Lost and Found...

I can`t believe how long it`s been since I`ve written on this little ol` blog!

I guess I can blame it on all of the writing I have done to finish up my stories for Holiday. I honestly didn't have any more words to share. I am proud of what I have accomplished and have learned so much. Because we are a small team, we have all pitched in to copy edit, proof-read, voice our opinions on backgrounds for the front-of-book stuff, and more. I think I have frozen shoulder after all of that typing but it was for a worthy (and beautiful) cause. I cannot wait until you all see the magazine! And if you haven`t ordered a copy, be sure to head here to reserve yours!

Still, I missed chronicling the goings-on in my life and am itching to get going on some decorating projects of my own. Strangely enough, I am thinking ahead to Christmas and how I want to decorate, gifts I`d like to make, and my annual crafting session with my mum and Sophie (handmade snow globes are on the agenda). You would think I would be sick of even thinking about Christmas, but strangely, the opposite occurred!

Tonight I made beef stew and crusty French bread for dinner, and that - combined with the nip in the air - made me feel like I have my groove back. No more humid heat (I hope), I can look through my cookbooks and experiment with new recipes (my goal is to add three new dishes to our dinner repertoire), and I plan to root through my rubbermaids and bring up some fall decor.  Because even though I have been transported to Christmas land via my work, it is not Christmas. And fall is here and meant to be enjoyed.

We Canadians celebrate our Thanksgiving this Sunday and I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for.

The most important "things" in my life will be sitting around our table, and I am happy to be able to fill their bellies and make them happy. We will head to a nearby ski hill and ride the ski lift, admiring the fall colors. At the top, we will hike back down - an outing that I have been wanting to go on for years. Our Thanksgiving is much simpler and uneventful than those of you who celebrate the American Thanksgiving in November. We eat, we visit, and some of us take a jaunt to a pumpkin field to buy a few for Halloween. There is no Black Friday, no shopping, and no trees set up and decorated as soon as the dishes are cleared.

And for me, stepping away from Christmas and back into fall sounds just about perfect.

All Fall Down...

It's here and I'm ready.

Ready for hearty stews, pumpkin patches, warm sweaters, lighting my fireplace, doing a craft or two with my girlie (seasonal, of course), the odd piece of flannel nightwear, and fall T.V.

Exciting life I lead, isn't it?

What I'm not so keen on is closing up my pool (a dreaded task), seeing the frost claim my flowers, finding room in my just-tidied garage for all the outdoor furniture, flu season, and winter (said like it is a dirty word).

Still, doesn't the image above just make you want to bring it on?? Let's hope it is as solid and upright a season as that stack of pumpkins. No dirty tricks like early snow or swiny flus.

 Pure and simple is always the best way...

(photo source: Country Living)

Appealing to my Senses

Who doesn't love a long weekend?

I know I certainly do. For me, Labour Day weekend is a time to take a quick breather after the return to school and the return to order and routine. This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have my parents make the three and a half hour trek to come visit us. After only a quick visit with them at my brother's wedding, it was so nice to get some parental loving. Being a real mama's girl, having my mum all to myself for almost three days is scrumptious. Cups of tea take on new meaning when I am chattering away  to with my mum...catching up on my familys comings and goings. She always brings a loaf of hearty bread from her local bakery and this time she even brought the most delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie (which took all of my maturity to share). We always joke that she bakes and bakes before she comes - which, if you know her, is really not her style at all. Mum believes in finding a good bakery and staying true.

Every time my parents visit, Mum and I also make sure to fit in a trip to our local thrifting/antiquing spots and play a good game of Scrabble. My dad is more worthy an opponent, with my mum not getting the whole Scrabble strategy approach at all. I like to think words games are all I need to flex the muscles in my brain, and they kindly indulge me.

Our antiquing jaunt proved very fruitful and found me gleaning some fun "smalls" from this corner of my favourite shop:

I am on the quest for a fun token of appreciation to present to Ki when I see her, and I found a few things I can rework Junk Revolution style. Hopefully I can come up with something worthy of the Junk Queen herself!

Mum found an adorable vintage child's tea set and a few other treasures and we capped off the day with a family feast of Chinese food, a favourite treat to share with our guests.

To round out a perfect weekend, we marvelled at the change in the air: we could actually feel the teasing winds of fall. With the air fresher and cleaner, we packed light sweaters in the car and enjoyed warm sun mingled with the familiar nip that makes me begin to yearn for pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and the return of Sunday dinners. In fact, a ham dinner was placed in the oven after my parents headed home. I had forgotten how much fall appeals to all of the senses and reminds me of the worthy traditions that accompany it.

What about you? Are you feeling the fall fever?

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood...

Yesterday was a great day. A simple day, but one that was filled with the things that fill you up inside and make you count your blessings, whatever they may be.

Things like:

• Taking a brisk, long walk with a good friend...chatting, laughing, breathing in the now crisp, autumn air. I love exercising outdoors...can't be beat!
• Rescuing my cat from the roof...all by myself!! Let me tell you, it involved danger!!

• Washing slipcovers, and hanging them on the line. Finally, some good clothes-drying weather is here, and the wrinkles just dance themselves out!

• Strawberries and yogourt for lunch. Perfect, sweet/tart berries and the creamiest yogourt money can buy...yum!

• Found: a new "fall-ish" flag, and some decorations unearthed. Waited for my girlie to come home to help me. I laughed at her delight!

• My husband - returned from a short work trip. Back to tea on the porch swing, papa bear's chair filled again, and that perfect someone to plant my newly cold toes on at night.

• This for dinner: new, baby potatoes, fresh beans (finally) cooked just right, mushrooms and onions, and grilled pork chops on the BBQ. I love potatoes the way every full-blooded Irish girl should...so does my daughter...good girl!

• Fresh-baked bread, from my bread machine to the oven. My boys think I "rock" for making this. I know the way to a boy's heart...

• Kids all tucked in, the perfect bowl of popcorn to share, a generous glass of my favourite/cheap bubbly, and this show:

The perfect setting to let the heckling begin!!

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Oh, I almost forgot! Look what Amy at One Day at a Time made for me. She was so excited about winning one of the prizes from my recent give-away, that she figured I needed a coronation or something! Looks like Matthew Mead isn't the only one sporting a crown...!!

Thanks Amy!!

So long Summer...

** Because I am busy seeing my children off on their first day of school, I am offering up a "repeat" post from Fall 2007. This week has been about clothes shopping, haircuts, packing schoolbags, and (for my daughter) having fashion shows, to decide on her first day of school outfit! Decisions, decisions...

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I know Fall doesn't officially start until September 21st...but really, once the kids are in school, I consider it to be autumn. Our summer seemed over before it began, due in part to the pathetic weather we had and the fact that time seems to fly the older my children get. That said, I am ready to get back into a routine, get my house back, and enbrace the wonderful holidays coming up in the next few months. However, to truly signal the end of summer, a proper good-bye needs to be said. Here goes...

Good-bye flip-flops...goodbye dirty feet.

Good-bye nightly dinners on the barbeque...hello baked pies and turkeys roasting in the oven.

Good-bye beach trips...hello hiking trails and parks.

Good-bye lawn mowing...hello raking leaves.

Good-bye swimming...hello long, brisk walks.

Good-bye bathing suits...hello cozy sweaters and that favourite pair of jeans...

Good-bye roasted marshmallows...hello candy apples...

Good-bye shells, sand and driftwood...hello leaves, acorns and pinecones.

Good-bye vacation snapshots...hello school portraits.

Good-bye barefeet...hello warm socks and slippers.

Good-bye cool showers...hello bubble baths.

Good-bye air conditioners...hello crackling fireplaces.

Good-bye house full of kids...hello house all to yourself (if you're lucky).

Good-bye humid heat...hello crisp, fresh air.

Good-bye fresh-picked strawberries...hello crunchy, juicy apples.

Good-bye bug bites...hello dry skin.

Good-bye sunscreen...hello moisturizer.

Good-bye long days outside...hello early bedtimes!!

Good-bye watering flowers...hello fall decorating.

Good-bye picnics...hello slow-cooking.

Good-bye lazy days of summer...hello cozy nights spent just being a family.

Good-bye camping, beach combing and summer festivals...hello scrapbooking, reading good books, and Christmas shopping!

Although this may seem like I'm forgetting the negatives of the changing season like higher heating bills, devoting my days to shuttling my kids to their after-school activities, cold rainy days and making lunches...I am just highlighting the positives...no sense clinging to the past!!

Summer will be back...!

Photo sources (top to bottom):

Pottery Barn.com

Room Service Home.com

Pottery Barn.com

Decorative Country Living.com

Canadian Home and Country.com

Falling for fall...

During our trip to Prince Edward Island, I rediscovered my love affair with fall. I wasn't exactly prepared for it, but it came rushing back to me via visions of pumpkins, hay bales and corn stalks. Thrown into the sea of fall inspiration, was the veritable bounty of fresh harvest vegetables - acorn and papaya squash; beets; baby, new potatoes; zucchinis and all things green and delicious. The art of display seems to be a perfected talent amongst the farm stand proprietors we came across on our journey. At each stand, we found something new and tasty to pile into our car, and by the last stop, we were fishing for change in our pockets to buy as much as we could of the fresh vegetables there for the "picking".

I love white pumpkins. No, I mean I really love white pumpkins!! But, they are becoming exceedingly difficult to lay my hands on in our small town. I did manage to pick some up at the local grocery giant last year, but they were small, misshapen, and not as white as I would like. So, when I ran across some at one of the farm stands this past weekend, I bought all of them...for a dollar a piece!! The farm stand owner laughed at my excitement and offered to go pick some more for me, but common sense prevailed, and I happily set off with my perfect, white beauties!

What do you love about the fall? Is it the crisp, cooler weather, or is it the fall colours seen everywhere from the trees, pumpkins, and gourds, to the warm hues in the home decor shops that usher in feelings of coziness, comfort, and nesting? For me, it is the feeling of coming together that fall evokes from me. Gatherings for Thanksgiving, pumpkin carving parties for Halloween, and scrumptious, hearty meals cooked on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's all good, and as it should be. Fall simply means that feelings of warmth come from within, instead of from the summer sun. Either way, it is hard not to love fall, and all its bounty...

***Tell me what you love best about fall...***

Losing the wood, blue pumpkins, and "scary" crows...

Well, I have been continuing my home improvement frenzy. Fall cleaning, touching up (or completing in some cases) paint jobs, and decorating for Thanksgiving have all added up to a busy two weeks, albeit a very satisfying period. I love to spruce things up, wash my windows (well, I don't actually love doing that...) and declutter drawers and cupboards. Soon, I will be able to pack up all the summer clothes, and pull out the cozy sweaters, blankets and flannel sheets. While I don't love winter and all that comes with it, I do like the coziness of it...the Sunday dinners, lighting my fireplace and sitting there staring at it until I doze off and wake at 2 a.m. (wondering where am I and why is the t.v. still blaring??), even the odd flannel nightie (aka "granny gown"...I know, I know, but sooo cozy!!).
Speaking of fireplaces, I redecorated my mantel for Fall. Not Hallowe'en, but Fall (Hallowe'en comes a bit later). Goodbye seashells and sand dollars and hello candles, crows and blue pumpkin. Yep, blue pumpkin!! I know it sounds crazy, but when I plunked the real (orange) McCoy down on the mantel, it just didn't quite fit with the rest of my decor. Now, I'm not one of those decorating-obsessed mothers who forgets that holidays are really for the little ones, honestly. I have plenty of traditional pumpkins and such for Halloween; but, I like to mix things up, and rarely keep things the same from year to year, decoratively speaking. I love to try a new twist on things, while still respecting the tradition of the holiday. In fact, every Christmas, I alter my "theme" to include a new collection, but more on that later in the season...

So, I stared at that poor pumpkin and decided to spray paint it blue, and while I was at it, why not add a bit of white glitter to it? Why not indeed?? You may think I'm crazy, but I like it!! In fact, it makes me smile every time I enter the room. Isn't that what seasonal decorating is all about? Oh, and it was just screaming out to have a crow adorn it. A big, squawking crow! I also added the little orange pumpkin perched atop the pedestal...both the pumpkin and pedestal I got at the Dollar Store a few years back. They were very generic, so I glittered them up this weekend and I think they look rather fine. The silver dollars I got at the flea market, placed them in a vase, and used Dollar Store orange beads to hide the stems. I like the result...a nice change from the typical mantel arrangement. I like the unexpected...and I search for new ways to introduce it into my home. Let me know what you think!

I thought I'd show you my completed dining table. It was brought to my attention that I never showed a picture of its completed state. I wrote about the table before (if you recall, My Dreaded Project), and although it is not the table and chairs of my dreams, it will likely be with me for awhile and it is greatly improved from its "ugly colour wood" previous state. I also am showing the new Pottery Barn runner my friend, Krissy (a transplanted Bostonian) picked up for me this past weekend. I adore crows (the silent type) and I had to have this beauty when I spotted it in my new catalogue (thanks Chris!!). The runner is cotton and the crows are "velvet" and it is creepy enough to be a great Halloween addition to the room. I am like the Americans after their Thanksgiving, with one exception: while you all (or y'all) are dragging out the Christmas decorations, I am hauling out the witches and ghosts and gearing up for the spookiest time of year. I can't (insert cackling witch laughter) wait!!