It's Fall, Y'all!!!

Hi Folks!  I've been doing a bit of cleaning and spiffing up around my house the last few days.  It's going to be a busy weekend (The Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival on Saturday with my friend Phyllis, and kayaking on Lake Rabun on Sunday) and then on the way  home from kayaking we'll go by and pick up my mother and bring her home with us.  She is having her first cataract surgery on Monday, and has to start drops in her eyes on Sunday night, so we thought it would work better if she just came home with us and we go straight to the surgery center from here on Monday. 

Anyway, I've been spiffing up the place a bit, and had absolutely zero intentions of doing any fall decorating until I saw this . . .

What is it about a freshly polished dining room table that calls out for something pretty? 

Now, if you were reading my blog last year, I told you about my lack of understanding all about the halloween thing.  I just don't get it!  And that post went over like a lead balloon, with a resounding thud of silence.

But if you want to talk about celebrating the harvest; acknowledging God's bountiful blessings and celebrating that, or just celebrating the beauty of this 'golden' season . . . well, I'm all over that one!  But for decorations, I want things that highlight the positive things about fall.  Last year I had just lost my Dad and had been sick, and I just didn't do much at all.  The year before that, I did a little, but couldn't find some of my favorite decorations - now where did they go???  Then, after Christmas, when I was putting away the tons of decorations up in the attic, I found a bin that I 'thought' held old fake pine garlands, but instead held my favorite fall decorations.  Hooray! 

So yesterday I climbed up into the attic (yes, all by myself - shhhhh!  don't tell hubby, that's a no-no!) and brought down my big blue bin full of fall decorations.  The ceramic pumpkins, pierced metal and beaded pumpkins, too.  My turkey salt and pepper shakers, along with the little boy and girl pilgrim salt and pepper shakers.  There were a oouple of silk flower arrangements, and wood things, too.

I really wanted to use my hand blown cloche, so I pulled out a vintage cake plate, put the ceramic pumpkins under the dome, and tied a copper ribbon with some wooden leaves onto the knob.  Then I placed the treasured salt and pepper shakers on either side.  My table was done!

Then I took a big basket with some pine cones left from last year, and added a cornucopia silk flower arrangement and a sign I painted a few years ago.  That went on the hearth in front of the fireplace!  Those are some of the prettiest pine cones I've ever seen!  We picked them up at a WMA area south of Savannah last year.  We hope to go back and get more of them this year when we go at the end of November.

On the left side of the fireplace I placed the punched metal pumpkins . . .

and to the right side went Mr. Crowe . . .

  

and a stuffed pumpkin.  

And that's as far as I got!  I was decorating as I cleaned, and my vacuum stopped sucking dirt, so I didn't get finished!  And here I sit, talking to you instead of taking my vacuum apart to see why it won't suck up the stuff it's supposed to suck up!

I'll try to share the remaining 2-3 pics with you AFTER I get the cleaning and decorating finished, but right now . . . well, right now I'm off to take my vacuum cleaner apart!  Wish me luck!  Blessings, Becky

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