Light and Easy First Move Into Fall Decorating

I'm making my move into fall decorating at a slow pace.  I did decide to put together this vignette on the dining table.

I spotted this tray at Pier 1 and it has my colors of the dining room so I figured I'd work it in.

I like the raised stencil design it has on it.

 The white ceramic pumpkin holds a tealight.

The little rug that I'm using like a runner first appeared "here"

I liked the cute little glass owl tealight holder too- also from Pier 1

 I assembled this arrangement using these Annabelle Hydrangeas from my garden, some antique white silk flowers and natural dried pods.

The hand painted vase came into my home last year.  It works well with the fall and winter coloring.

This tray will work really well next spring too with the lighter colors.

I also decided to turn the dining room table on an angle.  I saw this at Pat's- Back Porch Musings "here" and decided to give it try.  I actually works a lot nicer for the traffic flow so I'm happy I gave it a try.

 This worked great over the weekend when 6 of us sat here.  Getting in and out worked out just fine.  

This used to be the living room for this house before we added the larger room on.

It's a small step into fall decorating.  

I have gobs of a lot more fall deco stuff in storage - I'll just bring it out slowly!

I came around the corner and the late afternoon sun was doing a nice job of highlighting my vignette so I took another picture!

Labor Day Weekend Fun and Family Time

On Sunday we took a drive over to the Arcadia Bluffs overlook rest area which offers a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.  It was a nice day (though hazy) early on but later that evening it started to rain and continued on and off until today when everyone was gone (of course)

  We toured Glen Arbor after that and then dined at Harrington's By The Bay before going home.  I used a picture from their web site.  It's hard to make out but there are a couple of boats hanging above, fishing rods, boat motors and two fireplaces on opposite ends.  It's very lodge like.  Love it!

On Labor Day my sister and her husband drove up from a campground they were staying at and we had a great meal.  Rib-eye steaks, potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, chips, cucumbers, carrots and celery sticks- which we drizzled the dressing of our choice on. My sister Jen brought some pineapple slices and made a Cherry Cream Cheese pie that my Mom made frequently when we had family gatherings.  It's an easy recipe from Eagle Brand as seen "here". Let's just say there wasn't much left!  I kind of ran out of energy so I wasn't too fancy about the tables I set.  My day began at 7 a.m. prepping food so I could be ready to go later on.  You know how it is...

Though it was raining on and off all day Tuesday we didn't let it stop us.  The kids wanted to visit one of the newer distilleries that we have called Grand Traverse Distillery.  We took a little tour and the host explained some details about how they came about and how the process works.  A worker was cleaning out one of the tanks while we were there.  I didn't partake in tasting their products but my son said their cherry vodka was wonderful. 

Bonobo Winery

We drove up on Old Mission Peninsula to visit a couple of wineries.  Bonobo Winery is a very new one and is owned by Carter Oosterhouse and his brother.  If any of you watch HGTV you may know who Carter Oosterhouse is.  He grew up here in Traverse City, wed his wife actress Amy Smart up here and has opened this new winery with his brother.  It's only a couple of years old so they have a ways to go yet to be well established.  I liked a few of their wines because they were very delicate in flavor so I brought some home for another rainy day!

Carter Oosterhouse and Amy Smart

Brys Estate

Next we visited Brys Estate Winery

This is my favorite one.  I enjoy their wines and the interior/exterior of their winery.  They also have private tasting rooms one of which has the wine barrels that I snapped a shot of.  In the summer there are tours that travel the area to visit all the wineries in our area.  This link "here" is an example of how many there are now.  Some are quite elaborate and some are very simple but it's fun to tour and see all that's out there.

We ended the day with an evening meal at the Red Ginger restaurant which specializes in Asian dishes and Sushi.  My son,  daughter in-law and hubby went for the sushi but I had a tenderloin steak, potato gratin with stilton blue cheese and applewood bacon, and a shiitake truffle pan sauce- it was fabulous!  The place was loaded which I thought was pretty great for a rainy Tuesday night.  I used a picture of theirs for the restaurant overview but the sushi pictures are from our table.  They ate every bit of it too! 

I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend.  This is the first time our son and daughter in-law have been home for 3 yrs. 

 Our daughter came by on her way home from her kayaking and camping weekend.

We packed in as much as we could and it was great.

I'm a happy Mom today!

Joining:

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Another Visit to the Farm

We had a quick weekend visit to see the family over this past weekend.

 While at the farm I snapped a few shots with my cell phone.

This split rail fence sets next to a little area that people frequently park when visiting.

My mother in-law just turned 90 this week and can't do the garden work she used to so things aren't kept up too well but you can use your imagination as to what it could look like.  The big wooden planter was created last year to put things up higher so she could reach them. 

 Zooming in to the middle of the fence you'll notice a metal accent pieces is mounted there.  

The red shed has it's own share of flowers and garden art. 

Dan's sister Clara creates little art pieces for their mom.  

 Phlox

Obedience Plant

One of the three cats that were running around decided to take a nap on this little bench.

She got nervous when I came near to take a picture but then decided to follow me when I moved towards the fence and gate area.  I showed this gate at the last Good Fences party as seen "here"

Old and new...the barn is old the (red) self loading hay basket is new.  Dan's brother Stan put up several hundred bails of hay in the barn and sells them off to locals little by little for horses and other smaller farm animals.  While we were there a couple arrived and bought about 60 bails.

 These old Hollyhocks keep coming back each year.  

The unused fields are taken over with goldenrod quickly.

Do you know that most people think the Goldenrod causes the late summer allergies but it's actually Ragweed that does it.  Did you know that Goldenrod has been used to make synthetic rubber for tires too?  Just for the heck of it here is a "link" about goldenrod.  

Back on the deck Buster has his own fences.  They keep him gated in because he thinks he's some big tough guy and will go out in the field and challenge raccoons and just about anything else that's out there.  Raccoons are cute but they can be vicious.  He thinks he's a herding dog too and playfully chases the cats.  After they cluster together in the weeds he skips off and goes on his merry way.  Fun and games.

The house is tired and needs a desperate makeover.

The Coneflowers (Echinachea) and Phlox were  buzzing with bees although I couldn't capture any quick enough with my cell phone.  

I'm joining 

Run Around Ranch Report

for 

Good Fences

Disarray and Organizaing

I'm in a state of disarray 

I tore the living room apart so the carpet could be cleaned. 

 

Everything from the living room landed on the dining table.  

While the carpet was drying I decided to tackle cleaning the china cabinet.

 

I cleaned every inch of it.  I edited a few things out and for now I'm happy with it again.  I've been putting this off for too long.

 

I placed some of my stemware in these containers I bought at BB&B.  It was too busy on the inside for me so I had to remove things like this.

 

 I turned the lights on so the crystal would show up better.

I added the dishes and rearranged a few pieces.  

The gold leaf pieces are from our daughter.  She also went to venice and brought these Murano pieces back for me.  

 I've shown my lambs before at Easter but they stay in here year round.

I've had the dishes for a while but put them away at the holidays and never brought them back.  They're reproductions by Spode.

The Murano red decanter set came from Venice in the late 70's when my parents went there.  I asked Mom for it when I got my first china cabinet and she let me have it.  It's funny I have all this bar ware and champagne flutes but truthfully it rarely gets used.  I do like pretty glass and crystal so I guess that's why I collected it.

Our son and his wife are coming home for a little vacation with us.  I've got to get all this cleaned up and done before Saturday!  Well at least I've gotten one thing done!

 

Just call me Donna Reed!! 

LOL....

I always thought she was the perfect mom!

 Well I better get back at it!