Orange

Isn't orange a great color? Especially in the fall.

It's the color of leaves, and pumpkins, and chrysanthemums. It's also a color I use in decorating my home this time of year.

I re-hung my orange vintage drapes in the bedroom....

put the black crow with the orange heart and sunflower on the kitchen window,

displayed an orange painting and a paperweight on the bookshelf,

put a few pillows on the sofa with warm orange and red colors,

and speaking of warm, a few throws,

and last but not least, some yummy orange slice candy in the candy dish.

How's that for some orange.

Bring some orange into your home this time of year. It will make it feel warm and cozy.

Cotton fields and whirligigs

Every year about this time you can drive the countryside here in the south and see beautiful white puffs of cotton.



As far as you can see, it's white like snow.

We had family visiting us from Pennsylvania (Galen's cousin and wife), so we took a drive in the country to see the cotton.

Of course, it's very common down here for out-of-towners to stop along the road and snip a cotton boll or two and take it with them. Just a couple of snips.

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We continued along, meandering the back roads until we came to the Vollis Simpson's "wHiRliGigs" ~ an attraction you must see if you're in Wilson County. Vollis is our local folkartist. His works are displayed locally and also at The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, and inner harbor.

We were fortunate that day to find him working in his shop.

He showed us his new piece and some other things he's been working on.

He left us go in the back part of the building to look at all of his other works.

Truly amazing!

And outside are these huge pieces.

He has more than 30 works erected on his property.

And would you believe they all come out of this small shop of his (below) nestled in the tall Carolina pines.

It was a beautiful fall day. The perfect day to do a bit of site seeing in the country.

Autumn

falling leaves

hide the path

so quietly

~John Bailey

Easels

Little wooden easels that Galen made in his shop ~ and I painted them all different colors.

Perfect for displaying little works of art.

Find them on my etsy shop.

Autumn

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

~Albert Camus

Company has come and gone...

and what a great time we had!

Our Pennsylvania relatives arrived by train on Wednesday afternoon.

Here is "Ms. Railrose" at the Wilson Train Station. She's a mosaic statue made by a local artist. (she waited with me......or, I waited with her)

While our family was here, we visited the NC Life and Science Museum in Durham and discovered what a fantastic place it was (we've never been there before).

This is the Butterfly House.

Butterflies everywhere...flying all around you. Loved it!

There were also trails, a petting zoo, a cafe and a train ride. The museum itself was fabulous. We spent the whole day there.

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Another trip we took was to see the Tryon Palace in Historic New Bern, NC, about 2 hours from our house, along the coast.

We took the tour of the palace.

It was beautiful inside,

and out.

We stopped for ice cream at the Cow Cafe in downtown New Bern. Fun!

We enjoyed our time together...laughing, talking, catching up on news, eating out, taking walks, sight seeing and just having a great time while they were here.

And we are missing them already!

Where is she?

Otis and Riley are wondering....


Well, I've been busy getting ready for company. You know, all the stuff that has to be done ~ cleaning, cooking, baking, laundry, mowing.......



They sit patiently




waiting, and wondering why they're not getting any attention.

Where is she?

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I'll be taking a bit of a break from blogging 'till after company leaves.




Right now my two little pupper dogs are waiting for me.

I'll be back.

Summer's end

Summer will soon be over for another year, and I find myself trying to squeeze every last bit of the sunshine into my day.

The mornings are cooler now.

The flowers have faded and turned to seed.

Now is the time we clean up our gardens and get them ready for winter.

It's hard to let go.

Let's enjoy it for a while longer.

Summer's end.