~Autumnal Metamorphosis~

 

~Summer mantel morphs into Autumn~

Faux fireplace mantel as it looked during Summer 2010.

Metamorphosis

For more about how we assembled the faux fireplace mantel, click HERE.

Breakfast room harvest table for Autumn.

I said I was going to wait until September 1st.  However, we had a wonderful week of pre-Fall weather that sent me spinning into Autumn decorating mode. 

Besides…the older I get, the slower I get.  If I wait until Fall is officially here, I would finish the Fall vignettes sometime around December 24th!

HAPPY AUTUMN MEMORY

PHOTO FROM FALL ‘99 or 2000

My friend Terri of Lakewood Manor, purchased a new red convertible, over the weekend.  When I saw a photo of her new Sebring, it brought back happy memories of eldest daughter’s Sebring convertible.

  One particular memory; a trip to Eckert’s Orchard (Illinois), in September, about 10 years ago, during apple picking time.

Oldest granddaughter Xanti and her cousin Sasha built a scarecrow at the orchard.  After a discussion, about how to get the fellow home, it was decided he should ride in style.

The photo was taken at Pere Marquette Lodge, Grafton Illinois.  We can’t make a trip to the orchards or Grafton, without a drive up to Pere Marquette State Park and the lodge.

Xanti is the taller of the two girls. 

Standing behind the girls is yours truly, 10 years and several pounds ago.

Linking to Susan’s Metamorphosis Monday.

CLICK ON GREEN HIGHLIGHTED WORDS TO VISIT LINKS

ANSWERS

The black iron dish rack, seen in A Kitchen Vignette, was found at Home Goods.

The paint color in the kitchen is Valspar Laura Ashley Gold 3

The paint color used in the master bedrooms at home and the lake is Sherwin Williams Antique White.

The pumpkins and other Fall items, used in the vignettes are faux, with the exception of the lotus pods.  The pods are from J’s Aunt Ruth’s lake.  The lake is no longer in existence.

THANK YOU

I appreciate your wonderful response to Saturday Photo Fun. 

I hope to have Part II ready for publishing next weekend.

I’ll try to answer more questions in that post.

I am enjoying the project.

~Country Living~

 

 

The County Fair opens this week, just down the road from where we live.  In honor of this event, I thought it appropriate to share a few rural scenes from around our county.

 

Bright blue Chicory, growing beside an old barn.

 

A Quiz

I have read Country Living Magazine since the early 1980’s, almost from the first edition.  One of my favorite regular features is What is It? What is it Worth? 

I am including photos of two farm implements.  Do you know what they are?

I don’t need to know what they are worth. 

The two leaning against the brick wall are priceless. 

The other one is something  J remembers fondly, from a wedding, in which he was an usher.  Imagine, if you will, a much younger J, in a white sport coat. Perhaps he wore a pink carnation.  Remember that song?

The wedding party, including bride and groom, in all their beautiful wedding attire, sat upon a conveyance, like this one, as they were driven to the reception.  This was in a tiny village, not far from our town, many years before J and I met.

A.

B.

While you think about your answers, here are a few more photos.

Hoop Memories

Red Tail Hawk

Rose of Sharon

We were country, when country wasn’t cool.  We still love it.

I’m linking to Mosaic Monday, at Mary’s Little Red House.

 

~Summertime~

"The steady buzzzzzzz of the Katydid chorus,
the bass solo of the croaking Frog,
the steady woof-woof-woof of a barking Dog -
a summer night's serenade."
- Michael P. Garofalo, Cuttings

Red White & Blue Breakfast

 

“When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.”

~Mark Twain

During the 1950’s, our family celebrated July 4th at my grandparents’ home.  A galvanized wash tub was filled with ice and bottles of soda(cokes in our neck ‘o the woods, no matter the flavor).  Nestled in with the “cokes” was a great big watermelon.  We always had our first watermelon, of Summer, on the 4th of July.

Flags & Boats

Lake Diamonds

Linking to Summer Sundays at The Tablescaper and Mosaic Monday at Mary’s Little Red House.

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns,
tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics
where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think
you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." 
-   Erma Bombeck

~Summer Fun~

Making Memories

The scent of Coppertone lotion and chlorinated swimming pool water, always evokes happy summertime memories for me.

We are spending a few days, at the lake, with Gabi and Drew and their mommy, Michelle.

 

With 90 degree temps and heat indexes even higher, we get to the pool bright and early.

After a morning of swimming and playground fun, lunch on the deck.

G’ma enjoyed the morning, too.

~To Market…To Market~

 

 Monday morning, we decided we needed to do a little shopping at Mannino’s Market. 

Mannino’s carries a particular brand of deli meat and cheese, we like.  There are two of the family owned markets, in our area. The nearest is in a small village, just about 10 miles from home.  We can arrive at the market, quickly, by taking the big old 4 lane highway. 

As you know, we prefer the back roads.

With Molly and camera in tow, away we drove. 

Two hours later, we arrived back home, with sandwich fixings, lots of photos, and happy memories of our Monday morning drive to Mannino’s.

Along the way we saw…

Delores’ Farm

During the 19th century, J’s paternal family arrived, in America, from Germany.  Eventually, they made their way to Missouri, where they began farming.

 

Two brothers established farms on either end of this road. At that time, it was a typical dirt farm road, where the brothers traveled between their homes. 

At one time, the road crossed what is now highway 40/64, at Lake Saint Louis.  J’s great great grandparents’ farm was at the end of the road that is now a part of Lake St Louis.  Family still farms there.

The farm at the opposite end of the road, began with the ancestors of Delores, who lived on the farm all her life.

  

Delores was the last descendant of that branch of the family.  The Missouri Century Farm was bequeathed to Saint Charles County Missouri, to be used as a park.  The farmhouse, barn, and other buildings will remain as they are.

 

 

 Pete’s Barn In a round about way, Pete and J’s dad were sort of distant cousins.  This barn is on the farm where Pete’s family was raised.  

In later years, Pete wiled away the hours, shelling pecans.  J stopped by, once in awhile, for a visit.  After these visits, J always brought home a bag of fresh shelled pecans. Better than the pecans, were the stories Pete shared. 

My stepdad, Charley, was a great story teller.  We loved hearing his stories of logging in the Ozarks and other life tales.  Sometimes, there were campfire chats; others were porch swing talks.

If you know someone like Pete or Charley, I recommend engaging him in conversation.  J and I have wonderful memories of listening to these two special people tell their stories of what it was like, when they were young, in rural Missouri.

The Cuivre (pronounced quiver) River, seen through a railroad bridge.

This little post has been a very pleasant endeavor, for me.  It’s nice to take a break from home and garden projects, now and then, and just enjoy the world around us.