decorating my front porch for halloween

With Halloween being right around the corner, I wanted to decorate my front porch in a simple way for the trick-or-treaters who come to our door. I didn't want anything elaborate or gory. Neither is my style.

(Disclaimer: As a member of the Wayfair Homemaker program, I have been compensated for this post. All ideas and opinions are completely my own.)

I gathered various pumpkins and a hay bale from the local farm stand for the basics and was wondering what I could incorporate for a fun, simple Halloween touch. Wayfair has all sorts of outdoor Halloween decor to choose from ~ anything from spooky to cute. When I saw these metal spooky cat pumpkin holders, I knew they were just what I was looking for.

I think these kitty pumpkin holders are the perfect touch for Halloween; decor that both children and adults enjoy.

These pumpkin holders couldn't be easier to use either: simply place the pumpkin into the round "body" and then stick the metal head and tail right into the pumpkin.

You could even use these cats indoors. The smaller one is the purrfect size for a side table or buffet.

 The best thing about these kitties is that their eyes light up! There's little switches on the back of the heads that make the eyes glow green from the LED lights.

These kitties will look extra cool ~ and a little spooky ~ on Halloween as it's getting dark and kids approach our house. I think they'll love it!

May your Halloween be filled with lots of treats ~ no tricks! 

here come the holidays

It's been a lovely, long weekend around here. My mom hosted Thanksgiving dinner and this year it was us, my sister and her family, our cousin, Greg, and my mom's neighbor-friend who otherwise would've been alone that day.

Brian and Greg had the honors of carving the turkey and ham.

I tried to get a selfie with Tim, but he wouldn't have any of that. Instead, I got a photo of lots of hair. ;-)

As always, we were blessed with an abundance of delicious food. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stuffing, and veggies (I made a corn casserole, green beans with gremolata, and roasted carrots and parsnips with honey and fresh thyme. They got a little burned when rewarming them in my mom's oven, but no one seemed to mind). Mom also made a layered Greek dip as an appetizer and two homemade pies ~ french silk chocolate and pumpkin.

It was a low-key few hours of good conversation and laughter ~ what family and friends are all about.

 No Black Friday shopping for us the next day. We chose to browse a few little antique shops about 20 minutes north of us. Low-key, no crowds, no mass merchandise. My kind of shopping. (Besides online shopping.)

See the set of four wooden Santas towards the front bottom right of the table? They are vintage wooden bells ~ and they came home with me. 

The only other thing I bought was a 9 ft long vintage garland made of red and green wooden beads.

We tried going to the lighting of the Woodstock Square last night. This is where the movie, Groundhog Day was filmed. It's a beautiful, small town in our County, just 1/2 hour from our house. Little did we know this once-small, neighborhood event has now turned into a commercialized frenzy of thousands of people due to social media. We looked for a parking space for about 25 minutes, driving blocks away, to no avail. There were throngs of people walking everywhere and crossing streets in the dark...it was just nuts. We gave up and went home.

(Google images)

We ended up watching several episodes of The Kominsky Method on Netflix last night. We loved it! Great acting with Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin, with a lot of laugh out loud moments. Can't wait to watch more tonight. Too bad there's only eight episodes.

We are due for a whopper of a storm tomorrow. Depending on how it tracks, we could get as much as 8-14" of wet, heavy snow ~ what they call "heart attack snow". And winds will be whipping at 45 mph. They are saying with the wet, heavy snow being on power lines and the high winds, a lot of people could lose power. The contractors that are working on building our new front porch/little deck are supposed to be back on Monday to finish up. They said before they even started the project that they work in the snow, so we'll see. Sneak peek...porch demolition.

Obviously, we're staying home tomorrow. We didn't have any plans, anyway. I think it will be a good day to dig out the Christmas decor and start decorating, though it will be minimal. I swear, it seems like I just packed all this stuff up and put it away. Doesn't it seem like Christmas comes quicker every year as you get older?

Here we go...

thank you ~ and a frenzy of activity

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you who left heartfelt comments on my last post about the passing of my beloved cat, Zippo. I cried reading them but yet felt the love. I know a lot of you can relate. Our hearts are slowly healing, but we all still miss Zippo terribly and it's painful to look at his photos. I know this will get better as time passes. Heck, we've certainly been through a lot worse with the passing of Phil - our son/Tim's brother nine years ago. Actually, there is no comparison of the pain and loss in that regard.

But, the passing of a beloved pet - which is indeed a family member - hurts. A lot. And now that it's been a week since Zippo's passing, we are now able to realize how sick he truly was before he passed away. It breaks my heart to realize how much he must've been suffering. The thing with cats is, they don't show when they're in pain. They're very good at hiding it.

Two days before Zippo passed away, Tim moved out of our house into his own apartment. I had taken a spur-of-the moment shot into Tim's room as he was packing things up and I didn't notice until I looked at the photo later, that Zippo was sleeping on his bed. Tim had spread out a towel because Zippo's nose was bleeding. See how Zippo's head is hung? He was doing that a few days before he died. He couldn't fully relax enough to curl up into a ball or even put his head down to sleep. I wonder if it was because he was in pain? I know I'll never have answers to these questions, but they're just ones that have gone through my mind.

It was a crazy 48 hours with moving Tim into his apartment. It started late Friday night with him getting home from work and packing more stuff up and wanting help doing last minute things, to Saturday - moving day - helping pack up the U-Haul and our cars and carrying load after load of stuff up three flights of stairs - 34 to be exact - to Sunday when we went shopping at Wal-Mart to buy a ton of needed stuff for his new place.

We hadn't seen his new apartment until moving in day, and we were pleasantly surprised. There's a nice galley kitchen...

 and a large open living and dining space, with a small balcony and storage room off the dining area.

 The vaulted ceilings and open concept looking into the kitchen make the apartment look and feel more spacious.

 Tim also has a huge bedroom, his own bathroom (same with his roommate, who has the same on the other end of the apartment) and a big walk-in closet that I'm envious of! He's only two miles down the road from us, so it's nice still having him nearby.

My mom had asked if Tim was going to hang any of photographs around his apartment and I tried to explain to her that Tim was a single guy moving into a bachelor pad with his friend. Neither one of them are exactly into decor. This was the extent of their current decor the night they moved in. Ha!

How are you all doing with Thanksgiving prep? I went to two grocery stores today and was surprised to find that both of them weren't as crowded as I feared. And the one thing I love about holiday time is that most people in public are in good moods. The shoppers and checkout people were extra-friendly and all wishing each other a Happy Thanksgiving. In one of the stores, the man in front of me let me go ahead of him since I only had a few items. I paid the kindness forward by giving extra in the Salvation Army bucket on the way out of the store.

I am going to a Friendsgiving celebration tomorrow night and bringing a corn casserole and these pumpkin bars. Thursday, we will gather at my mom's house and I'm making another corn casserole, green beans with orange-almond gremolata, roasted carrots and parsnips with honey and fresh thyme, and a pan of brownies. 

I also made a big pot of soup today and will be making a pot of chili tomorrow. Not only are they for our lunches and dinners up until Thanksgiving, but some of each will be packaged up and delivered to a friend who's mostly housebound right now, as her husband is on hospice care at home.

What else...oh yes, of course the contractors we are dealing with have both decided that this week is the perfect time to work on our house! This afternoon, the roofers were here (yes, that project is still ongoing...they have been quite incompetent) fixing some last-minute stuff that they didn't get right the first time and tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM, the deck builders are going to be here to start ripping out our front porch/deck.

One of my blessings in life is the many friends I've made through this blog. Thank you for your kindness, support, words of wisdom and love over the years. 

Happy Thanksgiving from my house to yours. 💗

i'm dreaming of a new porch

After countless days of non-stop rain and cooler-than-normal temps, we're back to sunshine and 80 degrees today. To me, that is absolutely perfect weather. It's just for today, so I'm enjoying it as much as possible. We're back into the 90's this weekend.

I needed some more plants, so yesterday I was sloshing through the wet, muddy garden center and picked out this Boston fern for the front porch. I was carrying my plants to the car and a woman who was parked next to me commented how lovely the fern was. I replied, "Now if I only had one of those white houses with the long front, covered porch, where I could hang ferns all the way across!" She said, "Oh, yes! And a ceiling fan, too! And wicker furniture, of course." 

Side note: I came home with this new basket of flowers, too. They're replacing the basket of now-wilted pansies that were hanging here. I love the hot pink for summer.

Back to the porch. Here's the reality of the porch where the fern plant will be hanging. Our little front porch area is the original to the house, which is 30 years old. It not only looks terrible due to age and wear, but the steps from the sidewalk to the deck and the step up to the cement stoop are way too high. Everyone over the age of 50 that comes to our house complains about it. You'll notice our sidewalk is also leaning into the ground. 

To make the porch even worse-looking, Brian had to install a barrier last year to keep out the groundhogs that were burying underneath our deck. We were warned by the wildlife removal man that groundhogs dig deep tunnels and they could start digging under the foundation of our house. Don't worry about the groundhogs - they are wildlife protected here in Illinois. They are safely removed and relocated to a rural farm and woods at the far end of our county. 

Funny thing is about the barrier, there was nothing we could do in front of the sidewalk. So guess where more groundhogs started entering? I had a feeling that was going to happen.

Previously, the groundhogs had entered under the deck from the side.

We've had our contractor out for ideas and estimates. The problem is we want to do something to keep wildlife out from under the deck. The contractor wanted to put in a concrete slab where the little deck area is now, to make a small patio area. I have nixed that idea: with the concrete stoop up against the front door, plus having a cement patio on the side of our house, I don't want any more cement! I am now thinking of having a new deck made of composite wood and a step going all the way across in front. As for the side of the deck, I wonder if it's possible for them to put in some kind of solid wall using the composite wood material?

In the meantime, we're still working with the roofers and insurance company from the storm damage done to our roof a few weeks ago. That comes first. The new porch will be staying in my dreams for a little bit longer.

autumn in the garden and kitchen

 Perhaps the title of this post should've been wacky weather. It's supposed to get

up to 85 degrees today and boy, is it humid! I have mostly hardwood floors throughout

the house and my bare feet were sticking to the floors and I just felt "icky". So the

A/C just went back on for today. We still need to make a trip up to the garden shop

to get some grasses and hopefully bee balm to plant before the weather gets

colder. We also need to move the Russian Sage plant, and do some other outside

stuff such as caulking and some trim touch-up.

This is as far as I've gotten on fall decorating for my front porch - a little pot

of mums. I'm heading up to the grocery store this afternoon and hoping to

get a couple of fresh pumpkins for the porch.

Funny how some summer plants are still in full bloom, such as the geraniums.

I have a couple of small pots of red geraniums and they're still blooming, too.

This pot on my patio had daisies and sweet potato vines. The daisies have stopped

blooming, but there's some kind of weird vine taking over the patio! It's not the sweet

potato vine, so I'm wondering what it is. It looks like it's coming from the daisies.

The Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan are sadly drying up for the season...

The cooler weather (except for today) calls for some hearty comfort food,

don't you agree? Last night I made beans and cornbread. The beans were

dry Great Northern beans that I soaked overnight and put in the Crockpot the

next morning with chopped onion, uncured organic ham, pepper, parsley,

and a bay leaf. I then covered it with veggie broth and slow-cooked for 8 hours.

Gotta have a pan of cornbread to soak up all that delicious bean broth!

This is one of my go-to recipes for cornbread though I only use 1/8 cup of sugar

instead of the 1/4 cup that the recipe calls for. I always cut down on white sugar

in recipes and have never noticed a difference in taste. We don't need all that sugar!

Happy Thursday, everyone.

a walk around my yard

Welcome, sunshine. I have missed you so. 

Clouds and rain have their place, but not for days on end.

It felt so good to putter and work around my yard again today,

 so I thought I'd take you on a little tour.

 Walking up to my front porch, there's a table full of spider plants

basking in the sunshine.

 A vintage pot of purple and yellow pansies by the front door

greets you with its cheer.

 But, watch out for Mama Robin! She always has her eye on you

while you're lingering on the porch.

 This is the south side of the house. The paved walkway leads to the patio.

There's still work to be done here. I'd like to paint the bench that's by

the fence and we need to put the patio rug on the patio. We're waiting

until all this rain is done though. When the rug gets soaked, even though

it's an outdoor one, it stays wet for a long time. There's too much

shade on this side of the house with all the trees hanging overhead.

Walking around to the back yard, you will see I started lining the little garden

in the middle of the yard with large, round rocks. I dug those out of our

front ditch area this morning. There's a few more to dig out, but I think I'm

going to fall short. I will have to hunt for roadside rocks on my walks.

The dirt patch to the right is what used to be our fire pit. Brian needs to get

rid of the cinder blocks (they won't go in the garbage, of course...we'll either find

some kind of unique way to use them {little planters?} or put them by the roadside

with a "free" sign.) The barrel you see is our composting barrel. Which we love, BTW.

We don't have to buy any dirt or potting soil. This thing makes the most beautiful

dirt you've ever seen. My plants thrive in this stuff.

 Against the back of the house is an herb garden that is constantly threatened

to be overtaken by the mint and the lemon balm. That's lavender at the back left,

with rosemary and parsley in front.

We planted some lettuces against the back area of the house too,

but it doesn't look so great. Lettuces like cooler weather and I think we

planted these too late - near the end of April.

Walking around to the north side of my house, you will find what I fondly call

"the plant from hell", AKA a comfrey plant, and a pot of tomatoes. The comfrey

plant was just a tiny cutting from my mom's yard last year. She had warned me

that it grows huge and pretty much takes over everything else. Moms are

always right.

One of my favorite flowers is begonias. They remind me of little roses. This

abundant basket hangs by the side door that leads into the kitchen.

 And then we have this row of flowering bushes that desperately need

trimming right now. Brian does that job with a power hedge trimmer.

 Well, I hope you enjoyed my yard tour. Thank you for taking the time

to share this beautiful day with me. We are grilling pork tenderloin for dinner

and I made a homemade BBQ mole sauce to go on it. We'll also have asparagus

with a buttery balsamic vinegar glaze and macaroni salad.

Linking up to Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesdays