FALL BEAUTY & SOME COMINGS & GOINGS

Hi everyone!  I'm here, trying to squeeze in a post before Sears arrives to fix my poor broken stove and dishwasher.  The upper rack on that broke several months ago and I've been doing my best to work around it.  At least they are walking in the door and killing two birds with one stone for that $75.00 fee.

If you happened to hear from me over the weekend, you'll know we didn't go to Las Vegas as planned.  We had (and still do) a big mess at both of our airports due to an incident where an employee at the nearby FAA location sabotaged major radar equipment.  So our flight, among hundreds others were cancelled.  I did however, get an earlier reprieve from going when The Husband found out two other wives had to cancel and it was turning into more of a "guys trip".  That made me happy.  I think The Husband would have had a bit more fun that way...he knows I'm not crazy about this event.  

So, I've had some crazy/busy time since last week as well as some wonderful relaxing "down time".  Have to love that.  I got together with Emily on Thursday to run some errands. She was very excited, telling me about a garden center that had "rainbow" mums.  She knew I didn't want to get mums yet, I don't want them to be faded by mid October!  But she dragged me to this cute little place that I never knew of called Olivia's Garden.  And I'll be darned, we bought mums!  At 6 for $42.00, how could we resist?  Aren't they the prettiest?  

The inside of the shop was a fall wonderland as well.  So many things looked handcrafted.  I fell in love with these dried squashes.

They really made me smile...wonder why? :)

I thought this burlap on wire pumpkin was really neat, too.  And if you like fairy gardens, this was the place to be.  She had all sorts of them displayed and a wall full of tiny little pieces and of course, cute fairies.  I wonder if that's something I would be interested in once my little granddaughter is old enough to help me in the garden?  In any event, I have pretty much decorated my porch, then I was uploading pictures of it just a little while ago and I saw some changes I want to make.  Nothing like the critical eye of the camera to pick up every errant sock or dust ball you hadn't noticed.  In this case the balance was just off.  I'll post it next time.

I did a lot of cooking on the grill with not having a stove or oven.  That along with an electric skillet and the microwave. I went to the grocery store on Friday not quite acknowledging I was stoveless.  I did know (or at least thought at the time) that The Husband would be gone for 4 days straight and I didn't want to subsist on junk food.  I had seen a recipe in one of those BH&G Celebrate magazines, which I showed you in my last post,  Cornbread Stuffing. Nope.  Have never made it although I can bet many of you have.  It was insanely good, insanely easy (okay, I baked it on the grill outside and that took some thinking).  But in a nutshell, you can make your own cornbread or use a mix, crumble it up.  Cook up some breakfast sausage and red onion.  Add that along with some fresh spinach and fennel seed.  Toss it together gently and put it in a casserole dish.  Drizzle with with about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and bake at 325 for 45 minutes.  I have to admit, this was sort of fun to make on the grill.  I don't think it added anything to the flavor, I just sort of felt like a pioneer woman!  Ha!  We just loved it and I think I'm going to have it as a side dish on Thanksgiving along with our regular old dressing.  

I wonder if I could live without a stove like Brenda?  I was craving homemade iced tea yesterday and realized I could actually boil the water in the microwave.  Genius!  And Abby made egg sandwiches last night in the electric skillet that were very good.  I'd consider cancelling Sears except I really want that dishwasher fixed, I'm not that much of a pioneer!

When The Husband found out he wasn't going to Viva Las Vegas, he took off for the lake.  I guess there was more wood to cut.  I knew I had many things to do and tie up before my hand surgery next Monday.  But of course, I fiddled around, convinced that nothing was essentially crucial.  I cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer, did some laundry, worked in the backyard and cut more flowers to dry.  These are the last of the hydrangeas, they started to get tinged with pink and I would have left them but we were expecting rain and I thought they might get battered.  I flung in some potpourri and a pumpkin candle and voila!

I really have to tie a string around my finger to remember to go to our farmer's market Thursday.  I don't know if that man is still selling there, the one with the four year old hydrangea bushes.  I just love this one and Em has had a great summer with hers as well.  And I need apples!!  I am determined to make those pies!

My Sedum has turned an even brighter shade of red so I snipped more to bring into the family room.  I think I mentioned that I'm using my laptop in this room as I get a better connection.  It's a big departure for me from the kitchen and living room and I'm loving looking out of all the big windows at the leaves falling in the backyard.  I rarely watch TV but there is a big flat screen in here and I can read the closed caption on it from almost anywhere I sit.  Abby has me hooked, well, I've been hooked for a long while, on the housewife reality shows.  Oh, the drama!  The Ladies of London is another good one...things aren't much different across the pond except they have those beautiful accents. I just love to laugh and I don't think watching these shows is something to apologize for.  I'm the curious sort.  And man, if we don't have that sort of hysterical excitement in our lives, let's watch some people who do! ;-) And I'm determined to catch some of the newer shows; Blacklist, Scandal, and the new show with Viola Davis...something like Getting Away With Murder.  Abby and I caught a bit of it Saturday and it looks excellent.  

The weather took a big turn last night...it had been in the mid 70's for days and I had just put the lawn sprinklers out about 5:00 p.m. when the wind started blowing and the temps dropped down to the low 60's.  Boom, in under an hour!  So again I think, "Why haven't I started to clean up the yard?  Why haven't I started to store things?"  I always seem to walk a fine line between over~thinking/over~planning and then just blowing with the wind.  I mean, why was I cleaning the fridge the other day instead of tossing dead plants?  I remember once, well... one of the many times I had been hospitalized with asthma and the inevitable bronchitis/pneumonia that always followed.  Between endless reading and watching infomercials while stuck there, I would make long lists of things I needed to do when I got out.  A To Do list like no other.  From cleaning the closets to the basement, looking for new curtains for this room and a new rug for that room.  Organizing my spice rack alphabetically.  My brain wouldn't stop and it was spurred on by the fact that I was temporarily helpless, thus guilty.  I do not want to be that person again, sitting on the sofa next week with my hand in a cast, looking around at clutter and half finished projects and chores.  I'm a perfectionist.  An unorganized, flighty, lazy and semi~ambitious perfectionist.  ;-)

When The Husband left for the lake Sunday morning, I started to have second thoughts that maybe I should have gone.  I was feeling anxious and a little stressed out understandably.  I puttered but I just couldn't shake off this weird feeling that I didn't want him so far away.  Years and years ago, when the kids were very young, he was gone overnight and in the middle of the night I woke up in a panic attack.  A really big one and I did not see it coming nor did I ever forget it.  If you've ever had one, I wish you peace. Fear feeds on fear and it's a bad place to be.  I get twinges of those feelings when he goes away, which is rare.  And I felt those twinges Sunday.  I decided to get into a book, I'd been reading all of my monthly magazines as a little fix because I didn't want to devote hours to a book (and when I start one, I can read for hours on end, usually finishing a whole book in a day or two evenings).  I came upon this one in my Nook library.  Coincidentally, this book was suggested to me by Balsiha at Simply Balisha.  She's a real dear and she wrote about this in a comment on THIS post I wrote about finding my inner peace, learning to survive on my own, being independent.  This book is a memoir of sorts of a woman who has raised her children, is ready to embark on the "second half" of her life and believes she is in a rather shallow marriage (for lack of better words.   I'm giving you my take on this, you can look up the book if you'd like).  So, she escapes to their little cottage on Cape Cod and she spends a year on her own.  She learns to face her fears, get by totally on her own, take chances, live out some of her dreams and for the most part, from what I got out of it, she learns to embrace change, live and love the journey, and  to put her desires first and foremost after 30 years of marriage and children.  This is a truly enlightening book.  I came away with so much from it.  When I have more time I'll tell you more of what I learned from this book as well as the author's website.  And ironically, as I lay in bed Sunday night, all snuggly and warm in my PJ's, with the dogs snoring next to me and the book open...finally feeling a little more calm and relaxed that my guy wasn't lying beside me, I heard a loud banging on the front door.  I ran and looked out the window while Milo and Layla danced and barked crazily.  And there he was, with all his bags and leftover fast food.  I was astounded...to the lake and back in one day?  Why?  "I just had a funny feeling without you there, hon.  I just wanted to come home to you."  My heart melted.  I slept like a baby that night.  Still, I worry about the next time.  There will be a next time.

I'll close now with some happy and exciting news.  We are off to Asheville the first week of November.  I am so excited to see the mountains in the fall.  With a whole week there I am making definite plans to go hiking and see the gardens at The Biltmore Mansion in all of their glory.  We subscribe to a North Carolina publication and I am going to check out all of the events and activities going on.  We are so lucky to have the refund from the airlines or I don't know that we'd be doing this.  I am beyond thrilled.  

I have to get ready for the arrival of the repairman, and I suppose I have no good excuse not to make dinner tonight!  I will post again this weekend before the dreaded surgery Monday.  :)

Jane xx