THE GLOOM SETS IN!

Be forewarned, I'm not in the best of moods.  I'm going on 5 days straight of minor inconveniences, grievances and frustrations.  No, nothing up there with the problems of the world, but just those irritating, "Why do these things keep happening to me?" sort of problems.  If my Playlist worked, you could have some upbeat Katy Perry blasting while you read (oh, did I mention my Playlist doesn't work?), but instead I am going to provide you with some beautiful fall foliage to look at while I complain.  Note the gloom and rain?  I love that tree over my driveway, especially since the trim trimmers had at it in August.  There are very little bird droppings on my car now, but there are very few branches.

I haven't been out of the house since last Wednesday.  That's unusual but it's happened, especially in the winter.  And then, as if being cooped up wasn't bad enough, I thought I had come down with malaria or something.  The Husband and I rarely get enough sleep, at least "good" sleep, he's an insomniac and I am a sympathetic insomniac.  If he doesn't wake me up with his getting up and down, I sometimes just get up to keep him company.   In fact, my good friend, Mel, asked me last week, "Was that you on Facebook at 4:00 a.m.?"  So this has been the score for a long time and then something happened.  I have been falling into bed at 9:00 for the past week and struggling to get up in the morning.  I feel very lethargic and downright sleepy.  I feel like a slug.

I'm not sure why the rain looks like this on my porch...very odd.  I managed to hang on to all of my pumpkins this year, except for one that a squirrel got after the rain washed the Pledge off it.  I think I am going to bring these around to my backyard for a little squirrel buffet, a little reward for them being so thoughtful this fall.

Looking down my street.  The leaves will probably be off the trees by weekend.  I think I mentioned that we had our lawn dug up and reseeded this past spring. It came in terrible with weeds and crabgrass and big bare spots.  I called the company out twice to use weed and feed and over~seed.  Last week I was doing my Wednesday Trash Haul (***Hey, the garage should be finished tomorrow!!***) and found two big 1 pound bags of grass seed that The Husband must have bought at the lake. So I spent an hour filling in all of the spots by hand, not with the spreader, I really laid it on thick.  Shortly after a nice drizzle began to come down and I thought, "Wow, this is just perfect!"  Then it came down harder and harder and it rained for 2 days straight.  I couldn't find one speck of seed in the any of the bare spots and I could just cry!  The Husband thinks it probably just washed in with the rest of the grass and will come in nice and full.  Grrrr...

My mind keeps going fast forward to Christmas, I don't know why.  I can never understand people that decorate super early or start shopping in July.  But I feel unusually upbeat and cheery when I think of Christmas coming next month.  I showed you that wool candy cane I bought last week on our trip and then I found these in Grandin Road.  Beautiful, tall wool trees!  The tallest is about 26 inches.  Even Abigail, who is quite utilitarian, likes these!

So simple, so soft.  I thought I'd show you them now before they fade into the riot of all things colorful and festive just around the corner.  Which brings me to my next subject that leaves me feeling a little out of sorts.

To feed my Christmas zealousness, I've been picking up magazines here and there for inspiration and ideas.  I subscribe to the seasonal Cottage series and I've been picking up Matthew Mead's Christmas for the past few years.  Both issues disappointed a little.  

As always, the homes featured in Cottage are undeniably beautiful.  No question about that.  And in keeping with the current popularity of decorating with natural elements, I wasn't too surprised to see a lot of greenery and pinecones in the featured decor.  But sparse?  This went beyond simplistic.  I found nothing about this table or dining room to be festive or holidayish.  The centerpiece is very subtle, there might be some berries in there somewhere.

Other than the two lighted trees and the greenery on the mantel, this is pretty boring as well.  Am I all about red and green and holly jolly Santa's everywhere?  Am I in over my head with Christmas commercialism?  No, no.  I just found each home lacking in the holiday festiveness department.  Are they making a statement about paring back?  Is less truly more?  Is this really the Christmas issue????

I'm not bashing these magazines.  Matthew did a fine job other than going on for four pages on how to make marshmallow snowmen (sort of a no brainer).  I love my magazines and I get so much inspiration from them, especially during the holidays.  I'm disappointed,  I didn't get my money's worth.  I know there are people out there that will say, "Yes!  I like this simple, calm and natural look.  I'm going this route this year."  I really hope that happens.  For me, I just want to jump into this picture and spread some color and glitter and sparkly lights and candles and maybe a few little elves around!  Is it just me?

I saved you the 10,000th picture of my little red stew pot and actually plated Sunday night's Hungarian Goulash!  It was wonderful.  Emily came over and had it for lunch on Monday.  I kept the spices to a minimum for The Husband's sake.  Because you might not be used to adding these spices to meat, just start out with these measurements and add more at the end.  In Blondies Shorthand:

Saute about 2 cups of cubed pork in 1 T. canola oil until browned.  Remove to a plate.  Add 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped clove of garlic and saute until soft and translucent.  Add the meat back in, 2 T. paprika and 2 T. of flour and stir to make a roux.  Pout in 4 cups of beef broth, 1 t. nutmeg, 1 t. cloves and 1 T cinnamon and bring to a boil.  Add 1 cup each of sliced mushroom, carrots and new potatoes.  Salt and Pepper.  Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour. Stir in a few tablespoons of sour cream. Adjust seasonings.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream over cooked egg noodles.  Enjoy!

Okay, I feel I'm out of my slump, at least a little!  It's still raining and gloomy, I'm still tired, I'm still &$*%@# off at that grass, but somehow I think I've touched base with you guys and you've given me an ear.  Thank you for that.  :)

XO,

Jane

HELLO NOVEMBER!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween.  I know I don't decorate much, or even look forward to this holiday the way some do, but when it actually rolls around and I see all the eager children in their costumes climbing my porch steps, my mind instinctively goes back to when my kids were that age and then I feel the old excitement again.  Our neighborhood has changed a lot in the past few years.  Older folks have moved out and young families have moved in.  The parochial elementary school (where my children went) is just around the corner so I recognize many of the families having seen them walking to school every day.  It's a whole new generation and it doesn't make me feel melancholy at all.  The challenges of having kids are never over, and I like where I'm at with mine, they're great to spend time with.  Anyway, I had to run out for more candy the day before because The Husband really likes his sweets.  I shouldn't be surprised, this happens every year.  And shhhh...I get into my fair share, too.

 

In between answering the door, I decided to make this Chicken and White Bean Chile.  You can find the recipe here.  You might notice that I have a variety of beans in mine as all I had were garbanzo, chili and black beans.  It made no difference, if anything, it's a little more colorful.  And I threw in some red pepper flakes for some heat, and some chopped celery for crunch and a little fresh color.  It's very simple, you should try it.  

This morning, like every morning, I had The Chew on.  Most of you know I'm hearing impaired so I watch very little TV.  I do like the muffled background noise and sometimes if I hear a lot of laughing, I go over to the television to see what's so funny.  Well, there's a lot of laughing on this show, along with cooking and guest appearances, so I find myself wandering over to it a lot.  Today Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman was on and I really enjoyed seeing her cook (I've never seen her show on the Food Network).  And she made Chipotle Chicken Chile which was quite a coincidence.  The recipe is on her blog today. It's my next comfort food meal.

While the chili was simmering, I made a pumpkin pie.  This is just the recipe on the can.  The pumpkin puree, evaporated milk and 2 eggs mixed and  poured into a crust.  The next time I will cover those edges with foil so they don't brown so much.  And forgive me, I've pretty much tossed out the idea of staging food.  I know if it looks attractive, people are more inclined to try it.  I guess I'll leave that to the food blogs.  I just like to share what's cooking in my kitchen because it brings me a lot of joy.

 I forgot to show you a few little things I picked up last weekend when we were in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  I just loved this little sign and I hope my family OBEYS!!

I found this wool candy cane and fell in love.  It has a worn, faded vintage feel to it like I've had it forever.  A bar of Christmas Pine scented soap and a candle in Pumpkin Spice also came home with me.  I enjoyed the company of good friends much more than the shopping!

 

Would you believe first Abby and then The Husband confiscated my book Beautiful Ruins?  I didn't make a fuss.  If I can get Abby to read anything more than Jody Picoult or Nicholas Sparks, it's an achievement.  And I like to see The Husband get involved in a little fiction as opposed to history and politics.  He is always glued to CNN and although there is nothing wrong with staying on top of what is happening in the world, it's so great when he happens to come across a silly, funny movie...I love hearing him laugh.  Back to the book, when I was growing up with my sisters (all five of them), one of us would find a good book and we would all start shouting, "I call it next!", and it would end up getting passed around among all of us.  My mom was a big reader and she passed that on to us.  So...I've read a few books by Elizabeth Berg and then I started following her on Facebook and on her blog.  Her books are light reading but very much about women and relationships with others; family members, friends and men.  And she's from Chicago.  I noticed she was scheduled for a lot of book signings in my area after she published this book I've shown above, and then when I got to her blog I saw she lived here.  I'd love to meet her someday.  Writers are like rock stars to me!

I get a lot of, "You are so busy, Jane" in my comments section, and while I love you all for meaning that as a compliment, I have to clarify how this may appear to be the case but in reality, is not.  I post on an average of every 5-7 days.  If I spend an afternoon gardening, blog about 1 meal I cooked and showed you some progress I made in the bedroom redo that took about 1/2 hour, that's a very minimal amount of time spent actively doing something.  It just sounds like a lot on paper.  And this is my blog style, just snippets of my life.  The key word being "snippets".  A lot of the time you will find me reading (which I don't downplay), napping, sitting and talking with the kids, blogging, writing long emails to friends, shopping online, and generally leaving the house very little.  So much of the perceived busyness just doesn't exist.  

I wonder if I carry around a lot of guilt that I'm not working outside of the house now that my children don't "need" me.  When The Husband comes home from work I tend to nervously rattle on about the events of the day.  When the kids tell me that I don't have the school/job stress they have, I hold my tongue because I refuse to defend myself when they clearly know I paid my dues, but a part of me wishes I had more challenges.  I do hope when they reach my age, they have the sort of freedom and happiness I do.  But still, the guilt.  And our need to be busy to justify our purpose in life.  What do you think of this quote I found (somewhere) on the internet?  Do you feel your self worth is tied into what you accomplish each day?  Do you hesitate to admit you had a completely lazy day or even days?  Or maybe you are even the type that runs like a rabbit on a treadmill because you can't sit still.  I was reading an article in a woman's magazine today about giving yourself a salon facial at home.  It started out, "If you find yourself with 30 minutes to yourself one day, you can pamper yourself..."  I see this type of wording a lot directed toward women.  30 minutes?  That's all we have for ourselves during a 16 hour day?  That's ludicrous!  We would all be walking zombies if we only had that minuscule slice of time in our day for ourselves.  I can honestly say I would spend it in the office of my therapist.  

Okay...just speaking my mind a bit here.  Feel free to open up and vent in the comments section.  I don't suppose there is a party I can join this week to inspire anyone!

Have a great weekend!

XO,

Jane 

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