Isn't this a beautiful scene? I've used it on my blog before and I love it as much now as the first time I saw it. I want to sit on one of those benches just breathing in the cool air and the smells of autumn. I can actually do that tonight. The weather has changed dramatically. It went from the 90s yesterday (33*C) to 55* tonight (13*C). The humidity is gone too.
I had a completely lazy day today where I did nothing. I mean nothing. I didn't even wake up until 10 a.m. It was a bad night last night where I hardly slept at all, so I guess that's why. My legs are very swollen and sore so I tried to keep off of them as much as possible.
I'm still trying to catch up on all the Hallmark movies I have recorded. Last week I watched some that I have seen before, but still enjoy.
On the 19th I watched "The Sweeter Side of Life (2013).
Dumped by her husband, a woman (Kathryn Morris) takes a job at her father's bakery. It's such a funny movie and gave me a lot of chuckles even though I knew what was going to happen.
On the 20th I watched "A Royal Winter" (2017).
A woman (Merritt Patterson) flees to Europe for some soul
searching and meets a handsome playboy prince who exposes her to a world
she has never before known.
This is one that makes me sigh. I would love to visit the fictional country of Calpurnia, go to the market in the town square and hear the children's choir singing "Lavender Blue".
The 21st I watched "All of My Heart" (2015).
After inheriting half of a house, a young woman (Lacey Chabert) develops an unexpected friendship with her co-owner.
I really like Lacey Chabert and enjoy seeing anything she is in. An excellent actress who makes you believe in her character. Another one that was predictable but still good.
And finally on the 23rd "Love Locks" (2017).
Twenty years after she was last in Paris, a woman returns to the City of
Light, where she reconnects with her college boyfriend and first love. It stars Rebecca Romjin, Jerry O'Connell and Bruce Davison.
I think this was the best Hallmark Hall of Fame done this year. When I first saw it last January, it made me want to go to Paris.
I haven't had the time to watch any movies this week, but hopefully this weekend I'll be able to see a couple. Enjoy your Friday!
Kathy
Ah, Fall! But it's been way too hot to do any of these things. Because it was so hot and sunny, though, we had a great Harvest Day on Sunday after church. It was better than it has been in years.
To make it even better, we had 6 kids in Sunday School for me to teach. It is the most kids we have had in about four years. God is so good! I pray they will continue to attend. Even though some of the girls were older, they knew nothing about God and the Bible. We are going to have fun! I began by teaching them a lesson on Creation. Next week the lesson is on sin coming into the world.
After the worship service we moved outside to the yard to have our picnic. I took lots of pictures to share with you.
While we were out there a lot of military planes and helicopters were flying above us. We kept looking up and pointing them out to each other. This went on for about 45 minutes. It must have been one of the Naval Air Stations doing practice runs, but it was sort of strange to watch it. Since I had worked for the Navy for four years, I recognized the aircraft and knew it wasn't just passenger planes.
There were coloring pages, puzzles and crafts for the kids to do and they had so much fun. Pastor gave them popsicles too which they all enjoyed.
By 4:00 p.m. it was all over and even though the kids didn't want to leave, I told them everyone had left and we were leaving too. Now on to the rest of the Fall activities.
Kathy
The trees may not yet be turning color where you are. The temperatures may be in the 90s like here in Philly. But you can still visit the beauty of autumn in this wonderful photo by my friend, Sarah. Enjoy.
The other day Joe and I went to Lowe's. He wanted to get some tools he needed. I didn't feel like walking around the store, so I stayed in the seasonal section looking at all the things they had. A lot was fall, a lot was Halloween and some was Thanksgiving. I love the colors of the fall. I took some pictures with my phone and thought I would share them with you.
I would love to have one of these urns by my front door. The chair looks comfy, doesn't it. I sat in it. It's not.
Aren't these urns nice? I love the colors.
I just loved this lighted pumpkin.
Scarecrows! Oh, I have to get my scarecrows out. I think I know where I put them away.
Fall angels and silver pumpkins.
There was a lot more, but Joe came back to get me and we left. Have you seen any store displays that you really liked?
Kathy
Here it is the first day of Fall already. Joe and I celebrated by taking him to the V.A. Hospital for a doctor's appointment. Doesn't that sound exciting? He went with the doctor and I sat in the waiting room reading. He was in his appointment for over an hour and I got so much of my book read. All of a sudden I heard over the P.A. system, "Kathryn S....., please come to the lobby." Huh? I gathered up my things and went to the elevator and made my way to the lobby. There was Joe waiting for me. He had gone to the waiting room, looked in and didn't see me, so had me paged. What am I going to do with him?
On the way home we stopped at Wawa and got turkey bowls for lunch. Turkey bowls are one of the best things about Fall. They are disposable bowls with potatoes and stuffing, topped with turkey slices and gravy and an optional dollop of cranberries on the side. We always get the cranberries. So good and cost only $5. There is so much in them I have trouble finishing it all in one sitting. While we were there I also got two pumpkin muffins for breakfast tomorrow. That's another thing I like about Fall. Their muffins are big and wonderful. I will probably eat half tomorrow and half on Sunday.
I have slowly been decorating for the season. It is no where near finished but I thought I would show you what I have so far.
This is sort of hard to see because it was taken in the dark. The autumn bouquet is from Rite Aid and the candle is "Apples and Cinnamon" from Target's dollar spot. I had no idea when I bought it how pretty the holder would be with the light shining through it.
I got these cute little window clings at Rite Aid in their dollar section. Joe does not like these gel clings on the windows, so I put it on the cross bar of the front door. He took a look at them there and said how much he liked them. I think it's so pretty and adds just the right touch. Here's a shot of the entire front door.
I got this Fall Pumpkin wreath last year at Rite Aid. I just love it.
I changed out the flowers in the pot by my front door.
The front door mat had bit the dust so I found this at Lowe's for $10. It's so bright and cheerful. I want to find one for each season and then switch them out.
As I said there is so much more to go. I have a lot of Fall decorations. I have to clean up so I can display them.
This is my favorite time of the year. There are beautiful colors (I'm drawn to red, orange, yellow and rust) and the temperatures are still in the 80s and 90s. I am so enjoying this.
Kathy
Neither have I! I don't know where the summer went. But I have had a lovely time in the warm weather. What's that? I don't have to give up the warm weather just yet? I just heard on the news that we are expecting a heat wave next week. Three days in the 90s and then the high 80s after that. Maybe I really do live in the sunny south. It was hot today too. Up to 89*F (32*C). I have had the air conditioner running all day. I'm so glad I haven't taken it out of the window yet.
I didn't do all that much today. The main thing I did was cut back the ivy that is threatening to overtake the patio. It was climbing the siding, wrapping itself around the drain spout threatening to pull it from the building, and finding its way down the outside drain. Not good. But much better now. There is so much to do in the yard. I can work only a few minutes and then my back gives out and I have to lie down for about an hour. But I figure 15 or 20 minutes a day is better than nothing.
I made chicken fingers, roasted asparagus and buttermilk biscuits for dinner. It was so good. The asparagus was a new recipe to me but I will definitely be making it again. You can find it on my other blog HERE.
I will show you one project that I did complete. Awhile back I bought a little wooden box at Target when they were doing their "Farmer's Market" campaign. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I am working on making my kitchen have a "farmhouse" theme so I figured it would work out there somewhere. And for $3 I wasn't wasting a lot of money if I couldn't figure something out.
When cleaning off my counter it occurred to me to round up my soaps and put them in the box. To my surprise it was a perfect fit! There was even a space for my rubber duckie scrubber that my sister gave me last year for Christmas. I love that scrubber. It is the best ever for getting things off of pans and dishes.
Look how nicely everything fits. I have two Mrs. Meyers dish soaps (one is almost finished), the rubber duckie, a mason jar with dishwasher tabs and my hand soap pump. I've since added a Mrs. Meyers all purpose cleanser which fits perfectly behind the duckie. It is one of my favorite organizing things that I have done. I have a bigger "Farmer's Market" tray that I am going to put down with the laundry things. I'll show you that when it is finished.
And now it is late, so I will end for now. Fall tomorrow.
Kathy
Isn't that the truth? So before the summer left, my friend Carol and I went to a retirement party for our friend Patty whom we used to work with. Patty was at my wedding. And so were five others that were there: Chris, Gail, Carol, Wil, and Marianne. It was so good to see everyone again. I was at a table with all retirees and we were all saying how good it was to have worked together but not be working now. I thought you would like to see a few pictures from the party. It was held in the meeting room of the Bushrod Library. And yes, it is another of the many libraries I was sent to as a substitute when they needed help.
Miss Pat and me.
Patty and Marianne
Patty is so photogenic!
Wil and Chris. I went to high school with Wil (and then ended up working with her) and Chris was my supervisor for 8 years.
A not so good picture of Cathy who put the party together.
Patty and Wil.
There was so much food!
My friend Carol. You hear me speak of her often.
This is Allison. She was the head librarian at the Fishtown Branch when I worked there.
The cake looked good, but I didn't have any. It was half chocolate and half yellow.
This is Andrea. I worked with her when she was a Children's Librarian. Now she is an Administrator. She read the letter from the City thanking Patty for her service over 36 years!
Another nice shot of Patty. She's so pretty.
I don't know the name of the gentleman, but the lady is Mary. I worked with her also. They were representing the Union. They read her a letter from DC33 and gave her a gift.
Patty was almost in tears as she thanked everyone for coming and thanked mostly God for giving her the opportunity to work with all of us.
This was Patty's niece who said some very nice things about her.
Another library person that Patty worked with at the Donatuci Branch.
And finally Patty showing off the gold watch that the Union gave her.
I've been seeing Patty's posts on Facebook since she retired. She's been going out to lunch a lot with various people and just loving not having to get up early and being able to do what she wants to do. Retirement is great!
