Fun with fall...

I am having entirely too much fun with fall decorating this year! Thankfully, we got it done earlier in the week before the rains decided to come live with us for awhile, so the front porch and back patio are sporting their fall finery and looking right purty, even if I do say so myself. ;-)

one of two funky gourds we
bought at the Catoctin Colorfest

along with this unique little guy
that I couldn't resist;

so, we got a skull

and another ghostie friend to go with,

and 3 of these for the other side
(aren't they just adorable?!)

see the little metal scarecrow by the bench?
got a pair of them at Colorfest too

getting into the Halloween spirit

but scarecrows, pumpkins, mums and
gourds are the stars of this show

mixing the seasons

letting this dude sit a spell this year

front door welcoming view

patio door view for me to enjoy
while downstairs on my computer

A bench for all seasons...

Adding to my growing collection of bench photos, I snapped this one when we were out and about the other day. What caught my attention was the row of cute jack-o-lanterns sitting there as we drove past; Lew quick turned around so I could get a picture.


I didn't notice the bonus kitty in the window until I was focusing to take the shot. What an appropriate Halloween decoration the furry little beastie makes... too bad it's not black! I wonder if it sat there and watched the trick-or-treaters??

Colors of the season...

Used to be I didn't get all that excited about fall, let alone fall decorating. Oh, I'd put out a jack-o-lantern or a witch or some other ghostly things to tickle the little Halloween munchkins, but for the most part, I saved my decorating energies for Christmas.

Well, in the past couple of years, and especially since I have a mantle to play with again, I've been having fun adding a few decorative touches here, there, and everywhere! Well, not the bedrooms and bathrooms, that'd be a bit much, but the rest of the house is looking very autumn-ish and colorful.

family room mantle showing off its autumn colors...

bundle of leafiness

charming and demure witchy

whimsical look-alike of the real critters in the yard

to cast a warm glow

Rats!

Or should I say "Rodents!" Seems the chubby one up on Gobblers Knob poked his furry little groundhog head out of his burrow and declared:

"As I look around me,

a bright sky I see,
and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Oh well, can't be all bad -- at least the sun is shining.

Now and then...

After nearly a month's break, I finally picked up my camera again yesterday. We had a little snow earlier in the week so we moseyed on over to Baker Park to see if I still knew how to use it.

NOW

THEN

NOW

THEN

Turns out I did. Since I had spring time shots of these views from the past two years, I thought some winter time ones would make a fun comparison. Each season holds its own beauty.

If you're interested, you can see more winter shots of the park on my new & improved* photo blog.

*new & improved = I put a new header on my old Project 365 blog!

Winter play

We were always outside playing when we were kids, regardless of the season and temperatures. And when it snowed? Oh wow, snow was a major bonus! We could always find something to do when there was no school - yeah buddy!


Some of us didn't have sleds (and how we improvised is another story) but other neighborhood kids did and sometimes they shared, so snow on the ground meant sledding on the streets. They didn't plow as often or as quickly then as they do now so streets were snowy longer, there was less traffic, and it was somewhat safer. Later on, when we lived out in the country in VA, a whole gang of us would get together to sled on the empty country road. One set of parents would build a huge fire in their driveway where we could stop on the way back up the hill for some warm-up and hot chocolate. Fun times!

You couldn't have snow without building a big ol' fat snowman, but not too fat 'cause then we couldn't lift the second ball on top of the bottom one. Getting the head up on top without breaking it was always a challenge too. We'd scrounge around looking for sticks for arms and rocks for buttons and someone could always manage to swipe borrow a carrot from their fridge and a hat or scarf from their coat closet to gussy up our snowy dude.

'Course a good ol' snowball fight was always in order. It was usually a case of the girls against the boys and we'd all build our separate piles of snowball ammunition, find something to hide behind, and let the battle begin!

Sometimes fun could be something as simple as making snow angels or

simply catching snowflakes on your tongue (but not sticking your tongue on an iron railing or lampost!)
As a teenager, I tried ice skating but never became very accomplished at it. Never quite got that skimpy little skirt on the ice thing either. I wanted to be covered on that cold stuff, because

a good bit of my time was spent on that well-covered derriere. I decided then that I must have had the weakest ankles in the world and maybe ice-skating wasn't my best form of recreation. But it was fun at the time.


When we finally got too wet or too cold, we'd go inside, get dry and play games where it was nice and warm.


Or, even find a good book to read. Everything was fun when there was no school.

I'm glad I have good, fun memories of wintertime play, both as a kid myself and with mine and the grands. But, that was then. Now I'm not terribly enamored of doing anything in the cold for any length of time.

Now my idea of winter joy is curling up in front of a cozy fire with a hot cuppa and some good TV. I'll leave playing in the snow to the younger crowd.

Unless, of course, a little grand should happen to show up. Then I just might be talked into making an exception or two. :)

Fall Display

The temps are cooling, the leaves are turning color, and the Redskins are playing again. Sure signs that fall has arrived.

In the past, I haven't usually done much outdoor fall decorating, but for some reason, I've been prompted to do more this year to prettify our surroundings. Maybe it's the addition of the railings that make it feel like a "real" porch, I dunno.

Anyway, as we meandered 'round and about town the other day, we picked up a few pots of mums, some pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. Add a basket to some porch furniture, stick our friendly resident scarecrow in the ground, and it looks right fall-ish!






Now I just hope none of the country critters get the hungers and decide to munch on my decor!

It's here...

Happy First Day of Summer!

Ack! Where has the time gone - wasn't it just Christmas?? I'm sooooo not ready for this, but time and Mother Nature wait for no man... or me.

Like it or not, summer is here. The kiddies are out of school, the pools/beaches are open, and vacation time is ready to be taken.

Whatever you've got planned, have a good'un ... :)

Winter comes

The snow the grandsons were so excited about last night is visting us today. We usually get a doozy of a storm when it comes up from the south, but so far, this one is just a pretty, fluffy, gently falling snow.


Enough to keep me from venturing too far from the warmth of my cozy fireplace... unless, of course, I was throwing snowballs with two grandsons. ;-D

The Ice(cream) Man Cometh...

You know summer's here to stay when ...

you hear the happy little ditty of the ice cream truck for the umpteenth time of the season!

Back in the day, it was the familiar ding-a-ling of the Good Humor man but nowadays it's some unrecognizable combination of bells, whistles, song n' dance, etc. designed to grab one's attention. And grab it does. The neighborhood little ones come a'running.

I miss having kids around begging for money for the ice cream man. We even used to have a dog who begged to go out when she heard the ice cream truck cuz the guy just loved her and would give her an ice cream every time he saw her!

Now it's just as easy to pull a popsicle or ice cream bar out of my own freezer but still, I miss the hurried scrounging around in my purse for change (now it would be dollars!) and watching the kids chase the ice cream truck down the street. It was summer tradition. :)

Spring prettiness...

A couple of pictures for Debi, who always leaves such nice comments and left the nicest one about our yard yesterday - thanks! :)

(click on photos for a better look-see)

Lew took these late yesterday afternoon and I just love how they capture the beauty of Spring in our little corner of Maryland.

I'm enjoying the healthy growth and green as much as I can now, 'cause come July, we'll be fighting the heat to keep things from turning brown.