Scary~~not scary???

 When you were a kid, was there a house in your neighborhood that was old, and a bit scary looking? 
We had one in our neighborhood, and we never, ever went to that house to trick or treat!

 Looking back now, I imagine that some of those old scary houses were houses that these days I most decidedly would not think were scary. 
Rather, great old houses that needed fixing up!

 On my walk yesterday morning, I noticed several 'scary' looking houses that need some love, and some other houses that once may have been 'scary'  looking, but are getting some much-needed attention and renovation.

 Scary house? Or not a scary house?
Not scary, in my book.

 Not scary...

 Old, old wire fence...not scary.
Weeds... a bit scary.

 Lastly, this house...admittedly, a bit scary.
Nope... I wouldn't trick or treat at this house!
Although, the renovator and old house lover in me can see a ton of potential in this old house. 
Hopefully, someday there will be a person that loves this old house and takes it from scary to not scary.

                             Wishing you all a not scary Halloween!  

~ The Witches at Gardner Village ~

 Flying witches.
It's that most amazing time of year again...Fall!
Autumn, Fall, 'witch~ever' word you choose, it's time for our annual visit to Gardner Village to enjoy the scenery and enjoy the witches that they display.

 So, in the spirit of Fall, enjoy these pictures of the witches.

 I can never pick a favourite witch. All of the witches are super cute!
  
We also went to one of our favourite shops: Home Again.
It's a consignment shop that is near Gardner Village. 
On this trip, we bought a fantastic box pumpkin that lights up.
More on that later..

This past week, we took time to visit Gardner Village, do some shopping, and worked like crazy on "The List".
More to come on "The List".

Have a wonderful day and enjoy Fall!
It's official now, so it's legal to enjoy pumpkin flavoured everything... *tee hee**.

Attitude of Gratitude :
~ So grateful for rain!
About 1:00 this morning, we woke to the sound of rain. As our little hamlet has a complete restriction placed on each household of absolutely no watering outside, we were so grateful to hear the rain! 
Last week, the main shaft in the water pump for our city water broke. We are all on spring water now and awaiting the city repair of the well. 

~ A few of my favorite things....October ~

 October is without a doubt, my favorite month of all.
I adore the colors of the changing leaves, the soft light of mornings, and that crisp air.
My sweet husband and I go for a walk everyday together, and these last few days we've walked up on the foothills and around the farms.

 The road to the dairy farm.
Our home is just on the other side of the dairy, and nestled alongside the foothills.

The road leads to the ponds.

 Over the creek we go, and up past some darling old farm houses.

 Old farmhouse made of cut stone.

 Adorable white farmhouse with a vintage wire and wood fence.

 Yellow farmhouse with a picket fence, and black shutters.

 Darling red screen door and welcoming entry posts.

Our home... all decorated for Halloween.
Can you spy our dog Rowdy's basketball? It blends right in with those cheery pumpkins~!

 Near the front door... broom parking for all.

 On the sofa table... a fantastic ceramic pumpkin that we bought in Santa Fe.
 Fence post pumpkins, made from scrap wood last fall, and four little Halloween ceramic 'egg heads' that I painted nearly 22 years ago.

Faux gourds and a white pumpkin, a Halloween hat box, and another little ceramic piece I painted 22 years ago too.

"Spooky" wood letters on the mantle, and a few wood craft pumpkins. The simple "boo" banner that I made last fall.

 These things are just a few of my favorite things this October.

~Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm so grateful for my wonderful family. They are my greatest blessing!
~Feeling thankful for cozy, fuzzy socks.
~Grateful for the time I had Sunday to study my scriptures; renewed my determination to be charitable, and loving, and to seek opportunities of service.
~Grateful for Monday night family dinners, and the opportunity to increase my baking and cooking skills.
~Feeling thankful for our 'new' leaf blower. Wow.. sure makes 'sweeping' the sidewalk, driveway and gutters a snap! Why didn't we buy a leaf blower years ago?? We were in St. George at to go to Tuacahn, and while we were there, we stopped by D.I. and I found a Stihl gas powered lawn blower for just $30.00. Yay!! Love a great buy!!

~ Halloween... Salt Lake City style ~

                                 Some folks just go all out for the holidays, don't they ?? !!!
I made this picture just as large as I could, so that you can see the many details that went into this Halloween display in Salt Lake City.
Notice the sails on the windows, the chain above the entry, and the ships lanterns.



The pirate theme for Halloween, is right on the mark.

I'm sure a lot of thought and a lot of work went into getting

this Halloween display, just right. 

 My sweet husband and I went to Salt Lake City this past weekend.

We wanted to have a little getaway, and enjoy the Fall weather, and just spend time together before the holiday season begins.

We had so much fun together!

We drove around the old neighborhoods and took pictures of great old houses.
The blue house above is just scary looking, but it were renovated, it would be gorgeous.
Looks a bit Halloween~ish now though.......

 One of our views on our drive.
Old houses, old neighborhoods, and old buildings make me smile.
I just love old stuff!!

 Gorgeous mansion.

 Same old mansion; different angle.

 Salt Lake City temple.

 Salt Lake City capitol building.

 Downtown Salt Lake City  ~~ City Creek Center.

We shopped at City Creek Center, and ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.
It was our first time eating at The Cheesecake Factory.
      Our daughter had gone to The Cheesecake Factory in Ohio, and she told us that we would love it. We did!
We had their grilled chicken tostada salad, and split a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.
If you've never been to The Cheesecake Factory, be warned... they serve huge portions and one dish easily can be shared!

We also got a jump on our Christmas shopping at City Creek.
It's a nice feeling to have a bit of shopping done already.

 It's turning cold here.
It was just 33 degrees this morning, and that was the thermometer on the porch.
Once you stepped off the porch, it was even colder.
My sweet husband snapped these pictures of the moon last night.
They are not super clear, however, if you look to the right of the moon, you will see what looks like a tornado funnel.
It was just a really neat cloud formation.

 Just a few seconds later... it had disappeared.
So glad that he got the picture of it, when he did.

On the way back home, we stopped by Costco, and stocked up on Halloween candy.
Last year, we had over 150 trick or treaters!! What a surprise that was after only having less than a dozen trick or treaters when we lived at the homestead.
     Last year, our daughter had to make an emergency candy run, because we had more trick or treaters than we had planned on.
   This year, we are ready for them..... I think......

Wishing you all a great rest of your week, and a Happy Halloween.
Just think, in a few days, it'll be November!!!

Attitude of gratitude ~
~ Feeling thankful for these last Fall days.
~Grateful for an amazing husband. I am so blessed to be married to my very best friend! He indulges me, and doesn't mind me asking him to stop the car just so I can snap a picture. What a guy!!!
~Feeling grateful that all the winterizing around here is done. I just have to plant garlic this afternoon, then that will be the last Fall chore on my list. Oh... and straightening the storage room, but that shouldn't take long, or be too bad.

~ Would you believe me if I told you.....

 That.. Garden Charlie is the official greeter of the season, here at Mill Hill Meadow?!
Well, he is!

We've had Garden Charlie for about seven or eight years now.

In his early life, he watched over our large gardens at Cottage on Main.
    Now, he's pretty much retired, except for during the Fall months.
Cute as ever!

 Garden Charlie got spiffed up a bit this year..... he got a new overalls and a new cozy flannel shirt.
Instead of frightening off the birds, he just grins and enjoys all thing Fall.
 Pumpkins, gourds, and decorations.

 Amazing gourds in beautiful Fall colors grace the dining room table.
A bit of the harvest season on display.

 The living room console table is gussied up for Halloween, as well.
Some of the darling crafts that we made are displayed, and that wonderful large birdhouse is an early birthday present from my husband. We saw it in a new boutique in town, and he knew I loved it and bought it for me.
Even though my birthday isn't until the 15th, he wanted me to have it now and enjoy it.  He's awesome like that!

 A few more crafts from our girls craft day on the entry table.

   ~ and some more crafts....

 ~ and some more.

 I realized that I didn't have a Halloween wreath.
Lots of Fall wreaths, with leaves and berries, etc.. but no Halloween wreath, so I made this one.
Looking at the crow, I think someone bumped him.. he looks like he's ready to fly away, or fall off his nest.

 Just two weekends ago, my sweet husband and I lucked upon an estate sale in a near~by small town.
I couldn't pass these amber goblets up. Not only do I love the color of them, and how well they will work for Fall tablescapes, but I adore the diamond cut design that extends down the stem of the goblets.  The folks had such a cute little requirement for buying something at their estate sale.. the requirement was that you had to consent to take a few cookbooks for free. Their mother had collected cookbooks her entire life, and had a room about 12X10 full of cookbooks!  So, I also got 4 neat old cookbooks in the deal!

 Our 'new' old door. We've been in this home now for just shy of a year and a half. We love our home! However, newer homes aren't built {generally speaking} with screen doors. We really, really wanted a screen door.
We ordered one from Home Depot, and it was quite nice, and a pricey. But, it wouldn't work on our house, because the reveal around the door wasn't deep enough to install a screen door.
So, my sweet husband had a carpenter build us a shallow depth door and then my husband built up the door casing, and now we have an amazingly beautiful hickory and cherry wood screen door, in the old fashioned style.
I'm over the moon!

Hope you all have a " Boo~tiful day , my friends.

~Attitude of gratitude
~ Feeling grateful that our old truck is getting a brake fluid hose replaced. Last thing I want is a fire under the hood.
~Thankful for cinnamon ~ sugar pecans roasting away in the slow cooker. Boy, does our home ever smell delicious, and Fall~ish!
~So grateful for our new range. Our old smooth top range conked out, and my sweet husband bought us a new gas convection range with 5 burners. Boy do I feel spoiled :)
~Feeling thankful that my sweet husband has gotten so much of the winterization done around here.. all the vehicles have had the oil changed in them, the rototiller and lawn mowers will be done this week, and the ATV's. What a nice feeling to know, when the snow falls, we'll be ready!