My day...

Sunday night I got a call from my brother. Seems he found "the" table set that he's been searching for all his life, in my neck of the woods. Nevermind that he lives almost 1000 miles from me...


(this is the best pic I have)

I can see how it would be hard to resist. It isn't really my style, unless, of course, I had the whole 50s kitchen thing goin' on, but cute nonetheless. The 80+-year-old couple who owned the table set had it since it was new. I called yesterday morning and it was still available so I made arrangements to pick it up early today. Aaron had also sent a link from the same seller for some quilts. I asked about them when we were finished loading up and the owner of the table said the seller was working with her things on consignment so the quilts didn't belong to her. However, she wanted to show me one she did have(but not for sale!). Her mother-in-law made this one probably back in the 50s or so. The hexagons are in between the size of a nickel and a quarter, in other words, TINY! It is just gorgeous! It came to her unfinished so she and her sister sewed a few stitches and hand-quilted it. I was positively drooling and politely asked if I could take a few pictures of it. She obliged...

(click to enlarge)








Oh, and an emu runs the woods behind their property...

Welcome November...

I think November is one of my favorite months. Here in northeast Texas we really don't have fall until now. There are hints of it in late October, a yellowing of the deep greens, but November is when the trees truly put on a show. Our oak tree is still in the yellowing stage but will look like this in a week or so.



"Behold congenial Autumn comes,
the Sabbath of the Year."
- John Logan, 1748 - 1788



"I am rich today with autumn's gold,
All that my covetous hands can hold;
Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod,
A goldfinch on a milkweed pod,
Huge golden pumpkins in the field
With heaps of corn from a bounteous yield,
Golden apples heavy on the trees
Rivaling those of Hesperides,
Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread
Over all like butter on warm bread;
And the harvest moon will this night unfold
The streams running full of molten gold.
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!"
- Gladys Harp



"There is a harmony
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley



"There ought to be gardens for all months in the year,
in which, severally, things of beauty may be then in season."
- Sir Francis Bacon



"There is rhythm in the woods, and in the fields,
Nature yields:
And the harvest voices crying,
Blend with Autumn zephyrs sighing;
Tone and color, frost and fire,
Wings the nocturne Nature plays upon her lyre."
- William Stanley Braithwaite, Lyric of Autumn



"Pleasures lie thickest where no pleasures seem:
There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground
But holds some joy of silence or of sound,
Some spirits begotten of a summer dream."
- Laman Blanchard

front yard this morning...

We are having a lazy day today. I'm hosting our milk co-op this month so we have a cooler full of milk in the front yard. It was so nice this morning that I dragged out the camera and let a few kitties out. Here's what came of it.













In other news...

Ryan is having a Halloween party Saturday night. We aren't sure how many to expect. His pool party was attended by 40 kids!!

Check this out, its GRUESOME but looks delicious too!! This would be FUN for his party but we're going with pizza since they are teens. Much easier!

The Suds...

but first, a blast from the past! Halloween 2004...



If you know Spongebob you know about the suds. It is his version of being sick. I'm pretty sure I caught Ryan's version of the suds when he COUGHED ON ME a few days ago. Sigh. How rude. So, there's that. And there's this:

My completely made up outta my butt string beanie!! Amy's is blue and Sarah got a mulberry one. Mine is a 70s avocado gold-green.


And there is also this:

I planted something and it is still living! Yay me!!


In other news...

Ryan is having a Halloween party this Saturday night. We have no idea how many kids will be here. His pool party had 40. I'm hoping for somewhat less, like maybe half of that.

Amy is working at a Trunk or Treat thing Wednesday night, she'll be handing out candy and she's also suffering from the suds.

I'm going to rest as much as I can before these events. Wish us luck!!

pumpkin carving...

We went old school as far as our tools were concerned. Instead of fancy-schmancy cutting kits we used steak knives and a spoon to carve our beautiful white pumpkins. It was really fun and I think they turned out great!!















Our neighbor down the street has also caught the spirit. I LOVE her decorations!

Howdy from the Yamboree...

There were cows...




At one point the girls and I found ourselves in a sea of them...





Other critters...









Pretty colors...(I bought pickled carrots)




(these are done by grade schoolers, decorated yams of course)

Music...



Refreshments...







And rides...






(the girls and I did this one)

Now its time to take a cue from the grand champion swine and get some shut eye...



In other news...

Mark finished his Half-Marathon in 2 hours 18 seconds!! 145th of 295 runners! Not bad at all!!!

Carpetless...

And loving it!! There are small pieces from 3 closets left but the rest is gone, gone, gone! Mark took up the tack boards in the living room but they're still down in the hallway, our bedroom and the girls' room. We are still not sure if we want paint or stain. There are some major dark chocolate stains in the living room, probably from woodwork my dad did when building the house. If it doesn't come up we'll just have to prime over and paint. We are also trying to decide if we want to take up the linoleum in the kitchen/dining/utility rooms and entry hall. It makes more sense to do it all at once but it is a lot of work! It would be nice to have this all done by Thanksgiving but I'm not holding my breath. With Mark working an hour away our evenings are kinda short, weekends are pretty busy too. Furniture will have to be moved out, the entire area will need swept, mopped, vacuumed, and the concrete will need prepped with chemicals. I'll try and get pictures from each step and post our mishaps as well.


In other news...

My brother has been learning to kayak over the past few months and has bought a camera to film his adventures. Here's part of his latest trek.



It is raining like crazy here, expecting up to 2 inches, more in some areas. I'll be willing to bet we've already had our 2 inches here! I can't recall a wetter autumn that didn't include a hurricane or two. Our front yard is a lake and was yesterday too!

I'm working on a new crochet project, another afghan! Just plain half-double stitches but in gorgeous fallish colors from I Love This Yarn put out by Hobby Lobby. Pix later. I'm also working on basting a quilt so I can get started hand quilting it in November.