A WEEKEND AWAY

Each week I add something else to the the little redo of the master bedroom.  I ordered this custom made sign about a month ago and it finally came last week.  I really wanted something special to hang over the bed.  When I saw this quote, time seemed to stand still, I just knew it was perfect in our room.  I can't think of anything that could look better over the bed.

I have a place to catch all of our extra pillows and quilts...Milo's dog bed!  He only sleeps in it at night and then I just move them somewhere else convenient.  

I found this lightweight throw at West Elm.  Layla clearly showed me she wasn't going to move for this picture.  Now all I am waiting for are the two European pillow shams and I think I'm done (and I think you have seen the entire room).  So that will be the last glimpse.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were going to Cedarburg on Friday.  We went last year right after Thanksgiving and you can read about it here.  We actually stayed  in the same room at the same inn as last year so I'm not including pictures.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin is a really sweet town just north of Milwaukee and about 2 1/2 hours from where we live in Chicago.  The town was built along the Cedar Creek River.  The falls are beautiful, I took this standing on a bridge.  Shortly after we met Cindy (from Applestone Cottage) and her husband Dan at the nearby Anvil Pub and Grille.  Having not seen each other since the summer of 2012 (we meet up once a year), we had a great time talking and catching up.  Good times!

Our husbands took off to the local saloon while Cindy and I shopped.  There she is!  It was sunny and in the 50's, just perfect weather to be out.  When I was there last year everything was decked out for Christmas and it was beautiful.  At this time of year it's all about fall and Halloween.  In fact, if I decorated for Halloween, which I don't, I would have had a field day here.  It wasn't about crazy, spooky bats and ghosts, it was all actually quite vintage.

Cindy spotted this and we had to take a look.  We've heard of them but had never seen one.  

Isn't this the neatest thing?  I think every town needs one. :)

We had dinner that night at a lively little pizza place and then spent some time at the inn talking and laughing and having a good time.  Their room was right next to ours.  Oh, we also made the Social Hour at the inn at 5:00, lots of good appetizers and some wine.  Following breakfast the next morning we said our goodbyes until next year.  The four of us have such a good time together, I wish we didn't live 5 hours apart...totally unfair!

So here I am Monday morning making my plans for the week.  My head is spinning with everything I have to do and everything I want to do!  Even though it was just Abby here for the weekend, it's going to take awhile to get everything in order.  My spring tulip bulbs came and since its such a great sunny day and who knows what tomorrow may bring, I need to get them in the ground.  Last week I cut the last of my flowers and I have vases all over the house.  No frost yet though. 

I started cleaning out the garage last week.  I know, this is exciting news.  The fact of the matter is, it is a total dumping place of old furniture, lawn mowers that don't work, bicycles  from another era...you get the picture.  I was just going about my business taking the trash out Wednesday afternoon and decided I couldn't stand it anymore.  So I just started dragging and hauling things to the curb, making piles and filling up extra cans.  I felt like the ant in that song about the rubber tree plant and high hopes!  No matter how big and bulky something was, I just thought, I can do it!  It took me over an hour and I got half of it clean.  I was just afraid to put too much at the curb.  So on Wednesday I will finish it up.  And that's a relief!  Next I'm moving on to the office, less dirty but it could be life threatening if I throw something important out! lol!

Okay..I hope you all had a great weekend and have good plans for the week ahead. Look out for Cindy's post about our trip! I'll be back soon! :)

XO,

Jane

APPLE PIE, A TABLESCAPE & A GETAWAY!

I'm back a little early, I hope with the colder weather I can stay put and post a little more often.  We were predicted to have this HUGE dip in temperatures and snow and ice and, well, it's a little cold...40 degrees, and I think they may have gotten snow in Wisconsin.  In any event, I took advantage of the warm afternoon yesterday and did some work in the backyard.  The dogs are really going to miss that.  They jump up and head down the hall as soon as they see me put my shoes on or grab the watering can.  Layla should be a hunting dog; her nose is always to the ground sniffing unfamiliar scents out.  Milo is like a little pony galloping around the yard, I swear that boy can smile!  So, all the pots are empty, I put the rest of the patio set away, even the umbrella.  I usually ask one of the boys to do that but I was in one of my Wonder Woman sort of moods and wanted it done NOW!  I may sound like a weirdo but I almost wished there were leaves to rake!  No, not yet.

Emily and Abby went apple picking at a really neat orchard in Indiana.  They loved it because it has a petting zoo.  Emily and Mike stocked up on pumpkins to carve and Abby brought home a big bag of mixed apples.  So when life gives you apples...

...yes, this is how I spent my Saturday night!  I used an old fashioned, simple recipe, I was in no mood to experiment with caramel this week.  Abby and Tom came home from the bars (via cab) about 3:00 a.m.  I woke up to see Tom peering over the pie.  "This is from the apples we picked today?" he asked, his eyes wide.  He was a little in awe!  And Emily told me that Mike had never carved a pumpkin in his whole life.  "With three boys in the family, do you think his mother would let them have knives?"  So they spent one evening carving pumpkins and she texted me pictures.  Mike was like a little kid (and I remember him as a little boy).  He used the template that the carving knife came with and when he was done, he put a candle in it and ran down to his mother's house to show her (she lives two doors down from them, remember?). So cute! Ahh, to be young again!

So, we still have apples left over and I will have to do something with them soon.  Tarts?

It's been a long time since I played around with dishes so I made a little tablescape.  Very simple, just set for me, The Husband and Abby.  Of course there are apples...

...and I think you've seen this basket filled with pinecones and berries a few times.  I popped some tea light candles in some tarnished silver dessert cups.

The bottom of this squash is almost prettier than the top, I should have turned it on it's side.

The brown toned drinking glasses came from Pier 1 a long time ago.  The sunflowers are actually salt and pepper shakers.  It's sort of hard to tell, but there is some blingy silver embroidery on the placemats, just to brighten things up on a gloomy day.

And now for your dose of weekly randomness.  I am sort of in between projects while I wait for 1 little thing to arrive for the bedroom redo via UPS.  Over the weekend I worked on a little gallery wall above my vanity.  I wasn't really liking the black and white prints, so I kept switching the frames out.  I'm almost finished there.  So give me about another week and I will show you the new improved master bedroom.  I am really loving the new paint color, it's very serene and calming.  

I was at HomeGoods with Emily a little while back and found this Laura Ashley shower curtain for $16.00.  I nearly fell over!  It's a little hard to tell but it's a blue and gray swirly pattern.  I think the most inexpensive shower curtain I've seen is $27.00 at Target.  So I popped this baby up and it gives a whole new charm to the bath.  I also picked up this little rug for $12.99.  Emily and I were just about crying over the Christmas items they had put out already.  Do you want to know what's popular so far?  Well, moose for one.  Real looking and animated.  Decorated Christmas gift boxes, as in faux, empty, just for looks.  And lots of cute, plump stuffed fabric elves and snowmen.  I can understand Emily looking at all of this stuff with longing, this being her first Christmas married and in her own home.  But I've been purging for the last 5 years and don't really need anything else.  But oh, the new things!  Restraint, Jane, restraint.

Friday morning The Husband and I are heading up to Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  You might remember we went there right after Thanksgiving last year and we really loved this sweet little town. It's just 15 minutes past Milwaukee. We wanted to get away and we had been postponing meeting up with my bloggy friend, Cindy, from Applestone Cottage, so we made plans to meet there.  This will be the fifth time Cindy and I have gotten together with our husbands.  The first year was in beautiful Galena, IL.  The next year Lake Geneva, WI.  The third year they actually came all the way to our lakehouse in Michigan (they live in western Wisconsin), and last year we met in Galena again, this time in the summer as opposed to the winter like the first year.

Here we are in December of 2009.  I had bangs!  We keep in touch throughout the year with email and Facebook. It's so great to have such a good friend that I never would have met if it weren't for blogging.  Our husbands really get along well, too.  Last year when a waitress dropped a beer bottle on Cindy's head, The Husband and Dan calmly continued to eat and talk.   We're staying at the same B&B right smack in the center of town.  It was hard to get reservations, fall is really a peak time there with the changing of the leaves.  I am thinking lots of hot spiced cider and maybe a few new pumpkins for the porch!  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.  

Hope you're all off to a great week.  By the way, with the encouragement of my friend, Brenda, I made my pictures in my posts larger, did you notice?  Let me know if you like that. See ya soon!

Joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday

Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday

Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish

XO,

Jane 

COZYING UP IN THE NEW SEASON

I think it's sort of hard to tell what this is, but the Hibiscus Sisters are back in the house after enjoying a balmy Chicago summer.  It was their first, you know, They spent the summer in Michigan last year.  And I found out the one that blooms yellow is named Ingrid (found the old tag hidden in the branches).  So Ingrid it will be.  So here they are, the best seat in the house facing southwest.  And that is not a Christmas tree to the left, it's just a decorative tree that I dress up when the mood strikes.  

To say I was losing sleep worrying about cleaning up the garden is putting it mildly.  I'm not sure why it nagged at me, I don't like things left unfinished, I guess.  After I wrote last weekend, I was able to get about 50 bulbs planted...the tiny early spring sort and I did them in the beds closest to the house so I can see them from the windows.  The larger tulips and daffs will be out along the fence.  They haven't arrived yet though but the cold weather has.  45 degrees today with a chance of snow/ice on Monday.  Wow!

My patio is looking desolate.  I had stored away some of my small decorative pieces last weekend, but as I said earlier, the larger things were bothering me.  I decided to call a family friend who is out of work and has a family.  It was a win/win...he did all the heavy lifting (bringing my window air conditioners downstairs, moving the Hibiscus Sisters in and generally helping me move around heavy things that belong in storage that I can't lift myself).  I put away pots and the patio chairs while he put together a new hose reel I found on clearance.  I left one lone chair out there and the umbrella in hopes that we have a few mild afternoons that me and the pups can enjoy!  So thanks, Rod, I hope the little bit of money helped, you are an angel to me.

My baker's rack is under an overhang so it gets weathered but holds up well.  Just a few more trips to the shed...

My basil won't quit, with the snow/ice that's coming, I may just pick it all and make and freeze some basil heavy dishes!

And I'm ready to pick some sedum, I can get about 3 months out of it indoors before it turns pale pink and sheds all over.

And lastly, the Russian sage.  I'm in love with this color!  It's really a standout in the garden and they were practically giving it away at the farm market and nursery.  I'm wondering if it spreads, does anyone know?  Okay, enough ruminating about the garden, I'm just going to miss it, that's all. 

Are these not the cat's meow?  I spotted them at West Elm a few weeks ago and thought they were so cute.  It's hard to tell that the stripes are gray, thus going with my almost redone bedroom.  Son Jeff said, "No, don't get those, they're tacky!"  I long ago gave up trying to impress my kids with my decorating choices.  Jeff's new home will be move in ready next month.  His style is sort of sleek and uncluttered; his girlfriend, she's sort of traditional.  It should be interesting.  Yesterday he walked in while The Husband, Abby and I were snuggling on the bed and talking.  He slapped his hand on his forehead and walked out muttering, "I told you not to get those!"  I think they would make cute little Christmas gifts, Jeff is tops on my list!  lol!

And as far as what I'm working on now in the bedroom?  I'm doing a small gallery wall of still life photographs I have taken.  I have the pictures and I found frames I liked yesterday so today I'll be hammering nails in my freshly painted walls (ouch!).  So I think I will show you everything next week.  Basically, you've seen it all with the snippets I've posted!! ;-)

I mentioned that I wanted to get another lampshade for the lamp I had on the night stand.  I went to Target and I found this shade which I already have on a lamp in my living room.  I decided to get this glass lamp base, too.  What's nice is that it's shorter than the lamp I had so it doesn't get in the way of the plates (you can scroll down to my last post to see how that looked).

I had a field day at Target last Sunday.  I have been having the most boring weekends lately.  The Husband is content at home now that he's almost back to work 100%, and of course there is football.  So last Sunday I took off for Target by myself, which is rare.  Emily or Abby are usually with me trying to get me to buy them things.  I just took a leisurely stroll up and down the aisles; looking, touching, comparing prices in my head, doing the old "Do I really need it" song in my head.  So, I came home with the lamp, 2 baking sheets, a welcome mat, a couple of books, Halloween candy and toilet paper.  And I think I did a clean sweep of the store.  It was better than meditation and yoga combined!

When I came home, The Husband was hanging up the blinds from Home Depot.  We've never used blinds in this garden window before but he's convinced that the people behind us are watching him dress in front of his armoire in the morning.  TMI?!  I like them (the blinds).  I gave my rosemary tree a haircut and repotted her.  She's all set for the winter.  You know, if I could write my life story, there would be a chapter on rosemary, all of it's own.  You know I was bottling it a few weeks ago, I was using it in my cooking to the point where my family went on strike, I was literally giving it away.  I saved the trimmings to dry and give Emily and then she and Mike walked in Monday morning with extra biscuits and gravy from a trendy new restaurant they had tried for breakfast.  "Well, what's wrong with the biscuits?" I asked Mike.  "Rosemary.  They doused the gravy with rosemary!  It tastes like pine!"  So I refrained from giving them the clippings. I think rosemary is right up there as the trendy herb of 2013, just as kale is the "In" veggie, quinoa is the new grain and a chevron pattern should be on every pillow, curtain and rug in America!  Just sayin.

Well, the seasons are changing so that means a few tweaks to Blondie's closet.  First stop, Zappos.  LOVE!  Abby got a similar pair in suede (and we wear the same size...Yay!).

And I found this pretty taupe colored cardigan at Marshall's yesterday ($79.00 marked down to $19.99!!).  I just love cardigans, especially the lighter weight ones I'm finding (made with something called vicose as well as nylon).  I love these because you can dress them up or down, they look great with scarves, and since I'm not skinny in any way, I can wear these loose and button a few buttons around the waist so it looks like I have one!  My girls always say that I wear my clothes too baggy because I try to hide my weight, so I'm trying to change my ways.

This is the button detail on the cuff, these are heavy!  I ordered and received some sweat pants and simple cotton shirts from my favorite shop Woman Within.  They have sizes starting at small and go up to 42X, I think.  And they are very affordable.  I have found that everything runs big, so if you are a Large for example, get a Medium.  The sweats are pretty much my Lying Around The House Garb for the winter.  I unpacked my winter clothes last week.  It coincided with the spotting of the first mouse.  That's sad.  As usual it's war.  They will not enter my kitchen this year.  They are hanging near the bird cage in the den (for the seed) so I have eliminated every cozy basket, pillow, nook and cranny that they can nest in and the poison is discreetly and safely dispersed.  Just the facts of an old house, I guess.

And finally, this is what I'm reading.  I never should have entered the book department at Target, that's where I did the most damage.  And since I have a Nook, it's very rare that I buy actual books.  But, I belong to GoodReads online and saw that several gals were recommending this.  And then I saw the review on the front, "A literary miracle".  Now that's  saying something!  Whoever designed the cover should win an award, too.  This is illustrated like something straight out of 1960's Italy.  Which it is.  And that's all I'm going to say about the book.

Well, it's almost 3:00 p.m. and I'm still in my PJ's.  I decided to stay put today so I'll probably just shower and put on another pair!  Early tomorrow we are going to the lake.  All I have to do is empty and put away my pots, furniture cushions and pack up an embarrassing overabundance of meat in our freezer.  Guests are always coming with coolers filled with meat for barbeque's, more than we need and they refuse to take it home.  I think we are set for the winter.  And I'm still hoping The Husband will fire up that outdoor fireplace he built at the end of last summer.  It's well overdue for it's debut!  I hope all of you have a great fall weekend.  I'll try to get some pics of the trees changing in Michigan because they sure aren't here! :)

XO,

Jane

FINDING INSPIRATION

Happy Saturday!  I hope it's a good one for you so far.  It's gloomy and muggy here and I think we have thunderstorms coming any minute (of course I just watered the lawn).  But we had a wonderful week weather~wise here, just perfect, mild fall weather.  Our trees are being very stubborn about changing colors, but I had to pause and smile when I went to let the dogs out in the backyard yesterday.  Through the window I could see the leaves fluttering very slowly and gently from the walnut trees.  It was like December, seeing the first soft snowfall.  So pretty!

I picked up a little something for Milo and Layla to wear for Halloween.  They hate it, of course (kids!).  Actually, Layla's is like a little jester's collar and is made for a cat!  Milo likes to be "chill".   I really don't dress them, someone gave me a sweater that I put on Layla on the coldest of days.  Now, if I could knit...

I mentioned my spring bulbs came and I was getting a little anxious as the week went on.  For some reason my asthma kicked in and I was getting breathless doing the smallest of things.  I had to really step back and slow down.  In my mind, the work I have to do outside is weighing on my mind the most because I feel November approaching fast and the last thing you want to be doing is planting or moving summer furniture when the cold wind is whipping in your face and your fingers are frozen.  "What the heck was I doing last month?" running over and over in your head.  Today I opened the box to see that it's only a partial order so I felt okay...15 minutes tops, if I do it before the rain.

I gave The Husband a little tour of the grounds last week (he was impressed!), but I had a bit of a hard time remembering which plants were which.  Very few are blooming and none of them are very big.  I found this little book in with my gardening books, it's pretty old and I never used it.  I sat down and listed my plants and all the little details.

There are also a few pages for diagrams that I can work on next.  Very handy.  Once a journal lover, always a journal lover!

Okay, on to some good stuff.  I'm still making tweaks and changes in the master bedroom.  The duvet came so yesterday I washed my down comforter and I need to sew some ties on each corner.  The duvet has them and this will make the comforter lay better in the duvet without moving around and bunching up.  Anywhoo, I was still at a loss for what else I wanted to do to add some character, to add some "Me" to this room.  I needed color, I needed pattern, I needed texture.  I spent one evening going through this book by Cabbages & Roses founder Christina Strutt.  I was totally enchanted and inspired seeing the light handed touches of color and florals bringing simple rooms to life.  I felt myself sigh, not for having found something new to me, but for rediscovering elements that I've loved all along.  All of the rooms in my home have gone off in their own direction it seems.  The underlying cohesiveness is that these rooms are comfortable, cozy and livable, and they are filled with pieces I love and treasure. 

The plate racks that I painted...I was going to bring them up to the lakehouse, then I had a vision.  I went through a few stacks of mismatched china that I keep in the den and pulled out pieces that spoke to me; small patterns, chintz's, delicate pops of red and blue.  I think it gives a decidedly feminine touch to the room and a bit of the old cottage look I love.  I hope that I can continue to play along these lines with the little bit I have yet to do.  I'll give you close ups when I'm totally done with the room, but in the meantime you can right click the picture to enlarge it.  Oh, the lamp is driving me crazy, but we need it to read.  I actually like the base with the crystals, I just want to find a different shade.

Remember this wretched looking excuse for a vanity bench I showed you a few weeks ago? 

Ta Da!  I recovered it the other day.  How does it look?  I found the fabric, a simple cotton with light brown flecks at Joann's for less than $10.00.  I bought the foam there as well.  It all went surprisingly smoothly, I'm just wondering if I should have trimmed the edges of the foam so that I didn't have such a "sheet cake" look?  I am pretty pleased with myself as I don't sew and I never in a million years would have that I could recover this if I hadn't seen it done in Blogland.  

We have a simple weekend planned, or you might say no plans at all!  I haven't forgotten about making that pie...I'm going to "tackle" it again when The Husband is watching the Bears game tomorrow!

One other thing, while I've been a little slow getting around to visit all of you, I was really surprised when I received a few emails from some blogging friends wondering where I've been, if we were still friends...I felt terrible.  I looked into it by going to their blogs and I found I was no longer on their list of Followers, so, they weren't coming up on my blogroll.  I checked out a few other blogs I normally see pretty often and hadn't and sure enough, not following.  I have no idea how this has happened, but I want you to be honest and speak up in the comment section of this post and let me know if you've been wondering why I haven't visited your blog.  This could be the problem and I can then pop over and re~follow.  Thanks so much.

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Joining in with Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday

XO,

Jane

KNEE DEEP IN PROJECTS

This is not a repeat picture from my last post...this is the porch with all of the pumpkins arranged, along with the pansies, mum and hay.  I have a little scarecrow girl sitting on the hay next to a basket of apples and pears.  I actually wondered if this was too "1980's Country", but so far no one has complained.  I hope the mum blooms soon, it's a crimson red.  So that's my Big City Little Porch for 2013!

I know I've really let some time go by without posting.  I have so many irons in the fire right now.  As the days go by I think, "When I get this finished, I'll post."  That's just not happening so I thought I'd just check in and tell you what I have been doing.

I couldn't bear to throw out the summer flowers I had on my porch before the pumpkins.  This patio is on the side of the house and you can see it from the street/sidewalk.  And yes, the ivy has to be trimmed (story of my life).  At least here I am a little closer to the shed where I store my pots.  Do you save the soil in your pots?  It's a great money saver.  I pull the dead flowers out and about half of the soil and put them away for the winter.  In the spring I mix up some new potting soil with the old and maybe a handful of peat moss.  It's a big money saver.  And I also wanted to update all of you on something.  Remember back in the spring when I was on a rampage because someone had been opening our gate, as in the one above?  I had thought that someone was deliberately trying to let my dogs get loose and lost.  Well, the culprit turned out to be an old brown lab that runs around the neighborhood.  He gets out of his backyard by nudging the latch on his gate with his nose to open it.  And he took a liking to Milo and Layla and periodically came over and nudged open our gate!!  My neighbor caught him red handed (red pawed?)!  I keep a bungee cord on it now.

Last Wednesday I was trying to decide which iron in the fire to address.  Since rain was on the way, I knew I had to get my new plants into the ground so I did that.  I had a little bit of a backache from loading and unloading the car here and at the lake but I just didn't want to make up any excuses.  As I laid on the couch that night, waiting for the Tylenol to kick in, I smiled as I listened the to the rain and thunder.  

The rest of the week was pretty laid back, especially with the constant downpour.  I slowly added things back to the master bedroom after having it painted.  I was in no rush because I was actually liking it pared down.  I never realized how many framed pictures of family I had in this room, so I've just packed them up in a box for now.  I gave away 90% of the books I had on the shelves that are no longer there.  In that space I want to do a gallery wall of black and white photos I've taken.  So looking through my files for photos and getting some inexpensive frames is on my To Do list 

And I really felt the pressure to use up all of the apples I got at the farmstand. I found a recipe Pinterest called Salty Caramel Apple Pie.  Oh, the sound of it gave me the shivers!  The Husband and I were out and about on Saturday running errands in the rain.  We got home around 6:00 and I jumped in my warm PJ's and got started on the pie.  You can find the recipe here.  This is not a recipe for the timid.  There are a lot of steps involved.  I had trouble making the caramel and had to throw it out and start again.  How can you mess up boiling sugar and water?  Well, I did, even the second time, it overcooked,  I decided to use the caramel that wasn't stuck to the bottom of my pot and whisk.  And that, my friends, was my big mistake.

It did look sort of pretty, although after working on it 2 solid hours, I sort of slapped on the woven top crust.  But it was terrible, beyond terrible.  I know this is a wonderful, killer pie, and the blogger's post had many, many good comments.  I wrote her and yes, you must get the caramel off the heat at just the right point.  So, I have replenished my supply of apples and I am going to have another go of it.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I WILL get this right!

I fiddled with my mantel for fall yesterday.  I am still loving my windows so I added some fall leaves to them, some wheat and cattails to the old pitcher and a few small pumpkins.

Very simple.  I just didn't think a lot of orange would look good and I'm really happy that I found this yellow pumpkin.  He's very unique!

In addition to moving ever so slowly toward a final reveal on the master bedroom, this is a peek at the duvet cover I ordered from JC Penney.  It should arrive any day.  I looked at it quite a bit last week as well as a million others and kept coming back to this.  It's ivory, tone on tone, and the incredible news is that it went on sale Friday from $150.00 to $65.00!  It definitely put aside any doubt in my mind.  I always check customer reviews and this got very good reviews.  The area rug also arrived and The Husband seems to like the softness.  It's 1/2  inch thick.  So now I am working on the walls and the gallery wall I told you about.  We bought faux wood blinds at Home Depot last weekend and I'm still considering curtains.  We shall see.

Other irons in the fire...I found a cute project on Pinterest for Christmas and I made two trips out to get the supplies.  At Michael's I kept gravitating toward the Christmas items.  They have so many cute table top trees, rows and rows of ribbon and faux garland.  My thoughts keep projecting forward.  There are so many long, slow days before Thanksgiving and after it's over, we all scramble around trying to get it together.  I think I'm going to take it slow by planning ahead. 

I left you with other projects.   The ottoman for my vanity.  I bought foam and fabric Saturday at Joann's and I'm ready to go as soon as I have 5 minutes.  The plate racks that I painted, they are going to the lakehouse, there's absolutely no room here and I have a place in mind.  And the spring bulbs I ordered are here and ready to be planted, hopefully tomorrow. The mirror I painted gray?  I am going to hang it in the living room but because it weighs at minimum, 60 pounds, The Husband has to do some drilling, so I'm waiting on that. I finished the book I was raving about last week...sigh, what a fantastic ending.  It is still on my sidebar if you care to read it.  And one of my favorite authors has just released the sequel to her last book that I read over this past winter and I am so psyched to sit down with it tonight.

Well, I'm off now to get started on one of the many things waiting.  If I work hard and make a dent in all of the irons in the fire, maybe I'll be back by the weekend to share the finished results! :)

XO,

Jane

FALL DAYS!

Happy October!  And just so you know, there was no September.  Nope, not for me or you or anyone.  It just zipped right from August to now, end of summer to fall.  Let's carry on, soon it will be Christmas.  

As usual, I haven't had time to come up for air.  Today is going to be a rare day of nothing.  A shower, a run to the dry cleaner, and then a date with the couch and my book.  I raved about the book I'm reading, Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted already,  I am slowly making my way through it.  It's just such a wonderful, captivating, heartbreaking book, I simply put it down so I can savor it later.  I love when I find a novel like this.  Bliss.

We had dinner for the kids here last Thursday.  The guys were coming to help move the bedroom furniture for Charlie The Painter and so I thought it would be nice to cook for them.  I had planned on simple chili with cornbread and then The Husband said, "How about a nice roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy?"  I must have looked at him like he had two heads because he muttered, "Or not."  Off I went to the butcher and got a beautiful cut, picked up a few odds and ends and spent the afternoon cooking and fluffing and tweaking and I'm so glad he gave me a push to make a rewarding effort.  I make a lot of Sunday roasts, I grew up on them.  The Husband had it a little worse, he wasn't allowed to take off his church jacket and tie until after dinner.  Believe it or not, I've never made one for company, probably because that was the norm in the 50's and 60's.  It came out very tasty, although I always struggle with gravy.  I set the table with my everyday dishes (ignore all the chips), and I managed to squeeze in eight of us at a table for four  Cozy!

Since there's no room, I usually have a buffet, but I like to serve salad before so we can all sit calmly and talk before we dig in.  I have a little trick of saving the packages of Parmesan cheese from food we have delivered, and these make nice little individual servings as you can see on the plate.  I'm savvy like that.  So...the furniture got moved and the next day I had a heck of a cleaning job in the bedroom.  Our bed is a high four poster and we store our luggage (of all things) underneath it.  Well, we haven't been anywhere in awhile and when I pulled it out, it looked like it had fur growing on it!  No more under~the~bed storage for us!  All in all, the bedroom is dust and allergy free.

We had it painted  a very light gray and this is the rug I picked out.  other than that, I'm at a loss as to what I want for a duvet or comforter.  Solid gray is too much gray and white is so hard with my dogs.  I looked on Pinterest at "Gray bedrooms", and all of them were very modern...platform beds, modular furniture, glass, animal prints.  I really thought I had made a mistake with the color.  We went to the lake while Charlie was here and then Emily came over to lock up and texted me pictures.  It's beautiful...just perfect, not too gray or blue, very soft, not stark.  We also had the cherry trim on the windows painted white so it looks very crisp and cottagy.  So, I continue my hunt for the duvet.  And I will share a picture of the room soon, it is really overcast today and I want you to see the true color.  And the furniture is still in the middle of the room!  Maybe I'll have to make chili for the gang tonight after all!

We got up to the lake about noon on Saturday.  The Husband wasn't feeling so well, so he retired to the loft for some football and R&R.  It was a glorious day.  I unloaded all sorts of junk I had packed up over the last two months to bring, (I'm constantly transferring things back and forth between houses).  I put away food and provisions for the weekend and started to wipe down down the kitchen and baths and did a little dusting.  I love getting up there and nesting.  Our house is like a patient friend waiting for us, it just wants a little love and attention once in awhile.  I spent some quality time outside with the dogs, it was so sunny and warm you just wanted to drink it in.  You can see how the sun is glinting off the bay past the arbor, and look!  See the tall stuff to the right in the water?  Those are cattails!  I don't know how they sprouted up but I'm thrilled.  Aren't they the epitome of "lake"?

I was checking out the clematis on the arbor, I couldn't tell if it was going to bloom or if it already had.  Do you see the pink colored tweedy, curly stuff?  I'm not sure if that is the dried up blooms.  This is autumn clematis.  Wow, look how rusty that light is, nice character.

I made a trip up to the Farm Market.  I was ecstatic to see all the different colors and shapes of the pumpkins!  And they cost less that half of what they do here!  I found hay and mums and gourds, I packed the car as best I could and would have kept foraging except I had Milo with me and he was barking at all the excitement!  I went back the next day to get more for Emily and DIL Mary Clare.  I picked up a few perennial plants and when I went to pay, Gloria, the manager told me that they were 10 for $20.00.  I nearly fell over!  So I loaded up more..lupines, Veronica, purple coneflowers, asters!  Oh my!  I don't know how I packed up the car to get home.  I had stuff in the back and on the floor in front of the seats.  Milo and Layla were smushed together.  And we had the lovely smell of wet hay for the whole ride home!

 I set up my own pumpkin patch for the girls to come and take their pick!  I have some pansies, too.  I have been spraying the pumpkins with Pledge furniture polish and I think that is keeping the squirrels away.  That and Milo playing sentry.

These are my flowers looking very weedy and ready to be planted in their new forever home.  I thought I would get to that today but I think I'm going to give them a big drink of water and wait on that.  Wow, I hope I have the space, I have been going hog wild with getting all of these sales in the past month.  My spring bulbs will be here any day.  I ordered a bag of 100 tulips.  Now before you think I'm nuts, the best way to plant bulbs (and most of you know this, I'm not an expert), is to dig a big hole and plant about 10 bulbs per hole so that you get a nice big clump.  Easy.  I'm going to start moving my indoor plants back inside so that I'm not rushing.  The nights have been in the 50's and I think it's time to accept that I'm not getting any more tomatoes.

I wanted to show you these beautiful fall runners (minus one) that I ordered from Judy at 20 North Ora.  She is filled with tons of creativity and I fell in love with these runners in her shop.  Since my table is small, she made these to order, and because she is SO sweet, she included the one on the top left with the holly as a gift!  You have to go over to her blog and have a look in her shop.  Even The Husband, who does a lot of heavy sighing when I get packages in the mail, was truly impressed with these.  And it really is hard to find shorter runners, I usually have to fold mine. 

I'm sorry this was such a long post, it should have been two!  I'm leaving you with a small vignette.  I had these dishes tucked away in my hutch at the lake and then I realized they needed some attention.  I found these at Cracker Barrel on a trip up there many years ago.  Maybe we'll have some chili and cornbread on them tonight.  

I hope all of you have a wonderful first week of October.  Soon the leaves will be falling, the bon fires going and happy pumpkin faces everywhere.  Enjoy! :)