Playing Catch-up!

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted. I have been super busy and having a lot of fun but I realized that I haven't even posted the rest of my Thanksgiving decor and Thanksgiving 2017 is already over. But, to help me when I do this all again next year, I am posting them today. I hope you will bear with me!

I think all of that is pretty self explanatory. I'm sorry I didn't get to it sooner but we have had a busy week! Daughter #1 and Olivia arrived last Saturday and since then we have been to St. Augustine, celebrated Hud's birthday, been to Gainesville for Thanksgiving where all of the rest of the gang caught up with us, had a "celebration of life" gathering for my husband, celebrated my brother's birthday, watched the Gator/FSU game and began my Christmas tree decorating. Of course there are stories and pictures attached to all of those so you know I will be back. Stay tuned!

On to the Kitchen

There will definitely be a lot of cooking going on in this room come this weekend when family begins arriving for the holiday week, so we better catch it while it still looks clean. Soon the counters will be full of all sorts of goodies and snacks as well as some healthy food to boot!

Every year when I take these candles out of storage, I am so grateful that they are still in one piece. I don't mind that they are showing their age because, after all, my husband and I bought them for our first Thanksgiving after we got married. They were one of my "must haves" because my mom had had them in my childhood home-in fact, I think just about every home had a set of these candles way back then! If I remember correctly, they were readily available every year at Woolworths.

I'm still using the Pilgrim hat flower pot that Jen made me many years ago and the set of Pilgrims I made back in the day when I was totally obsessed with ceramics! I think I continue to use them because they're cute but also because I truly don't believe my eyes were ever good enough to paint those infinitesimal features on them! These days I'm lucky if I can see the Pilgrims themselves-with my glasses-lol.

So that's it for this year's kitchen but I'v got more to share so stay tuned.

Giving Thanks

Yay! Halloween is FINALLY all packed up and Thanksgiving is out and ready for you to join me on this year's tour-welcome!

If you are one of those people who is very observant, you might notice that there is always something hanging on my front door. It is almost always the metal bucket that I got from Southern Living many years ago and it if usually full of seasonal flowers. Sometimes there might be a wreath or a basket of flowers but, there is always something.

When I was taking down the Halloween bucket, something jumped at me. Usually I don't mind "critters" but because I have seen lots of posts on FB of late about snakes, I am a bit skittish. But, no, this wasn't a snake-it was way worse-at least to me. It was a HUGE, white tree frog. After he jumped off me, he suctioned on the door so I couldn't even open it to escape inside. And then, when I screamed and dropped the bucket, the flowers all fell out as well as two more HUGE tree frogs. I must have been quite the scene because they kept wanting to come toward me and the door and I wanted them in the garden! And gone! I kept yelling at them and they kept jumping toward me. I know they can't hurt me-and I like regular frogs and toads-I just don't like tree frogs. I think it is left over from my childhood in south Florida where we had awning windows that filled up with those creatures as soon as it got dark and you turned on a light inside. Heaven forbid it you actually had to walk across your porch. They would all just "attack" and I've never gotten over it!

Suffice it to say, I'm rethinking the whole "bucket/basket/wreath on the door thing. Not sure what I will do next month when I am longing for my Christmas wreath but I just know those three are sitting quietly in my garden watching me and waiting for me to relent. They will be back-I just know it! Lol

So, after that lengthy intro, come on in!

Look closely and see if you can find the "new kid on the block".

You will have to look very closely because I have had most of this stuff for awhile.

And because it matches everything else so perfectly. If you are a faithful viewer of my blog, you have probably noticed the new lamp. It looks just like the candle holders that I love so much. Must be the reason that no matter how many times I tried to move on, I just kept going back to it-and its twin (which you will see in a minute). Kris and I were off for a day of shopping in our favorite decor shops in and around St. Pete and I just needed a new, little treasure. They made my heart happy!

Yep, there is its twin. I am as drawn to lamps as I am to candle holders...and urns...and rust...and tin and...!!

So that's it for this year's living room. I will be back with more. Guess I had better hurry as Thanksgiving is right around the corner!! Stay tuned.

I'm Back!

Can't believe I am still posting about Halloween, but I recently got back from my favorite Halloween haunt and wanted to share my fun before I catch up to the rest of the world!

I have posted many times before about how totally the Old Northeast Historic district in St. Pete goes all out for Halloween. My oldest daughter and her family live there and this year, we had over 2000 trick-or-treaters before we ran out of candy and closed up shop. Things were so busy that I didn't get pictures of all of the houses in the dark but suffice it to say, once again the neighborhood didn't disappoint! To me, there is just something magical about sitting on her beautiful porch and greeting so many happy, excited people. I love how it is always families and lots of parents dress up as well!

Somehow I missed getting Kris' whole house before-or afetr-the fun happened. But, I did get a shot of this guy. He was in her living room looking out the side door to the porch so if anyone came up those stairs, they were taken aback! She also had a skeleton sitting in one of her dining room chairs and it was totally visible to the kids from where we were handing out the treats. Lots of the kids jumped back and asked about it and we just said we weren't very good cooks!

This is the house right across the street. Every year, they turn the house into another "face". This year it is a monster with two large eyes in the upstairs windows and bloody teeth stretching across the porch. Last year, it was a creepy clown.

Since Liv and her friends are now all sophomores in high school, they don't trick-or-treat anymore. They usually just "give a nod" to the holiday in some way-like the lovely vampire blood trickling from her mouth. Where have all of the princess costumes I used to make gone? They start at Kris' with drinks and appetizers then head through the neighborhood to look at all of the decorations. Then they stop at one of the girl's houses for her family's annual Halloween party and usually finish by walking downtown and stopping either for a gelato or drink at Starbucks. Is there any wonder why they love living here so much? We had invites to a number of neighborhood parties but after the 2000 kids, we were happy just to walk around looking at decorations and gab with everyone still sitting out on their porches.

Grand daughter #2 came home from college and spent the week with us, so we got to have even more fun. And, I got to meet my new great-grandog! Caitlin adopted this little cutie and she and Jasper became fast friends!

As I mentioned, we did lots of eating and one of our favorites is close to Kris' house...and, it was a picture, perfect autumn day-just right for the outdoor eating that we love to do. We love to people watch and you're never sure who-or what-might just stroll by! These two pigs quickly became the center of attention and everyone stopped them to talk and take pictures. They were in a stroller with jackets embroidered with their names-Bubbe' and Schmaltz. When their owners got a table, these two were fed like children and oinked their approval-or disapproval-accordingly!

Even though I was there for a week, we didn't get to a fraction of the things we wanted to do-guess I will just need to get back there soon-and often! Next time we definitely need to fit in a trip to the Vinoy Terrace for a glass of wine and their delicious homemade potato chips! Is it any wonder that I love this trip so much?!

And so, I am finally almost caught up to November. I have all of my Thanksgiving decorations up and Halloween is all down but still not all packed away. The older I get, the slower I am becoming and oh, my aching back!

In any case, my next post will catch me up. And then, in the blink of an eye, it will all be coming down for Christmas to magically appear! Where has the year gone? Stay tuned.