A Couple Things

I was so happy that my favorite cousin, Chrissy, took me up on my request to share a couple of her fall pics.

Fall in her backyard is so colorful! That one tree has just about all the colors of fall, I'm thinking that today, I'm just going to really pay attention to all of the fall foliage around me.

I love her fall decor. I have to admit, fall colors aren't usually my favorites--but I do love them for--well--fall! I don't wear orange or yellow or decorate on a regular basis with those colors. I do not have orange flowers in my garden and very little yellow. But there's nothing like it for fall. Due to the engagement party, I had more fall decor this year than ever before. 

My most favorite fall thing I have has to be this:

Not only is this needlepoint project beautiful---it was so much fun to stitch! This one is earmarked for Sandy. Usually, I enjoy a piece for a year or two and then pass it on to whoever I plan to give it to. I might need another year with this one. It's a pretty big piece--the stitched part is 22" x12"--too big for a pillow, so I had to frame it. I love the texture of the piece and of the linen mats.

I actually took all of my fall decor down yesterday. I'm planning on packing it all up today and hauling it up to the Christmas closet. It's actually my year round decorations closet. It was one of my favorite things when we were looking at this house--27 years ago!

I'm starting to gear up for Christmas. I'm not cooking for Thanksgiving---there's just 4--maybe 5 of us, so I've made reservations for the club. I'll spend Thanksgiving weekend finishing my Christmas decorating. I'm having bookclub on Monday after Thanksgiving, so I want everything to be ready. I plan to spend the next couple weeks--or at least the few days when we're not traveling, to go through everything and clean out---especially all the bins of ornaments. I have a lot. A. Whole. Lot! I love ornaments, but we're not planning on putting up two trees anymore, so it's time for some of them to go. I'll let the family go through them too. I'm just going to keep the most special ones.

Lastly, my camellias are blooming. They bloom in the fall and then again around March. They are loaded with buds. This is about the most blooms I've ever had. Sadly, their bloom time is also our frost time. Luckily, we haven't had a hard freeze yet. I'll be surprised if I really get to see it in full bloom!