shopping, chopping, basting, baking-it’s that time of year!

 

It’s prep time at our home. 

Busy shopping and chopping;

basting and baking and on and on it goes.

  

Just in case you can’t read this it’s worth repeating.

“May we eat bread with JOY and drink wine with a MERRY Heart.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Sharing with Tabletop Tuesday at my dear friend, Marty’s place.

~flowers in the fall~

 

Days and nights are getting cooler here in the Mid-South,

but that doesn’t mean you can’t still play in the dirt.

  Don’t be fooled by the dainty look of these tiny little blooms. 

Pansies are very hardy and love the cool weather.

Through the years, we tried planting just about everything around our patio,

but the ground was so hard and shallow, nothing would flourish. 

So, Cigar Man and I decided to build a border around the patio

and fill in with a foot or so of good rich dirt. 

We decided on these rock pavers we picked up at a local “rock” store

(for lack of a better word).  HA!

The temp got down to 29 degrees the other night and these little guys are still standing!

I’m looking forward to holding a cup of warm tea in my cold hands

and gazing out my window at these cheery pansies all the cold winter long.

Sharing with Before and After and Outdoor Wednesday.

sunday eve ~ an autumn blessing

 

Wishing my blog friends an

autumn weekend

full of

beauty, bliss,

and blessings!

{sunday eve…a harvest moon}

Late yesterday afternoon, I started out for a walk,

camera in hand and a photography project in mind,

when I saw THIS and my direction changed instantly.

 What wonders God has blessed us with if we only stop to look.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands”

Psalm 19:1

sharing with Spiritual Sunday.

{Change…}

Thanks to Razmataz’s Red Challenge for the inspiration of my post!

Looking up into the maple tree, I’m struck by these two leaves, side by side.

One green ~ hanging on to summer hues.

One red ~ proud to have changed to autumn’s splendor.

Both beautiful in their own way.

People are like leaves.

Which are you? 

Hanging on to yesterday’s hues or…

 Reaching for tomorrow’s changes?

 “The summer fades and passes and October comes.

We’ll smell smoke then,

and feel an unexpected sharpness,

a thrill of nervousness,

swift elation,

a sense of sadness and departure.”

~Thomas Wolfe

{front porches in autumn}

On such a crisp sunny day in Tennessee…

 

what better way to spend your time

than go for a walk

through the autumn leaves?

Want you come and join us?

It’s our version of…

“trick or treat”.

You see, children “trick or treat” by gathering candy.

Those of us that blog, “trick or treat” by gathering

“eye candy”!

We have the most beautiful historic homes in our little town.

Let’s see how they decorate their porches for Fall.

Don’t you love the red door?!

  Isn’t this a sweet little cottage in the backyard of a larger home?

Now they have the Halloween spirit!

Love this door too and the wreath hung below the window.

That window is way too beautiful to hide!

hmmm… don’t know if the shoes fit,

but the porch sure does! 

Love to sit here a while and watch life pass by.

Notice the oval window around the door. 

How unique!

Do you have a favorite?

Sunday Eve

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...

It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

C. S. Lewis

Sharing with Spiritual Sunday.

view from my window

This was the view from my bathroom window last autumn. Cigar Man planted this Crabapple tree a few years ago when the house was new and yard was sterile. I didn’t think much about it then. Just another tree. Cigar Man is ALWAYS planting trees. But as it’s grown and changes from season to season, it’s become my favorite…

in the Spring,

Summer,

Autumn,

and Winter too.

It gives me pleasure from my window.

By the way, you can find some beautiful scenery,

photography and who knows what all at

Mary’s Mosaic Monday.

Sunday Eve

Sharing this post with others at Spiritual Sunday and Mosaic Monday.

Thanksgiving Preparations and an IDEA

Have you began your Thanksgiving preparations yet?

I pulled a few of mine together to share with you on Mosaic Monday, Made it Monday, and DIY DAY.

First on my preparation list -

It's always a sweet reunion when I pull out Mr. and Mrs. S&P Pilgrim from a long year's storage. Many of you may have this same couple. Remember the Publix commercial? Didn't you love it? Always brings back fond memories for me. Here's another prep I did and you may want to do the same. I made name tags for my guests and attached them to the stem of their drinking glasses. If your guests are staying the day, they will need a drinking glass for longer than the Thanksgiving meal, while watching football or the parade for instance.

This idea not only allows them to recognize their own glass throughout the day and keeps you from having a load of dirty glasses, but it adds decor to your table and could dual as your place cards too.

I made these out of cardstock and used leaf punches and embellishments to jazz em up. Tied them to the glass with raffia. Quick and Easy!

Next, on my preparation list was to make this Pumpkin Praline Pecan Pie-Cake to take to a pre-Thanksgiving get-together. It is so delicious and a great dish to take and feed a crowd. I know this will be one of your favorites so check with me tomorrow and I'll share the recipe with you.

Until then, here's my wish for you.

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Bountiful Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving's all about bounty, right?

So I made my Thanksgiving Day centerpiece bountiful

with pumpkins, nuts, leaves, and dried hydrangeas from the yard. Bordered by a rustic bird and birdhouse on one end...

and a bird draped with garland on the other.
Nestled in their feathers are miniature white pumpkins and dried hydrangeas.

Tablesettings are Gourmet Expressions in Great Room Cream resting in rattan chargers. Each salad plate varies in shape just enough to make it unique.

Silverware was my mother's.

Sandwiched between the plates are ivory napkins. A brown satin ribbon secured by a salad fork and placecard top it off.

The placecard is a leaf cut out of scrapbook paper and bordered with brown cardstock. Guest names are stenciled on the leaf. A different nut glued on each placecard represent the nuts from our family tree. :)

Stemmed glasses hold brown berried garland.

On the buffet, a menu, golden pumpkin, and a turkey make a pleasing trio.

A simple menu made from cardstock and printed off the computer.


Did you know Benjamin Franklin proposed making the turkey the United States official bird, stating that the turkey is a far more intelligent and noble fowl than the eagle?


I ask you, if he'd gotten his way, would we be eating eagle for Thanksgiving?? ;)


I'm contributing to Tablescape Thursday at Susan's place.