~ In the nick of time ...

 Welcome to November!
A new month, and the month of Thanks Giving.
We live in a high mountain valley, and we get snow every winter.
Trying to beat the snow, I had lots of "to~do" things on my list.
Winterizing things... organizing things...... etc..
Just a few things that I finished up this last weekend ~~~ just in the nick of time:
 ~* Hang new curtains and install new curtain rods in the living room
~* Move stained glass stars from transom window, to windows flanking fireplace.
Southern exposure windows.
Now the sun sparkles and shines through the stained glass stars.
~*Take down all the Halloween décor, and store.
~* Put out all of the Thanksgiving décor, and fluff up the house for Thanksgiving.

 Outside, the clouds gathered, and it began to rain.
While inside, we were busy bees.
 Working to get things organized.

 The deer grazing in the meadow.
Temperatures falling.

 The mountain tops covered in clouds.
I was pretty sure that it was snowing on the mountain tops, but with the cloud cover, I couldn't see the mountain tops.

 My sweet husband took down the hanging ferns and brought them in the house for me.
I went out to the garage and brought in my great~great Grandpa's chair.
 He built it and covered the straw seat with a piece of leather.
 The chair it far too fragile to use as a chair, but it makes a charming stand for one of our giant ferns.
This is the first winter I have ever tried to save ferns.

 I would LOVE any hints or tips you all might have for overwintering ferns!

 I took a little time out from cleaning and organizing, to do a little bit of journaling.
Our son, Spencer, made this absolutely gorgeous pen for me!
I am grinning from ear to ear.. I love it so much!
I have been a journaler for years and years, and this pen makes every page I write, just that much more special to me.

 Organizing the storage room, before the major holidays, was high on my 'to~do' list.
Thanks to my amazing and sweet husband, we got the storage room completely cleaned and organized.
    {I'm adding this little 'before' picture above. It just shows a bit of the room in disarray. I didn't want to look at it, let alone think anyone else would want to look at it, so this is just a glimpse.. but you get the gist.}

 After: Love the shelving, and all the totes are labeled and stacked nicely.
What I love most about this storage room, is that I can "shop" our storage room, and decorate our entire home. I can change out vignettes, decorate for seasons, or holidays etc.
I really love this room!
 {p.s.  on the wall, you might notice an old fashioned style fireman's hat. That hat belonged to my dad. He was a 'fireman' on an old steam powered locomotive.  He tended the coal hopper and shoveled coal into the fire! I am so glad that I have that hat!  He was a fireman when he was very young, and years before I was born. Really is a special treasure to me}

 ~ One of my most favorite features that we added to the storage room : Long curtain rod to hang all of my baskets, and buckets, and containers on. When ever I need one, I can simple chose the one I want and take it off the hook.

 Sure enough.
While we cleaned and organized, it was snowing on the tops of the mountains.

Looking over the meadow and the mountains through the windows above the sink, I feel like we accomplished so much.
We are organized and everything is clean and ready for the holidays.
Just in the nick of time.

~ Attitude of gratitude
~ I'm so grateful for a hard working and loving husband. He is my very best friend, and if something is important to me, then it's important to him. He came up with the best ideas to get our storage room organized. He also helped me completely rearrange the guest room, and hung up an extremely heavy and ornate gold framed mirror in the guest room. Of course, he did mention that the mirror is so heavy, that if it falls off the wall, it will bring the entire wall with it... *giggle**.
~Thankful for 'Stevens' hot chocolate mix. Nothing warms me like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold and blustery day. Loving the flavors this year : Mexican Hot Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Truffle, Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Raspberry, White Chocolate, No Sugar Added Milk Chocolate.. etc..
                   
It's a swell time for a mug of hot cocoa, and snuggling up with a great book!
    ~ I think I might hear the faint sounds of jingle bells.....