Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Show and Tell

Happy Halloween everyone! Today for Show and Tell, I would love to show you the pumpkins we carved last night.

Our family tradition is that we carve our pumpkins the night before Halloween, so last night we set about the task and here are our results.

This pumpkin is the one Yngwie did! It's a group of singing ghosts! I love how it glows all the way around.
This one is dear husbands! We is a huge Star Trek fan, so we carved Spock!

And last, and certainly least, is my creative endevour into pumpkin carving. So I was busy making cookies and a cheeseball for work, I only had a few minutes to carve mine. Yngwie calls it the Charlie Brown pumpkin.

For more Show and Tell head over the Kellis blog http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ for more fun.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Linda

Monday, October 27, 2008

Fall Photos and I have the Greatest Son on Earth!

Sorry to be such a neglectful blogger, but we have been so busy, I really haven't taken the time to post.

Last weekend we took a long drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was so pretty! These photos certainly don't do justice to the view. Like my husband said, you just have to keep the view in your mind, not on a piece of paper.
See that handsome young man? He is the most awsome son on the planet. I had a really hard week last week both at work and with problems with a family member. When I got home Friday evening this was on the counter:
Yngwie had gone out to Target afterschool on Friday and bought all this stuff for me! There is a Kelli doll, a Pez, and a pumpkin bucket full of Hershey Kisses and Skittles. How thoughtful is that??? He is such a sweetie! Next week he will turn 17 years old. Time flies whether you are having fun or not!
Yesterday I drove into a neighboring town and stopped at a combination Craft/Antiques/Home Furnishing store and spent a wonderful hour browsing around. I bought these two cookbooks. Recipes for Easy Entertaining is from 1972 and the Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book is from 1956. I love the pictures in these books. Sometimes I think I buy them more for the photos than the recipes!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Linda

Friday, October 17, 2008

Friday Show and Tell

I debated with myself several times before I decided to go ahead with this show and tell, mainly because it is just strange, and also because I'm not sure how I feel about it. But in the end, decided what the heck, so what if people think I'm nuts!

My Grandmother, whom I was very close too, passed away in August at the age of 96. She and I were best friends and I miss her every day. When I was little I used to play with this three legged glass camel when I was at her house. She said she had gotten it when she was young, that she thought candy had came in it and can't remember when the 4th leg broke off, but that it happened way before I was born and she had no idea what had happened to it. I loved this camel and would play with it for hours, even taking it to bed with me.

Of course as I got older, I didn't play with the camel anymore and had forgotten all about it until a couple of weeks ago when I found it in the drawer with her hankies as I was cleaning out her house and getting ready for the estate sale. I couldn't believe she had still kept it. I put it on top of the dresser and again, forgot about it.

Last Saturday was the estate sale. I got to grandma's house about 6:00 a.m. there was no one in the house except me. I was in the kitchen tagging some items when I heard something fall. I went into the bedroom and the camel was laying on the floor, but not broken. I picked it back up and put it back on the dresser. Then I went down to the basement to retrieve a card table. I took a damp cloth and wiped down the card table and took it upstairs and set it up in the living room to be my check out station. Then I went to the bathroom, was gone maybe two minutes.

When I walked back into the living room this was laying in the middle of the table.


It didn't dawn on me right away what this was, but when it did, I was flabbergated! I just sat down in the floor and cried. It is the 4th leg of the camel. The broken one.

I have no idea what to make of this. Needless to say I taped the leg to the camel and took it home with me.

For more show and tell head over to http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fall Home Tour

We are celebrating our Fall homes on MHH and today is the day to show our fall decorations.
The above is the first thing you will see as your walk upon my porch. As you proceed to the door you will find this wreath that I made this year from things mostly found at the dollar store. Welcome to my foyer. I love the antique mirror and decorate it for each season. Sorry for the bad photo, it's hard to take a photo of a mirror and not be in it! The kitchen is always the heart of the home, so I always decorate my kitchen so that when I look around, I always find something to smile about. Like the halloween candy on my island. I also have a fall flower arrangement and a Jim Shore pumpkin man on the island as well. My very favorite thing in my kitchen is the hutch that my husband made. It is chock full of fall and Halloween fun. I made the Boo banner and Halloween cones that hang on my plate stand.



On to the dining room! I love to create tablescapes for each season. I have had the pottery pumpkin for 28 years. It was the first Halloween decoration that I bought the first year I was married and he goes out every year!


I love this beaded pumpkin that I received in my Halloween swap as it sits on this little antique table. I made the pointy kitty from the Wee Wonderful site.This antique washstand has been many things in its life. I bought it when I was expecting Yngwie and used it for a changing table. I used it in my living room as a end table and now it wears its fall colors living in my dining room as a buffet. I really have this thing for white pumpkins this year.

In our den you will find this cute display of Halloween fun! I just got the purple glittered tree this year. Since purple is my favorite color and I love all things glitter, I knew this was coming home with me! There is a variety of Peanuts characters, haunted houses, and various fun things on and around my tree.

I hope you have enjoyed the fall tour of my home. Of course, there are decorations in other rooms, but these are my favorite.

Have a great day!

Linda

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Vintage Halloween Swap!

Heidi who has a wonderful blog called http://foxglovesfabricandfolly.blogspot.com/ hosted a Vintage Halloween Swap last month!

I had the good fortune to have been paired with Jeanne at http://backyardneighbor.typepad.com/. Let me just say that she totally outdid herself!
Everything was wrapped so pretty! It was so exciting opening all the gifts in the box! Look at this!!! I was running around the room, jumping and squealing like a kid at Christmas!
This little glass pumpkin was one of my very favorite things. It is much cuter in person than in this photo. This little pumpkin will stay out all year, not just fall.


These little leaf candle holders are so cute and the pumpkin pie candles, yum!
The beaded pumpkin is just lovely and the wheat arrangement is perfect for my dining room. I love the patchwork pumpkin lady with her plaid patched dress and twig arms.

There was a little stuffed ghost, a beautiful tin pumpkin wall plaque, and those glittery (and y'all know how much I love anything glittery) stickers! I have already used them in my Fall Journal.

There was also a darling notepad, some cookie cutters, a pumpkin carving knife, a pumpkin windsock, a ghost candleholder and candle, a really cute pumpkin votive candleholder, some orange lights (that I have added to the arrangement over my fireplace mantle), a cute little scarecrow pumpkin, a pair of Halloween socks, some candy corn (gone in about 2 hours) and a fall dishtowel! And last but not least a jar of yummy preserves!
These are also gone! Yngwie was eating these out of the jar with a spoon!

Thank you Heidi for hosting such a fun swap! And Thank You Jeanne for being the most wonderful swap partner ever!!

Blessings

Linda

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Happy October!

Fall is very slowly weaving it's way through SW Virginia. The leaves are just beginning to take on their gold and red glow. We are still having warm days, but the nights are chilly and perfect for sitting on the patio with the fire pit going and a cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate in your hand. Several of our neighbors have fired up their wood stoves and the smell of woodsmoke is in the air.

As promised a couple of weeks ago, I am going to post some of my Halloween decorations in my kitchen hutch.

I just love the smiling bobbly head Jack o Lantern man! And if an item has glitter on it, I will buy it! Like the golden glittered acorn bucket. I got several of the gargoyles at the dollar store this year.

One of the girls at work got me the Kelli doll with the pumpkin suit on. Isn't she adorable? And my dear son Yngwie, bought the Barbie in the witches dress for me. I have a "thing" for white pumpkins this year, so when I saw the white pumpkin with Boo written on it in GLITTER, it practically jumped right into my basket on its's own! I made the handstitched jack o lantern hanging in the background. Isn't that tiny little dolls pitcher in orange and white polka dots adorable? The Great Pumpkin left Yngwie treat in the Trick or Treat bucket last year. Does the Great Pumpkin visit your house? He has every year since Yngwie became too old to Trick or Treat.

Hope everyone has a wonderful October day!
Blessings

Linda