I'm Back!

 I'm back from a wonderful five day trip...we had so much fun and I thought I would be sharing that with you today. But, unfortunately, I let my phone battery run out one day and, honestly, everyone in my family has a newer phone than me so their cameras are so much better. Unfortunately, with most of the pictures on their phones...and not shared yet or, the ones that are shared are super blurry so we need to find another way...I don't really have much to show you just yet. And so, I thought we would go ahead and go into the family room and catch the Thanksgiving decor in there. There are a few subtle changes since last year...see if you notice.

I love these preserved leaves. The whole time I was in Connecticut I was so envious the the beautiful tree color. If I lived there I would have my home FULL of vases of just autumn leaves!

I changed up the coffee table a bit because I had found the Thanksgiving tray at the $Tree awhile ago. I also added the small wood pumpkin that I found at HL. Since the tray was green I thought adding the same tone of green in the candle rings works well...serendipity. Lol

I think the next time florals are on sale at HL I am going to grab another one of the garland I have been using. I love the way it hangs down but it could be a bit thicker so I think I will double it up. I have left it on the mantle since I bought it and just added different picks for the holiday/season. Next month-with the Christmas decor-I will probably take it down but then It will return and stay up through the year. I love the "oomph" it gives the mantle. This month I just shoved in some of my autumn leaf sprigs and, honestly, EVERY loose autumn leaf I could find-and there were a fair amount because they come off of their branches a lot. As long as we don't get any heavy drafts in this room we should be good. Lol Otherwise, I'm afraid it will look like a true autumn scene with leaves blowing everywhere. 

I still love the burlap "harvest" garland my cousin made me years ago.

It's kind of hard to see these two-Pilgrims with a copper finish next to the pumpkin oil painting that a friend did.

So here is where my grand daughter's pumpkin landed...note to self-get it signed and dated soon!

And, the "busted canvas" found its way to these shelves.

So that is it for the family room this year. I am using today to unpack, wash clothes, etc. and then will hopefully get back to some sort of routine tomorrow. Grand daughter #2 will be here Thursday night and I will have her dog with me until Sunday while she is in a friend's wedding in Mt. Dora...unless Sarah decides to do something crazy and we see yet another hurricane this season!

I can't wait to share my trip photos with you. Connecticut was wonderful and we even got in a day in Newport, RI. We caught the end of their autumn color but it was more than enough for us Floridians. We were oohing and aahing all over the place. I'll be back soon. Until then stay safe and stay tuned.

Surprise!

 I am actually surprising myself by being back so quickly. I managed to get the very last...I think until I find some things that I missed...of my Halloween all down and packed away for another year! I even managed to get all of the super heavy stuff up on the top shelves so I'm thinking I must have done a better job of packing away this year. In any case, I'm pretty sure this will be my last chance to post before we head out so let's head into the kitchen and see what we have.

The side of the fridge has changed a bit since I took these pictures. I found our pictures from our autumn trip up to NC a few years ago so they have joined the rest-it's pretty crowded but I love looking at all of them so it's all good.

 I still enjoy using all of my Publix "Pilgrim people"...

...and I love that my pumpkin Dutch oven is here for another month!

This is where the Thanksgiving Mason jar ended up...and look at Caitlin's handprint turkey from so many years ago. I remember when she was staying with us and we made that!

I just love all of the beautiful, rich colors of fall!

It's hard to believe that this cross stitch I did is almost 40 years old! I remember singing this song in church and in chorus at school and I always loved it. And, of course, it could not be Thanksgiving without my turkey and Pilgrim candles. They just say "holiday" to me as one or another of them has been in my life since I was a little girl.

So that is the kitchen for this year. We are doing Thanksgiving day at daughter #3's house so there will be no full blown meal being made here but there will probably be some family spending the nights here so the kitchen should see a bit more activity than it usually does these days...must be why it's dressed for the occasion!

I'm off to start some packing-guess I should check what the weather will be. I honestly don't care as long as it's cooler than 80 degrees! I'll be back ..until then stay safe and stay tuned.

Tempus Fugit!

 And just like that, my favorite month is gone! It is always an incredibly busy month and this year the hurricanes and hurricane clean-up took away a number of days but, none-the-less...it is November and I am hoping to have some lovely, quiet days before we get to December and all that that brings.

Family will be arriving here on Wednesday evening so that we can get up and out early Thursday morning to head to the airport in Tampa. We are off for four days in Connecticut where we will see grandson #1 play football on Saturday. It looks like we will still have some of the beautiful autumn color so we should have fun seeing the sights in Mystic and New London the rest of the time we're there. Because it is Veteran's Day weekend and Har doesn't have school on Monday, he will be on leave and will be able to stay with us after his game. 

That all leads me to why I am just about to fall over! I really didn't want to come home to Halloween still being up in my house or I would have risked losing the month of November a swell so it was important to me to get the Halloween decor down, Thanksgiving up and EVERYTHING put away. That is a tall order as I have MUCH Halloween but, after running out on Friday and finding a few things I needed for the trip, I got the outside stuff down. Then, I hit the ground running on Saturday but, of course, took a break so I could watch Har's game as well. Then it was all day Sunday and all of today. All I have left is getting the really heavy stuff up on the top shelves of the garage so I am giving my back a break for a few minutes and then I will get that done as well.

And so, why don't we have a peek at the beginning of Thanksgiving...first the porch.

I actually made a few changes to the inside. I wish I could say that they were planned but in almost every case, something just struck me as I was moving around. And, of course, some things have to move to make room for the new things.

Note to self-this is where the "coffee stained" velvet pumpkin ended up and I like it so much better. I HAVE to go back and stain all of the others when I have some time!

The garland over the mirror is the one that usually goes around the front door but I forgot to hang it. When I remembered, I grabbed it and was on the way when I went through the living room and thought it might look nice here instead. 

So that is the living room for now. As I said, all of this was done in a whirlwind so I am not promising that things won't get tweaked once I have a minute to breathe...we shall see. 

I had a lovely Halloween but so much different than things used to be. I went to daughter #3's house for dinner with a few friends. My grandson was there for a bit but then he was off to spend the rest of the evening with his girlfriend. My grand daughter had a friend over and they finally put on some sort of costumes (?)...they said who they were but I never heard of it or even remember what they said...and then they just walked downtown to "mingle" with the crowd. No trick or treating any more but they did like the large treat bag I made up for them so they aren't completely over Halloween treats just yet.

And, two of my grand pets donned costumes-that's all I've got for Halloween. Lol

And we were excited when we got these pictures of Harrison after Saturday's game. The team signed autographs for local youth football players and it looks like Har (#49) was having so much fun. He let the little boy in front of him hold his helmet.

So that is where I am right now. I hope to be back with more decor before I leave but know that when I return, I will have many pictures to share. It's going to be a fun trip! Stay safe and stay tuned.