Wrapping Up!

 I almost thought I would never get to this point but, here I am ready to wrap up our Halloween tour. I just had a surprise visit from daughter #2 and granddaughter #1 and am expecting granddaughter #4 soon to bring back my grand dog so let's see if we can't squeeze in these last few photos before I have to leave again.

I think we are on to the bathrooms.

Here's where the second of those spider lamps from Bombay Co. that I love so much ended up.

I made these pumpkins many, many years ago as gifts for family and friends. I was looking closely at it when I hung it and I made it so long ago that I really have no recollection of how I did it. I actually impressed myself. LOL

I know it's a bit "cutesy" but I still love my Halloween shower curtain.

I moved this water color witch canvas to here but it wasn't really large enough so I used my old "empty frame" trick to just give it a bit more of a presence.

That's it for the guest bath...on to mine and just the small nods that I give to it.

And then because I still have so many more Halloween pictures that I just can't not display, on to a bit of the bedroom.

So that wraps up Halloween for this year. Unless something new pops up, I will probably start the change to Thanksgiving on November 1. It isn't all that difficult of a change because some of the "orange" things can stay out but if I want it to be up for at least three weeks before I start the switch to Christmas, I need to work quickly. Believe me, I have thought about going straight to Christmas but, since autumn is my favorite season, I just can't bring myself to rush it along! I am in love with all of the autumn colors, scents and feels!

I'm off to do some touch up on the ceiling where I had the leak. Fingers crossed that the repair did the trick. We're expecting some rain in the coming days so thinking if I don't see any new stains after that, he found the culprit. The roofer actually couldn't find anywhere that water was getting in so he tried something and we shall see. If not, we go back to square one and try again. I wish the answer would have been easier to find but then that would have probably meant a much larger problem so we shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Look at the beautiful bouquet my sweet daughter and granddaughter brought along. Fresh flowers always brighten my day!

District Champs!

 There really is nothing better in the south than a Friday night football game when the weather co-operates. Believe me, we have lasted through some frigid games, some sweltering games and some flooded games so, when it is an incredibly beautiful evening, it is just perfect!

Last night's game was for the district championship and it was wonderful to get the WIN...although that does mean that the season will continue as well as soccer starting for granddaughter #5 and then lacrosse for both kids! But, I digress. LOL The school surprised everyone with a fireworks display and, since it was senior night we got to honor Hudson a bit! Granddaughter #1 came down and we went together and met up with the rest of the gang in the stands for the presentation of the seniors.

I'm almost embarrassed to say this but the game was kind of boring. We were leading by 21 points just a few minutes into the first quarter and it only got worse. The final score was 49-12 (thank goodness for running clocks once the score gets so unbalanced) and we were actually starting to feel sorry for the other team...until we reminded ourselves that we have had a few games like this as well. Lol

In any case, lots of fun in the stands and then in the tailgate zone for food and lots of chatting!

Today I have been catching up on lots of little things since I am "dog-less" at the moment. Granddaughter #4 came yesterday and "borrowed" Bennett-who is her dog- to take back to UF for an overnight. She misses him so much and by the way he greets her when she comes, I'm sure the feeling is mutual. Now I'm off to get lots of veggies ready for the roasting pans and then to try out a new parmesan tilapia recipe in my new air fryer/oven. Since both of my ovens will be full of the vegetables, I'm glad I have my new toy to take care of the fish. Fingers crossed it is as good as the oven recipe I usually use.

Unless I get a better offer, I will be back tomorrow to begin the wrap up of our Halloween tour. It is hard to believe that Halloween is almost here and I still haven't finished things up. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Deja Vu

 So here I am in the exact same spot that I was yesterday at about this time and doing the exact same thing I was doing yesterday...waiting for the roofer! He postponed yesterday morning because the roof would be wet and was supposed to come in the afternoon...he did not! I will say that this time I at least got a message after dark saying that he wouldn't make it-which was kind of obvious because it was night time-and could he come mid-morning today. To me mid-morning means somewhere in the 9-10ish range so we wait...and we shall see.

In any case, because I once again don't want to get involved in any big project as I wait, I thought we could continue on our tour. Today we'll go into the family room.

I still love that painted flower bucket. I bought this one at a large craft show I used to go to every year in Tampa and then went on to make more of them as Halloween gifts for family and friends. It was such a simple project but has so much "bang for the buck"! And every time I look at that cross-stitched witch picture I marvel that my eyes were once young enough to see those stitches! Lol

I've got to say that the mantle looks so much better in person than in these pictures. The gauze and "creepy cloth" over the mercury glass pumpkin lights give such a pretty effect.

I still love the witch's boots I made a few years ago and love them even more now that I added the black lace around the top! 

I got the clock from Grandin Road a few years ago and love to see the look on peoples' faces when it strikes 13! It is sound activated and catches most everyone by surprise-including me. Hence, I keep it turned off most of the time I am home alone, Lol

Since I made the vintage bottle brush cat and vintage cat sign this year, I decided to round up most of my other vintage crafts and decor and bring them all in here. That includes the "pumpkin man" centerpiece that I got so many years ago at Julie's in Indian Rocks Beach. He was always in the living room but this year I tried to keep that mostly "Poe", ravens and witches.

The bottom shelf holds two of this year's crafts. I ended up just propping the "pumpkin man sign" because, honestly, there really wasn't a spot left where he could hang. Lol

This side of the unit holds one of the new pumpkin candles as well as the cat sign on the bottom and then I brought in the vintage cauldron ephemera thingy I did last year to the middle shelf.

There is never enough room for all of my Halloween photos so the corner shelves get filled as well this time of the year.

Here is where the pumpkin candle I found at Michaels landed. It was on sale so it cost just about the same as the one from HL and is so much larger...it makes a much better statement. Unfortunately there was only one left by the time I found it or I would have scooped up all of them.

This is the table next to "my chair" in the family room and almost always holds at least one very special photo. You may have noticed that it is always about pictures for me. My family wasn't always keen on taking all of the pictures that I have but, over the years, as we have lost loved ones, I think they are all happy that I have these photo memories and, these days, they're usually a lot more co-operative when I ask for pictures. I will say, it makes my heart happy to see not only my girls but also my grands look at all of these photos when they visit and reminisce about the times in the pictures.

That being said, I always took lots of pictures when the kids were here for "Nana & Papa weekends" and if I could, I would find some kind of a way to present the pictures to their parents. Many times it was a frame that they embellished in some way but if I could find something different, I did. These are two of my favorites.

The first is simply small vintage photos they glued on to wood blocks. Then, they got to drill a hole using my Dremel-which they always loved doing-to insert a wire that they curled to hold a picture.

That one is cute but I think my all-time favorite is the witch hat that each child molded out of black air-dry clay. Believe it or not, even the youngest did a great job of forming the hat. It didn't need to be perfect-it is a witch's hat after all. Lol Before they dried we formed the copper wires and then after, we embellished.

And, of course, here is my sign holder from my brother and sister-in-law with the Halloween hanger I made.

And here is the only picture that I have taken of the room at night. Every time I think of doing so, I am exhausted and so cozy that I don't even want to get up and try to get a picture of the whole room. You'll have to take my word for it-it truly all glows at night.

So that is the family room for this year. It is now 11:15 a.m.. Getting past what I would call "mid morning" but we shall see. I'm on to find my next project that doesn't open up a can of worms and send me off in all directions. Stay safe and stay tuned.

P.S. Right before I hit the "publish" button, I got a message from the roofer saying that he hasn't forgotten me and would call in a bit. Not sure what that will bring but at least I'm still in his sights. I'm hoping that all of these delays mean that he is just super busy...and, I'm hoping that means he is super busy because he is so good?!??! Fingers crossed 

Back on Schedule

 I'm back on schedule-sort of. The roofer was supposed to be here at 8 a.m. but he messaged me to see if we could make it this afternoon because the roof would still be wet after the monsoon we had last night. That makes sense and, since this is the first time that he has let me know why he isn't showing up, I am feeling like this might really still happen. I have been trying to connect with this guy since Sept. 18 and, quite frankly, I am being more patient than even I would usually be because he comes SO HIGHLY recommended by a friend in the construction industry. We shall see.

Any way, since I am sitting in "wait" mode, I thought this might be the perfect time to head into the sunroom. As always, there isn't a huge amount to see in this room because I like to keep it somewhat clutter free and easy to access if we want to be here.

I'm surprising myself in the fact that I still like my witch's stocking. Lol

Not really anything to say...pretty much it is what it is. I will say that I still love how much all of the old photos that are everywhere in this house get looked at and reminisced about every time anyone in the family comes by. So many memories over so many years! Siggghhhh!

I'm trying to plan the rest of my week. My grand dog is coming to stay again while my two designer daughters are up at the High Point Market and we have another football game on Friday but except for a few errands, it looks like the rest of the week will be pretty free. I definitely want to get out into the yard but I'm also thinking about some crafts. Here is what I have lined up so far.

Thinking I will do the cornucopia on the canvas and then I am just going to "rust" up the flower bucket daughter #1 gave me when I was visiting. I also snagged some beautiful, large French looking candle sticks that I have coveted for awhile. It seems like I am always the winner every time she changes her decor style. I'm still waiting for the antique piece of heavy, detailed molding that she uses as a shelf and the two beautiful French looking sconce lamps that hang on either side. They are SO my taste and, as soon as she starts to have a wall removed from her living room, they are coming my way...and I can't wait!

That's it for today. Off to do some "rusting" while I continue to wait. Fingers crossed this works out today. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Never Too Old for Toys!

 As I get older, I think I have kind of reduced my "toys". Over the years, I have had and enjoyed lots of small kitchen appliances that were specifically designed for one purpose-like a bread maker, pasta maker, etc. I have to admit that I had fun using those things over the years but, once the novelty wore off, they were mostly just large things to store...and, since we all know I have so many things as it is, storage is at a premium and, little by little, I have kind of whittled those things down in number.

And so, I surprised even myself when I ordered a new air fryer/toaster oven.

In order to get this where I wanted it, I did have to put my KitchenAid mixer down in a cabinet and I'm not sure how I am going to feel about that the next time I want to bake but, I think I will use this more often than the mixer gets used these days. We shall see. Daughter #1 has the same one and as I was down at her house for the week, I saw how often it was in use and I was sold.

I love roasted veggies and this is supposed to be the way to go in a hurry. Daughter #3 had passed along one of her original air fryers to me and I wasn't a fan of that because of the limited amount of room and the small size of each batch. This thing is larger-still not as large as three jelly roll pans full that I do often but, also a lot easier and faster if I just want one portion...so, we shall see. It also does a great job of toasting and reheating-especially pizza so the crust stays crisp-so I think I am going to enjoy it.

My next "toy" was one of my Mother's Day gifts from my girls. I have to admit that it is something I probably would never have gotten myself although now that I know that it makes the kind of ice I am obsessed with-as well as the kind my dentist doesn't mind me chomping on-I am 100% sold on this thing. I will say that I am happy I have a place for it other than my kitchen counter. First of all, it takes up a fair amount of room. Secondly, it can be a bit loud. And, lastly, it can cause a bit of a water dripping situation each time you fill it and that would have been an issue with my wood floors. I ended up putting it on top of the small refrigerator that I have in the sunroom. It's still plenty easy to get to and with the slate floors out there, I don't have to even think about drippage. Lol

Let's just say that I honestly don't know how I lived without this thing! If I am sitting down, I am munching ice!!

And my latest obsession is still the bench that I bought from Decor Steals. I showed you the pictures when I was assembling it and where I put it and, honestly, I have really not done another thing consciously to it since then...and yet, every time I walk past it I sigh because it somehow brings me such joy. I really need to think about how to add some design. Right now it has my Halloween book stack that I just sat there because I was walking around the house with nowhere else to put it and the beautiful throw that daughter #1 got me but doesn't fit perfectly in with the Halloween color scheme just thrown on as well. Let me just say that there is other Halloween decor in this room (that I will share soon) so that sad little book stack isn't totally out of theme. Lol

That's all I've got for today but I will be back tomorrow. The roofer guy is supposed to be here at 8 a.m. This is not the first time I have heard that so I'm not exactly holding my breath but I will be ready just in case...we shall see!! Stay safe and stay tuned.