Well....

 I am back but once again I am not back with anything I had planned. Today started out pretty straight forward-have coffee, eat breakfast, make a grocery list and head out. And that was all going swimmingly-at least the coffee and breakfast part-until it wasn't. I started to make my grocery list for the holiday when I realized that I am making a "favorite" apparently but one I haven't made in many years. I guess there was a move to get it back which I am happy to do. I'm not even sure why I stopped making it. Something better must have come along.

In any case, we are now sure that daughter #3 will be hosting so the rest of us will be bringing in lots of things to fill out the menu and I almost always bring veggies of some sort. As I started my list, I realized that I didn't remember where that original recipe came from. I grabbed out my recipe files...nope. Then I went through most of my favorite cookbooks...nope. I was about to throw in the towel when I remembered that back when Pinterest first started, daughter #1 asked me to "pin" most of the family favorites so I went to my account and, sure enough, there it was.

Of course, by then, it wasn't as early as I had hoped plus I had a small list of silly little things that have decided that they need attention in just the last few days so, I decided to make this another one of "those" days and get the little stuff done instead.

Yesterday I was out all day long. I spent the better part of the day in the stores...

...where I actually found almost everything on my list...and then a few gifts to boot and some autumn stuff for 75% off. I'm not sure what my fascination with those small cloches is, but I love them. The two on the right are from The Pioneer Woman at Walmart and the green to the front left is from Target's $ Spot for only $3. I actually have no idea what I am doing with them but they were speaking-LOUDLY-to me. Lol

I also found another garland that is so pretty and, much to my surprise, pre-lit which means #1: I don't have to buy extra lights and #2: I don't have to mess with adding the lights. Win/win!! It was $70ish but 50% off at HL so about what most other "real touch" garlands are going for locally-if you can even find them.

I remembered that last year I wanted candlesticks on the new shelf in the living room but, by the time I knew I needed them, there were no longer any timered light left to be had. And so, that was a priority this year. I found two different sizes and, since I really wasn't sure which I would want, I grabbed them both. They started out rather inexpensive and then are 25% off as well.

I like them both but think the larger of the two will work best in the shelf. As a matter of fact, I like it so much that I left one there.

 Of course, I don't like that shiny base so I got out some supplies and got experimenting.

I used the antique gold Rub n' Buff on one and left it for awhile because I really wasn't sure if it would dry on plastic. It does. I will say that if this was on something that I would be touching a lot, I probably would look for something else but, once these candles are placed-which can be done without touching the bottom-they are going to be just fine. I put the first one back on the shelf and then actually found homes for the other three amongst the Thanksgiving decor. I am saving the black ones to see where they might work for Christmas. They actually came with window suction cups so if they don't find their way to any other areas, I might put them in the front windows.

I also bought two larger bottle brush trees for those shelves and decided to pretty up a wood candle cup to add to it and give it more pop. My initial plan had been to pop the tree off of the base and put the base under the cup but there was NO way that base was coming off without totally squishing the tree in the process so I just flipped my idea and put the cup on the bottom. I used my antique wax first and then went over them with a brushing of the Rub n' Buff. I definitely think they will have more presence now. There are some other things that will join the candle and tree in the shelves but I'm not sure exactly what just yet. I did find out that I will be hosting the Mother-Daughter luncheon so my thoughts are slowly drifting to Christmas decor sooner than usual.

I had to give a little chuckle when I came in here to make this post. As you may know, I often stack up purchases and crafts for the next decor theme here in my office on what is supposed to be my "gift wrapping station". Of course, it is almost always covered in stuff so the wrapping usually still takes place on the floor where it always has but, I digress.

I remembered that my girlfriend and I took a decorating curse out at our local college many years ago and the instructor gave us some homework. We were told to gather up lots of decorating magazines and quickly leaf through them while ripping out the pages that spoke to us immediately-NO thinking about it or why it spoke. If you stopped to ponder, it wouldn't work. She said when we were through, we would be able to see our decorating preference. I actually thought she didn't know what she was talking about but, I did it then and I have done it often since and, she was right. Look at the stuff that spoke to me and I have accumulated so far for this year's Christmas additions-try to look around all of the other stuff there as well. Lol

Can you see the theme I have going? It speaks loud and clear! Red, green and greenery! I just love the traditional "feels" of the holiday. There is still lots of blue out there and pink is moving in quickly but as for me and my house...LOL

Last night was soccer game #3 for this week. It was supposed to be in Gainesville but, for whatever reason, it was moved to home so three home games isn't bad. That's my #17 on the left. I'm still not sure why she added this extra schedule into her life but I will say that these girls have fun and enjoy each other so if for no other reason, that is a positive. Although they did take another win so that was even better.

No other pictures because, honestly, after three games in one week, they all pretty much look the same. Lol

So now I am off to replace batteries in my garden walkway lights along with some in the house, water all of the outside pots, wash some bedding and...and...and.

I think I will also get that grocery list made so I can try again in the morning to get to the grocery store before it gets too busy. I am lucky in that I don't have to worry about any fresh ingredients so I can shop earlier than most. 

Grandson #1 is arriving Friday night and grandson #2 has a birthday tomorrow so I am looking forward a bit of a birthday reunion soon. The entire family will be here for Thanksgiving-except my brother and sister-in-law who are hosting some of her out-of-state family and will be missed. I'm never sure if we will all be able to make the next gathering when jobs, weather, schedules all come into play so I am hoping we can get a lot of pictures of the whole crew before they take off to play football, head to the barn to feed animals, etc. We shall see. Lol 

Thinking I will be back at least once more to finish up our tour. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Ahhhh Autumn

It is another absolutely beautiful day and I am starting to get my calendar in a bit better shape than it has been so I thought before I become completely busy with other things we could start to wrap up our tour. Let's head into the family room today.

So this is the way the family room looked when I initially took all of the Thanksgiving photos.

I actually really love the way the mantle looks although every time I do it, I promise myself that before I do it again I will get some other garlands so this isn't such a chore. Right now I start with my "every day" green garlands and then just start sticking in all sorts of other greenery picks and autumn leaves to make it really full and lush. Sometimes they go where I want and I'm OK and other times they do something weird and knock off everything I already had placed. No matter what the outside temps are that day I am usually sweating by the time I get this looking right-and then I try not to breathe until I can back away. Lol

I have always used these pilgrims here and I have always thought that they didn't pop enough but, for whatever reason, I have not done anything about it. I'm thinking now that maybe a bit of antique gold Rub n' Buff might do the trick. I will let you know If I get adventurous!

This is where my new little gift turkey is residing now.

And we all know that here is the "elephant" in the room...although I have to admit that I am loving the clear twinkle in this room! I truly don't think I could handle the tree decorated any more than it is but right now it does add a beautiful glow to the room in the evenings-especially since it gets dark so early now.

So that's the family room for this year. I think we just have a bit left to tour which is a good thing because the calendar is filling up as we get closer to the holiday. It looks like a lot of the family will be coming in early so that those of us who want to (probably just us girls) can go see "Wicked" on Thanksgiving Eve. We saw the first one last year so we couldn't not do the same this year.

 I am still not sure if I am hosting but I do know that I will head to daughter #3's this afternoon to return the dogs and then to my granddaughter's soccer game so maybe we will have that worked out by tonight. And then we have another game tomorrow night. Somewhere after that I will figure out menus and get to the grocery store as well as get the house all clean and pretty for the fam!

It's definitely getting to be "that time of the year" again and I am getting excited for all of the fun to come. And, you know I will share it with you. Stay safe and stay tuned.

OK. Those of you who know me probably already figured this out. Before I even got this post published I headed to grab those pilgrims. I just brought them to my desk and was actually surprised to see that they were already highlighted with an antique copper color-which is my favorite so it was hard for me to cover but it was just too dark when on the mantle and against the dark brown frame of the mirror.

I went ahead and gave the man a bit of antique gold Rub n' Buff and the difference wasn't earth shattering but I forged ahead...

...and then did the lady...

...and got them back out to the family room. When you are close to them, I think they pop a bit more...

...than when you are farther away yet there is a bit of a difference from the original so I'm good.

Sunny Day

 It is an absolutely beautiful sunny day-perfect for a trip into the sunroom. As almost always, the decor here is kept at a minimum because these spaces are used so often and it is just easier not to have to move vignettes out of the way to make room for whatever we might be doing.

I kind of chuckle every time I put out these turkey photo holders. Hannah, Morgs and I made them as gifts for family and friends one year when they were so much younger. The feet were made from Sculpy clay and the girls were too young to be able to make the fine details on them that the instructions called for so I just improvised and let them make them as they could. LOL The rest of the body was made from fun foam which we used a lot back then because it was easy to cut and more stable than just card stock. And, this turkey is holding a picture of my sweet grand daughter, Morgan, as the "letter H" in her pre-school Thanksgiving play. So precious-but look at those feet-the turkey's not Morgan's. LOL!!

The other end of this long, narrow room does have a few nods to autumn in just leaves and flowers in different vessels but, honestly, not really photo worthy. Lol

So that is it for the sunroom. I'm actually not sure where the rest of my week will take me. I still have the dogs-not too sure when they will be leaving-and there are three soccer games three days in a row on the calendar. Two are local and one away. Not sure just yet how many we will make since daughter #3 has been out of town for a bit and probably trying to play some catch up at work. We shall see.

There is only a bit left to show you but the big day is fast approaching so I will be back to finish it up soon. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Moving On

I can't believe how quickly the weekends go! I've had my "dog" company here since Friday and yesterday daughter #2 came down for a visit. I love it when she visits because it is so much fun catching up with her and it doesn't hurt that she always comes bearing gifts. Lol This time she brought me the cutest "blinged" out turkey and he found an immediate home on the shelf in the family room. I think next year when I have more time I might try to put together some kind of an arrangement where he is front and center...maybe a small dough bowl?

Then she brought me the largest bunch of flowers I have ever seen. I honestly couldn't fit them all into one vase-even my widest mouth one-so I made two and have one next to "my sitting place" in the family room...

...and the other in my bedroom so I have some "pretty" in each of my favorite relaxing spots.

And then she always makes a stop at the Fresh Market for me. We don't have one here. I have so many of their specialty deli things that I just love and this sweet girl loads me up on it all! I will be eating dinner thanks to her for a number of days to come.

Of course we had planned to watch grandson #1's football game but due to the squabble that YouTube was having with Disney, we couldn't get ESPN+ no matter which way we tried. Luckily for us, with family there, daughter #1 watching it in St. Pete and a radio broadcast we were able to pretty much keep current and everything was going well-although there was never enough point difference to give a feeling of total "we've got this"-but we were ahead-and then the final drive brought it all to s screeching STOP. King's Point was getting close to a goal but the Coast Guard held them a number of times until they got their first down with about 40 something seconds to go and scored in the last 5 seconds! What a bummer!!! It's probably a really good thing I hadn't gone to Boston because I was having enough of a heart attack just listening from Florida!

As I think I said in a previous post, a win is always nice but this experience will be something he will always remember and this grandson of mine usually gets over things pretty quickly. It was a great game but a heart breaker none-the-less.

All of the family and friends that were there cheering on the Bears!

And so that brings us to today and we will move into the dining room. Right now things are quiet but I am waiting to hear if this room will be hosting Thanksgiving or not this year. The plans are for daughter #3 to host the family this year UNLESS my grandson's-her son's-college football team goes farther into the playoffs-which they still might even after this loss I think?! In that case, she and her family will probably head up to Connecticut and I will be hosting the rest of the family. Luckily, my dining room table will open to accommodate and a very large number and then we also set up the tables in the sunroom so we will be good. 

I saw this table in a magazine many, many years ago. It came from Habersham Plantation and, since we didn't have a local dealer, my husband and I drove up to the actual flagship store and factory in the mountains of Georgia to check it out. It has three pieces. The middle piece has two wings so it becomes a large rectangle and then the two semi-circle end pieces make it even larger. Or, you can take the two ends and create a circular table and then just use the rectangle. Or, if it worked for you, you could butt a semi-circle up to a wall and have another sort of table. I have never regretted this purchase for a second-or the beautiful carved armoire and four poster bed that we ended up buying while there even though that is not what we went for-for even a second. Even if we did have to have the bedroom bay window removed to get the armoire inside. True story but I'll save that for another day! Lol This thing has worked for us for many years and I love it. Lots of food eaten, crafts made and games played at that table!

The shelves started out looking like this and then I found a watercolor turkey image that I couldn't resist and before I knew it I had it printed and Mod-Podged onto a canvas in no time. And then I started the walk around the house to figure out where in the world it could go...and honestly, why in the world did I make it. LOL

And so, the bottom shelf now looks like this.

As I have said before, I am drawn to watercolors and it does give the once very brown shelf a nice pop of color.

And, let's remember that this now looks like this...

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is just 11 days away and I'm still tweaking. Lol

It is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day out there so I am going to take the days out into the yard and let them run their little hearts out. Then, if I don't get myself caught up in a gardening, I will have a late lunch next to my twinkling tree and find a Christmas movie-either one I haven't seen or maybe a classic. I usually save my favorites until closer to the "real" day but we shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.