Autumn into Winter . . .

With the turn of a page, the calendar is saying winter.  Mother Nature isn't giving up autumn without a fight though.  It's in the low 50's here in New York.  Bright blue skies prevail and the couple of inches of snow that fell the day before Thanksgiving are mostly just a memory now. 

This morning I cut up my pumpkins and threw them into the yard for the wildlife to eat.  I started to take down the autumnal (I LOVE that word!!!)  bits and bobs and then I looked in my hall closet for the easy access Christmas ones.  Most are packed away upstairs until decorating goes into full swing.  Hopefully, this will be in the next couple of days while my honey is off from work. 

Just a few things on the window sills so far . . .

. . . and a strand of vintage jingle bells in the bathroom.

I'd really like to cut down our own tree this year but we wouldn't be able to do that until December 13th due to schedules around here.  I thought about giving in and visiting our favorite roadside stand again so we could have our tree up earlier until yesterday when my oldest son told me he was upset with us that we got our tree and decorated it without him last year.  Who'd a thought it?!!?  Lol!!  So now I'm torn but thinking December 13th might be okay since he won't be home from college until then.  Those of you who have older children are probably familiar with how they sometimes go thru a phase where things like decorating Christmas trees and carving pumpkins aren't at the top of their list of fun things to do anymore.  Then, just like that, it becomes fun again.  I think this has a lot to do with maturity and tradition.  I've always told the boys and now my daughter how important family and traditions are.  I love that he's coming back around with this again and I'll be sure to put aside a box of his special ornaments just for him to put on the tree. : )

I'm also vowing here to keep the next few weeks leading up to Christmas simple.  I vow to stay within my budget and to not be wrapping presents still at 1 am on Christmas Eve.  I vow to have some sense of organization for a change.  From my mouth to God's ears!!  : )


Many blessings for a wonderful Monday ~ Wendy

Sunday Sayings . . .

It's been quite a couple of weeks around here with both of our cars having problems, a little girl with a very bad cold and both of our dogs getting sprayed by the neighborhood skunk.  They're clean and shiny once again but a slight odor of skunk still lingers in the house.   My friend's dog was skunked recently and she said it took close to three weeks for the smell to be completely gone from her house.  It's always something, isn't it?!!?

A few photos I've taken recently.

On a brighter note, our oldest son is home from college for a few days which means all of my chickens are home to roost.  I know this will be a thing of the past in a couple of years so I truly cherish these moments while I have them. Granted, I've only seen him for an hour here and a half hour there but I'll take it.  I remember being 21 like it was yesterday.  My friends and my boyfriend took total preference over anything else and since he happens to have wonderful friends and a very sweet girlfriend I don't mind so much.  I hope to keep him home for an early dinner before he leaves to watch the Giants play football tonight at 8:00.  I'm bribing him with his favorite . . .  my (not so) famous chicken dumpling soup.  : )

And . . .

we finally get to bring home the little orange sleepy head in the photo!!  We had to wait until he was old enough to have his first shots and is also fully weaned from his Mama.  I took all of the kittens and their beautiful mother to the shelter on Thursday for their shots (I volunteer at an annex of the shelter a couple of days a week) so now he's ready to go.  I'm hoping it's going to be a smooth transition for our other two cats and two dogs.  We've already decided Finnigan is going to sleep in the boys' room for at least the first week until everyone is settled in.  I haven't had a kitten in something like 15 years because our current cats came to us as adults and the cats before them were in their teens when they passed away.  It's all very exciting!!!!  : )

Now for a Sunday Saying . . .

Absolutely!!!  : )


Many blessings for a beautiful Sunday and a wonderful week ahead ~ Wendy