Pumpkins... Barn Chicks... and my Giveaway...

Everywhere I look, Centerville is decorated with beautiful pumpkins! Even the market today had this cute display with hay, cornstalks, and our gorgeous locally grown pumpkins...all waiting for a home...

If you are like me, you love pumpkins, especially grinning from ear to ear with an eerie glow from inside on All Hallows Eve... Halloween is my all time favorite holiday... and tomorrow, I am going to start my decorating... love, love love Martha Stewart's Halloween magazines... if you visit my Barn Chicks post on Friday, October 8th and leave me a comment, your name will go in the drawing for a copy of Martha's latest, "The Best of Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook"... you may comment up through midnight, (the bewitching hour, of course!) on Sunday, October 10th on the Barn Chicks party post only, and I will draw the winning name on Monday, October 11th so I can mail it out priority to the winner in plenty of time for Halloween... you still have time to join the party!... It's all about "Under October's Magical Spell"... barns, pumpkins, Autumn leaves, fall recipes, scarecrows... whatever enchants you this time of year... please email or leave me a comment if you would like to sign up... links are posted on my sidebar under the cute barn pumpkin I purchased from my friend Celeste at Celestina Marie Designs... would love for you to join us!... the Barn Chicks party posts were created by Karen, at Brayton Homestead Interiors... I am guest~host for October!...

Three little pumpkins, sitting in a row...

Sooo hard to decide which ones to buy... love them all, odd shapes are so fun, and the ones with blemishes look like scars when I carve a scary face on them...

Wishing you a beautiful Autumn day... xoxo

Oh, go take a hike! ...

Have you ever said that to someone... you know, like "get lost"... "go jump in the lake"... or maybe something even a little stronger???... I have...when I want someone to just leave me alone... then on my walk today, I realized that is one of the best pieces of advice I could have given them!... "Go take a hike!"... walking is one of the very best things you can do for your health, both physically and mentally... after I came home from the hospital from my surgery last month, I felt, well... for lack of a better word... YUCKY!... I was extremely tired, in alot of pain, and had a bad case of the blues... I have never been one to just lay around and do nothing... so, I had a talk with myself (yes, I DO talk to myself, and even answer myself, doesn't everyone???)... and decided I needed to up my walking some... C'mon!... "take a hike" with me today!...

I like to start very early in the morning, when much of the world is still asleep... let's head down the trail...

Before long, the moon has disappeared somewhere out beyond the Great Salt Lake and the brilliant Autumn sun is up... look!... A flock of beautiful Canada Geese overhead, flying in a straight row... twenty three of them to be exact... can't fit them all in the photo... Breathtaking!...

Late Autumn gardens... pretty morning glory clamboring up a white fence...

"Hello Crow"... "how's the view from up there?"...

One mighty big pumpkin!...

Oooh, look at this gorgeous old iron gate...

And look what's inside the old gate... I think I want to live here!...

Looking up to the foothills, they are ablaze with color... so many beautiful sights to see... blue skies... the air is fresh and crisp... little critters along the way...

My "yucky" feeling is gone and my blues have changed to bliss... I have now increased my walk to five miles a day, and I feel great!... just being out in Nature is such a cure~all... I hope you enjoyed walking with me today...

"Even when I'm feeling low, I can always find solace in Nature,
a restorative when dealing with pain.
Wonder heals through an alchemy of the mind."

~ Diane Ackerman, Author and
Former "Writer in Residence" Victoria Magazine 1997

Could not have said it better myself!... and next time someone tells you to "go take a hike"... smile at them, and do it!... wishing you a blissful day... xoxo

Ghouls Day Out...

Friday, October 1st is my sister Jill's birthday... time for another "Ghouls Day Out"!... This is me with my gorgeous sister Jill at her party last year... she is not only my sister, but my very best friend... always has been... always will be... traditions play a big role in our family, and we love to carry them on... so, Thursday, I will take the "ghouls" in our family... Jill, Liz, Filly, Ellie and me to our favorite Chinese restaurant, where they are always so sweet to us and help make the party even more fun...

Since we all love Autumn and Halloween, I always make things as festive as I can for the season... plus, I have to tease them some... this is Jill's bag of gifts... like our other traditions, some gifts are traditional too, so I am sure she already knows what some will be!...

Can't have a party without favors... some I buy, and some I make... I am not real crafty like so many of you ladies... (wait, I AM crafty, tee hee hee)... I just can't make crafts as well as most of you, but I have fun!... these are the favors I made for the "ghouls" and me... (I'll show you all what they are after the party!)...

My happiest times are those spent with my family... the "ghouls" and I always have so much fun... we laugh and giggle and be silly... and know that no matter what, we are all ALWAYS there for each other... see you Thursday "ghouls"!... xoxo

Simply Beautiful...

"There is harmony in Autumn,
and a luster in the sky"... ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Gorgeous owl sketch ~ Marjolein Bastin... xoxo

Autumn Bliss...and a Precious Rose from the Past Comes to Life...

These sun~dappled days of Autumn are pure bliss to me...I love the rusty colors of mums that grace my front porch, along with a pretty Autumn wreath, pumpkins, Indian corn and gourds...

Our Nature walk each morning shows off Fall's beauty all along the way... as I stop to capture these golden strawflowers against a white picket fence...

Spring and Summer came and went so fast... I am not complaining though...as Autumn is truly my most favorite time of year... I have shown the photo below so many times before on my blog, starting with one of my first posts I did when I began my blog, called "A Haunting Passion", you can read here... about an old, abandoned building that draws me to it, time and time again...the building is old and in disrepair... yet the beautiful roses flourish, as though someone from another time who has passed on watches over them and tends to them..

I have been trying to check into buying the old, abandoned little place... I feel a closeness to it that I simply cannot explain... this summer, when the beautiful red roses were blooming profusely, clamboring up the side of the building, and overflowing across the old wooden fence, I snipped these starts in the photo below and took them home with me... I displayed them for several days in my old blue fruitjar and daydreamed about who had planted them so very many years ago... and who somehow still tends to them... perhaps looking down at me and seeing how much I too love them... and the little abandoned place...

I placed the little starts in my garden, under old glass fruit jars, just like my mama did with the roses she started from my grandmother's garden so very long ago... the fruit jars soon became little greenhouses... as I peered through the mist each day... wishing so badly that my little starts would take root and grow... perhaps the same dear soul who tends to the roses in the little garden that once belonged to her... (and perhaps still does)... is watching over me now too... as my little rose starts have now taken root... each morning now, there appear to be more leaves than the day before... I am so excited!... they are thriving now, with no need for the fruit jars over them any more... come winter, I shall put straw over them to protect them from the harsh winter weather we get here in Centerville...

But for now, I will daydream about how next Spring they will clambor up my house too... and perhaps one day cascade over a little fence or trellis of my own... like the photo I took below... my dear friend Jo~Anne Coletti painted a beautiful picture from this photo for me of my precious roses... she has asked me if she can show my photo below in her new magazine that is coming out this month... I am so excited about these two things... my little roses beginning a new life, and my dear friend Jo~Anne seeing her dream of a magazine of her own come true... I hope you will visit Jo~Anne at Vintage Rose Collection, where you can read more about her beautiful endeavor...designed by Jo~Anne to help women fulfill their dreams... it will be over 100 pages and full of beautiful photos, poems, and spiritual devotionals...

I also want to remind you all of my Barn Chicks party here at Idyllhours on Friday, October 8th... if you would like to sign up, please leave me a comment telling me so, or send me an email... the Barn Chick Parties that Karen at Brayton Homestead Interiors has done have been so much fun, and I am guest~hosting this one for her... I will be drawing a name from the comments left on that post only, for a copy of "The Best of Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook"... "Special Collector's Edition"... I hope you will visit all of the Barn Chicks that day as well...

Thank you for visiting me today...wishing you all a most blissful Autumn day too... xoxo

The rich, warm colors of Autumn...

For the last five years, our master bedroom has been fufu pinks, lacy, girly, shabby chic... and frilly...(thank you Jack for not complaining!)... I still love my pinks and fufu and such, and my "atelier" remains that way... but when I came home from the hospital after surgery recently, I wanted a change in the bedroom... especially with fall approaching, I wanted a warm, cozy place to relax and fall asleep at night... with the beautiful Autumn hues in mind, I transformed our bedroom into exactly what I wanted... I guess I have just always danced to a different drum... I know most of you all are changing to all~white, which is so very pretty, but just not "me"... I found exactly the patchwork quilt and shams I wanted (on sale even!)...

Bought this beautiful leaf painting at Ross's (very reasonable)... I just love it!...

Bought the birch quiver baskets at Robert's Crafts and filled them with faux mini Maple leafs... the little fireplace is an electric one that puts out a beautiful flame and cozy, warm heat... looks just like the real thing when it is on... a comfy chair next to it with a tied fleece leaf blanket I made... and one of my smaller curio cabinets holds my collection of vintage Hull pottery from the 40's that belonged to my mama...

The beautiful paintings are original watercolors by famous New Mexico artist Charles S. Rawles, signed and dated 1927 on one and 1928 on the other... Charles S. Rawles lived at a boarding house my great~grandparents owned in Santa Fe... he often paid them in his beautiful paintings... they later became my grandmother's, then my mama's and daddy's paintings, and when my daddy passed away they were left to me... I have wanted to hang them up but didn't know exactly where to place them... I think this is the perfect spot...

I have such a love of Nature and family... heirlooms and precious memories... I think I will be spending alot of time in here daydreaming as well...what do you think?... xoxo

That old black magic... has me, in it's spell...

... that old black magic, that youooooo, weave soooo well... Oh!... hello dearies! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in... goodness! I must look a fright!... yes, this is the real me, I just can't do a THING with my hair... and that new moisture cream said it was for wrinkles... yep, I DO have a few more wrinkles today... he he he...

I have been staying up late each night...well after the Bewitching Hour and long after the sky has turned an eerie black ("witch" I love!) ... and the moon is full...perfect for concocting lots of fun for the Barn Chicks party post I am guest~hosting for my "ghoul~friend" Karen of Brayton Homestead Interiors on October 8th... I am calling it "Under October's Magical Spell"... I love Autumn, and October is the most magical, enchanting month of all... Halloween was my sister Jill's and my favorite holiday when we were little girls, infact, it still is, for both of us, and my nieces... so, I decided to put a little Halloween magic into my upcoming Barn Chicks post as well as beautiful barns, pumpkins, Harvest moons, pumpkin recipes, Autumn crafts, Autumn gardens...the list goes on and on... I do hope you will join me and the other Barn Chicks... everyone is welcome to sign up... please leave me a comment or an email letting me know you want to post something wonderfully enchanting that day, and I will add your blog link to my sidebar...

"Just because" I am having sooo much fun, and because it's my very first party I have hosted, I will be giving away a copy of "The Best of Martha Stewart Halloween Handbook, Special Collector's Edition"...... the name will be drawn from the comments left on the October 8th post only...


So, put on your cowgirl boots and hat again... (or your pointed witches boots and witches hat!)... and join the fun!...oooh, maybe there is a spooky old abandoned barn near by... with bats hanging from the old rafters... and white floaty images...and barn doors that creak open by themselves... let your imagination run wild... I do!... xoxo

September Nature Walk Today.... and our "Deer Friends"...

"Happily we bask in this warm September sun,

which illuminates all creatures"... ~Henry David Thoreau

xoxo...

My heart is heavy as September 11th nears...

September 11th, 2001 ...


I have no words that describe this day to me... as I pray for our Country...and those who lost their lives... and those who live with their loved ones memories... and my prayers go out to all of the men and women who serve and protect us still... and their families who wait for them at home... God, please bless America even more so this day... xoxo

Pumpkin Time! ...

Don't you just love this time of year... Autumn is approaching Centerville quickly now... the weather has turned quite cool and the leaves are starting to don their fall colors... this is my very favorite time of year!... and even more special this year, I have been asked by Karen, at Brayton Homestead Interiors, to host the October Barn Chicks meeting post... everyone is welcome to sign up! Please either leave me a comment, or drop me an email to let me know you want to participate...

The party post will be on Friday, October 8th here at Idyllhours...my very first party I have given!... I am calling it "Under October's Magical Spell" ... all about beautiful barns, of course, plus pumpkins, scarecrows, Harvest moons, everything you find enchanting this most beautiful of Autumn months... if you don't have a barn to show, show off your countryside in Autumn, share a favorite recipe using pumpkin, a Harvest craft, or maybe your garden's fall bounty... It's going to be alot of fun, please join us!... xoxo... (PS I just purchased my beautiful pumpkin in the photo from Celestina Marie Designs!)...

Something Got Your Goat??? ...

Look at this adorable little face!...

My sister Jill and her husband Wes took a little day trip south of where we all live the other day, about 80 miles away, and was sweet enough to take these wonderful barn photos for me... (she might just be becoming a barn chick herself!)... thanks Jill, you did a great job!...







Hope you enjoyed seeing some more of the beautiful countryside close to our home... xoxo