~ 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.....

~ Sweet Summer things ~

 Hello friends.
This has been a sweet summer!
In the meadow, the elk are grazing.
Look at those huge antlers on them this year!
Just a few days ago, I could hear a few of the elk bugling.  It is amazing to hear them bugle !
In a few weeks, the rut will begin, and then we will hear plenty more elk bugles.

 Our youngest son, Spencer, bought a small lathe {second hand}.
He's always loved working with his hands, and he wants to make pens, birdhouses, boxes, and bowls etc..
{He got that from my dad! My dad used to turn the most beautiful projects on his lathes.}
So Spencer turned on the lathe and grabbed a piece of left~ over fence post and turned a rustic candle holder.  It was difficult wood to work with. It was a piece of pressure treated and stained pine. Not the best wood for turning.

 Still, I LOVE the finished project!
I think this little rustic candle holder is the sweetest thing.
Spencer was going to throw it away!  He really didn't like the way that it turned out.
I on the other hand, think it's wonderful, and I am happy to have it!

 All the sweet sunflowers.
They are growing madly, and happily blossoming.
Out of the 10 varieties that we planted, about 7 different varieties have blossomed so far.
That's pretty good!

 Isn't it sweet when sunflowers just begin to open?!
The petals unfurl one at a time.

 The red variety is stunning!
I hope that they keep on blossoming, so I can have a big ole vase full of them.

 This one is a 'new to us' variety.
It was supposed to be purple.
It kind~of is, I suppose.
Although, it really is more of a burgundy color.
In the entire seed packet that was planted, only about 3 seeds germinated.  So, we'll save some seeds this year to plant next spring, but I think we need to plan on a low germination rate for this variety.

 I even love the sunflowers after the petals have withered, and all that is left is the seed head.
They are still beautiful to me.

I found this picture on Pinterest.
Such a cute way to display those sunflower seed heads, and very Fall~ish too.

Wishing you a sweet summer week.

~ Attitude of gratitude
~ Feeling grateful for the box of hot chocolate mix stuck in the back of the pantry.
It was down right nippy this morning! Just 51 degrees. We slept with the windows open, and I woke up chilled. That cup of hot cocoa really hit the spot.
~ Feeling so grateful that our daughter got a promotion with her company.
~ Feeling grateful for projects, and lists of projects. I look forward to each new morning and being able to work on something creative, or doing a bit of canning, etc..
   What a blessing life is!!

All Around The Cottage...

 All the ingredients for making Lemon-Coconut body butter.
Homemade lemon infused oil, and coconut oil

 Add coconut oil to mixer and pour in a bit of lemon oil.
Whip for a few minutes until frothy.

 Refill old canning jar, and ta-da... Lemon-Coconut body butter. 
Great for slathering on when you get out of the shower, or rubbing into your heels and putting on a warm pair of sock before bed.  Sure helps my hands stay crack free too.
Easy to make, affordable,  smells wonderful, and best of all... great for your skin!

 Spencer was asked to play his bagpipes for a funeral in a neighboring town.
He's played at quite a few funerals now, and he feels honored to be asked.
Here he is with members of the VFW.

 Just after the 21 gun salute... he's ready to play.
Spencer embraces our Scottish heritage, and taught himself to play the bagpipes.
He's very, very good.  Maybe it's in the blood.... his 3rd great grandfather was from Scotland, and played the pipes too.

Scottish shortbread sounded good this weekend , so I made some.

 Lemon Shortbread.
Pressed into a pie tin, scored and ready for the oven.

 Cooling on the baking rack. Baking shortbread in the pie tins makes it really easy to remove in one piece for cooling. 

Cut along the score lines with a sharp knife.
Delicious!!'


Recipe : Lemon Shortbread (You may double the recipe if you like)
1/2 C. butter
1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 1/4 Cups of flour

*Cream sugar and butter together. Add lemon zest and stir in to butter mixture.
Add flour a little at a time, and stir in by hand.
Dough will be crumbly, so work it together by hand, until smooth.
Divide dough in half and press into pie tins.  Prick dough with fork, and score.
(You may also cut dough into squares or rounds)
Bake in oven preheated to 325 degrees, for about 14-15 minutes, or until the bottom edges are just starting to turn golden brown.
When cool enough to handle, cut along score lines with sharp knife.
Enjoy !

Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful that General Conference was this past weekend.  I always feel so inspired.
~I'm grateful for a visit from a dear friend.  Good conversation, and laughter.

Depression Glass

 Depression glass.
Three darling little plates, one pitcher, two cups, and a small cream pitcher.
Found them all at a yard sale.

 I just couldn't pass them up.
The lady told me that they once belonged to her grandmother, and she was torn about selling them, but she really didn't have room to display them, or store them anymore.
I'm not certain if they are truly Depression glass, or if they are reproductions... either way, they are so darling.  And, the price was right.
I just had to buy them.

 She also sold me this egg basket.
Love the red color, and even though, we will probably never have enough eggs to fill it, we are certainly going to put it out in the coop and enjoy it!

 Old milk bottles.
Another yard sale find.
As were the ceramic eggs, and the cheese tin.

 My butterfly house.
Spencer made this for me, quite a few years ago.
It needed a paint job, and then he will get it installed on the pole, and placed in the flower bed.
I am painting it golden yellow, with a brick red roof.
I wonder if butterflies like yellow and red.

 Another old cupboard door project.
I just wanted to make a 'Welcome" sign to hang on the porch.
I made it so that I can change out the little wreath to match the season.

Jack O' Lantern.
Little ceramic pumpkin pot.
He was a yard sale find too.
He has such a quizzical expression on his face.
Worry? Humor?
I'm not certain.
But, he's cute!

I am getting a lot of my project and organization list done.
Slowly, but surely.
I have taken time out for fun.
 Yard sales. Shopping trips. Rides in the mountains.
Balancing out the work with the fun.


Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful for a gardening friend gifting me with dozens of chive plants.
We will plant them under our apple trees. It is said that they will keep deer away. So far, we have found that it works really well.
~I'm grateful for an up-coming luncheon with some women friends . Old friends and new friends.
~I'm grateful my rice bags... yep... they help me feel pretty toasty on these cold mornings.  I think it may be time to take the cooler out, and store it until next summer.

Enamored..

 I have become enamored with deep charcoal colored paint. Completely gaga.
For quite a while, I've been looking at ReStore for charcoal or black paint.
Never had any luck..... until about 2 weeks ago.
Then, I scored two - five gallon buckets.
 Delight.
As soon as we had a day with temperatures above freezing... I painted all the exterior doors this gorgeous charcoal color.
Made a basket filled with daisies and ivy, and happily hung it on the door.

 I need to put another coat of paint on the doors, and razor around the glass.
As you can tell, the charcoal color has a lot of green undertones.
Perfect.
Spencer took the pictures for me.
I had to laugh.... every picture he takes is slightly askew.
I wonder if his right leg is shorter than his left leg?!

 Speaking of Spencer...
He has been putting in hours and hours of practice on the bagpipes.
He has offered to play at funerals for free, and the phone is ringing off the hook.
He has also been asked by a local mortuary to play for funeral that they have.
He plays beautifully, and enjoys it so much.

Bountiful Baskets was this past Saturday morning.
Everyone here forgot all about it, and slept in.
At 7:00 am.. the doorbell rang, and one of the volunteers delivered our produce.
So thoughtful.
Now, I need to ripen the pears and make something with them.
Any ideas?
Maybe I'll end up making a few jars of pear butter.