Sooooo!

 So, I've been sitting here thinking and revisiting yesterday's post. Of course, all of that autumn goodness is sitting  here right next to me so it isn't hard to envision. I am chomping at the bit to get my hands on my autumn decor. I'm thinking if I could do this, I could begin to make some changes and tweaks and that makes me excited. It's funny how my brain is skipping right over my next decor which I term "late" summer and it consists of sunflowers and my Mediterranean decor with some citrus thrown in. And, even funnier, is the fact that if I had any inclination to change that up a bit, I actually COULD easily get to it as I can quickly put my hands on all of the sunflower stuff as well as the yellow and citrus colored candles. The Mediterranean jugs and urns are all in the garage but they wouldn't be what I would be tweaking if I had the notion.

As my decor stash has grown over the years...and my children have moved out...I do have a lot of storage space. I have three guest rooms with fairly large closets. All of them also have chests or armoires that hold a lot. As I have evolved in my decor, I try hard every year to make the storage of said decor easier to find the following year. I have pretty much ended my habit of having to write myself notes where certain things are and have found dedicated spaces for those things. That doesn't mean that it can all be stored together. That depends on the size of the stash but, since we all know that summer is not my favorite, the summer decor-at least the sunflower part of it-can easily find room together. This room affords me a closet-which is loaded with decor from many other holidays, a pie safe that holds cookbooks, dishtowels and lots of colored Mason jars, a dresser that holds mostly scrapbooks, cards, letters, etc. and the armoire.

That armoire is one we bought at Naked Furniture in Tampa back when we were just opening my husband's CPA practice. That is where we got most of the furniture for the six rooms we had to fill. While he was busy with the business end of things, I was busy finishing the furniture. Lol When he retired, we brought some of our favorite pieces home to enjoy and this cutie is a workhorse...she holds a LOT!

She is kind of like the blanket chest in the living room that holds WAY more Christmas stuff than you would ever think possible!

Every bit of my sunflower stuff is in there as well as the large boxes full of stuff from other holidays!

And, if I needed them, the candles take up just a small part of the bottom shelf of a cabinet in another guest room.

And, I just realized something else. Even though I was in HL yesterday-and I'm sure it was full of sunflowers-I never made note of any of it. What is happening?! The heat must be getting to me. LOL I seem to be wishing my life away and completely forgetting that it is only July 1 and I truly have the rest of the summer to get through before I can start thinking of fall. Calgon, take me away.

I am sure everyone is planning grandiose celebrations for the coming holiday but mine will be a little more low key. I currently have daughter #2 and family in Chicago, daughter #1 and granddaughter #4 heading to Rome on the 4th and daughter #3 and family off to Crystal River for the weekend so it will just be my brother, sister-in-law and me here in Ocala...and, of course, Benny will still be here. I got spoiled after so many years of watching fireworks while floating in Kris' pool down in Gulfport so the idea of loading up and heading off into the crowds to find a spot for viewing-not to mention the heat and the mosquitoes-just doesn't appeal to me anymore. In one evening, we could see displays from St. Pete, St. Pete Beach, Gulfport, Largo, Indian Rocks Beach, and any of the other places along the coast that set them off that night. We were SPOILED! If we decide that we want to head out, we can always head to daughter #3's front porch and watch a number of displays from there but.... I'm guessing that when I got to this age, if I'm not seeing these things through "young" eyes, I've probably seen enough fireworks to last a lifetime. Honestly, once you've seen the fireworks at Gator Growl, not much else can compare-not even Disney.

I couldn't resist a few images from over the years.

I'm thinking we will still try to keep our food within the 4th guidelines but we shall see. You never know what will happen around here and, as you know, anything can-and often does-change at any time. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.