what weekends were made for

Monday morning again, my friends! Hope you all had a restorative weekend

so that you're ready to tackle whatever this week brings to you.

Brian had a rare weekend off work. We spent Saturday cleaning out the

garage and working in the yard. I dug up some rosemary and parsley and

planted them in pots and brought them into my kitchen. The parsley is already

looking sad and droopy. I also brought in my potted geraniums and a couple

of hanging plants. Between all those plus my usual 15 or so houseplants,

my house looks like a jungle.

We could've continued on with the home projects on Sunday ~ after all,

they never end, right? But we decided getting out of town would be more

fun, especially on a gorgeous autumn day. We decided on the town of

Geneva, which I've written about before. They have a quaint little downtown

area with some really neat shops and restaurants, and gorgeous houses.

While we were walking around, I saw this house and my heart stopped.

I just had to get a photo. Those columns. And dormers. And huge porch

off a second-story bedroom. Swoon.

Look at that roof with the x-beams underneath it. Gorgeous architectural details.

And while we were standing there gazing at this house, a little doggy ran out

of the open door on the second story and out onto the porch. I told Brian this

type of set-up would be perfect for our cats! They could be outdoors without any

risk of getting hurt. Dreaming...

Another beautiful building I found on our walk was this church - St. Marks.

I love the stone and the red door.

 

 I was looking forward to stopping into two of my favorite stores in Geneva:

Cocoon and Deja Vu Thrift Shop. I was disappointed to find that the thrift

store was closed on Sundays, so no bargain treasure hunting in store for

me yesterday, but I did find a pretty beaded bracelet at Cocoon. Oh man, I

love that store. It's one of those stores a woman could go crazy in - IF you

had a lot of money. 

I loved this side table: I am finding myself drawn to these metal barrel side tables

 lately. But not for $300! This one had a granite top.

While walking around, we stopped at an independent coffee/tea shop

for iced tea. I love the character and "artsyness" of most independent

coffee shops.  Check out this stairway. I love the bright yellow walls, the

stained glass window, and the huge, colorful paintings. I would love to

do something like this in my own, boring stairwell.

Ummm...yeah.

These potted coleus plants sat outside the coffee shop. I love how

the vibrant colors last long into the colder weather. I must remember

to get some of these next year. When I was 12 years old, I remember

wanting a coleus plant. I have no idea how I knew about them - I must've

seen one somewhere and asked my mom if I could have one. At that

age, I didn't even know that I liked plants - until I saw the coleus. So I 

ended up with one large coleus plant in my bedroom for quite awhile.

Thank you for the sweet comments about my grandpa. His funeral

is tomorrow in Kentucky. I never did get around to blogging about my

thrifted finds from last week's Goodwill jaunt with Penny. Hopefully, in 

the next post! For today, I must go tackle the housework and laundry,

plan the weekly dinner menu and make a shopping list, work on

a couple of decluttering projects, and then I have yoga class. 

Happy Monday!