaid drapes, the mohair throw to pull up on me during a nap, and my drawing of Venus de Milo finally framed and holding a place of honor makes this room a cozy place to lay my head.