Random things

 

Hello, dear friends.  How are you?  I just realized my last post was in August...how did this happen? ~ I guess time flies when we're having fun.  And here it is fall already.  Don't you just love all the warm autumn colors?  I bought a big orange pumpkin today for the front step and yellow and red mums for pots.  

We have had quite a lot going on lately.  September is a big birthday month for us and we celebrated our granddaughter's 2nd birthday with family at Galen's mother's house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  It's a good central meeting place for all of us since Amy and Bruno and the kids live in New York.  What a great time we had!

And our other granddaughter, Maddie, here in North Carolina, just turned 15 in September. It seems like only yesterday that she was just a toddler, and now, here she is getting her permit for driving!  

Also, in September, I had my  6-month follow-up appointment at UNC Cancer Center.  Everything is good!  A little osteoporosis setting in but that is treatable.  I feel great, and this will be two years cancer free!  I am thankful everyday for my health and that I can garden and do all the things I love to do.  

And speaking of the garden, I planted kale, broccoli and spinach for the winter months, and have harvested quite a few tomatoes and peppers.  I've been cleaning up the flower beds, too.

Just to let you know, I may not be posting on my blog as often as before, but I am still here and will check in occasionally.  

Enjoy this wonderful fall weather! 

'till next time, 

Beautiful leaves...

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

 ~Albert Camus

Laundry Day and Warm Blankets

Monday morning.....laundry day.  

While washing sheets this morning and making up the bed, I thought it was the perfect time to add an extra blanket.    

A warm blanket will feel so good on these Autumn nights when chilly breezes blow softly through the open windows.  

Enjoy your day and this beautiful Autumn weather!  

A walk with the wieners, a bird house and a book

There's a chill in the air today and it's a beautiful day for a walk.

The wieners were ready to go. I put on my hooded sweatshirt, gloves and scarf and out we went into the fresh brisk air. It's about 54 degrees here today (that's cold for me) but later in the week it should be back up into the 60's (looking forward to that ~ I'm not a cold weather person, as you probably know).

The leaves are not as vibrant this year as they were in years past ~ slow to change color and they seem to be dropping fast, but I did get a few photos of some pretty Autumn color. Otis and Riley enjoyed running and playing and sniffing everything possible at the park.

And since the weather has turned cold I've turned to painting and reading. I'm working on a bird house that I purchased at AC Moore. I like their variety of bird houses and they're very inexpensive. If you put several coats of paint on and a clear coat varnish, you can use them outside.

This one on my art table is still in the works and will get a bit more embellishment. I'm going to make a bird house wall on the back of the house where I will hang several colorful bird houses all clustered together.

The book I'm reading is another one of Barbara Taylor Bradford's books, The Triumph of Katie Byrne, and it's so good I can't put it down!

Well, I hope you're enjoying your day today,

whatever it is you're doing!

Autumn decorating

I like to use natural elements for my autumn decorating.....

...some orange and cinnamon spice potpourri, a bouquet of golden wheat, some apples in a basket,

and dried hydrandeas from the garden.

This should take me from Halloween into the Thanksgiving holiday.

Oh yes, and a spicy pumpkin candle!

Hello Autumn

After the rain let up and the sun came out today, my chrysanthemums were so bright, they shone like the sun itself.

They sure do light up that corner of the garden!

Feeling the weather

Hello everyone! Today was the first day the sun has shone in several days. Where oh where has the sun gone?? The weather has been rainy and gray for so long I thought I'd never see it shine again, so this afternoon when the sun finally peeped it's head out, I took my cup of coffee and headed for the garden to see what's been happening. It is still very humid and warm, but the bright sun is a wonderful sight.



The garden is so green and lush. This beautiful little butterfly was sipping nectar from my purple verbena.

The Encore azaleas were putting forth pretty pink blooms. I love how they bloom twice ~ in the spring and again in the fall.

And the buds on the chrysanthemums are ready to pop. I will be enjoying these mounds of bright yellow flowers real soon.

Friday is the beginning of fall, September 23rd, the autumn equinox, marking the end of summer, and here in the south this is the best time of year to garden. Time to plant those cool weather annuals and fall vegetables, put bulbs in the ground, and add shrubs and trees.

Looking forward to beautiful days ahead, cooler weather and sunshine.

Autumn

"Listen! the wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,

we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves."
~Humbert Wolfe

Time to get out those blankets and throws. I like to keep a few on the back porch to cozy up and keep warm on these chilly October evenings.

Hope you're enjoying this beautiful autumn weather!

Donna

It's officially autumn.....

....but you'd never be able to tell it here in my neck of the woods. Today it will be 96 degrees, hot and humid.

Last evening I went outside to see the harvest moon around 10:00 pm. It was a beautiful moon and so bright and light at that time of night.

This morning Otis and Riley and I enjoyed the back porch for awhile before the hot sun set in.

I'm still decorating with the American Beautyberries. They're like flowers to me! I've added them with some pine cones in an old red tin pot I have hanging on the back picket fence.

I've also added a rustic branch type wreath to the kitchen window and added some nandina berries and an orange pumpkin.

That's about as much fall as we've got going here.

I'm so looking forward to some cooler weather now that it's officially autumn!

Enjoy your day!

Donna

Autumn colors

I've added a little bit of autumn color to my dining room ~

I changed out white candles for some pumpkin colored ones.

I love the warm feel it brings to the room.

(this is my $1.00 candelabra that I bought at a yard sale).

~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note.......

I just finished painting another pear tray.

I sold three already!

Each serving tray is handmade and hand painted,

made out of wood, and has metal handles,

and you can buy it now in my whimsytwo shop!

Enjoy,

Donna

A painting

Autumn ~ a watercolor

I remember (a long time ago) when I was in elementary school in the fall of the year, our art teacher had us all paint a colorful autumn tree ~ a tree with any color leaf you could think of, she said, in bright beautiful colors, and have fun. I will never forgot that class. It was fun and I loved all the different trees that everyone painted. We then got to hang them on the windows in our classroom.


I don't know where my painted tree ever got to, but every fall I think about that painting class with all those beautiful colored trees, and the warm memories of that day.


Today I painted an autumn tree.

Autumn

falling leaves

hide the path

so quietly

~John Bailey

Autumn

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

~Albert Camus

Fall Leaves Painting

This was a view from our sunroom window when we first moved south to North Carolina. There was a wooded area across the road from where we lived. The leaves were so vivid that fall.

So out came my paints as I tried to capture the beauty.

And now this painting hangs in our home, many years later, and is a reminder of that time and place.

When you become reluctant to change, remind yourself of the beauty of autumn.