Willing Fall to Get Here...

Hello Sweet Friends

I pray you have enjoyed your first weekend of Fall

The weather has been a bit cooler here

Hallelujah!!

The summer heat starts so early here in Phoenix

With 100 degree temps starting in late April/early May

Lasting well into September and October some years

I don't wish my life away

For we are all aware how quickly time passes

Yet, this year the Heat of Summer

Has really taken it's toll on me

SO,

I am willing Fall to get here

And fortunately the weather has cooled a bit

At least it has been under 100 this past weekend

And is forecast to stay in the 90's throughout the week ahead

With that I added a small amount of fall décor

To the house this weekend

Because I am putting the red away for awhile

And adding some blue

Finding some natural toned items with touches of blue

Has been fun 

The wooden pumpkin sign

Fit perfectly with my regular décor

A tablecloth with my crooked wooden bread bowl

Filled with white and natural pumpkins

Is a simple table centerpiece

The only new item is this cute Mary Engelbreit

Autumn book I recently found at an antique store

Most of the weekend was spend with this crew

My oldest son's birth sister came to town to see him

We love her as if we have always known her

She fits into our silly family so perfectly

And...best of all

Her name is Cindy

Love All my Kiddos!!!

Happy Fall Y'All

Sharing At
The Essence of Home
Have A Daily Cup

Favorite Etsy Shops

Hi Sweet Friends

Happy First Day of Fall

We had two wonderful rounds of rain today

The temps stayed in the 80's

Of course they are forecast to go back up

However, it was a perfect way to start Fall

Oh Happy Fall

I did a bit of Christmas shopping over the weekend

And, wanted to share what I purchased

But mostly

I wanted to share

Two Wonderful Etsy Shop Owners

There is Never a loss of Gorgeous

When I visit

Celestina Marie Designs on Etsy

I have purchased several of her items

This time I purchased two Christmas Ornaments

Everything she designs is to perfection

And beautifully finished

Although these are purchases

I Always feel like I'm receiving a gift when I open the box

She adds such sweet touches to her packages

With Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

Popping up soon

Stopping by Celestina's Place is sure to inspire

And help check off your Gift List

The other place that I Love to Shop is at:

Rose Petal Blessings

Stephanie is a wonderful person and artist

I fell in love with this stocking

And so many of her lovely Christmas ornaments

She also has the cutest sewn items

I own several of her pieces

And love every one of them

Again, whenever I order from her shop

I feel as though I have received a gift

Everything is packaged with love and care

Little thank you items are sweetly tucked in

I can't encourage you enough

To stop by Stephanie's place to do a bit of shopping

Both Celestina and Stephanie

Are Encouragements in my Life

And also have fabulous blogs

Links by clicking their names above

Now on to one more thing

Two years ago I decided to allow my back lawn to die

There are days I am just overwhelmed with Life

And all that needs to be done without my Mark

The lawn is totally gone now :)

And I am beginning to plant a desert type backyard

Less watering, less yard work

But (hopefully) more lovely flowers

And a comfortable place to 'be' during the cooler months of the year

This afternoon it POURED on my dirt

My blank slate for my more desert friendly backyard

I'm so Happy

Because

See the shovel out there?

Yes, the rain will make it Much easier for me to dig

The holes for the plants I intend to plant this weekend

Maybe in two years

I will be able to show you a lovely desert garden

Until then

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!

A Bit of Fall Out Front

Happy Monday Sweet Friends

The weather is FINALLY starting to cool off

It was 106 on Sunday and 102 today

However, it is cloudy now and suppose to top off

In the 90's the rest of the week

I was able to get a little fall décor going out front

I don't have that gorgeous big house

I see so many decorating

But my humble home that I've lived in for over 21 years

And own mortgage free is beautiful to me

At the front walk

I add my little fall peeps

They greet guests with fun smiles

As they walk up to the door

My Vinca are continuing to blossom

So I just added some pumpkins

And a little Give Thanks sign

I'm happy that my fall wreath will make it through 2 years

Usually the weather destroyed them

But this one weathered the season

And is happily adorning my door

A few fall 'wooden' leaves hang next to the door

I still have a few Vinca's at the walk way as well

And I just couldn't put my lamb away

He stays out all year

Just a walk way view

And because I love her quirky smile

I added one more photo of the peep at the end

May you enjoy a beautiful week

I'm praying for rain (they say it's coming)

But I won't hold my breath - LOL

3 days to Autumn!!

The Black Monster

 Hi Sweet Friends

Because October is the Scary month
You know, Halloween, Monsters and such
I thought I'd introduce you to 
What I call
The Big Black Monster
Here She Is ...
 

Now she may not look that big to you

But she's 8 1/2 feet by 8 feet

My living room is only 12 by 17

With low 10 foot ceilings

She takes up almost the entire wall

About 10 years ago I found her at a consignment shop

Fell in love with her but couldn't afford her

Every week I'd check to see if she was on sale

After a couple of months

She went on sale and I drug my hubby to see her

I did a bit of sweet talking

And got a bit more of a discount

And she came home with us

I'd LOVE to paint her white

However, I think it would be lots of work

So - for now -

She's the Big Black Monster

And I still love her

Today was cleaning day around here

But I did get a little fall decor going

I added just a few neutral fall touches

Atop the Monster

And I am pleased

I found the brown/white transferware pitcher at Goodwill

Just a few dollars

It adds some much needed charm

This is the top of the Monster

Maybe I should call it The Mantel

I added a few pieces atop the hutch

Love the spool pumpkin that I purchased from Celeste

And my favorite #3

That I purchased from Sweet Salvage last year

Now, If you ever have wondered

Because, I'm sure it keeps you up at night

This is where I blog, and crochet

And watch TV almost every night


In the Big Black Chair
In front of the Big Black Monster
With my little broken laptop
Cell phone, remotes, bottle of water
And my feet up

Just in case you were wondering - LOL :)

Have yourself A Happy Weekend
Go out and Find JOY in the Simple Things
Blessings
 

Searching For Fall

Hi Sweet Friends,

First I would like to thank each of you
For your comments, prayers, texts
Private messages, emails and phone calls
On my last post
I have no understanding of how this will turn out
But I do thank my God for Prayers and Encouraging words
 I'll keep you updated if anything major happens

For Now
I'm just searching for Fall
I worked in my garage and yard some today
But it was 106 degrees and far too hot
To accomplish much at all
It's supposed to be 102-108 all week long

Yet, I still wanted to attempt to get a bit of fall started

I've had these little straw dolls for a few years

I think I can definitely get another year out of them

They are so cute and make me smile

Last week I planted some new Vinca's

I'm hoping that as fall takes hold, 

The flowers will really begin to bloom out

I think they will look great 

With the bits of fall I have places by the front door

I decided to keep the front door simple

I love this cross and it just adds a tiny bit of color to my door

So, these are the bits of fall I added to my front walkway

It's not much but when it's 106 outside

It difficult to really get into 'fall' decor

A couple of years ago 
I came home and found this funny 
 Little ducky sitting in my empty planter
I later found out that my sister brought it over
It always makes me smile
And smiles are what I'm looking for
While searching for fall in the desert southwest

Find JOY in the simple things this week
I know I Will be Seeking JOY


What I've Been Doing

Hi Sweet Friends,

It's been a busy season in my life
If any of you work in the medical field
You know that ICD-10 is only days away
Enough Said :)

I haven't had much time to decorate for fall
Or even read blogs
However, I thought I'd share a few photos from the past week
 

This is a very sad photo

My nephew lived in this beautiful Ahwatukee 

neighborhood for many years

However, the homes are being torn down over the next few weeks

To make way for a freeway

This is all that was left of the beautiful corner home

In the same neighborhood I spotted this beautiful gate

And this one as well

So thankful these homes aren't being torn down

The diversity of the gates

Is a clear view of the diversity of the desert Southwest

Happy Mail arrived the other day

Every time I receive an order from Celeste

I am giddy over the beauty of her packages

It's like receiving a gift in the mail from a dear friend

Everything about her shop/items

Is beautifully designed and 

Created with love

This vintage thread spool

Turned sweet Fall decor piece

Is no exception

I Love it

And it will add personality and beauty

To the many other pieces I will use as I begin to decorate for fall

Thursday is my happiest day
As I get to spend time loving on and playing with this
Precious K~Baby
Whom, by the way
Doesn't want to be called baby, she's growing up too fast

May you have a beautiful weekend ahead
Find Joy in the Simple Things
 
I think I will be locked into an ICD-10 book

Blessings!


FALL: Here I Come

 Hi Sweet Friends,

Happy September to you all

It is a tad bit cooler today
It only made it to about 99 and it is cloudy and windy
We have endured two dust storms today
There is a chance of a thunderstorm tonight
We'll take any rain we can get

Although fall is not really in the air here
I'm hoping to help it along by getting
Some of my fall decorations out

I must have been in a hurry when I put everything away last year

Because my shelves look a mess

As soon as the weather cools off a bit more

I am going to have to redo my garage shelving units

And get more organized

It seems I have way more fall decor than I realized

But I am excited to get it all out

And start putting together some fun vignettes

I'm hoping to find my light/neutral items

They don't seem to be showing themselves so far

I found these four plates at a thrift store on Tuesday

They only cost me $3 - score for me

If I ever receive my DecorSteals items

I will be using it with the small desert plates

(Have you ordered from DecorSteals?

Does it take a long time to get your order?)

I am loving getting out my fall dolls

At least I put these away nicely


But then it looks as though I just put a few other items
In large fall bowls and stuffed them on a shelf

Anyway,
I am getting ready - to get ready for fall

If you missed my fall Pocket Letter Post
Go check it out here - so much fun!!

Have you started your fall decorating yet
Please do share!

Blessings to All