Keeping It Real!

 The dogs got picked up this morning right before I headed to my dentist appointment. As soon as I got home, I grabbed a second cup of coffee and got started on the continuation of my Halloween decorating. I don't know if it's just that I'm really tired after five nights of getting up between 2-3a.m. with the dogs or that I am one year older than the last time I did this but, I am moving slowly today-which gave me time to "really" see things as they are...and I had to start laughing. And, I also needed a break so I decided to share this with you as I am enjoying being off of my feet for a few minutes!

This swap out is a BIG one...and, I need to be careful not to store everything completely away because much of it will return when I bring out Thanksgiving...and, some of it even stays out for Halloween just in different places. And so, instead of putting things where they belong, things just get stacked...and it truly looks like a tornado struck. And, it is just about at this point every year where I start to wonder just WHY I'm doing this and if I will ever get done. 

Today is Monday. If all goes well I should be able to take pictures by Friday. Time to get back at it. I'll be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

It Only Takes a Spark

 I was involved in Girl Scouting for many, many years. First as a scout myself, then as a leader for my girls and then my grand daughters and then finally as a trainer on the council level...and, one of the songs we sang that always sticks in my brain once I hear it starts out "it only takes a spark to get a fire going...". That is what happened at my house this morning. The dogs and I went out to do some more "Helene" clean-up and then I came in and had a little bit of time before I needed to settle in and get the Academy football game pulled up...so, I came to my office and saw this:

This stuff had been sitting here since I made it all but, for some reason today, the colors got my attention and sent me off to "the cloud" to look back over last year's Halloween decor. And, just like that, this was happening!

I decided that tomorrow WOULD be the day and to solidify it a bit more, I decided to pull out some of the decor that gets stored in this room. There is another even larger Rubbermaid out of sight because it is too heavy to move. The things in these containers are pretty much everything that will go in the living room-which is just down the hall so I'm happy I finally came up with this idea-every step I can save in this large swap out is a good thing!

And, do you notice my furry friend? She and her brother (who is sitting in the living room staring out the front window-one of his favorite things to do ) will make moving fast a little tricky but if I don't get this show on the road I will be sorry! Keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to lug out my "Dead and Breakfast" sign and dig the deep hole again this year. It seems to get heavier and heavier and heavier each time I do it these days. Lol

So that is that! Once I get this far, there is no turning back. Now you know what I will be up to for awhile but I'll check in soon and let you know how things are going! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Whew!!!

 

So, this is what my sunroom table looked like the last time I posted and this is what it looks like now.

I thought I would just post a quick blog to let those interested know that I was one of the incredibly lucky ones as Helene swept through the state of Florida. I live in the NE section of our county and as far as I can tell-since she swept through in the pitch black of night-I must have just gotten minimal wind and rain whereas the NW section of the county has lost power and trees are down.

The dogs and I just came in from getting almost everything back in its place and the debris in the yard picked up. I had a fair amount of branches but mostly TONS of smaller "twigs" and Spanish moss-most of it being things that would probably come down at some point or other anyway.

My family in Gainesville got hit a bit harder-lots of trees down in daughter #2's neighborhood and much loss of power elsewhere in the city but still, compared to the devastation elsewhere, we are not complaining. 

Unfortunately my daughter in St. Pete didn't fare as well. She once again lost all of her beautiful sycamore trees as well as her maple and holly trees. Several of them are still blocking the streets but none of them hit anyone or anything so she is thankful for that. Her house sits pretty high so the flooding that happens often on her street didn't come into the house and siding, windows, etc. are all fine so she was lucky. So many of her friends and clients who live closer to the gulf were not as lucky-three have completely lost everything and 4 or 5 others have homes completely flooded and don't know right now if they can be saved or not.

I have lived most of my life in Florida and lived through many hurricanes but I think this is the first one that has truly terrified so many people. It was HUGE and FIERCE and couldn't really make up its mind where it wanted to go.

I just talked to my grand daughter in Charleston and she is getting it right now. So far she only has damage to her little storage shed and she thinks she'll be good but to think that this storm is still doing damage this far away and ON LAND is kind of scary! I hope I never see another of this magnitude. The images coming in from along the coast line from all of those places-many what we think of as "old Florida"- are just so sad and things that I'm not sure they will be able to ever recover from.

And so the point of this post is that I didn't have to fall back on my "power outage crafts" and they're still sitting there waiting for me. I am giving myself today to just do what I want with my furry friends and then tomorrow I will tackle a few chores and watch Har's football game but, I am now thinking I might start my Halloween swap out on Sunday even with the dogs here and even with a dentist appointment early Monday morning. Usually I like to hit the ground running early in the mornings and just keep going but we're getting into October. I don't think I've ever been this late before but I told my sister-in-law that I love my autumn decor so much that I'm having a hard time getting motivated to take it down. She reminded me that it IS my house and I don't have to if I don't want to. Lol Believe me, that idea is running around in my head but I also know that I will be sad if I don't so....it will be coming sometime soon.

So that's it for me. I'm safe and hope everyone else in Helene's path will continue to be as well. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Hurricane Preparedness!

I live in Central Florida...and so, Helene is COMING! At first it looked like we would just be in the "tropical storm" zone but the latest has her veering more to the right which will put us more into the full blown hurricane zone. Nobody really knows for sure because all kinds of things affect its movement but, since I live in an area that loses power for seemingly NO reason, any kind of wind will probably take it out...and, with the enormity and strength of this storm, it might be for awhile!

And so, I am getting prepared. As far as the outside is concerned, I did what I thought needed being done yesterday. That means taking down anything that could become a projectile and moving large urns, pots, etc. against the house. I chose not to move all of the pool furniture as I didn't think we would be getting sustained winds heavy enough to blow it all into the pool. But, now I am questioning that decision so after the next update, I might be out there doing just that but, for now, I am concentrating on keeping busy during a power outage. My sunroom is the lightest room in the house so, for me, it just makes sense to plan some things for out there. 

I have my books, some paper and pencils for writing some of my "My Story" stories that I am behind on and a deck of cards for Solitaire but, if you know me, I would rather be crafting And, as I have said, I really don't have any fabulous craft waiting in the wings so I am falling back on the busted canvases yet again. As I have said, they are really not my favorite but, since I have the supplies on hand I pulled them all out and I'm ready to go if necessary!

I chose two vintage images-one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas so that should keep me busy for a bit if necessary.

I'm actually off to make another big pot of my favorite Martha Stewart Vegetable Vermicelli soup. It's definitely a comfort food and probably what is needed right about now while we WAIT...not my favorite thing to do!

Daughter #3 and family got out of Florida on the last flight from Tampa last night and then stopped in D.C. They were thinking they might be sleeping in the airport for awhile but they finally made it to Hartford and then to there Airbnb in Mystic! This is Parent's Weekend at the Coast Guard Academy so I am thrilled that they were able to make it to spend some time with Harrison and see his football game. I'm a bit jealous that I'm not there instead of here but the dogs and I will hold down the fort and hopefully this will be over by tomorrow!

Wherever you are, stay safe and stay tuned! Oh, and if I'm not back in awhile you will know why...I'll be in the dark. Lol

Unexpected Company

 So the only thing I really knew for sure about my weekend was that I was going to watch my grandson's college football game. Then, I received an invitation to go watch it with daughter #3 and her family. They are way more tech savvy than I so at their house, the game is on their large screen TV as opposed to at my house where it is on the IPad. And so, my response was an automatic "yes".

Since my grand daughter loves the pumpkin doughnuts that I make and I haven't gotten to them so far this year, I decided I would whip up a batch before heading over to surprise her.

I was the one who was surprised when I arrived as my son-in-law could get the game on his computer, Jen couldn't get it on the TV at all and, on her phone, the link took her to the soccer game. I went to it on my phone and had no trouble. Gotta love technology! One of the kids who could help was in the shower and the other was out at the barn tending to his steer. Jen was finally able to get it on her phone but it was at a different place than mine and then my son-in-law finally got it to the TV but it was constantly buffering and the sound sounded like a foreign language. It was actually kind of funny and we continued to keep up with the score one way or another until my grand daughter emerged and was able to change something??? They have direct TV and there were so many screens, internets. WiFis.....I would be lucky to even be able to turn it on if that was mine.

In any case, we got it totally working by halftime and we probably would have been better if we hadn't because things didn't go well but, we got to see Harrison on the TV so that always makes everything OK!

After a bit of visiting, I was heading out after seeing how Jen is redecorating her living room-once again-and she had some chairs she thought I could use and wanted to send one home with me to check it out. Honestly, by that time of day I would have been fine with waiting but I went along with it as my grand daughter loaded it into my car...and my grand dog Hazel jumped in as well. And then she immediately laid down and wouldn't get out. We were thinking maybe she wanted some "Nana" time without her canine brother around. He loves her a lot but usually ends up showing it by sitting on her or shoving her out of the way of loving "pets" on the head or various other strong armed (pawed?) tactics. Lol  And so, I didn't have the heart to say no to her so off we went.

She is actually so easy to have. She can go anywhere with me with no leash...she just follows along. And, she's usually ready to go to bed long before even I am so we had a lovely evening together.

So that brings us to today. I'm deciding what I might want to do as I type and thought I would show you what I mean by "right by my side". If I move my chair at all, I will run over her. That shadow is me and that bit of black on the bottom of the screen is my chair seat. I know I spoil her and she loves me but I'm not sure I can handle this much "adoration" all of the time. Lol

As soon as I finished the above post I decided to rebuild the old, rotted plant bench and quickly got out all of the supplies.

You can see the rotted legs in this picture-the reason why the bench fell over and the reason for the rebuild. If I was being truly enthusiastic, I would have purchased wood and rebuilt the whole thing but: 1. wood is expensive. Just the little piece for the legs was over $10...and the rest of the wood on the bench was still usable and 2. this is really meant to be a RUSTIC piece. It isn't supposed to look like it just came off of a show room floor. And so, what I thought would be a simple rebuild was about to start.

I did have to pause at this picture. Those of you who know me can see my entire personality right here. First, we are doing this inside because I am OVER the heat outside. Then, this is right by the side door that goes into my garage so I tend to pile things here that need to go out to wait for my "one trip self" to take them all at once...hence, the flower pots for recycling, the rusty urn to go on a shelf and the blower that just got recharged to be put away. Then, there is the branch...something waiting for the black paint I bought so it can take its place in the Halloween decor. And then, the ceiling paint that I bought over a year ago and still haven't opened. This is the room that needs the ceiling paint so the point of leaving it there was to motivate me...hasn't worked yet. Lol

And so "we" got started. I will say that I had originally nailed it together quite well because I could NOT get those old, now rusted, nails out without much fuss and a few choice words.

And, as I was sawing and hammering there came a knocking at this door. Since no one ever comes to this door I just assumed it must be my son-in-law come to get Hazie and could hear us back here. But, when I opened the door, the title to this blog (Unexpected Company) was even truer than when I began. There was daughter #1. She had been in Jacksonville for the weekend with her high school friend. They went to a concert and had a nice visit and since she got an earlier start than she thought heading home, she stopped in for a catch-up. It was so nice to visit with her and hear all of her news first hand.

She stayed for awhile-even helped me decide that we didn't like the chair from daughter #3 in my bedroom so, for now, it is here. 

or....

I was leaning towards by the window when daughter #3 (who gave me the chair) messaged to see how it worked out. I sent her these pictures for her input and, as things so often do in the "life of Dodi", I may have my next project to keep me busy-although, I'm not sure this is the best time of the year to be starting this...maybe we should save it for January. My girls know how badly I want to change this room. It has looked like this a long time and seems very dated to me. But, most everything I would do would be a BIG project and expensive. But, when Jen saw the pictures she started suggesting some things that she says are coming back into style-she's an interior designer-and, she thinks she has some things in her warehouse that could work so it seems that maybe with just a bit of painting of the furniture and new bedding that she already has, we might be able to give this room just the facelift it needs...stay tuned.

Any way after Kris left,  Hazie and I went back to work and got the bench finished. This time I also gave it a quick coat of wax stain so the new legs matched the "old" a bit better. And again, remember, this is NOT supposed to look new.

Of course, after I looked at this picture I realize that maybe those shutters could use a new coat of stain...if you give a mouse a cookie. Lol Also, now that the bench is sturdy again, I need to get some plants on it and I need to bury those bricks a bit into the ground. See why it never gets boring around here?

I have an appointment tomorrow and then my brother and sister-in-law are coming on Wednesday. The dogs will be here on Thursday so we'll see if I get brave enough to start my Halloween swap out or just wait until next week. Sorry this post was all over the place but that is life at my house. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

A Different Kind of Happy

 Those of you who know me know that I am the happiest when I have things to do-or, should I say, things that I "want" to do. I am a little low on craft ideas right now, so I have turned my attentions outside and am slowly getting little things off of the list. Today I headed out and hit WalMart-not a favorite but sometimes just a necessity-and Lowes. And, I am about as excited over these purchases as I am when the table is full of crafting supplies. In fact, some of the things from Lowes ARE craft supplies. 

Lowes finally got their paint stir sticks back in so I grabbed a few packages of each size. They can be used in a lot of ways and I like having them in my stash when I need them. Also, the black paint is for something for Halloween. And then there's the 1x8" piece of wood which will become the new legs for my plant bench that broke. 

I was happy to finally be able to find some mums. I'm hoping these will keep me through November. And then, I always need another pumpkin candle these days as well as some Starbucks pumpkin spice coffee. And, nothing "fun" about the Roundup but all of the walkways need to be de-weeded after so much rain.

And then I grabbed a 9' Christmas garland. I'm not sure I need it but it is kind of a nice one at a really good price so, before they get bought out, I grabbed it as well. I'm sure I can find some place for it to go. Lol

I know that is a mishmash of stuff but, it makes me so happy. It gives me many things to do this weekend and then maybe I'll start thinking of my Halloween decor next week. I will be busy but that's a good thing! We also have another Coast Guard Academy football game tomorrow-fingers crossed they can pull off a win without all of the "drama" of the last two weeks! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Where Is It?!?

 Today is September 19 and I am still searching for any hint of autumn. I woke up with an urge to tie back my bougainvillea-which, 5 hours later still hasn't happened- so after my coffee and the paper, I headed out. I realized that the jasmine over the side gate needed cutting back as well and since the sun wouldn't be in my eyes on that side of the yard, I decided to start there. And, as I said, that was 5 hours ago. I had another one of my "if you give a mouse a cookie" moments. I started cutting the jasmine and then realized that it had just gotten so heavy over all of these years that it finally broke the lattice it was attached to. So, that meant pretty much cutting it all back as well as getting the broken lattice down. And then outside the gate was a tree that had just sent off shoots everywhere so it needed cutting back. And then the birdbath out front needed to be swapped with one in a back garden as well as a garden statue. And then I noticed that the legs of a bench I had made years ago for plants along the side wall had rotted off and the bench would need to be rebuilt. And, as I said, that was 5 hours ago. I actually got everything done but the bench because I will need to pick up the correct size wood for that but, I am in a conundrum about the area above the gate. I'm pretty sure the jasmine will grow back and look fine without more lattice but I'm so used to the lattice that it looks odd to me right now. I have an old piece of lattice I might could cut and use but if I'm going to go to that much work, shouldn't I buy a new piece and start fresh? 

When I look at this picture it looks pretty bad and I'm not sure I can wait for the jasmine to fill in...might be putting up some lattice soon!

But, I need to remind myself how quickly things grow. This is the garden I cut WAY back just a few weeks ago and look at it again!

And so, that is why I find myself back here in the house at this moment. I'm going to grab a quick lunch and then get out to the bougainvillea that started this whole thing. 

I think I'll head to Lowes tomorrow and pick up a lot of things I need to finish up the yard. Then maybe I can get a little time this weekend to sit outside and enjoy it. I know that I really need to get going on my Halloween decorating but I always hate to take down autumn. After surviving summer, the autumn decor just makes me so happy. Also, Halloween is a BIG swap-mostly just because I have so much. And yes, I said I was going to simplify this year but after going over and over the pictures from past years I just can't find anything I'm willing to give up...we'll see how I feel when the decorating actually starts. I was going to wait a bit longer for the swap but I remembered that daughter #3 and her family were heading to CT for "Parents' Weekend" at the Academy and I will have the puppers with me...and, since they follow my every move, trying to go in and out and up and down with them under my feet sounds a bit like an accident waiting to happen so I need to be done before then...or after but that would mean that Halloween wouldn't even be out for a month and, again, it's too big a swap not to have it here for awhile! Oh the dilemmas of life! Lol

So, that is where I am. Nothing exciting from this end right now but I've been MIA for a few days so I thought I would check in. I'll be back soon. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Too Soon Gone!

 Am I the only one who thinks the weekends just go way too quickly? It seems as if I was just reveling in Fri-YAY and here it is Monday...and the weekend is over! I hope you had a good one. Mine was meant to be uneventful but that isn't how things ever stay around here.

Saturday was rainy and dreary so I started this ridiculously easy craft which I will share in a minute because I knew my grandson's college football game would be on at noon and I needed to be ready...and I was just not quite ready for another total nail biter and finally a "WIN" in overtime once again. I told him last week that his Nana was getting too old for that kind of a game and he assured me this week would be different. They were playing the team that they beat by 69 points last year. I guess that team remembered that game and was just NOT going to let that happen again. They came out full steam and it truly wasn't over until the absolute last play in overtime! Go Bears!!!

The rains had settled by the time the game was over but it was like a sauna outside so I decided to call it a day...until my phone rang and it was grandson #2 asking if he could come over and do some fence repairs for me. Since what was left was pretty much things I couldn't do alone, the answer was easy. And so, out we went. And, while he was doing things that didn't need a second hand, I was pulling vines out of the fence growing in from the back field and picking up small branches that came down with our recent rains.

He got so much done for me but we called it a day as the next few things will need some supplies and it was too late to hit the store on a Saturday night.

All seemed right with the world until I woke up at about 2 a.m. with my fingers itching and I immediately knew what that meant. Somewhere out there I had once a again come into contact with whatever it is the I am allergic to. I know it wasn't poison ivy this time as there was none of that but one of the vines did have some scratchy kind of leaves so I figured that must be it, put some anti-itch cream on it and went back to bed.

Yesterday it was still itchy but doing my best to ignore it, I headed out to the yard on the other side of the pool to do some trimming and weeding. It was SO HOT out there and I kept wiping my face with a towel...until I realized that my cheek near my nose was itchy. For some reason, bells didn't go off. I just thought it was because I was perspiring so much. Imagine my surprise when I got up this morning and found that my nose and cheek-right up to my eye-were now all bumpy and blistery as well and I am scary looking-well, scarier looking than usual. I am having the worst time NOT rubbing my face but I am trying so hard because I really don't want whatever this is to get into my eye. Hence, once again my errands are not happening so I finished my little craft and thought I would show you.

This is the Mason jar I picked up at $Tree. I don't have all that much Thanksgiving decor so I thought this might look cute with a make-over and nestled in the carpenter's box or somewhere else in the kitchen.

I've taken things like this apart before and I usually have to use the hot tip of the glue gun to snap the metal and cords but this time it all literally just "fell" off.

Then I peeled off the image and gave it a light sanding.

 

I used the water method and ripped down the image to fit the jar.

Then I gave the jar and the metal leaf a quick coat of Waverly antique wax. When that was dry I ModPodged on the image. I also gave the "jar lid" a light coating of ModPodge sprinkled with cinnamon and when that was dry a quick shot of matte sealer to keep the cinnamon in place.

At this point I forgot to take any more pictures but I snipped some foliage off of things around the house and glued that onto the jar. Then I took some red, yellow and orange paint and just kind of "blobbed" them onto the leaf. When the paint was dry I came back with a bit of antique wax and then a top coat of ModPodge before adding the leaf to the jar and then tying it all up with some new twine.

And here it is...almost too easy to share but cute never-the-less.

Not sure what the rest of the day holds. I am out of ideas for my next craft so I guess I'll be hitting up Pinterest before too long. Stay safe and stay tuned.

They're Coming Too Quickly!

 It seems like every time I turn around it is Fri-YAY again. Not that I'm complaining mind you but boy does it remind me of just how quickly the weeks fly by these days! In any case, today is a wet, dreary day so the errands I was going to run will just have to wait. That sent me around the house looking for something to do-believe it or not, I got most of my household chores already done this week! I moved a few things around and when there was no more to move, I resorted to Pinterest hoping to spur a new idea.

And, as usually happens, Pinterest did not disappoint. I came upon this picture in my feed.

I am always drawn to pictures with script not to mention the ornate frame and autumn colors. And, of course, the raven. I quickly made a copy and then, thanks to grand daughter Hannah, I was actually able to figure out how to resize it on my new computer to exactly what the size I wanted. That feat used to be so easy on my old program but it is a lot more complicated now. I NEVER would have figured it out without her help...it takes a village to raise this Nana. Lol

I won't even pretend to insult your intelligence by going through the steps again. I wish I had anything else to put it on but an 8X10 canvas was all I had in my stash. I did the usual and ended up with something I liked but after putting it where I wanted, I just felt like to was too small.

The image was exactly what I wanted but the size was just not cutting it! I suppose if I actually hung it higher it may have been acceptable but I don't want yet another nail hole in that wall!

Of course then I was back running around the house and garage trying to come up with an acceptable solution. I happened upon an old 8X10 frame I had that had some "weight" so I adhered the canvas to the frame and propped it up on some wood blocks. I think I'm OK with it so now I guess I'll have to stain that wood block that I can see glaring out from behind the dough bowl.

And then since I had everything out I made another canvas to use in the family room for Halloween where I have all of the other "Black Hat Society" things. This time the original print was a very odd size so no amount resizing helped and there was just a lot of "edge" left after I ModPodged the print onto the canvas. It was black paint and it was OK but I just wasn't feeling it so I rusted it up. Now it looks like an old, rusty metal sign and will fit right in the the other "witchy:" stuff in the family room.

And while I was tweaking, I got back to the "moon" wreath I zhuzhed up a bit the other day. It still wasn't moving me but not really knowing where it would go wasn't helping...until I saw a plain black twig wreath in Target. I thought the moon might look better backed by the black wreath and then I decided to try adding some fairy lights. I love the way these look-and they're on a timer-but I really dislike working with them. They are so hard to keep untangled and don't want to stay where you put them but seem to catch on everything-especially this twig wreath-so they end up where you DON'T want them. In any case, once I figure out where this will hang I will know better what will stay and what might not but, for now, I'm liking this configuration the best so far!

That's it for today. Have a wonderful weekend! Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Another Snip & Snail Day

 Unless there is something special on my calendar, most days I wake up not really having a plan. What I do that day will probably depend on my mood, my energy level, what the weather may or may not do or any number of other things. And that was just how today started. I do have a few errands needing doing this week but, since today is Monday, I decided to stay home and get some things done around the house...vacuuming and changing sheets and washing duvets being the priorities on the list.

And that was what I was doing but somewhere in there, I found my way to my office and I glanced at the little vintage Halloween cauldron I made the other day and, once again, something just bothered me about it. I hadn't ever really been in love with it but I wasn't sure why. Today I think I figured it out. I think the bats on the tree are too "heavy".

Everything else in the vignette is two dimensional-except the pumpkin which I have no issue with-and the bats have three dimensions. And so, while the washer was on, I decided to try something. I cut out some bats from black cardstock and gave them a layer of the fine black glitter from Martha Stewart. You can probably tell that I did these right at my desk...lighting is horrible but it is what it is.

Then I snipped off the old ones and added the new and, VOILA! It is really ridiculous how something so silly can make me so happy. For some reason the bats now look like they belong. Lol

And then while still waiting for the wash to finish I noticed that when I put the beards on my Santa ornaments I must have grabbed the iridescent crystal glitter instead of the plain.

 You really can't see it here when they were first done but for whatever reason, by this morning the glitter on the hat was reading "pink". It looked like the red paint had bled but since there was no red paint in that area, it was just the iridescence and I didn't like it...so, this happened also.

And, since the glue gun was hot I decided it was time to get the holly on the Santas. Of course, when I went to HL the other day to buy said holly, this year's crop was different. The leaves were larger and edged in gold-which I didn't like at all. But, being my only option, I grabbed a package and besides cutting those very small little bats, I ended up cutting the gold off of the edges of the holly! Am I the only one who does things like this? Lol

I bought several choices of cording for the hangers so once the glue and glitter are good and dry I will get these finished up. 

So I guess that's all of my excitement for today...doesn't take a lot! Lol I'm off to get the rest of my chores done. Can't wait to see what transpires tomorrow! Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Rainy Days

 It looks like the rain is starting earlier than the usual afternoon pattern today and it is probably going to be like this most of the day. I did have a few things I thought I could get to outside but now that I'm having to do a pivot, I realized that I haven't actually finished our autumn tour. I have the two bathrooms left and the porch-which, still don't have new mums yet as the least time I was at the garden center, there were still none to be had! I do have my older mums from last year and they are blooming and looking OK which is probably why I haven't thought to go searching again. But I will...I promise because there is NOTHING like a beautiful FULL basket of blooming mums this time of year-and, hopefully then they will last throughout November!

All of that being said, the porch looks just like it did in 2022 so I'll give you a peek at that. And, while I was perusing those photos, I found the pictures of even more beautiful mums in the house so that will be my next outing! Hopefully they've made it to the stores by now!

Oh yeah, this sign has since been repainted. Lol

Let's check out the guest bath.

And then, of course, the slight nod to the season in the master bath.

As I look at these pictures I am reminded of the mixed feelings that I always have this time of year. I really love Halloween-and orange and black-but I think my absolute favorites are the colors of autumn and I am always somewhat sad to see them go. Luckily, a lot of them will return in November for Thanksgiving but there is just something SPECIAL about September!

I was looking at the rest of my craft supplies and trying to decide what I am going to do with the vintage moon I found at Target awhile back........and we interrupt this blog to bring you the U.S. Coast Guard Academy football game. Lol

When I looked at the clock I realized that it was almost time for my grandson's first game of the year to begin and, since this year they had some new fangled way to subscribe to watch the games, I knew I would need a bit if time to get signed up and good to go. Thanks to my daughter (his mom) and her hubby, I was up and running pretty quickly and I am so glad I was! This was a nail biter game down to the very last play. It went back and forth so many times but the Bears won in overtime! Yay! I will say that I realized how old I really am when the other team's kicker missed a field goal that would have given them the win right there and I was feeling all sorry for him. I could be his Nana and I know he was so upset with himself...but, I digress!

Daughters #1 & 3 were there and got to see it all first hand! Harrison was looking pretty tired as they were waiting to go into overtime.

Feeling much better now that there was a WIN in their column!

That game truly wore me out but once I had recouped, I went back to the moon. I had picked that up weeks ago in the Target $ Spot. I loved its vintage feel and I had a few ideas of what I might try but each one of them would have seen the moon added to a larger base and I guess I'm doing myself a disservice but, since I have absolutely no idea where this will end up and how large a space it will have, I decided to just amp up the florals so the wire ring was a bit more covered for now. I found some florals at the $Tree that were close to the original color of the flower on the wreath and then stuck in some pip berry spirals as well. I figure if it needs more presence when I'm ready to use it, I can amp it up a bit more.

This is close to how it came. I did add some walnut and mustard colored distress wax to it to tone down the "white" before I started. It actually didn't look all that bad. I just wanted to make sure that all of the wire was covered.

So that ended my day. Not sure what will come next. Stay safe and stay tuned.