First Days of Spring on a Wordless Wednesday . . .

 Many blessings for a very happy Wednesday ~ Wendy  : )

Last Glimpses . . .

Those precious weeks of fall foliage that I look forward to every year have come and gone and Thanksgiving is now just a fond memory as well.  Mother Nature is starting to ease us into the coming cold and dark days.

A foggy early morning sun thru the pine trees.

Frost on the roof of our backyard shed.

Ice on the pool.

Frost on our hydrangea.

What our hydrangea bushes looked like in August!!  They line our property on both sides and turn different shades of pink as the nights get colder.

A heart-shaped hydrangea.  : )

A squirrel's nest thru the trees.

Although the calendar says it's approximately three weeks until winter solstice arrives I'm bidding a fond farewell and, little by little, replacing fall with winter/Christmas touches around our little cottage.  I thought I'd share some last glimpses of autumnal (one of my favorite words!!) goodness before they're packed up until next year!!

I found this pretty little votive holder on Etsy in a shop called Paper Planet.  I have several for every season.  They're made with real leaves.  Check out her shop here .  She has some pretty things for winter also and they make great teachers' gifts!!

Another one from Paper Planet.  I decorate the windows in my dining room with them and I put the battery operated tealight candles in them so they're lit up at night. They look so pretty flickering at night!!

The centerpiece on my dining room table is made with hydrangea from my yard and placed in blue vintage mason jars.  Soon they'll be replaced with something more Christmasy but will definitely be back in January.  : )

This autumn leaf banner was another Etsy purchase from last year. 

My front door decorated for Thanksgiving.

Having a young daughter gives me an excuse to buy adorable things like this!!  She sits on the stairs in the living room.

You can never have too many candles.  Especially this time of the year!!

Megan made this for Thanksgiving this year.  Handmades by the littles are by far the best decor of all!!

This sign that sits on my kitchen counter top really helped me a lot when I was trying to coordinate Thanksgiving dinner this year after not having it at my house for the last couple of years!!  : )

More of Megan's artwork hanging in the kitchen.  And I just noticed my niece wrote on the calendar when she was here for Thanksgiving dinner!!  LOL!!

My kitchen witch that I purchased during a visit to Jones' Farm in Cornwall, NY this fall.  I've decided to keep it up all year 'round.  My mother had a kitchen witch hanging up when we were kids.  Do you remember those or was it just a New York kinda thing??  : )

We're going to attempt to (probably, depending on our schedule) cut our own Christmas tree this year.  It's something that I've always wanted to do but never have.  I'm hoping that our oldest son will join us because it's December and I haven't gotten a single good photo of him this year for our Christmas card.  He gets an attitude when he sees my camera pointing in his direction and, quite frankly, I don't want to deal with a twenty one year old with an attitude.  : )  Oh well . . .   I'll figure something out!!  : )


Many blessings for a beautiful day ~ Wendy

A Nature Walk and an Autumn Sky . . .

 One of my favorite things about this time of year is how rapidly the sky changes from what seems to be one minute to the next.  From bright sunshine to blustery grey clouds and back again.  In the blink of an eye.

 And then suddenly, the sun is gone and it's time to hunker down for the night.  "Comfy and cozy" is what Meg and I call it.  : )

 Many blessings for a "comfy and cozy" day ~ Wendy

Life Around Twin Ponds on a {mostly} Wordless Wednesday . . .

Our neighborhood is blessed with a wonderful little place to visit called "Twin Ponds."  I believe, at one point, it was one giant pond but then was split in half when a road cut it in two when new houses were being built.

Can you spot the blue heron??  He's a regular at the ponds and so amazing to watch.

Our resident swans expanded their family this year!!  They're very careful about getting too close to people so they hang out at the back of the pond.  Difficult to get a good photo with my lens but still beautiful nonetheless.

After flying over to the other pond, Mr. Heron found his lunch.  Not a great photo but you can see the fish in his mouth.

And he's off to dine without some annoying human taking photos of him!!  : )

There were several kids taking advantage of a beautiful day to fish.  I'm happy to say they got the hook out of his mouth and released him back into the water and we watched him swim away with a fish story to tell his family.  : )

This sweet little baby followed me from cat tail to cat tail and watched as I took photos.  I'm not sure what kind of a bird he is but it was love at first sight for me!!

 We feel so blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful area.  We toyed with the idea of moving last year but I'm so glad we changed our minds.  I'd miss this slice of heaven practically in our own backyard!!


Many blessings for a beautiful Wednesday ~ Wendy