Autumn Colors

This year, summer has been kind of reluctant to leave New England . . .

But now that it’s October – autumn is insisting that she go. The nights are chillier and the leaves more colorful with every passing day.
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Sir Beads and I are immersed in the usual end-of-summer chores:

    *Fall cleaning…
    *Removing fans and air conditioners…
    *Adjusting storm windows..
    *Adding fluffy blankets to the bed…

And reacquainting ourselves with the delights of the fall season:

    *Baking! (Or as I like to call it, “reclaiming the oven now that a hot kitchen feels cozy instead of miserable.”)
    *Leaf peeping! (It appears to be a banner year for foliage, here.)
    *Fall decorating! (Not as much as we used to – but I still love pumpkins, pilgrims, and an autumn-y front door.)
    *Choosing yarn! (for projects to crochet during winter evenings).

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As a beader, I love to design jewelry for every season, and right now our bead shop is chock full of fall-themed beads and findings!

Here are just a few:

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How is Fall going in your neck of the woods?

Hugs,

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I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Click the envelope to leave a comment or to read what the other kids are saying! 😀

A Potpourri of Pictures

Greetings Kids 🙂
More photos, today . . . two are from me . . . and two from a long-time reader of this blog, Michelle!

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I wanted to have fresh flowers around the house for Easter and couldn’t believe how lucky I was to find these perfect roses at a bargain price! I divided them into 2 vases. (The other one is in the powder room!)

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It wouldn’t be a holiday without a memento of holidays past. My girls and I decorated these Easter eggs many years ago . . . (story here)

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A few days ago, I was delighted to receive photos from Michelle.
I’ll let her tell you about them!
“This year we have added to our furbaby family with another unplanned rescue. Lily was going to be put down the next day so we took her in. Shes only 3 and a sweet thing.”

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“This picture shows all 3 of our rescued dogs playing tag in the snow.Our 3 cat rescues prefer to watch from the window.” 🙂

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Many thanks to Michelle!

I’m hoping another reader will be inspired to send in photos – of family, or pets, or a pretty view, or something you made (or cooked!) or even your latest bargain!

‘Til next time,

Hugs,

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I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Click the envelope to leave a comment! 😀

Weekly Question

Is it November already?

Autumn’s flying, don’t you agree?

The Bead Challenge Photos are arriving daily. As soon as I receive a couple more (from overseas), I’ll unveil all of the entries. I think you’ll be pretty impressed! 🙂

In the meantime . . .

How about a “Weekly Question”?

Throughout the early years of this blog, I used to ask a new question every Monday. Many of you told me you loved answering the questions and also reading all the replies.

So, today, I thought it would be fun to try it again! This one comes from my files. It’s based on an idea originally sent to me by Carol – in response to my call to readers for “topic suggestions”. 🙂

“How did you meet your partner (mate, significant other, or whatever you call him or her) and what was your first date?”

Or, if you prefer a different question: Describe a favorite person in your life. What makes him or her so special?

I’ll add my answer in the comments section, soon!

Hugs,

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Fun at Forty

Hi kids,

It’s been a couple of weeks since I promised to report on our 40th anniversary getaway.

The thing is – I’ve discovered it just isn’t easy to whittle down the photos and adventures into a reasonably concise blog post.

I’ll do my best, though. 😉

(Remember to click photos twice to enlarge!)

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So, we began on the dazzling coast of Maine.

We continually had to stop the car to jump out and snap photos of scenes like this . . .

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Our home base for the first 2 nights of the trip was a little motel on Old Orchard Beach. Here’s what we found when we walked a few steps from our room . . .

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Dinner the first night was at a wonderful restaurant right next door. We began with a toast . . .

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I am telling you the food was truly INCREDIBLE! I had a lobster dish with summer vegetables, roasted shallots, and fregula pasta. It just melted in my mouth! (Sir Beads had something called “The Best of Both Worlds”, which was lobster with beef tenderloins.)

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While in Maine, we relaxed, we breathed in lots of fresh ocean air, we visited a bead store, where I bought some very pretty ones, and we ate like kings (at least it seemed that way!).

On the second day, we toured the lovely Kennebunkport. We had lunch there and you guessed it – lobster. This time, it was lobster rolls. C’mon, now! We were in Maine; it’s the lobster capital!

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On day three, we were on the road again on our way to Vermont through the majestic mountains of New Hampshire.

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For the next 6 hours, we oooh-ed and ahhh-ed at the breathtaking mountain vistas we passed at every turn.

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We finally arrived in Shelburne, Vermont just before dinner. The innkeepers knew it was our 40th and so, along with chocolate hearts, they had balloons waiting for us in our room!

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It was a very romantic place with skylight windows and a huge jacuzzi tub – complete with tall pillar candles.

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On day four, we visited the Shelburne Museum, which houses a magnificent collection of well . . . collections! . . . in every category under the sun. There are 39 exhibition buildings located on 45 acres of land near Lake Champlain. We spent at least 5 hours there. Our legs were aching but oh was it ever worth it. We saw some absolutely wonderful things! In the photo below, we’re just entering the grounds from the parking lot. Although the flowers are not really part of the exhibits, they were especially striking.

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I’ll leave you with this close-up of the garden at the entrance, but the highlights of the museum are topics for another day.

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We’ll definitely remember our 40th as a very special time.

It was fun to share it with you! 🙂

Hugs,

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Santa is that you?


Merry Christmas! 🙂

“Oh my goodness!
What in the world is Crystal yakking about now?
It’s MARCH and she’s wishing us a Merry Christmas????
Poor thing, she has totally lost it.”


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No worries, Kids! It was Christmas on Saturday. At least it was for my extended family.

You see, last December we were all set to have our annual holiday gathering when suddenly there was a major blizzard. We had to postpone, and it was tough to find a new date!

When you’re trying to get about 25 people together on the same day (besides Christmas) – it’s just not easy! The kids go back to college, the parents are tied up with work schedules, and then there might be vacation trips to consider. March 19th became the day that most could attend. I KNOW – in the spring!

But, let me tell you, it was delightful. Sure, there was no tree, nor any Christmas decorations, but that seemed to magnify the beauty of the wrapped gifts!

In addition to secret santa gifts, we had our traditional “yankee swap”, which was the fun-filled, my-sides-hurt-from-laughing kind of event that it always is – even more so – if that’s possible. I swear there’s a comedic gene in this family! We all have a bit of it.

Delicious food is part of our gatherings, but we know it’s the love that really nourishes us. When the day ended, we all felt very blessed as we said our goodbyes and headed home.

And now I can testify from actual experience . . .

If your Christmas ever needs to be pushed off until the Spring – or later – don’t worry about a thing! It’s not the date that counts; it’s the people. 😀

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How was your weekend?

Hugs,

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