Last Day of Tour

I'm back from a very nice trip to Gainesville. Schedules are getting back to normal. I never thought I was one for schedules but now I realize I get so much more done when I have one. I guess just knowing how much or how little time I have serves as my motivator. When there is nothing important looming in front of me, I tend to drift and find projects that weren't even near the to-do list yet.


About all I do in my bedroom for fall is change out the bedding and valance in the bay window. Of course, since the bedding is such a large part of a bedroom, it makes a large visual impact . I also change the arrangement on the dresser to the dark amaryllis - an easy switch as I just pull out the old, more springy narcissus and pop in the new.


I like my drive to Gainesville as it always gives me time to think. It is a pretty effortless trip without much traffic, so I use it to get my thoughts in order. This trip something kept niggling at my brain - there is something else I forgot in my autumn decorating. As I mentally drifted through the house, it came to me - my sunflower, autumn wreath. Now if I could just remember where I "stored" it, I'd be good. There aren't too many places I can hide something that large, so on my second guess, I found it! I love this wreath. It is getting old and may be a candidate for a bit of a facelift next year, but for now, it hangs in a place of prominence in the familyroom. I found this wreath many years ago at a large, country craft show on the state fairgrounds in Tampa. Kind of reminded me that I haven't been there in a few years. I used to go down with my husband who was always in awe of the fact that so many people were willing to pay money to park and then quite a hefty little entry fee to have the "privilege" to then enter and spend more money. Mars and Venus - he never "got" it, but we had fun none the less. Several years I went down with a group of friends. One year in particular I remember being head over heels at a vendor who sold garden statuary. I fell in love with a St. Francis of Assisi statue and had to have it. The thing was solid concrete and for some reason, I didn't want to inconvenience any of my friends (I didn't drive this particular time) so I just said I would carry it to the car and not arrange for special pick-up. Boy, you never realize how far away your car is parked until you are carrying a solid, concrete statue! Let's just say, we bonded. He is now a well loved member of the family much like the solid bronze sun dial I carried through the streets of downtown Boston for a SOLID DAY OF WALKING (boy is that a story) or the Pfaltzgraff Christmas dishes (service for 12!!!!) that I had on my lap all the way home from Atlanta. As I think about this, there are MANY MORE stories about the same I could relate. As I have said before, my theory is "where there's a will, there's a way"!


So that's pretty much it for the autumn decorating. I AM still finding little things in stores or on line and tweaking as I go, but for now, most new efforts will be put towards my favorite - Halloween!