Goodbye August!

I am so ready for Fall! I started my Fall decorating now that my house is freshly paintd and I'm so happy to take out all my boxes. Halloween will get added in at the end of September. 

Doing a little at a time and just enjoying it! 

Bath & Body Works has amazing Fall candles. I bought a few and they smell heavenly. The three wick big ones!

Visited Hobby Lobby and brought home a friend! Isnt he so cute?  And none of my other scarecrows have a face like his. Hobby Lobby has all Fall items for 50% off! 

Started cleaning out the flower and vegetable gardens that are finished. Sad to see my hanging pots that are done blooming go out for trash, but I still have several going strong. We should be getting our mums and pumpkins within the next two weeks. I picked a huge zucchini the other day. I mean this zucchini was the size of my arm! I didn't see it growing under the big leaves in the position it was in. I kept missing it! What a surprise! I made a zucchini parmigiana out of it! Actually I made two!

In preparation for hurricane season, we had all our trees and hedges trimmed! Over the last ten years we've had very active hurricane and storm seasons and its been a worry with some of the trees on my property.  Another item off our to do list. 

Are you doing any new crafts for Fall? I'm looking for something new to stitch. My eyes can't do counted cross stitch anymore. I couldn't finish my last one. Not sure if I want to stitch or do another afghan. I'm just in such a nesting mood. I always make crumb cakes and coffee cakes cause we enjoy them after dinner with our evening coffee and I usually make them from scratch. Well, last week I didn't have time so I bought the Krusteaz brand of Cinnamon Swirl coffee cake mix.  It was so good! Everyone loved it. I bouught a few more boxes of it to keep in the house in case I get company last minute for coffee. So good! Try it! 

I'm excited that I will be a great aunt for the third time shortly! A new baby is arriving in a few days! I love having the little ones around again. I'm  making up some Halloween gift bags for them. 

Enjoy your day! Time for me to make dinner!

 Vacation & House Work!

Our family just returned from a beautiful vacation in Williamsburg, VA and Virginia Beach! 

We spent the week at Busch Gardens (3 days) and at a beautiful hotel on the beach in Virginia Beach (3 days). 

We packed alot into that week! Busch Gardens was wonderful! We had very little wait for the rides. We enjoyed the different countries they showcased. I especially was happy to see the show Celtic Fyre! I'm a huge Irish stepdance/Riverdance fan. So that was awesome! 

Went to Cracker Barrel where I bought the sunflower fountain below! 

We ate at amazing restaurants for Seafood! Catch 31 was great, a Beatles themed pub called Abbey Road but I'm a simple girl and my favorite was a breakfast place in Williamsburgh called Colonial Pancake! It reminded me of a place we loved to eat breakfast in when we visit Salem called Tammany Hall. Its been closed for many years but it was our favorite. 

A great family trip. We brought my son's girlfriend with us too. that is them below. Up above is my daughter Caitlin with Viera in the pool.

Before we left, we had started some work in our home. We had the the first floor repainted, new area rug and some new furniture for our family room. I had a pod to store everything and that made it easier for the painters. Now that I'm home, the work continues, and I will post photos once everything is done. Here's a sneak peek at one of my new pieces!

Saturday I got to Hobby Lobby just as the doors were opening. I'm completely over Summer!!! Bring on Autumn PLEASE! I bought a few things and will definitely be back but I wanted to wait to see what I have and what I need. Truth is I actually need nothing but we all know thats not gonna happen and I will be buying! 

I'm just excited for the new season! Its been great refreshing my house and although I originally dreaded loading up the pod, I needed to pack up everything in order to motivate me for the redo!And it surely did.  I'm glad it'll be done just in time for me to decorate for Fall. 

Have a great day!

Catching Up!

 Wow! Summer is just speeding by! It seems like I was just shopping for 4th of July. My flowers have done really well this year too. The ones you see along the front walkway are just exploding with color. I always have mixed emotions when I have to remove them in the Fall when we replace them with ornamental cabbages. My vegetable garden has also produced quite a bit. I don't know how I got lucky! 

Yesterday, I cleaned up my craft room in anticipation of Fall crafts. I need a clean workspace or I get distracted so while we have painters working on the first floor, I thought it would be a good time to do that task. I just finished this morning. I realize I am guilty of alot of" works in progress." Next year I need to make that one of my New Year's resolutions to finish what I start!

My husband built a grilling area for his smoker and our new bbq but we can't seem to get the countertop concrete yet It's been backordered for months but we still can use it.That was his Summer project. It worked out so well on the 4th of July as I could put all the food on the counter and everyone could serve themselves. He made grat storage behind it as well. 

I'm starting to see Fall decor in the stores. Makes my heart happy! My favorite time of year.  I love Fall recipes and have been looking through the internet but then I realized that I still love cookbooks and my old Taste of Home magazines and pulled all them out.There's some good stuff in them   The days before the internet! 

Some more flower pictures In September, we will dig up the bulbs of our cannas and elephant ears to save for next year. When we come back from our vacation, I will be pretty busy. the only thing I don't do that i wish I did was can. I don't have a garden thats big enough to produce enough to can  I did make stewed tomatoes in jars though. i add them to soups and when I make pot roast. It adds alot of flavor and texture to the gravy. I have done freezer jams too but I didn't this year. 

I hope you have a great day! Drop a comment if you like;   And if you blog as well!

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