de-pumpkining

 It hit me today that I was tired of looking at pumpkins inside my house.

Probably because when I was running some errands yesterday,

I saw a lot of Christmas decorations. I am nowhere near ready

to be putting up any Christmas decorations, believe me. And I

firmly believe in celebrating one holiday at a time - in the proper

order. So, Thanksgiving will be first in my house.

 I enjoyed the above china cabinet arrangement for six weeks, but

this morning the pumpkins were set outside for the squirrels and 

chipmunks. Besides, the weather is so dreary and the outside now

so depressing-looking with no foliage, so the pumpkins kind of cheer

things up out there.

Sniff...bye-bye patio furniture and grill. And mushy, yellow hostas.

I put more pumpkins in the little welcome basket on my front porch.

 I've had these two large pumpkins in front of the house the entire fall

 season ~ they will stay there until the Christmas decorations go up.

White pitchers and milk glass went back in the china cabinet.

I like the cleaner look for now and it's a nice change from pumpkins in the

go-between stage of late fall and Christmas.

I am off to run a couple more errands in the rain-snow mixture.

And then I have a fun painting class tonight at a wine shop!

Happy pumpkinless Monday, everyone.

Monday afternoon update: pumpkins do not look good covered in snow. :-(

 

 

mom's recipe box

Who remembers their mother's or grandmother's recipe box? These were metal

 - sometimes wooden - boxes that held handwritten or typed recipes on recipe

cards or index cards. Women also cut out recipes from the newspaper and

 stuck them in-between recipe cards. I had to explain to Tim (my 22-year old

son) what a recipe box was, as he'd never even seen one.

I asked my mom if she had a vintage recipe box and she said she

still had hers from when I was a kid. I was surprised she still had it.

 I was born in the early 60's, but this box looks to me like it's from the 70's.

The rust and food splotches attest to its age and how much it was used.

Look how cool this is inside ~ all these loved recipes nestled in the box.

It's just not the same to look at a Pinterest board these days, is it?

I had so much fun going through all these recipes and seeing what kinds

of foods were popular back in the 70's. It was also heartwarming to see

recipes from elderly family members and ladies from our church, some

who have passed away now.

Check out the typed (on a typewriter!) recipe card for Chop Suey - and how

the recipe calls for oleo. You're vintage like me if you remember what oleo is. ;-)

 

Remember my post at the end of October (see here) about my great-aunt, 

Sylvia? I found one of her recipes. Look at that beautiful handwriting.

And a recipe my mom wrote out...how cute is this recipe card?

I didn't want to keep the entire recipe box, so I kept a couple of recipes

and gathered a few others I had from Brian's mom. I wanted to do something

 with them in a creative way, but I wasn't sure exactly what. So I put a piece of 

cork board on the side of my kitchen cabinet and hung the recipes up there, along

 with a vintage cookbook cover. I like the idea, but it looks too boring.

I think I could add crisscross ribbon to the board and stick recipes under the 

ribbon. Any other ideas?

Happy weekend!

do-it-yourself simple art

 Folks, when I say simple, I mean simple. And when I say art...well, let's just say

that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But sometimes I get get in a creative

mood and just start playing around with supplies I have on-hand. 

For this first piece, I took a blank canvas and spray-painted it. Then I took

a stencil and used my mad sponge-painting skills. Then outlined most of

the circles with scrapbooking markers. Glued on a happy saying that I found

in my scrapbooking materials. As I said - simple. Even a little kid could

do this. It was fun playing around, no intention in mind.

This second piece of art was inspired by this idea I saw on Lisa Leonard's site.

A simple poster hung from a wooden hanger? And she's selling these?! No

offense to Lisa - in fact, I'm a huge fan of her jewelry - but take a beautiful

card you've gotten in the mail, a picture from a magazine, a scrapbook print,

a vintage photo, a small poster, a graphic print you found online - and you

have your own piece of art to hang from a wooden hanger. And if you don't

have a wooden hanger, well heck. Go out and buy one. They're cheap.

I've seen them in thrift stores and even IKEA sells them.

Now here's the funny part - these posters that she's selling? I have the

same prints, but in smaller form. They were from a calendar that I got for free

 when it was included in a jewelry purchase from Lisa's site last year.

I never used the calendar, but I kept the prints because I thought they

were cool. Since my prints are small, I was able to clip two of them

to a wooden hanger. Hmm, now that I'm looking at the wooden part of the

hanger, I could do some kind of simple embellishment on that wood.

For now, these two pieces of simple "art" are hung from the brackets of

Phil's memory shelf in my office/mom cave/personal space (what was formerly

 Phil's room). This room still isn't totally done, plus you know me and moving

things around. Eventually, I think I'd like to put three small black and white

prints underneath that shelf to balance things out.

 My niece's birthdays were this week. I was going to buy birthday cards,

but when I saw the prices of the ones I liked in the stores, I just couldn't buy 

them - $3.99 for a simple card? I can't justify spending $8 on two cards

that will barely get looked at and then thrown in the trash. So, again, the

paper crafting materials came out. I didn't get fancy with the cards either.

Kept it simple. But I liked how they turned out and it didn't cost me anything

since I used supplies that I already had.

Linking up to Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday. 

However, it's now Wednesday - so, happy Wednesday from cold,

gloomy, rainy Illinois!

monday morning chat

 Good Monday morning, my friends. I hope you all had a good weekend.

After three days of being out and about and socializing, I am so ready to

just stay at home today and nest. My day will be full - I have a lot to do

here at home today - but my heart will be full, as well. I love getting together

 with friends or family members, but with being an introvert, socializing tires

me out and I crave and need my alone time to recharge.

 On Friday, a friend came over for lunch - I made a delicious pureed butternut 

squash-pumpkin soup and she brought over salad fixings. Then we went

for a long walk (about 4-5 miles) in the State Park. It was a gloomy day,

but the colors were still wonderful.

 I can't believe how fast the leaves are falling from the trees now.

You know how I've showed you photos of that gorgeous red Maple

tree across the street from me? Totally bare already. Totally 

depressing. Let's not even talk about the time change and how it

now gets dark at 4:30.

 Saturday morning, I met with another friend for breakfast at Panera,

then got my hair cut. Instead of just the normal trim, she did the stacked

wedge cut in back. Since I have fine, wavy hair, I'm really liking all these

layers! The gray is really peeking back, but I always let it go as long as

possible since getting your hair colored (even at a "cheap" salon) is quite

expensive. And no, I can't do it myself. I am terrible with anything to do

with my hair - and she uses a couple of different colors in my hair - 

something I would have no idea how to do. But, it helps to speak up.

I told her why I wasn't getting my hair colored just yet. That I simply didn't

have the extra funds. She whispered to me that she would do it out of

her home for me for a very reasonable fee! 

Brian and I had a really nice date night on Saturday evening. We

went to see "Last Vegas" (matinee - so it was a reasonable price to see

a movie). We haven't seen a movie at the theater in at least a couple of

years. Just something we normally don't do. The movie was hilarious! Brian

is more of a quiet, serious person, so to see him laugh so much and so 

hard did my heart a lot of good. Afterwards, we had a bite to eat at a place

called Freddie's Roadhouse. It's one of those restaurants/bars with casual

ambiance - shiny, worn wooden floors, the higher wooden tables with

tall chairs, the place cozily lit, fireplace going, bar in the middle of the place

with an open food grill in back. Much later at night, the place would be

packed with young people drinking and socializing, but if you get there

early like we did, there's only a handful of people there and it's relatively

quiet. I guess this place makes their money on booze, because their food

is very reasonably priced. We shared a few appetizers and talked and 

laughed. It really did feel like a "date" with my husband of over 29 years!

I was up early and out again on Sunday morning. This time, meeting

two former coworker-friends at another coffee place. On the way home,

I noticed a sign in front of a nearby house announcing a moving sale

and that everything was 50% off. I wasn't going to stop - at first I figured

they wouldn't have anything left. But then something told me to turn around

and go back. Couldn't hurt to at least go look, right? I'm glad I did, as I not

only found a few treasures, but had some lovely conversation with the two

ladies that were running the sale. Turns out their elderly mother had lived

there. She was 92, had alzheimer's disease, and recently passed away.

I promised these ladies that the things I bought would be used, taken care

of, and cherished. Like this gorgeous lamp shade. Problem is - it doesn't

fit the lamp that I had intended it for! I will keep this in my basement until

I find a lamp at a resale shop - or I will see if my mom can use this.

Embroidered pillowcases that are currently in the wash. I will

iron them later.

A trio of vintage pictures...

A pair of valances...was hoping one would look good in my bathroom, but

it doesn't. I will see if any of my friends or family can use them. If not, they

 get donated. They were only 50 cents for the pair!

Small wicker chest being used on my buffet...

 Lastly, this beautiful vintage butterfly pin. (The gold car pin with the two

cats in it is from a vintage resale shop that Brian and I happened upon when

we were in St. Joseph, Michigan in September.) The ladies at the sale only

charged me $8.25 for all of these items. I was taken aback at how little

money they wanted for all these things...I asked her to repeat the price! I

gave her $10 and told her to keep the change. Am I too nice sometimes?

Perhaps. But I also believe that you get back what you give. What goes

around comes around. Nothing wrong with spreading a little kindness.

family gifts

 I went to visit my great-aunt yesterday. Aunt Sylvia - or "Sibo" - as we've always

affectionately called her - is now in her early 90's and has severe dementia.

Her son, my second cousin whom I've always been very close to and totally

adore, took care of his mom with no outside help up until about six weeks ago,

when he just couldn't do it anymore. Sibo is now in an assisted living facility

unlike any place I've ever seen before. Instead of your traditional nursing home

setting, this is a group of four ranch houses in a quiet neighborhood, where a

qualified husband and wife team lives in each one and takes care of the 

residents. Of course, there are medical staff that come by just about every day,

but for the elderly to be in a "real" home and have 24/7 care is so awesome.

My cousin is so happy and at peace with the care that is mother is receiving.

The last time I visited with Aunt Sibo was in August, so only two months ago.

I couldn't believe how much she's gone downhill since then. It was so sad

to see her totally incapacitated now. She slept most of the time and barely 

opened her eyes when we were there. She can't walk anymore and what little

speech she has is all garbled. Her petite frame is now just a bag of bones.

Other relatives from downstate whom I don't see very often, were there to

visit too, and at the end of our visit when the hospice chaplain prayed with

all of us, there were many tears. We were able to go out to lunch afterwards

and sat and talked for a couple of hours. Lots of hugs and gratefulness

for each other ended our visit. There is a lot of strife with other family members

over certain issues right now, and it's truly a shame. Life is just too short.

Anyway...my dear cousin was kind enough to give me some things that

belonged to my Aunt Sibo. He knows my tastes and what I like.

He was going through the china cabinet in his house and found these

beautiful napkins and dishtowels. Perfect colors for my kitchen!

 How gorgeous is this Fenton milk glass cake plate? Be still, my heart.

I could see this cake plate used for so many things, but for right now, it's

on the living room buffet. I think Aunt Sibo would be happy to know that

her things are with me and will be used with love and appreciated.

Do you have any family heirlooms from beloved relatives?

 

using natural elements in decor

Brian and I have been enjoying walks in the nearby State Park lately.

I'm trying to incorporate more exercise into my daily routine and the Park 

makes walking more pleasant and less of a chore. The views are amazing,

the woods are peaceful, and the fresh air feels so good. I come back home

feeling energized - physically and mentally. I dread the upcoming continuous

rainy days, and even worse, the severe cold and snow. I'll have to use

the treadmill (or, as I call it, the "dreadmill") in my basement. It's just not 

the same.

While climbing these stairs, I started noticing acorns amongst all the leaves.

I told Brian they'd make for some great decor, such as using them as a vase 

filler. So we started filling our pockets with acorns, acorn caps, and hickory

 nuts.  I hope it's not illegal to take these things from the ground  in the Park. 

I know you can't take plants, but I don't know about fallen acorns and nuts.

When we got home, I washed all the acorns and nuts and filled up

this vase and added a candle. Perfect for my small kitchen table.

Pine cones also make great fillers. I collected these pine cones years ago

from walks around the neighborhood.

I don't know what this beautiful, brushy thing is, but I found it on the ground

by the lake in my neighborhood. They were growing in great clumps amongst

all the cattails. I love the simplicity and beauty in just one of these.

 I even have some rocks in my decor. My friend found this heart-shaped

rock by my butterfly garden. I was so excited - my first heart-shaped rock!

I'm now on the lookout for more.

This little dish holds some of my favorite rocks ~ polished stones I've

had for many years and pretty rocks collected from various trips.

Even something as simple as adding a few polished stones to a tray

can add a touch of loveliness. The clear quartz pieces were given to me

by a friend.

How do you bring the outdoors into your living space? 

Linking up to Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Tuesday

and Not Just a Housewife Show Me What Ya Got

light and blessings

I love the way the soft October light fills the sky in my little neighborhood.

I also love seeing Tim's old Honda back in our driveway. My boy was home

for a weekend visit. Leaves and pumpkins are everywhere, and the sun nudges

its way through windows, casting dancing shadows on floors, walls, and cats.

Lots of cooking happened this weekend ~ home-cooked comfort food was much

appreciated by my hungry college student and M&M cookies were baked and

packed up to take back to school. My dishwasher, sink, and counters over-

floweth. Piles of blankets and pillows still need to be folded and put away and

the bathroom cleaned. This mama is grateful for it all.