An October 1st, rainy, monday morning....
Scout is of the opinion that rainy monday mornings are for sleeping in..."Do we have to get up, yet?"
Yes, we have to get up! It's October 1st...Rabbit Rabbit (for all the girlfriends who follow Susan Branch's Blog:)
I have so many things to show you!
As I enter the kitchen, my newly installed farm sink with a shiny new faucet, greets me..."Morning, glory!"
It is such a happy little kitchen, even on a cloudy, rainy morning...
I fill the pink tea kettle with water, grind the starbucks coffee beans, and prepare the french press..
Coffee is ready...tour may begin...
As I walk through the cottage this morning, listening to the rain on the tin roof, I am thankful for this new season. I just love mums and pumpkins and pansies...and the fragrance of a gingerbread candle in the kitchen, an Autumn Wreath candle in the dining room...
...and a cinnamon roll candle in the sunroom....
...while listening to the Classical Music station on the stereo... and continuing work on my latest project... a little Christmas book...
The living room coffee table has been switched out for the smaller glass and wicker table (nothing ever stays in one place for very long...patient, patient husband) and looks so sweet with a petite cake stand of velvet pumpkins....(Thank you, sweet Mechelle, for the darling stand.)
Looking through the windows, as it continues to rain, I welcome the idea of enjoying fall from the inside...
Through the side window in the dining room...
There's the pretty dogwood...with some of its leaves beginning to turn red.
And out the front dining room window, as you spy the silhouette of Eliza's tiny sewing machine, you can see what it might look like if we lived in England...a flagstone path...and rain....lots of rain....
Beyond the front window of the living room, large mums and yellow tulip poplar leaves...
The front door window, with its vintage curtain, frames a pretty vignette...
The new/old gate has been installed, along with the remainder of the antique fencing, and awaits a coat of white paint.
Over this past weekend, as Xavier left Grammy's house and headed home, I took an opportunity to snap a few photos outside....
The fountain was trickling, and it was so peaceful ...
I love to see the little house finches come for their occasional bath...splashing about in the water...so sweet!
Tim has enjoyed sitting out here in the rocker, on many afternoons, enjoying the tranquility of our little haven....
This was where Xavier chose to leave his Fall Leaf Collection...he searched diligently around the premises, for all the colors....the red one is from the dogwood tree...
He was quite upset that he could not obtain a true orange leaf...oh, if only we had a sugar maple, with its brilliant fall foliage...
The front yard is speckled with mums...
Big mums...
Pink mums...
and pretty white and yellow mums...
along with some pretty pansies and purple johnny jump-ups...
And just a few pumpkins...four in and around the little wheel barrow (one for each of our grandchildren)...
...and a pretty stack alongside the lantern by the front door...
At the foot of the back porch steps...the tiny trailing Creeping Jenny, a gift from dear Jeri Landers, at Hopalong Hollow, is adapting well to Middle Tennessee...
...and there are a few little surprises around the garden....
The Hollyhock seeds I planted in a pot that sat forever in my kitchen window this summer, were transplanted ...finally.... to the cottage garden Tim constructed...and they are thriving...
I will be so thrilled next spring, to finally have one of my favorites amongst the flowers.
When Tim established this garden, walled-in with stones he dug up around the yard, he mixed the soil with the compost, and a volunteer pumpkin vine was a result...
Two or three times, I spotted a cherry tomato-sized growth...only to see it withered the next day...
One day...after many many days of not "checking in" I was excited to see a yellow, tomato-sized pumpkin. But it didn't LOOK like a pumpkin...
Until this day...Saturday...AHHHHH...it really LOOKS like a pumpkin...a very little pumpkin...
I know one can find a stand full of pumpkins on every street corner and farmer's market, this time of year, but there is absolutely nothing better than to watch one grow in your own little garden...with its sweet little curly-Q's...pretty as a picture.
The final surprise, was a big pink bloom and several more buds on a transplanted hydrangea....
I just don't believe I can remember seeing them sprout new flowers in October! But, my goodness, better late than never!
That evening...I stepped outside after dark, and had to capture my favorite thing in the world... looking in the windows at the candles on the sill, the lamps lit...
and an autumnal scene on the front porch...
Our lawn jockey has acquired a tiny lantern with a tiny amber tea light....
I leave you, to enjoy the rest of this rainy monday and this new month...
...anticipating the Barn Sales and Book Signings...(The Hayloft in Clarksville, Marketplace in Portland, and The Pumpkin Festival in Franklin on October 27th)
... the arrival of Eliza Celebrates a Royal Wedding (UPDATE: it is now on Amazon!! It says it is temporarily out of stock, as it also says on Eliza has a Cousin...but when ordered, they are printed and then mailed)
Surprised to receive the proof this morning...
This is the front cover...
and this is the back cover...(my dear sister is the photographer:)
....the submission of Eliza will not be Afraid (a Bedtime Story) ...
... the completion of the Christmas book ...Here We Go a'Gathering (a Christmas rhyme)...
...and a kindergarten field trip, with one very special little grandson, to the Pumpkin Patch.
Enjoy a Glorious October, my friends,
Christie
Scout is of the opinion that rainy monday mornings are for sleeping in..."Do we have to get up, yet?"
Yes, we have to get up! It's October 1st...Rabbit Rabbit (for all the girlfriends who follow Susan Branch's Blog:)
I have so many things to show you!
As I enter the kitchen, my newly installed farm sink with a shiny new faucet, greets me..."Morning, glory!"
It is such a happy little kitchen, even on a cloudy, rainy morning...
I fill the pink tea kettle with water, grind the starbucks coffee beans, and prepare the french press..
Coffee is ready...tour may begin...
As I walk through the cottage this morning, listening to the rain on the tin roof, I am thankful for this new season. I just love mums and pumpkins and pansies...and the fragrance of a gingerbread candle in the kitchen, an Autumn Wreath candle in the dining room...
...and a cinnamon roll candle in the sunroom....
...while listening to the Classical Music station on the stereo... and continuing work on my latest project... a little Christmas book...
The living room coffee table has been switched out for the smaller glass and wicker table (nothing ever stays in one place for very long...patient, patient husband) and looks so sweet with a petite cake stand of velvet pumpkins....(Thank you, sweet Mechelle, for the darling stand.)
Looking through the windows, as it continues to rain, I welcome the idea of enjoying fall from the inside...
Through the side window in the dining room...
There's the pretty dogwood...with some of its leaves beginning to turn red.
And out the front dining room window, as you spy the silhouette of Eliza's tiny sewing machine, you can see what it might look like if we lived in England...a flagstone path...and rain....lots of rain....
Beyond the front window of the living room, large mums and yellow tulip poplar leaves...
The front door window, with its vintage curtain, frames a pretty vignette...
The new/old gate has been installed, along with the remainder of the antique fencing, and awaits a coat of white paint.
Over this past weekend, as Xavier left Grammy's house and headed home, I took an opportunity to snap a few photos outside....
The fountain was trickling, and it was so peaceful ...
I love to see the little house finches come for their occasional bath...splashing about in the water...so sweet!
Tim has enjoyed sitting out here in the rocker, on many afternoons, enjoying the tranquility of our little haven....
This was where Xavier chose to leave his Fall Leaf Collection...he searched diligently around the premises, for all the colors....the red one is from the dogwood tree...
He was quite upset that he could not obtain a true orange leaf...oh, if only we had a sugar maple, with its brilliant fall foliage...
The front yard is speckled with mums...
Big mums...
Pink mums...
and pretty white and yellow mums...
along with some pretty pansies and purple johnny jump-ups...
And just a few pumpkins...four in and around the little wheel barrow (one for each of our grandchildren)...
...and a pretty stack alongside the lantern by the front door...
At the foot of the back porch steps...the tiny trailing Creeping Jenny, a gift from dear Jeri Landers, at Hopalong Hollow, is adapting well to Middle Tennessee...
...and there are a few little surprises around the garden....
The Hollyhock seeds I planted in a pot that sat forever in my kitchen window this summer, were transplanted ...finally.... to the cottage garden Tim constructed...and they are thriving...
I will be so thrilled next spring, to finally have one of my favorites amongst the flowers.
When Tim established this garden, walled-in with stones he dug up around the yard, he mixed the soil with the compost, and a volunteer pumpkin vine was a result...
Two or three times, I spotted a cherry tomato-sized growth...only to see it withered the next day...
One day...after many many days of not "checking in" I was excited to see a yellow, tomato-sized pumpkin. But it didn't LOOK like a pumpkin...
Until this day...Saturday...AHHHHH...it really LOOKS like a pumpkin...a very little pumpkin...
I know one can find a stand full of pumpkins on every street corner and farmer's market, this time of year, but there is absolutely nothing better than to watch one grow in your own little garden...with its sweet little curly-Q's...pretty as a picture.
The final surprise, was a big pink bloom and several more buds on a transplanted hydrangea....
I just don't believe I can remember seeing them sprout new flowers in October! But, my goodness, better late than never!
That evening...I stepped outside after dark, and had to capture my favorite thing in the world... looking in the windows at the candles on the sill, the lamps lit...
and an autumnal scene on the front porch...
Our lawn jockey has acquired a tiny lantern with a tiny amber tea light....
I leave you, to enjoy the rest of this rainy monday and this new month...
...anticipating the Barn Sales and Book Signings...(The Hayloft in Clarksville, Marketplace in Portland, and The Pumpkin Festival in Franklin on October 27th)
... the arrival of Eliza Celebrates a Royal Wedding (UPDATE: it is now on Amazon!! It says it is temporarily out of stock, as it also says on Eliza has a Cousin...but when ordered, they are printed and then mailed)
Surprised to receive the proof this morning...
This is the front cover...
and this is the back cover...(my dear sister is the photographer:)
....the submission of Eliza will not be Afraid (a Bedtime Story) ...
... the completion of the Christmas book ...Here We Go a'Gathering (a Christmas rhyme)...
...and a kindergarten field trip, with one very special little grandson, to the Pumpkin Patch.
Enjoy a Glorious October, my friends,
Christie