AUTUMN IS HERE Faves

 

Autumn arrived this past week and there are so many things I love about this season that it's not difficult at all to find blessings to share. In fact, I hope you like photos because I'm sharing a lot of them today. Things that make me smile and are faves....things that bless me....things that help me embrace the new season and the chillier mornings and evenings. 

Jump in with us at Susanne's and link up your own blog with FIVE of your FAVE blessings from the past week. Gratitude is something we all need to practice....especially those of us who identify as Christ followers because it is GOOD to give thanks to God. 

Good night, Summer

• BONFIRE NIGHT! I spontaneously invited our oldest daughter Courtney and her friend Nathaniel over to dinner on Saturday evening. By the time we were all sitting around the dining room table eating the very spicy Slow Cooked Spanish Rice soup and cheddar biscuits I had made for  dinner, it was starting to get dark.  We decided to quickly clean up and gather around a bonfire as we still have a lot of brush to burn. We decided a bonfire is a good way to end the summer season.  We hung out, made ice cream sundaes, and chatted and played games on our phones (group games with iphones...who knew??!) from some app called GamePigeon. We had a blast playing some type of Uno game. We hung out at the fire until about 11 pm. I'm thankful we could have our daughter and her friend over.  The whole evening made me smile. 

• NEW FLAVOR! At the grocery store this past week, I discovered a new flavor from this tea company.  I don't often buy herbal tea from this particular brand as we prefer Stash or Tazo but this flavor is amazing! Raspberry lemon makes for a great glass of iced tea. I ended up making a pitcher of it, iced, for my small group on Tuesday evening and the ladies all seemed to love it. Even my husband had a glass with his lunch on Wednesday (he works from home M-W-F) and he must have enjoyed it because there was only a tiny bit left in the pitcher. I'm thankful to have found a caffeine free herbal tea in a yummy flavor that tastes good hot or iced. 

Autumn has arrived 

Welcome, Autumn!

decked out for Autumn 

• OUTDOOR SPACES:  I love decorating for Autumn/Harvest time and I began in the back yard.  I still want to get a few more pumpkins to put near the garden flag. I'm thinking one large and one medium to group with the small one that's currently there. The front porch is done although I may pick up another large pumpkin for the front flower bed under the living room windows. Once the third week of October gets here, I put out our lighted jack o lantern and place it on the tiny blue table in place of the solar lantern.  The deck speaks for itself. It's a fave gathering spot in the morning sunshine. The fire pit is a place we hang out on the weekend evenings or sometimes during the week if we really have perfect bonfire weather. I'm thankful for outdoor spaces and the many decorative items I've saved over the last few years. They always make me smile. 

by the front cherry tree......
this stays up until Nov when I bring out
 the Thanksgiving garden flag

• INDOOR SPACES:  I love home decor and switch up seasonally or sometimes monthly...it just depends. I don't have a lot of "winter" decor but I do have a lot of Autumn decor so Sept and October in my home spaces look a little different than my November spaces. Christmas is for December only and I usually don't even put eveyrthing out as we are going for a more minimalist look here in our home. I hope you enjoy the bits of Autumn hanging out in my indoor spaces. I'm thankful for living in a town that features a Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Target, and HomeGoods all within a mile from each other. I'm also thankful I live within easy access to the shops in Saratoga and the lower Adirondacks which feature some awesome little gift shops where i often get home decor. 

bowl of silk leaves in family room
under Patti, the African violet

Family room is all set for September
and October

Dining room on the wall facing the window
the plant is Ashren the Aloe Vera 

The antique chest of drawers, next to the dining room window
 I inherited from mom,
along with the 1940s creamer and sugar I inherited 
I love a glass jar of artificial gourds and tiny pumpkins

corner kitchen shelf...the candle on middle shelf
auto lights around 5 pm and turns off around 11 pm
the tiny mini pumpkins are from my dear friend Cheryl S
not shown: a candle on stovetop
that is labeled Spiced Apple Cider....it's divine

Living room (MY room) with autumnal pillows and a 
fall leaves bouquet and Adirondack Cabin scented Candle
(it smells like balsam)...I still need to put the Autumn wreath on the wall

Living room has 2 bookcases: this one isn't all Adirondack Mt books
but contains Christian non-fiction by authors Max Lucado, John Piper,
Francis Chan, Philip Yancy, Gary Thomas, Billy Graham among others and some classics
such as Little Women, Gone with the Wind, etc
and Dave's Red Sox/fenway history books along with a poetry book
our oldest daughter was  published in when she was 8. 
It also has the little scarecrow on bottom shelf that I've had since grad school in 1986!
And the Orchid is from our friends Darlene and Bob when we had them over for dinner last month; the little glass candle holder is from the early 1990s when our oldest was born
the little "happy Fall" sign is from a store that is no longer in business

Living room....I love the cream colored fake pumpkin!
on the piano (not shown) is a small sprig of yellow black eyed susans 
it will stay there until my "gratitude" pumpkin comes out in November

• SURPRISES!!  I am so thankful when God surprises me with something or someone.  This past week I had the following surprises:

the day lily bloomed again!!

I had given up hope on these forget me not seeds.....
I planted these in early July a week after my father in law's funeral.
We gave out packets of these at the wake. 
I had NO sprouts at all. All of a sudden, in late August, the green stem shot up
and this past week the flower buds opened!!  Praise God....a nice reminder of Warren 

Finally it's my turn for this book!
I was put on the wait list back in late April...early May...
I was #67 on the list!
Town library called me saying the  book was ready for pick up.
I love and have read all of her novels from FireFly Lane to this present one. 
Most of them I thoroughly enjoy. A couple were just "eh". This one is riveting so far. 

That wraps up my fave blessings from the past week.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, celebrating the first full weekend of Autumn!!

I will be away all day tomorrow so am posting this a day early. (tomorrow is a hike in a very remote region of the lower High Peaks in the Adirondacks. Just me and my friend Joan. Hope we don't see a bear although there are warnings regarding bear, moose, and fishers on that trail. Should be interesting!!