The first Saturday in October

It’s the first day it hasn’t rained all week and Don and I spent quite a few hours outside. It was time to cut back my herb garden, cut down the bedraggled hostas, and empty all the planters. We carried all the summer furniture, cushions, and decorations down to the basement to store for the winter. We will pile some of the planters alongside the lion fountain and cover them with a tarp for winter. The courtyard looks very bare. We left up the porch swing and small table and chairs in hopes that we will still have an Indian summer.
      Sadie is in the doghouse for chewing up my new high heels. She just doesn’t know that she is not to chew things. Even though she has plenty of chewies she gets soooooo bored! She is intelligent and wants to be with people and playing all the time. She only has two speeds….stop and turbo. Tonight she will have to stay alone in the kitchen while Don and I have date night. We will go to the movies to see Surrogate first and then to Applebee’s for dinner. She sleeps while we are gone and then when we get home she is ready to play. I was too busy to take pictures today so this is a picture of my mirror in the sun room. My goal is to be a better photographer. I need to carry my camera with me all the time and take a lot of pictures.

Autumn Table

Welcome to all the Tablescapers! For those who love all things dishy click over to Susan’s Between Naps on the Porch for links to many decorators who love to set a pretty table. This week my table is set for fall using all my lovely birthday presents.


When I saw wreaths tied to the back of a chair in a magazine I knew that was what I wanted to do with my black chairs. I used a pumpkin pick and gossamer multicolored ribbon.



This picture was taken before I decorated the backs of the chairs.

I am so lucky to have friends and relatives that know me so well. My sister-in-law, Charlotte, gave me the placemats, little green candles, napkins, and napkin rings. My friends, Yrsa, Kay, and Linda surprised me with the red salad plates and striped dishes. Yrsa also gave me the dried hydrangas for the centerpiece. 

I couldn’t help adding this picture. My dad made me the witch’s shoes. He was such a clever woodworker. 

LINDA’S YARD SALE 2009

Each year my sister Linda has a yard sale to give her basement an annual cleaning. This year I decided to be a big participant. I have been cleaning and weeding out my house for a number of years now, but this year I felt the need to really get rid of things that have been occupying my attic, like my old country decorations that I have no use for now. I filled my van and headed for Fredericksburg, Virginia on Wednesday. My cousin Sandra from Ellicottville went with me and was a big help lugging boxes from one spot to the other. On Wednesday we unloaded the van and set up four big tables. On Thursday, with sweat running down our faces…whew! was it hot…we pulled the van down to her basement door and made three van trips loaded with all sorts of things. We organized, and priced, and sorted, and finally had things set up for the sale.

We had glassware and country items, antiques, old toys, and my treadmill among the many items.

Linda has an excellent place to hold a sale..a three car covered carport. Since she has held this sale a few years her address is well know and on Friday we had dealers there before the sun came up.

Diane brought her new puppy Zoe..what a sweetheart. Her fur is so soft and she is quite mellow. It was good for her to be among so many people because she wasn’t socialized yet. She loved the people because Diane had them give her treats.

Linda and Diane are getting dinner ready. Linda has a large country kitchen and we ate well.

While we were there we celebrated our September birthdays. Diane gave me this large decorative platter for my table.

And this purple peacock shirt with matching jewelry. From Linda I got this long sleeved top, a beautiful necklace to match, and an artificial candle which lights up at the same time each night and goes off by itself 5 hours later.

Linda got the animal print shirt from Diane as well as these beautiful snack dishes and jewelry. I gave her a candle lantern and a purse holder for when you are out at a restaurant.





Diane got a brown sweater, a puzzle book and jewelry from Linda and an orange sweater, jewelry, and lotion from me.

We had a wonderful time together as we always do. On Saturday night Linda treated us to dinner at Mimi’s cafe. We headed for home on Sunday.

Fall

"I love fall!
Fall is exciting.
It's apples and cider.
It's an airborne spider.
It's pumpkins in bins.
It's burrs on dog's chins.
It's wind blowing leaves.
It's chilly red knees.
It's nuts on the ground.
It's a crisp dry sound.
It's green leaves turning.
And the smell of them burning.
It's clouds in the sky.
It's fall.That's why...I love fall."
Author Unknown

Sean in Tennessee September 2009

     

It’s hard to believe he is only almost a year and a half now. He is such a good baby and so smart!

Tennessee Vacation

This week I have been visiting my son and his wife in Tennessee. It is so beautiful here that I will have a hard time leaving tomorrow. The weather is delightful! It has been in the low eighties all week and full of sunshine. Even when it does rain, it is only for a little while and the sun comes right back out.

Don and I have been so happy spending time with our family. Ryan had some days off so he could spend some time with us. Unfortunately he and Jenny both caught a 12 hour flu bug. Jenny stayed home from work on Wednesday and Ryan was up all night on Thursday. They both recovered quickly. Ryan took us over to Pigeon Forge to the model airplane field where he showed off his flying skills using his newest plane. I went to a few stores, of course...you can't go to the outlet capital of the world without visiting just a few favorites..like Coldwater Creek and Kirklands.
Ryan and Jenny took us to an Italian restaurant called Gondoliers where we had a delicious meal. Tonight we are going for a cookout to Don's sister's house in Sevierville.
Yesterday we had a fantastic day. We went about an hour away to a small airport for an air show. It was just like you see on tv with acrobatic planes with smoke coming out of them. There were parachutes, and a fair atmosphere, and fair food. It was very hot but Sean was entertained with the ride on airplane I bought him. Sadie had to stay home but she was good staying alone for 8 hours. She has been very well behaved the whole week. It helps that Ryan has a fenced in yard and a doggie door.
Tomorrow we head back by way of Chris' house. I'm not happy to be going back to colder weather. I haven't had to even put on so much as a sweater down here. Pictures will follow when I get home.

LABOR DAY 2009

What a fantastic Labor Day weekend it has been. The weather cooperated for a change and gave us sunny warm days. On Friday night Chris and Scott came and we spent Saturday taking the dogs up to Rimrock.


On the way to Rimrock we stopped at a flea market. Chris bought a box of dishes that matched some he already had and Scott bought a vintage umbrella.

Saturday night we roasted cheddar wursts on the fire and then did s’mores.




On Sunday Chris treated me to Red Lobster in Jamestown, NY and then we went to an Abba tribute concert at Bemus Point. We sat right on the water’s edge and afterwards enjoyed a fantastic fireworks display in three different places.

What did you do Thursday?

Don has been so busy today. He really has worked very hard. It started with him finishing the siding on the shed yesterday.  He had stored the siding on the other side of the garage and since it was gone he decided to clean out that area. He hauled many cartloads of debris up to the burn pile. It looks so nice over there now. I guess we are in a place where we don’t like mess anymore.
     Today I went to the YMCA to have an orientation on their fitness machines with my coffee friends. Now that I’m soon 65 I belong to the Silver Sneakers program and the membership is free. But we are going to walk outside as much as possible till the weather doesn’t permit that anymore.
   I found a new site and made this picture.

Bye, bye, summer

 
Today is the first day of September. Usually I’m excited about the beginning of fall coming…the crisp evenings, the changing colors. But this year I’m clinging to summer with both hands. In our little mountain town summer really didn’t reach us too much. We had cool and rainy weather…a lot. The paper even said we had more rain this summer than Seattle. There were only two weekends without rain this whole summer. So we didn’t get a lot of chances to have picnics, to have a fire in our pit, to make s’mores. I’d like more warm weather but I’m afraid that it’s just a dream. This morning it was in the 30’s…yes, I said 30’s. When I went for my walk it was 48 degrees..cool enough for a coat, hat, and …..you heard it right….gloves. It’s way too soon to be wearing gloves, don’t you think?