Autumn Magic

We went off to pick some pumpkins....

And we found....

....just the perfect collection.

There were hay rides and...

...blue skies and gold leaves everywhere we looked.

I picked some Sweet Annie for drying in a bundle in the kitchen. Smell so good!

Nib just looked up the entire time. So much pretty foliage overhead!

There were a few leaf fights.

  

Curiously the leaves on our own trees in our yard have yet to really turn or start dropping in earnest. It was kind of fun to drive out to this farm and enjoy a preview of fall leaf play. 

Some very, very happy sheep.

I love this boy.

There was a gorgeous blushing sky on the way home.

 We put the pumpkins on the front and back steps, the back door ones are for the more timid family members who are afraid of pumpkin smashers and the front step clan are the folks who are so unabashed about their celebratory fall spirit that they really believe the neighborhood and yea, the world will be good to them. The glass is half full and half empty at our house.

And this morning we baked another apple cake

I love the things they make out of Tinker Toys. So glad I picked them up at that yard sale.

Can you believe he's about to cut through is first two teeth? Such a sweet soul.

Testing the cake (which is already half gone)

 It is nice and moist. Plenty of apples, lovely sweet and shattery crust on top, but still, I dunno...I think I want it to be more spiced and a darker color. Maybe I need brown sugar in it or some whole wheat flour or something. Still searching, but feeling closer than ever.....

And my trash table is done! Well....sort of done.

 I ran out of paint before I could get the wooden edge along the top painted and the leg paint is a bit weak, but I was so anxious to use it that I think I'm just going to let it ride for a while. Its living in the sunroom, giving a boost to several houseplants who couldn't reach the light well. I love the silvery metallic top and have to admit that I stole the idea of painting it a metallic silver from my sister Foxy. What can I say? She has good taste! I am considering getting some kind of decorative wooden feet at Home Depot to screw in and raise it up. Its a bit low, too high to be coffee table material, but too low for pulling a chair up.

Nesting Begins!

Yes, today the nesting began in earnest.

I have been searching madly in the "free" section of Craigslist...(do check out the fabulous iPhone app if you are equipped)...for a changing table or a low dresser that could double as such. No dice. I've been looking for a couple of weeks and A has been threatening to take his grandmother's beautiful heirloom writing desk into the kids room for changing diapers on if I didn't get something in two weeks time. Honestly, I think he was even a little generous and turned a blind eye for perhaps longer than the supposed "limit."

We got word that we were supposed to have a Nor'easter coming through tonight and so I thought I'd make a mad dash for curb browsing and see if I could find something. There had been a post on Craigslist recently about a family who was moving and had dumped a good quantity of stuff on the curb and so I thought I'd take a gander and see if there was anything left before the rain got at it.

There wasn't much left. I picked through the bagged goods and rescued two china saucers, a golden, three armed plant stand. There was a low dresser that was the right height but it was a bit long (I didn't want anything imposing) and it was real wood which meant that it was heavy. Heh. No way I was gonna be able to lug it into the car, I could barely lift one corner. I overlooked repeatedly and then finally noticed the flimsy, seen-better-days, made out of fake materials computer desk on the other side of the driveway and then thought..."Hey!" and somehow I could see potential. I could barely lift it and it only sorta fell apart upon lifting and it totally fit in the trunk of The Mommy Van. Score.

I got it home and Ru (believe it or not!) helped me carry it out of the car, up the stairs into the house and then up the stairs to the boys room to boot. And, no, you can't have him, he's my four year old. I plan to feed him cookies tomorrow to make sure he stays.

So, we hauled it up, I hammered and glued and then sawed and hammered some more and lo and behold...I created our own little changing table/ psuedo dresser clothing shelf unit. Presto! Nothing but garbage was used in its creation.

Some of my cuts were a little rough (I was working with a pruning saw, points for resourcefulness) and there are some raw edges that aren't sanded or painted yet, but...like everything else in the house I am dreaming it in another color anyhow. I'm thinking, cherry red, in a high gloss?

I also arranged the living room into what I think may be our working model at the moment  and put the first brush strokes on the walls.

I realize the color looks a little glaring and a bit Barbie at the moment but its only the first coat and it was a night-shot. That's all I'm painting right there...just that square over the mantle...I think...I'm considering painting in the rectangle in the middle of the mantle too. Not sure on that. After a few more coats it will be a sleek and modern raspberry and will set off the big white candle-holders I bought the other day at a fabulous tag sale!

Am excited about the home day I have coming tomorrow....more arranging and nesting and maybe even painting to come!