The Last Of The Summer Roses

 Our nights have been dipping down into the 30's lately so I thought I'd clip the last of my summer roses.  We've had beautifully mild days since September and the roses kept blooming.

I simply popped them into a half pint canning jar. They have such beauty, and their frangrance, especially the dark Munstead Woods, is delightful.

I'm enjoying them on the table next to 'my' chair.  I hope they last and last!

My Closet Needs Some Attention

 Yesterday, I spent some time switching my clothes around in my closet.  I have a fairly big closet and not a huge wardrobe, so I am able to keep all my clothes in the closet, and then things like undergarments, tshirts, leggings and pants are in my dresser.

I also have a lot of storage items in my closet, and if I found a different place for them I could fit even my dresser back into my closet where it had been for several years.

it is not set up like this anymore

It is currently in front of a window next to my bed and serves as a night stand with a lamp, and a diffuser on it. So I would need to have a table of some sort or a night stand in its place.  I'd love to put a chair by this window.

I'm going to keep my eye out on FB marketplace.

I've started to store sheets in the guest room closet and I think I can move other storage onto the shelves in there as well, and free up some space in my closet.

I also need to sort through my shoes, go through Tim's clothes and shoes. I have lots of time on my hands and I need a good project to keep my mind and hands busy.

Once I get it down I'll be sure to show you!

Have you made the switch in your seasonal clothing yet?

Weekend

 We had a really great weekend.  On Saturday we took my parents out for our traditional fall foliage day trip. 

It was beautiful! We have a week or so before we are at peak here in our area, but I believe its going to be a wonderful year for color.

On Sunday, we had a quiet afternoon. As evening came on we went out for a campfire and we roasted marshmallows and hotdogs.

I'm grateful for the changing of the seasons. Grateful that in the fallen world, there is still beauty to be found.  

How was your weekend?

Friday Five And Some Thoughts

 Many years ago now, Tim and I got rid of cable for watching TV.  We found that the only thing we were watching was the news and it was negative and telling a narrative, and so we decided that with the internet we could read news, hear it on the radio, etc.  We found we got a much broader perspective on events happening here in the US and around the world. (our local npr station used to play the BBC world service news late at night and I'd listen to that, too, when I used to have to pick Rachel up after closing at CFA)

Last night, Tim and I tuned in to a live stream of NBC online so we could watch the town hall meeting.  From the way the people were presenting the differing news stories, you could tell there was an agenda, and its an agenda of fear. Everything from the number of positive coronavirus tests (not deaths, just positive tests), you'd think that everyone who gets the virus is going to die.  They've made people afraid to even get the virus.

Same with the unemployment numbers, except they forgot to mention that our unemployment is where we were at the end of the second term of O's administration.  They exact same numbers, and we've currently had so many out of work because of extreme lockdowns. (I live in one of these states) 

They didn't mention any of that.  To me that's an encouraging sign that our strong economy before the virus is coming back!  They should have been telling that story, but they weren't.  

They didn't because they hate the president.  We were not surprised at Savannah Guthrie debating the president last night rather than being their to facilitate voters asking questions only.  The positive thing was it gave the president a chance to speak to these issues.  Oh, and guess what?  She is married to the man who was Al Gore's traveling Chief of Staff during the the 2000 presidential election.

I've been concerned for years about human trafficking.  I haven't mentioned it here but this isn't the place I talk about those issues.  Child sex trafficking is a real problem, and getting scarier all the time.  I'm deeply troubled by Huntr Bdens laptop and the photos that purport to show s*x with minors. The former VP wasn't asked about this issue at all last night at his townhall and social media owners are shutting everyone down, including a major newspaper and the press secretary for the president, who mentions it.  They are working to not allow you access to this information. 

 They are hiding and protecting politicians they support, and tearing into those they don't support.  That's why so many people think or thought the president was involved in things that turned out to be actually done by the other party.

My heart is so troubled by how close we are to losing our freedom of speech, right to dissent, etc.  I'm okay with people who have different political views. Its their right, and I support it!  I'm not okay with media telling only the narrative they want you to have.

That's all I'm going to say for now.  

Now to my five - 

1. Kyle is so much help to me. He is one great young man.

2. Our hard work paid off, and looked great until the chickens came back to scratch away!

3. My bed looked cozy the other morning, so I snapped a photo.

4. I've been knitting and finished this cowl.  It may be a gift or I might keep it.

5. My battery operated candles.  I use the remote to set a time and they come on at 6:00pm and go off at midnight.

I got my first set of 9 as a gift from Rachel last year for Christmas.  They were purchased from Amazon.  I bought another set with a birthday gift card, because I love them so much!  The link to the exact set I bought is wrong because it shows a birch bark candle set, but this link {here} will take you to a set that looks exactly like what I purchased.  

I don't use scented candles in my home, only essential oil diffusers, but I love the coziness of candles and these battery ones give me all the cozy feels.

I hope you have a good weekend.  I'm praying for our country, and I know you all are too!  Thankful for each one of you.

disclosure - If you order through my amazon link, I will receive a small credit.  It doesn't affect your price in anyway.

Help For The New Blogger Photo Issue

 We've all had to adjust to the updates made to blogger.  I was surprised during the process at how the changes later changed, and one of those changes had to do with photos.

Many of you likely have figured this out but I thought I'd share what I've learned.

At first, there was an obvious icon to click and have a drop down to adjust the size of your photo.  Then that seemed to go away and all I could figure out (and some of you mentioned it also) was to try to drag and click the borders of the photo to adjust it.

Not so good or easy.  I've seen very distorted photos out there in blogland.

Here is a quick photo tutorial - 

Here I have loaded a photo, but it's smaller than I like to use on my blog.

So I click on the photo and there are options under the photo.  

Click on the icon in the middle. When I scroll over it, it says 'image size.'

It will then give you the options for the  size of your photo. I always use extra large.

And Viola! Your photo size is now the size you want without dragging those borders around!

I hope this helps you!  

I also wanted to say that the tea in the photo was a gift from my son and daughter in law for my birthday.  Tim and I had some last night and its a nice citrusy flavor.  The tin is delightful!

Weekend Happenings

 Well, I'd love to show you my cleaned up garden, my chickens in the garden, my granddaughter blowing out her candles on her birthday.  However, when I send photos from my phone to my email accounts, it is now taking until the afternoon for them to show up.  In the past they would show up almost right away.  I've been dealing with this for two hours now and I am DONE. 

So, I'll leave you with a video of one of the joys of having a teenage son.  Tim loves it!

This and That

 As our election is quickly approaching, the crazy is getting crazier.  

I'm praying for us all friends.  Our nation is fragile and we need to get back to the founding principles, stick to the constitution, and love our neighbors.

We've had amazing weather so far in autumn and while tomorrow is supposed to be nearly 80 degrees, its fleeting.  Our trees are beginning to change, and I am hopeful that this year will be a good one for color!

I'm forever grateful for this home and property that we have.  It was definitely a God thing in finding it.  We've owned our home for 19 years now, and still find joy in hearing kids at play, the chickens clucking (even if they do scratch up my cottage garden), the birds singing in the trees.  Kids have played in the creek, ridden horses, played with dogs.  They've learned to shoot BB guns, bow and arrow, and at the gun club have learned firearms safety, and target practice.  Our oldest son hunts every year.  We had big veg gardens here for many years and now I usually just do a tomato or two in a pot, and this year I added strawberries again.

We have a big birthday weekend ahead.  One granddaughter will be four tomorrow, and one will be four on Sunday!  They came less than 24 hours apart but they each got their own birth date!  

Here they are not long before their first birthdays!  The girls shirts are from Old Navy (3 years ago) and say "Loved By My Grandma."

We are grateful for our kids and for our grandkids! What a blessing they all are!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  

Autumn Delights

 I just love this wreath with Bittersweet.  I love using natural items in my decor, and there is something I find delightful about gathering in harvested items this time of year.  We don't have any bittersweet on our property, so I enjoy looking at photos online.

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This recipe looks like a winner!  Three ingredients and if I use my homemade caramel sauce (takes 5 minutes to make) it would be on my eating plan.  This would be a great appetizer or snack.

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I think this puzzle I found on Amazon would be so fun to put together!  

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One of my favorite autumn poems.  

Autumn Fires

In the other gardens

and all up the vale

From the autumn bonfires

See the smoke trail.

Pleasant summer over

And all the summer flowers

The red fire blazes

The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons

Something bright in all

Flowers in the summer

Fires in the fall!

by Robert Louis Stevenson

A few photos of my tea for one last year.  I need to invite a friend or two this year.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Disclaimer: As always if you buy through my Amazon link, I get a little bit of commission and it adds nothing to your cost!

Treasure In Earthen Vessel

 

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Sunday evening we were inviting to a campfire supper at the home of friends' from church.  It's an old farmhouse that they've been restoring for about 15 years, while living in it.  (When they first bought it, it didn't have running water, electricity, or a heat source)

On the property are some out buildings and in one is the husbands' wood shop.  I knew he did wood working of some sort but I didn't know what what kind of wood working.

Near the end of the evening my friend took us ladies into the house.  I love old farmhouses and this one is special.  It's not all up to date, her kitchen is a real old fashioned working kitchen. (she does not have a dishwasher)  Some of the furniture are found items, her fabulous sofa was a curbside find, in wonderful condition and in the style they love.

She also has these exquisite antique wood pieces, hutches in the dining room, a cabinet on cabinet in the living room and a grandfather clock, a half secretary.  They are gorgeous.

Partway through our conversation, I found out that her husband MADE the 'antiques!'  They are stunning reproductions.  He does this in in unassuming shop in one of the outbuildings on their acre of land.

I was floored, and then thrilled.  Isn't that just like God?  Here is an unassuming man, quiet, kind, down to earth and he was given an incredible gift.

I've been pondering 2 Corinthians 4:7 that says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

We tend to think that the earthen vessels are of small value. They are the daily use kinds of things.  Yet God places the treasure of himself inside of  us, and his power is shown forth.

What a great reminder to me in these days about how God's ways are higher than mine.  He knows what he's doing, and we just need to trust him to use us so that he can been seen, and draw people to himself.

I hope one day to be able to take some photos of his craftsmanship.  You'd be swooning for sure, if you saw it.  It's made me smile when I think of it.  

My Finds From Antiquing On My Birthday

 Tim and I spent my birthday poking around several antique malls that we'd never shopped in before.  

I found these at the first place - 

This teacup is so unique that I had to add it to my collection!

And this book of One Hundred and One Famous Poems.  Its handy for quotes and I'll use it with Kyle.

At the second place I found these - 

I thought that this teacup was very unique, too!

And this book from the editors of Victoria Magazine published in 1999. 

I had a lovely day with Tim, dinner with some of my kids and grands, video chats with my two girls who live out of state, and my grands one of whom told her mom she wanted to Facetime because "I want to see her face." {precious}

To top the day off we all went to my parents and had dessert with them and Lindsay and Joseph.  I'm thankful for a sweet day.

Here's to a new year! I'm grateful for the life God has given me, and the precious gifts of family and friends!

Great Autumn Outfits And What I'd Do To Make Them Work For Me

 I've found some great autumn outfits via Pinterest.  The trouble for me when looking for outfits is that models are usually tall and thin.  I'm not either of those things, but it's not hard to make a change or two to an outfit you see and make them work for you.

Beth from Style At A Certain Age  looks great while walking her dog.

I wouldn't need to adapt this outfit to make it work for me, though in reality, I would probably have a pair of walking shoes on and not boots.

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This outfit also would not need to be changed at all, as long as my boots were a small heel or flat.

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I love this navy cape/sweater and I think the whole outfit is very wearable.

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The only change I'd make to Nikki's outfit, is to do a flat heel or bootie.  Also, I'd probably take this outfit as inspiration and copy it in a different color way.  

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I already have jeans this color and a denim jacket.  I even have some striped tees.  How I would wear this look is with the tee untucked, and maybe a different bag. I'd also wear silver jewelry.

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Here again I already have these clothing items in my closet.  I even have red shoes!

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This outfit is cute, and you can adapt it to any color scheme you want.  You could even do a cute flat shoe (like the ones on Susan in the photo above) and it would be adorable.  The color possibilities in this outfit are endless.  Red vest with this outfit, or a solid shirt with a patterned vest.  Leggings instead of jeans. You get the idea.

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I could definitely wear this outfit!  The only thing I'd change would be the necklace and handbag, and that is just do to personal taste.  This is my favorite color in the top, and if you don't like boots, you could wear flats.

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This outfit is so cute and I like this color combination.  You could dress this down by adding a flat shoe or even a sneaker, and leggings.

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This is the kind of outfit I like for every day.  At home, I wouldn't wear the boots, and if I wore boots with it I couldn't do that size heel with my back, so a flatter heel or a flat heel bootie.

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This outfit is cute, cute, cute.  Very professional, but comfortable.  I could see teachers in this outfit, even with a change of shoe like a pair of Converse.

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This outfit is wearable for dressier occasions or for casual. I'd wear a different heel for me, and when being casual I'd go with a cute sneaker.  If you don't like animal prints you could wear a plaid scarf with this, or a floral one.

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Here are three friends who had tea together yesterday.  We were dressed in fall colors and were comfortable in our own styles.  I had brought a jean jacket with me, but didn't end up wearing it.  I also had dark grey leggings on and my skechers.

Heather (on the left) hosted us and had such an amazing array of food! It was all delightful, and I'm thankful for my time with these dear friends.

I hope this post gives you some inspiration for seasonal clothing that is both comfortable and stylish.  Speaking of stylish, right now I'm wearing leggings, a long sleeve wine colored tee shirt, and my new dark green sweatshirt from Old Navy!  I'm quite comfortable but not sure how stylish I am!

Have a great weekend friends!