A Working Weekend at Home

I feel so good about all the work we completed this weekend. Our biggest project was removing all the shutters and repainting them.

This took most of the day today as I had to put at least four thin coats of paint on each shutter.  We do this about every five years.  As soon as I finish this post, we will go out and rehang them.

On Saturday I showed DH how to make chicken pot pies. We had to clean  all the veggies, cook them to the al dente stage,  then cook the chicken breasts, cut everything into bite-sized pieces, make a roux, and do all the clean up.  We used puff pastry so we did not have to make pie crust.   We had two for dinner (very tasty!) and froze enough for three meals later this winter.  I don't think he will ever make them on his own...he thinks they require too much work! :)  Imagine what he would think if he had to make the pie crust, too!   He just took over the cooking duties in May--grilling season. He has done a great job of grilling  all summer, but he has no idea how much effort it takes to cook winter meals. 

I am feeling autumn in the air and decided to take this lantern

and turn it into a fall display.  This is what I ended up with Saturday morning:

It was a quick fun project and goes nicely on this table under my sailboat oil painting.

I also did something with this bird cage picture holder that I bought during one of my 5:00 am shopping sprees two weeks ago. When it was delivered Saturday afternoon, I wondered whatever possessed me to buy this--I really have no pictures that I want to put on it....I did not even know where I would hang it!  The picture is misleading as it only came with 4 clothes pins.

As it turned out, I did not even use the clothes pins. I will show you on another post what I ended up doing with it.

I hope you all had a wonderful late summer weekend!

Last Autumn Decorating Project

This collage features some of the items  I used to decorate the desk in my living room for the autumn season.

The items were arranged atop the desk which I covered in a gold tablecloth with a black fishnet fabric overlay:

I added a black/gold bow with a few fall leaves in the center.  I like the fishnet fabric look.

 

 

Then I brought out the big chalkboard I made last year to hang over the table. It  fits perfectly over this desk and it is fun to use during the holiday season. 

 

In November I will replace the jack-o-lanterns with  turkeys and this table will be ready for Thanksgiving.  Quick, easy, fun....I like that!

It's Blooming Tuesday and I Have Very Little to Show You

When this white phlox blooms, it means the end is near.

I do have one bloom on the Endless Summer oops! Forever and Ever hydrangea. I have three Endless Summers and so far (3 yrs) they  have all been duds.

I got two magazines yesterday. The covers of both scream of fall decorating and baking.

Wouldn't you love to welcome guests with this entrance?

Here is something more manageable -- replant a container with mums.  I never do that. I wonder why...a nice planting of mums would last until early November.  I really should replant the big garage urns with mums.....hmmmmmmmmmmmm....I will have to give that some serious thought.

I love this--simply gorgeous!

Don't forget to visit Jean, our Bloooming Tuesday hostess, to see what everyone else has today.

I Don't Know Where the Last Four Days Went

It seems like I just looked up and the week was ending!

I've done a bit of autumn decorating...




One night I made some tasty blueberry crumble bars.

My Mother-in-law gave me some phlox. I have tons of it, but it's hard to say no. She needed someone to come and dig it out for her (she's in her 80's). DH went and dug it for her and she feels good if she can give him something for his effort. So I will find a place to plant it this weekend. Maybe it will be some color I don't have.


Betty, left me this comment a few days ago:

....a sure sign that autumn is here is when Zoey brings out the quilting..smile
Word verification is 'under'(as in under the quilt??)

LOL, Betty, that was a good word verification because I have been under the quilts all week. I finally had to turn the heat on two nights ago. It was down to 59° inside. I had hoped to tough it out until mid October but when it got below 60°, I had to give in. I only turned the thermostat up to 62°...the quilts keep me toasty warm all night.

I am still not done with the leaf runner. I have only been working on it for 20 min. each morning before I leave for work. I haven't been in the mood to work on it at night. Hopefully, I will finish it this weekend.

Stay warm,

The Wreath is Finally Done

I recently did the heart wreath (that I mentioned on an earlier post) to hang beside the garage. The wreath has been hanging there empty all year. I keep thinking I need to do something with it, but until today I just did not get around to doing anything about it.

I decided I needed something under it so I went to the shed and hauled out my antique lawn mower. I have not had this out for a few years. I decided to use scarecrows to decorate the front of the house since it is almost September and I just love scarecrows.

Here is the full lawn mower with the wreath above.

I also did a milk can to set next to the front door.
As I was wondering the gardens earlier in the morning, I came across one lone tiger lily back against the rockwall and three Oriental lilies trying to stay alive in the dark shaded area. I dug them both up and moved them right next to one of the paths where I will see them every day.
I was very happy that when I dug them, I got the entire bulb!
It was a thrill as I often chop the plant off before I get to the bulb. Here's the three Orientals in their new home. The poor things are only about a foot tall (should be about 4 ft tall).

I love the orange tiger lily. It, too, is very small because of the growing conditions.
I think they will both like their new home much better.

Pumpkin Plates, Halloween M&M's and Folger's Labels

Earlier in October I was looking at these pumpkin plates at Wally's World. Though I really liked them, I am out of room for dishes, so I passed them up.

Sunday they were in the mark down aisle. You all know how I love that aisle! I brought them home right in the box. It will be great storage so they don't scratch (that great idea came from DH. I was planning to buy 6, but he suggested I buy 8 in case of breakage. So I listened to him........as I always do.

Now they are mine. I don't know where I will put them, but don't you think a piece of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving would look wonderful on these?


I didn't know that M&M's came in Halloween colors. Aren't these colors wonderful?
They were also marked down when DH was in the grocery store, so he bought a bag and I made cookies with them. Unfortunately all the nice color is hidden by the batter.




I have shown you how I like to use plastic Folger's cans to freeze soup, cookies, etc.

While browing the web early this morning I found that Folger's own site has templates for decorative labels for their cans.


Just click the Folger's can to go there. I guess if you were planning to fill some of the cans with cookies or other items to give out during the holiday season, it would be cute to have a nice label.

I Put some of that Baked Pumpkin to Good Use

As soon as I got home from work yesterday, I baked some pumpkin bread.

On a whim I decided to add sugar and cinnamon to the top before baking.

It baked into this rather nice crunchy, oh-so-cinnamony topping.

It is very moist and good. I used my own revised recipe, but eliminated the chocolate chips.

Speaking of pumpkins....

Isn't this cute? I usually see pumpkin topiaries put together with a metal pole shoved through the middle of all the pumpkins. This would be so much easier and the display would last longer since the gourds were not cut into. Of course, this wooden holder is very nicely made (i.e. $$$), but you could just nail a couple of old boards together to get the same effect. I think the boards would actually lend an air of rustic charm.

I have been working now and then on the pinwheels. This is how many I have completed (36).