Thanksgiving Eve and All Through the House...

I know I am saying this all too frequently these days but, where has the time gone? I just realized that it is Thanksgiving eve and I have family beginning to arrive today and I haven't even finished my Thanksgiving home tour for you.

In my defense - if I even need one - I have been so busy with lots of fun things. We had a little 12th birthday celebration for Hud here at my house ( while their house is without walls, floors, ceilings, etc. ), got to celebrate my brother's birthday here which ended with a number of us heading out to see " A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" followed by dinner at a favorite restaurant, had Presley here for a day of fun, got my chair covers finished (thanks mostly to my SIL ), got lots of yard work and fence repairs done and just finished up lots of little things on my to-do list.

I know most of you are busy with your holiday meal prep - which I am off to do soon as well - but I want to get this last bit of the tour down for posterity so, next year when I don't remember what went where, I will have this as reference.

Let's start in the family room. Just a few minor changes from last year.

As happens so often these days, everyone is moving on to Christmas so early that autumn things go on closeout well before the season is close to being over. And, many times I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Everyone knows I love my autumn leaves and, every year I think I need more but I'm not willing to pay the going rate at the beginning of the season. Once again I found a total closeout of these beauties at Target and bought all that they had. Most of them are scattered throughout the house but the few I had left over went here to give this tray a little punch. I also got a beautiful table runner and a new, lush autumn leaf garland to replace my meager straggly one from so many years ago...all at 80% off! Score!

 
Just a bit of a nod to the day in both bathrooms.

And just a quick peek to show you the day Towanda came for another visit...funny how it is that the day after she visits, I can hardly stand upright...but the feeling of accomplishment far out weighs the pain. Lol I didn't get a shot of the fence before I started but, there were about 10 slats that were rotted about 8" up on the bottom and I was afraid some of my visiting grand dogs might see it as an opportunity to look under and then dig out. I will say, that I now realize this fence was worth every bit of the exorbitant price we paid for it many, many years ago. It was a custom build and definitely built to last. The nails holding this thing together were as strong as the day they went in. I was out there with a huge crow bar, sledge hammer, regular hammers, screw drivers and anything else I could find to start wedging in between the slats and beams. It was a doozy of a job but I got it done. Of course, now the new slats stand out like sore thumbs but I'm guessing it won't take much of our Florida weather and they will be blending in quickly.

I also started out doing a "minor" trim on the azalea hedge in the front of my house - that stood about 4 foot tall - and ended up "cleaning out" so much old wood that they are literally now about 18" tall...but that story might be for another day.

And, as things seem to be flying off shelves so quickly these days, I grabbed a few things I thought I might want to use as tweaks for this year's Christmas decor while I was out and saw them. I really don't know how I am going to use this stuff. I just got nervous everything would be gone when I wanted it.

I did buy the mugs and the little trees to do what I have already done with them. I saw the idea on a craft group I follow and thought they might look cute tucked around the house in small spots needing a pop of the holiday. The red bottle and the jar just have some pretty Christmas picks sitting in them right now...no idea how those will end up. I also grabbed the Santa sign. He may go in a wreath? We shall see but no more thoughts of Christmas until this weekend is over.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be back in December. Stay tuned.

 

Seriously?!

I really never fail to surprise myself! I can let things slide for a long time but then, one day, I wake up and decide that it has been long enough. And, that is kind of how this weekend has gone. I never quite know when this mood will strike or what will set it off, but I have learned after living with "me" so long, that I had just better get out of my own way and let it happen.

In my last post, I mentioned that I noticed that I had not gotten my dining room chair covers finished. Now, the main altering part I will have to leave to my sister-in-law. I have looked at these things, but I'm just not sure how she is doing them. But, I can cut off the long ties (they were meant to tie bows but I'm not a bow kind of gal so I only needed them to be long enough for a square knot ) and hem them shorter and I can sew on some elastic straps that go under the seats to keep them from shifting so much...and, so I did. Of course, that somehow got me in my sewing cupboard where I discovered stuff from so many years past...parts of unmade Halloween costumes, leftover pieces of fabric not large enough to make anything, patterns from when my grand children were very much smaller, etc. I have looked at this stuff forever and just kept looking right past it...until I couldn't any more.

And then, there was my Thanksgiving flag. I loved that flag so much. I found it in a cute little garden shop down in Mt. Dora and paid WAY TOO MUCH for it years ago. It is one of the prettiest flags I ever found and it hung on our front porch for a number of years until, one day I looked at it and saw how faded it was. I immediately set out to find a replacement but none of these flags were any longer available. After much searching, I gave up and bought a simple replacement but it never got my love like the original one did.

I actually loved that flag so much that even though I was no longer flying it, I couldn't throw it away. And so, it has been down in that cupboard for however long. At the beginning of autumn, I saw it and pulled it out. I had the brilliant idea that maybe I could paint it and bring it back to life. But then, it just sat on my sewing desk for September, October and half of this month because, even I had to admit that that was a bit of a stretch. And, today, I decided to do it-to throw it away. But, I  just couldn't...and so, I did the next best thing. I started painting it to see if my plan would work...and work it did! Look at this beauty back in its rightful spot!

Can you see how much this had faded? I started with the pumpkin to see how it would look.

 

Quite a difference, right?

Then I moved on to the cornucopia, potato, apple and letters. I was going to do the leaves but since there were so many different greens and they really weren't too bad, I thought I might leave them until it comes down for Christmas. And, I think I might try to find a "pear" color and re-do that as well.

Here is the one that has been flying and it is OK...

...but, this beauty just makes my heart happy. I'm so glad it will be here to greet all of my guests once again. More to come. Stay tuned.

Whew!!

Whew, am I glad I didn't skip my Thanksgiving decor this year-although, truth be told, I don't think I ever could. But, it did cross my mind...ever so fleetingly! In any case, I just recently found out that I will be hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year. We will be missing daughter #3 and her family as they head off to be with my son-in-law's family and my brother and sister-in-law but the rest of the crew will be able to make it.

In the "old" days, I would already have had a menu, grocery list, list of serving pieces and dinnerware to be used and a centerpiece good to go. But, since we just realized how this would play out, we are taking the easy way out and ordering a complete meal from Cracker Barrel. Of course, we each have favorite side dishes and desserts so we will be adding them but it still looks like it is going to be easy peasy-just my kind of cooking. Lol

And then, the weekend will hold the big FL-FSU game. And, now that we actually have a family member at FSU, this will be a house divided kind of game- well, not really - but we will be kind to her. Looks like there are plans for a big tailgate before hand...should be a wonderful weekend.

So, let's go ahead into the dining room and sunroom today before the tables get opened up and the places get set. I still love my dining room table that we bought at the Habersham Plantation so many years ago. It is 3 pieces and opens up to a larger rectangular table and 2 half tables that can make one circular table or, the way we always use it, one super long table that can seat 12. Every time I look at this picture, I remember that we haven't finished altering the chair covers nor have I shortened the ties on the back. Maybe I should start some lists.

I am still loving this piece so much. Of course, there has been a large autumn display here ever since I got the table repaired and, I'm pretty sure there will be a large display of fresh greenery for Christmas. The dilemma comes when we get to Valentine's decor-not sure what it will be but since my eye is used to something large, something large it will have to be. Maybe bare branches with small hearts dangling---oh dear, I definitely digress. Way too soon to be thinking about that.

I hadn't used the box I made out of old wood for awhile, so I just filled it with my velvet pumpkins and stuck in some autumn berries. I was going to go back and tweak it but it hasn't bothered me, so it is what it is. Lol

 I can't believe that I didn't put the date on this piece. I know I did it before I started counted cross stitch because it was a printed cross stitch kit and once I started counted stitching, I never went back to the kits. So, definitely getting to be vintage for sure. I had it stuck away for so many years and then I came upon it and realized how perfect it would be for Thanksgiving.

Normally this sign is on the mantle or in the living room but, since I have changed things up a bit, I didn't have anywhere to sit it. Since I love it so much and this wall was empty from just taking down the witch sign from Halloween, I got a brainstorm and added some wire to the back so it could hang. I'm missing my new, round mirror but it will be back after Christmas, so I am OK with it.

 

And, as you can see, the sunroom is pretty simple. There are a few pillows you can't see but pretty much it is just leaves, a pumpkin and a pretty candle. I like keeping it easy to clear when a friendly game of RummiKub or Yahtzee or another puzzle comes out of the drawer.

We have a room or two to go but I'm off to change all of the guest room beds so I can get that off of my non-existent list. Guess even though I haven't written it all down, I am still a list kind of gal...in my head. Stay tuned.

Happy Autumn...Finally!

Happy Monday. It is the most perfect autumn day outside! It looks like the weather outside has finally caught up to my house decor inside. And, I got a special little gift this morning. I just had to throw open all of the windows and, when I did the ones in the sunroom, I was greeted with that most delicious fragrance of tea olives. They are just starting to bloom but even a few blooms will produce the most intoxicating aroma. When I first happened upon these bushes so many years ago at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings house, I immediately found a nursery that carried them and bought about 20. I have them all around my back yard and just can't get enough of their fragrance. Lucky for me, they bloom about three times a year.

In any case, I have finished my ornaments - but am still covered in lots of iridescent glitter - and got to spend Saturday with my youngest grand daughter as well sneak in a quick visit with the rest of her family yesterday. I had a lovely weekend and am now ready to hit the ground running on a new week.

There will be a few changes around here for awhile. Daughter #3's home is getting a pretty extensive re-model. They did a lot of reno when they first bought their home but they are now ready to pull the plug on the rest of it. It will require a good bit of demo work so, for now, they think it will be fun to try to live in the house in the bedroom wing while this is happening (?) but, their two large dogs can not stay there. Not only would they constantly be in the way, but the potential for escape with open gates is too much to risk.

And so, they will be moving in with me for as long as it takes. They're really sweet dogs and I enjoy them but I will have to change my schedule a bit.

And then on top of that, my daughter is pretty much getting rid of most of their furniture and has offered it up to any of the rest of the family before donating it. She has the most beautiful - HUGE - TV armoire that I have always loved and I jumped on the opportunity to own it. That being said, did I say it is HUGE? My SIL and grandson brought the two side pieces over and put them in my garage yesterday. But, they could not budge the middle section...not just because it is heavy but also because it comes to within 5" of the ceiling so there is no room to tip it to get a grip.

So now, half of it is here...half is still there. And, of course, I have my three piece unit to empty and move. I am kind of worried how the new one will fit in my family room, who will be able to help me re-hook up all of the electronics, etc. But, most of all I am worried about where all of my photos will go as the two side units are narrower than the ones I have and I can barely fit all of my photos in as it is. I might have bitten off more than I can chew.

But, until that all happens, I thought I'd move on with the autumn tour. Sure hope the family room is settled before my tree needs to go up!

I still really love all of my silly little Publix pilgrims. I think the only thing they are still making is the salt and pepper set.

The platter under the pumpkin tureen is another Publix piece...

...and the counted cross stitch is one I did back in 1985. I don't think I could even see the needle to thread it any more let alone see the fabric to count the threads to do the stitches!

My VERY old pilgrim and turkey candles from Woolworths have made it through another year. They are actually 53 years old! The prayer next to it is a card I sent one year that I simply matted and framed.

Wow. I'm guessing not much has changed in the kitchen because I sure didn't have much to interject. Guess that makes up for the lengthy intro on this post.

So that it it for the kitchen,. I'm off to find some things to do outside before Mother Nature decides to trick us again and bring back the heat! Stay tuned.