Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The last of the roses...

It's getting cold and it's time to cut back the rose bushes.....


....these will be the last cuttings...


...until next spring.


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Sunday, October 27, 2013

This takes no time at all.....

There's no need to spend $22 on these:

They can be created in moments:



I purchased tapers at the CTS for a few dollars:



And then I wrapped electrical tape around them:


If you want to burn the candle, just remove the top strip, and so on:


Quick and easy - my type of craft!


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Thursday, October 24, 2013

A slump, snow and spring

I am in a blogging slump....


...the weather has turned cold and dreary...


...and it snowed in the Adirondacks - which means it is not far away for us.

I am already dreaming of spring!


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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

No Befores, Just Afters

I have said it before....There is no time to take "before" photos.  When I decide to tackle a project, there is no stopping me - and if the camera is not in view, I start painting!  So here are a few "afters" of this week's projects:

An pine mirror with shelf:


An old cherry tilt-top table:



Ornaments:


So, what have you been up to?




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Saturday, October 12, 2013

Wine Cork Wreaths

If you are collecting your wine corks, here is an easy wreath to make:


You can glue the corks onto a straw wreath with a hot glue gun.  With these, I used an 8" styrofoam wreath, covered with strips of muslin (or burlap), and then glued on the corks.  I added a bunch of grapes, rather than a bow, to keep it simple!



Each 8" wreath base took about 50-60 corks, so start saving those corks!

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Apple Pickin' at Beak and Skiff in Lafayette, NY


Today we went to the apple orchard to pick Empire apples.  They are a sweet-tart apple that is perfect for eating, baking, sauce and salads:



Beak and Skiff Orchard is south of Syracuse, NY and this year they have a new cafe, a tasting room for their hard ciders, wines, vodka and gins.  They also have a gift shop loaded with country decor and canned goods, a bakery and cider mill:


Our first stop was the cafe for lunch and these buckets of plastic silverware caught my eye:


Cute, huh?


We both ordered chicken salad on croissants.  This was the best I have had in a long time - it was loaded with chopped apples, pecans and grapes:


The view from the orchard is just gorgeous, but unfortunately the sun was hiding behind the clouds and the fall colors didn't show too well:


The fun part is taking the tractor ride into the orchard:



Today they were picking Cortlands and Empires....


...so we filled 3 bags with Empires...


Silly us - we picked 50.4 lbs of apples! 
50.4 lbs!


"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"


We ended the day with a fresh baked apple cider donut!


I imagine I will be making some apple sauce, baking an apple cake, making "chicken salad with apples, pecans and grapes" and keeping that doctor far away!!

If you go, you have to try the Northern Spy Wine - that was my favorite!


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Monday, October 7, 2013

Last minute lunch with a friend.....


Most people are annoyed when they have last minute company.  It doesn't bother me at all.  So, when my girlfriend called and said she would love to stop by for a visit, I turned it into a lunch.


Luckily I had homemade chicken/vegetable soup already simmering on the stove!  My girlfriend picked up some warm bread at the bakery and we were all set for a last minute lunch!


One of my favorite things about fall is making soup.....


...I literally throw all the fresh vegetables I have in a pot with some chicken or beef stock...


....and simmer for a while.  I also add chicken or some beef.

While I was at the MacKenzie-Childs store last week, I saw a cute display of napkins wrapped in their compliment large flowers.  The flowers were so expensive, but a few blocks away I found these for 4/$1.00...how's that for a cheap imitation?  So at the last minute, I wrapped our napkins and forks into the flower rings:



The pumpkin plates are plastic that I found at Walmart for $.96 - they were perfect as a bread plate!


This little ceramic scarecrow has been part of my fall decorations for over 30 years.  I made him in a ceramic class in the early 80's!  I threw some Dollar Tree pumpkins in the center of the table on top of some leaves:


I also attached some more of the flower rings onto my shabby candlesticks in my dining room:


They are displayed on the TableMat I made a few months ago"


The rest of these photos show the touches of fall around my home, enjoy:












Happy Fall!

Sharing with
Inspire Me@ A Stroll Thru Life
Tablescape Thurs @ BNOTP


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