RAMBLING AGAIN

Hey!  We finally have some color on our trees!  I was really beginning to wonder!  Everyone was posting beautiful pictures of fall and I'd look outside and just see green (except my lawn which has turned brown).  Driving out to the western suburbs I'd see brilliant reds, golds and orange.  Here in the city it still looked like summer.  Then we got some warmer weather, then rain and now it has exploded into color.  Unfortunately, more rain came bringing a lot of wind and the trees are almost bare.  I got this shot out my kitchen window earlier in the week. Sometimes I just always seem to be behind the game!

It did occur to me today that Halloween is Wednesday, so I high tailed it up to CVS and bought the candy.  I know I'm not alone...if I buy it too early it magically disappears.  I've actually hidden it before but eventually everyone finds it, so I just bought extra.  Did you know you can freeze your leftover candy?

I don't decorate for Halloween, I haven't since the kids were little, but then I noticed something a few days ago...

...right here on my front porch.  Can you see it?

Here's a closer view.  Ewwwwww...It really is BIG.  I don't really have the heart to kill it but it's very close to the front door and I'm afraid someone will walk into it.  The wind keeps knocking him down but he comes right back.  What to do...

I have other critter problems, too.  A mouse in the house (or as an exterminator once told me, if you see one, you probably have 20).  You see, we have an attached garage off the kitchen.  Usually I put a box of poison out there when the weather turns cold and we never have a problem.  Last week when I went to do that, there was a squirrel trapped in the garage, running around like crazy.  I found a hole at the bottom of the old wooden door that leads out to the backyard, that's how the squirrel got in.  I can't put the poison out until the hole is fixed or I will have dead squirrels!  Likewise, I can't have poison in my house as I have small dogs that may get it.  What to do...

Milo is having a field day with all the critters hanging out to eat the walnuts that are falling off the trees.  He has two goals in life:  kill a squirrel or the mailman.

Things have otherwise been quiet around here.  I am excited to tell you that I have (finally) joined a gym!  The Husband joined the gym at the university 3 blocks away.  After a week he convinced me to join as well.  It's such a relief to know that I'm working on getting healthier and more active, especially now that winter is closing in.  I went for my annual physical this morning and my bad cholesterol is up.  The doctor gave me some literature to read, but I was really sort of shocked.  I make a lot of chicken and we have many meatless nights.  As much as I joke about my love of sweets, I really don't keep a lot like that in the house, The Husband is happy with his fiber bars.  I'm really going to have to think about this.  Anyone have this problem?  Any suggestions?

I left you last week mentioning that we might get away for a long weekend, maybe to a rental home on Lake Michigan.  Well, I did a little investigating and it looks like we can get one if we want to pay $800 per night!  Clearly these homes are meant for families to share.  I thought maybe we ought to just treat ourselves to a weekend in a nice hotel downtown, but The Husband works there everyday.  I think I am going to continue to check out small towns along the lake and look for a B&B.  I need a break!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week,  The weekend is right around the corner!  Have fun! :)

FALL RANDOMNESS

I meant to post earlier in the week and then the days just got away from me.  We had a very quiet weekend at home...it rained both days.  I sort of like those days in early fall, when you don't feel guilty that you're not outdoors doing something fun or productive.  We slept a little later and I cooked every meal...no ordering out and while The Husband watched football, I blogged and caught up on my reading.  Emily and her fiance went to the Notre Dame game and then spent the night at the lakehouse which is just a half hour away.  She put away the front porch cushions and pillows for me and watered plants.  Sigh...there's nothing left undone there.  I know we will go up a few times over the winter but right now it is nice just to be rooted at home!

As you can see, the Hibiscus Sisters are blooming like crazy after bringing them in.  I guess I'm not going to kill them after all!  I like that we put the red one in the living room since it will look so perfect at Christmas!

The mums are doing fine, they really liked the rain they got over the weekend and I liked that I didn't have to water them! ;-D  Emily was right about the color combination looking good.  It's always nice to have a professional opinion!

As The Husband was getting ready for work Tuesday morning, he asked about my plans for the day.  I was hoping for a little free time so I answered excitedly, "Making cupcakes!"  He sort of gave me this look that said Is that all you have to do?  It nagged at me all day.  I went about what I had to do, straightened up the house, started laundry, went to the bank and the store, made lunch for son Jeff who popped in, folded and put away laundry, made the cupcakes and started dinner.  All the while I heard his voice in my head, Is that all you have to do?!!  Needless to say, he didn't get a cupcake.  By the way, these are pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting.  If you want the recipe, just send me an email.

There are a lot of negatives that go along with blogging and they have been the topic of several blogger posts that I've read.  You can get a fat tush sitting in front of your computer all day.  Check.  Every event becomes a photo op with people (family members usually) saying, "You better not put this on your blog!"  Check.  And then there is the dreaded:   Don't Let Your Husband Know How Much Time You Spend Blogging!  Check. Check!  

For myself, I blog almost every morning while I have my coffee.  An entire pot.  I really love my morning coffee and I can easily spread it out over 2 hours or so.  Then I might come back to it later in the day while dinner is cooking or I have some free time.  Evenings are strictly saved for family and reading time.  But The Husband does see me at my computer a lot on weekends if we have nothing to do, like this rainy one we just had.  I don't "work" on weekends, I clean up the house a bit, wear sweat pants and just chill.  I suppose this is how he envisions me day after day.  Some men just don't notice the clean clothes in their drawers, a fresh stocked refrigerator and a hot meal on the table...well, they notice the meal but they think it happens magically!

Do I sound crabby?  Last week I went off about the clutter on my counters, which I am happy to say have stayed neat and the offensive fruit flies are gone.  I think the modern woman works just as heard as their spouse, just in a different capacity  Now that the kids need me less, I have more free time.  I'm not apologizing!

Anywhoo..I added a few things to the island and this completes my tweaking of fall decorating!

The Husband, who I am no longer aggravated with by the way, has been wanting to get away for a fall weekend.  I am thinking along the lines of renting a little beach house along Lake Michigan in a small, quaint town.  We really have fun doing those kind of things.  It would be really nice and relaxing to do before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  I'll keep you posted! :)  Have a wonderful weekend!

FALL CLUTTER & CLEANING

I feel like I have been gone a long time!  I just keep trying to find time to myself to do a post when it's quiet around here...that never happens!  And if I don't do it first thing in the morning, it gets pushed back and then I run out of daylight.  But I'm here, so...

I finally went out and got mums! Yay!  Home Depot had the best deal around, I think they were 3 for $8.97.  But they were the smaller pots.  I contemplated going to my garden nursery where the selection is bigger but the prices are sky high.  I settled for Home Depot.  Emily selected the colors, the burgundy red and the rusty orange and although I had doubts about the combo, they look great.  They have just started to bloom so I thought I'd wait on pictures.  No pumpkins this year either...sniff, sniff, the squirrels just make a mess of them and it's heartbreaking!  Even the little pumpkins that I put on the window ledges, they get up there and peer at me through the window all the while chomping away.  Nope, no more.

Last weekend, The Husband and son Jeff went to the lake to put away all of our summer stuff.  I took a pass on going as I had plenty to do here.  Lo and behold, they came home with most of the plants we keep on the patio.  Normally we just bring them into the lakehouse, water them the few times we are there and pray a lot.  So, say hello to Mrs. Hibiscus, who will be spending the winter with us in our tiny...er, cozy home. 

And here is Mrs. Hibiscus II, living in the family room.  The annuals just might make it, they have survived winters in the past.  And the hibiscus have bloomed.  I could use that during the cold, snowy winter.  So, I have welcomed them to Chicago!  Sort of.

Oh, he brought home a few ferns, too.  I love them to pieces...when they are outside.  Inside, a little messy.  I guess I am being a little fussy, it's only six (long) months!  The rose tree is there on the left, that's The Husband's pride and joy.  I hope I don't kill it!

I stared at and fiddled and stared some more at my mantel until I couldn't take it anymore.  Finally I just added a pitcher of hydrangeas and called it a day.  I think it looks balanced now.

I have been paying more attention to the kitchens I see on blogs and in magazines.  As you may remember, we redid our kitchen last fall.  It looked so nice I didn't want to put anything on the pretty new counter tops!  But it didn't take long before I cluttered it up.  Yep, I'm a clutter person and I don't know if I can ever change.  It's not messy clutter, just things that need a place of their own or hidden out of sight.  The new blender, which I had every intention of using to make healthy smoothies (and rarely did).  The tiered fruit stand.  Who likes warm fruit?  The trifle dish, the bread basket, another plant from outside...So yesterday I did a clean sweep.  And I feel good.  But, it's not me!  It looks like we are getting ready to sell and I've staged my house!  The Husband is thrilled he can see the granite again, and my interior designer daughter, Emily, thinks it looks perfect.  What do your counter tops look like?  Seriously.  Do you like things handy?  Do you like your favorites out?  Do you make little vignettes in the corners?  Do you have to clear space just to roll out dough?

I think I have managed to complain throughout this post!  Cabin fever already.  Some people feel like cleaning and organizing in the spring, but fall is when I take a look around and want some order in my life.  After spending the summer mostly outdoors, we're forced move back in and suddenly we notice the windows aren't so shiny and there are fruit flies around the basket of onions.  Yes, that happened to me the other day.  So, I made a mental list (I lose real lists) of all the organizing and fall cleaning I needed to do, when I heard Emily clomping up the stairs with the big box of fall decorations.  "So, where are we going to put this stuff, Mom?"  Grrrrrr...

See you soon! :)

MANTEL WOES

I know everyone thinks I have dropped dead, the cold I had was pretty bad and lasted a long time, but I am alive and well (sort of).  Still coughing but I am back in my own bed and I have kicked my Nyquil habit.  Thank you so much for all of your well wishes!  All of you are so great!

I wish I could say I was relieved of my household duties but in between naps and reading (I know, that's all it seems I do), I dusted, polished, disinfected the bathroom and kept up on the laundry.  On one of my seemingly endless trip to the grocery store, I picked up these pretty spider mums to brighten my day.  I still have to get some pots for my front porch, maybe tomorrow, and I want some greenery and faux berries from Michael's, which I never made it to last week.  I just ran out of energy.  One thing I did do was visit many blogs.  I am in awe of every one's fall decorations!  I think there should be a Blogger magazine just for decorating.  While I was lounging around the past 2 weeks, I had a look at my pile of Better Homes & Gardens magazines that had piled up going back to July.  I know, too many books and not enough magazine perusing.  I can only say that I get more inspiration for my home from reading blogs,  Definitely.

Okay, my mantel is a work in progress.  I didn't want anything too crowded or "orange".  I do however, think I need some leaves and berries and maybe a larger white pumpkin on the left side.

I have had this metal try for so long but it is really too big for my dining table so I just store dishes, napkins and silverware in it.  It came in handy for my monster mantel.

I also stole this Manzanita branch from Wedding Central in Emily's room.  These are going to be part of the table decorations at her wedding reception.

A close-up.  I should have arranged those candles differently for this picture but I was in a hurry as I was losing light.  Rain is coming...Yay!

So, it's looking a little lonely right now but I am forging ahead.  I really think some red berries will liven it up a lot.  

So, that's about all I have for this post.  Tonight I hope to make a REAL dinner after subsisting on a lot of frozen entrees from Costco.  Wow, they have a big selection; frozen lasagna, pot pies, Swedish meatballs...you name it.  I could get used to this!  I actually baked some brownies on Sunday, but I nibbled away at them so much that I have gone back on a sugar ban.  I just have zero willpower.  Are any of you baking yet?  I know it is still warm in a lot of areas, we have been lucky that we have been in the low 60's for awhile and then the 70's this week.  I love it!

I'm joining Courtney at Feather Your Nest Friday.  Visit everyone at French Country Cottage or join in the fun!  I will see you next week with a mantel update.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know! :)

LITTLE AUTUMN TOUCHES

Hi!  Happy Fall!  I didn't mean to stay away so long, I have actually wanted to get back to posting twice a week.  But...I caught a nasty little bug that has totally zapped my energy and so I have been doing very little, especially creatively.  It was a good thing that I had my yearly check up with the doctor last week so she is aware of my bad cold and can prescribe something if I need it.  I'm just happy with my box of Kleenex and a little Nyquil before I go to bed.  I caught it from my two girls and so that I don't spread it to The Husband, who has been down for the count with something else, I have been sleeping on the couch every night.  It's really not that bad...I have all my books and magazines stacked up on the coffee table, the TV remote and close proximity to the kitchen for when I want to grab a handful of Nilla Wafers!

My bin of fall decorations remains downstairs as I knew it would depress me to be stepping around it while I had no desire to dig into it.  It has been far more fun to visit your blogs and see what you all have been up to in the fall decorating department!  Oh, has that been fun!  I am getting so many ideas.  So as I was dragging around my house today in my old bathrobe, I decided that I had enough natural elements to put together a few table arrangements that will suffice for decoration.  The only thing this old dough bowl has ever held is a rolling pin, so I dressed her up with some real gourds and pumpkins and added some flowers.  I didn't even notice the clutter on my counters in the background!  I guess it makes for a colorful picture!  And by the way, they are usually like this.

I think everyone has this book by Susan Branch.  I bring it out every fall and re-read it.  It really puts me in the mood for cooler, gorgeous weather and all things associated with it.  This little vignette sits on the kitchen island.  In the upper right corner you can see dinner defrosting in the microwave!  I'm bad.

I found this pitcher at Homegoods last year.  It's huge and heavy and I just moved it into the living room to hold some very old hydrangeas.  Remember me ordering them from a farm in Indiana last year?  I think I just need to grow my own.

I bought these dishes at Target about a month ago and thought they would be fun in a fall tablescape.  I have the perfect brown salad plates to go with them, but they are up at the lake along with some other great accessories.  I hope to get up there soon, but no promises.  So here is a peek at them.

I usually bring out these little mercury glass tea light holders at Christmas, but they look perfect now, too.

I love this table in my family room.  It's so feminine and goes well with the slip covered furniture...

Here's the little vignette I made.  I cut the flowers from my garden, I think they are called sedum.  They dry very well.

So this is about all I have accomplished in the fall decorating department.  I really only have my mantel and a few small tables in the living room to jazz up, so maybe I will just rummage through my box without lugging it up the stairs.  Genius!

I'm leaving you with a picture of the pizza's I made the other night.  Abby gave up meat a few weeks ago so these are just veggies and fresh mozzarella.  Very quick and easy with the store bought crust and a great way to use of vegetables sitting in your fridge.  There is no sauce, just olive oil and Parmesan cheese.  Delish!

I hope to be back early next week, feeling better of course.  In the meantime, I will keep visiting and gathering up ideas to make this fall the best.  See you soon!

I'm joining the party at A Stroll Thru Life hosted by Marty!  :)

FALL NESTING

Hi everyone!  What a wonderful week it has been!  Sunny skies except for that bit of haziness that autumn brings, crispy air and a cool breeze.  At 7:00 this morning it was 52 degrees.  I love this weather!  Although I haven't unpacked my fall/winter clothes, I did do a little online shopping in the comfort of my cozy little home!  Some sweaters, a few long sleeved cotton tops and two pairs of jeans.  I haven't dared to look at the shoes and boots yet!  Yesterday I pulled out my favorite pair to run my errands in, but I'm sure we'll get another heat wave and I'll be back in my good 'ol flip flops again!

Despite all my running around in boots yesterday, I was able to throw together a quiche for dinner and it puffed up so nicely, I thought I'd take a picture of it.  It's so simple and quick to make, we have it quite often.  In a nutshell (or pie plate), I used 8 eggs whisked with 1 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, 1 cup of chopped veggies and a handful of chopped ham or bacon.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Very simple!  Your family will love you!

To help me squeeze into my jeans this winter, I have been stocking up on my favorite Greek yogurt.  If you have this brand in your grocery store, try it!  It's not as sweet as other yogurts and I love to have it as a late night snack.  I have banned the Keebler elves from my kitchen and I am trying to get back on the right track with my eating habits.  I know that being cooped up inside during the cold winter months I tend to cook and bake more, thus I eat more and I'm less active...so I'm trying to stock up the fridge with healthy things.  Does apple pie count?

No fall decorations yet...I am waiting for one of my big boys to come over and bring my bins upstairs.  In a way, I'm sort of avoiding it because I love each and every thing I have collected over the years and I want to put it ALL out.  Then I get frustrated with the clutter.  This year I want my mantel to be simple and natural, I want woven baskets filled with fruit, nuts and fall leaves.  I want soft, muted colors.  Tomorrow is Emily's day off and we are going to swing by Michael's and Hobby Lobby where I hope to find some silk flowers and leaves that aren't screaming orange.  In a moment of de-cluttering last year, I tossed out my bags of faux flowers and swore I'd have no more collecting dust.  Well, I've changed my mind, but I will not go overboard.  Wish me luck!

Lastly, on the reading front, I have been having a lot of luck finding good books.  I have discovered that if you really like a book you have read, or a particular author, you can go to Amazon.com and look it up.  There you will find suggestions for similar books or book by the same author.  Genius!  This is an incredibly good book that had me up reading until midnight last night.  I'm not good at describing what a book is about and I definitely don't want to give anything away, but I really do recommend it.  It's a page turner.

Well, this post is longer than I intended (and I thought I didn't have anything to say!), so I'll sign off now.  Hopefully I will have some "fall" going on the next time you pop in!  Hope you are all having a wonderful week! :)

THE LAZY DAYS OF FALL

Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your week so far!  The weather has been gorgeous here...crisp, cool and dry.  I sat outside with the dogs this morning having my coffee and as I looked around at my flowers, I thought how they seem to be loving this weather, too!  Normally my inpatiens are overflowing out of this old barrel but they struggled all summer due to the heat.  But they are little fighters it seems!

This pot was in the shade of the hedges all summer and did quite well.  My patio needs a good sweep, but I'll save that for another day!  This was just a nice break to get out and breathe the fresh morning air and watch Milo and Layla roll in the grass!

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been going through my cookbooks looking for some great cool weather recipes.  I have really been gravitating toward casseroles for some reason.   I get the same gratification of chopping vegetables and mixing things up as I do when I make soups and stews, but you can't beat the creaminess of a hearty casserole.  Once I choose a few and get my ingredients in order, I will share some with you.  Does anyone have a tried and true recipe they want to pass on?

It's quiet around here with Emily working and Abby going to school and working at the pub a lot of evenings.  I keep myself busy with an equal share of housecleaning, laundry, trying to organize clutter (!), as well as things I love to do for ME!  I'm plowing through book after book and I recently picked up a sampler that I started last year hoping to get done with in time for Christmas.  It didn't happen so I am going to try to devote a little time each evening to get it finished by December.  It's a cute wintry scene and will be perfect to bring out each year during the holidays.  Ironically, I used to do a lot of stitching when the kids were younger and I had less free time.  I guess we need to carve out that "alone" time, even if it's during their nap!

I've really been enjoying my visits to your blogs.  All the fall decorating is inspiring me.  I might add a thing or two every year if it really catches my eye, but it really is all about creating something new and fresh with what you have.  I hope to get started on that closer to the end of the month (which is flying by!).

So, this is just a short post on one of my lazy days!  I'm having a cup of coffee while the dishwasher hums and a fall candle makes everything smell yummy!  Hope you are having a wonderful day, too! :-)