A little more fall decorating

Here are just a few more pictures of my fall decorating.  I still hope to make a fall garland (although it may turn out to be a Thanksgiving garland) and will be sure and post a picture of that when I do.

I failed to take a picture of the entire hutch before, but have done so now, and here it is.  Now you can get the full effect.

My fall ribbon board in the front hallway!

Simple grapevine wreath on the front door.  I usually keep the ivy but add other elements seasonally.

Fall slate on the front porch.  This is the first time I have displayed this.  I wasn't sure about the pink barn, but I love the effect on the rustic porch.

A clay pocket filled with faux leaves, goldenrod and vines

Happy fall, everyone!

A taste of Heaven

It is past time that I write an account of my weekend at the ladies' retreat held at The Wilds of New England, back in September.  With the couples' retreat coming up this weekend, I thought I'd better write about the ladies' retreat before the two get mixed up in my mind.  (Realistically, there should be quite a number of differences between the two, however.)

I was really blessed to be able to attend this retreat with six good friends from church, plus my daughter Carrie.   (If you would like to read Carrie's account of the weekend, you'll find it here: Ladies Retreat 2011.   Here's a look at the inside of the cabin where we stayed.

I love how the campsite was so beautifully decorated for fall.  So welcoming and warming.  Here's one outside vignette:

And another:

One of my favorite places!

Here's the fireplace in the coffee shop.

Here's a look at some of the buildings:

And a closer look at the flagpole decorations:

One moment simply blessed my heart and felt like a true taste of heaven.  Many of us got up quite early and there was a good bit of time before breakfast.  I left the cabin to walk to the coffee shop where I intended to meet up with Carrie and some of the others.  As I walked down the path from the cabin and stepped into the open area nearing the main buildings, there was a pretty sunrise lighting the sky.   Not colorful, but just bright light.  And at the same time I was aware of music.  Lovely instrumental praise music was being played over the sound system and wafted over the campsite.  I just stopped for a moment to take it all in.  I thought to myself that this must be a tiny taste of what heaven will be like -- just surrounded by beauty and praising our God together.

The teaching for the weekend was by Mardi Collier and her theme was "My 100% God."  We were also blessed by a wonderful handout she shared concerning how to get to know God better through His Word and by means of a simple notebook where we record what we learn about Him.  This is a simplified version of material presented in her book, What Do I Know About My God? which may be found here in my a-store.

Many of us bought the book -- although, as I said, a simple notebook will suffice.   I can say that if one will truly follow this method of learning about God, true spiritual growth and a changed life will result.  The basic idea is that you read your Bible, you start a page in your notebook for each fact you learn about God.  Mrs. Collier suggests starting in Psalms.  I'll just give a simple example.  In Psalm 23:1, for example, we read "The Lord is my Shepherd."  So in your notebook you start a page titled "My God is my Shepherd", and you copy down Psalm 23:1.  Later on, in your reading, you will come across other verses that say the same thing about God, for example, John 10:10, where Jesus says He is the good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.  So you copy those verses into your notebook on that particular page, and so on.  It all adds up to a very practical and effective way of getting to know God well.  

The music was wonderful and edifying as well, and there was plenty of laughter throughout the weekend. 

The spiritual food was unequalled, and the food in the dining room was pretty good too.  One of the nicest things was that none of us ladies had a hand in cooking it!  In addition, our appetite for pretty things was satisfied as the dining room was so beautifully decorated.  Here's one of the tables;

And here's how the windowsills were decorated:

In the afternoon on Saturday, we had some free time.  I went on a hike and saw lots of nice scenery:


In addition to this picturesque old shed:

Coming back from the hike, we passed the rustic cross which reminds us of our salvation and all that Christ has done for us.  From this hill there is a good overview of the campsite.
 
My friend Sandy and I had promised ourselves an Italian cream soda in the coffee shop, so when I got back from the hike we did just that.  Hers was strawberry:

And mine was coconut.  Whipped cream?  Of course!

It was truly a wonderful weekend!  A taste of heaven!

The view from my balcony

Orange leaves in the background; our wild apple tree is in the foreground.

Late yesterday afternoon I found myself with some free time.  Leftovers were planned for supper and the laundry was all dry and off the clothesline, so I set up one of our camping chairs on our balcony and enjoyed the late afternoon fall sunshine while doing some work on my Sunday School lesson.

The beauty of God's creation surrounded me up there.  Here's one of my favorite little trees out back:

Love the contrast of yellow and gray!

And here's another.  Love that this has red, green, and yellow leaves all on the same tree.

Coffee flavored with pumpkin spice creamer, in an autumn mug, added to the atmosphere.
 
And here are some more looks at our foliage.  It's not as pretty yet as it will be, but nice anyway.

Looking out toward the road

More red and orange, plus some green and yellow

A bit of fall decorating

Here are just a few pictures of some of my fall decorating.  Some of it doesn't differ much from year to year, but this year I did a few different things.  I neglected to take a picture of the hutch in its entire fall glory, but will plan to do that before I forget!

The bottom shelf of the hutch.  There is my little "Give Thanks" embroidery project on the left, and a printable fall subway art design on the right.  The tiny painted saw in the front was a gift from my hubby.

This photo pretty much shows the other two shelves.  Many of the things are the same as usual, but I couldn't resist adding some; a favorite book on the left (a thoughtful gift from my daughter), a [faux] carnival glass chicken I've had for years, my old brown teapot and a nutcracker shaped like a pickup truck.

This shows the table with place mats, a runner, and my glass cake dome full of faux squash atop a homemade fall hot mat.  I had an orange plaid tablecloth on the table first (with the same mats) but it needed washing so I swapped the runner for it temporarily.

This year I tried dressing up my corner cupboard a little bit too.

A mini grapevine wreath hanging from a knob of the corner cupboard.  I trimmed it quickly and easily with a tiny wooden house and a scrap of fall fabric.

Hope you have enjoyed this peek at some of our fall decorating around here!

Getting the winter's wood in

The wood going in the cellar window

Every spare minute Mr. T has these days he is occupied getting the winter's wood into the cellar.  We have a wood furnace which, with ductwork, vents and forced hot air, heats our entire house.  He cuts and splits wood a couple of years in advance so it has time to get good and dry.  And in the fall, he moves the winter's supply into the cellar.

Granddaughter #2 driving the tractor

When the grandkids are around, he has plenty of help, especially since he devised the system of hauling the wood to the house using a lawn tractor and little trailer.  The photos are from last year, but they tell the same story.  You can see that these photos were taken on a  hot day though, in the summer since the garden is still in place and the girls are wearing shorts.  Not so with today's wood adventure; jackets are the order of the day, and the garden has been harvested due to impending frost.

Granddaughter #1 driving the tractor

Cheeseburger Macaroni

Photo by Kevin & Amanda

I have very little extra time today, but wanted to quickly post this recipe link: Cheeseburger Macaroni.  I tried this recipe, from Kevin & Amanda, on Monday and we really enjoyed it.

I've made cheeseburger macaroni recipes before, but this is the best of the lot.  The homemade cheese sauce that's stirred in, and the use of taco seasoning and diced tomatoes with chilies, sets it apart from any others I've tried.  I thought mine turned out just a tad too salty (I was using homemade taco seasoning) or too spicy, I couldn't decide which, but my hubby and granddaughters insisted it was just right.

Hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it.  I would say that almost any child would enjoy this dish, but adults will enjoy it too.  It is true comfort food!

More vintage treasure

Some time ago I posted about this fabulous vintage cookbook which a friend gifted me with, and I promised to share some photos of the inside of the book.  This is the 1963 edition of Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook.

I already owned the 1957 edition of this cookbook:

But this newer one is larger and my granddaughters and I are all enchanted by it.  Here's the back:

The book includes wonderful instruction concerning table setting, mealtime manners, etc.:

And here's a sweet depiction of all the utensils a junior cook might use:
 
And also some good measuring rules for cooks to follow:
 
Now, here are the gorgeous photos that divide the various recipe categories of the book:

Special Occasions

Breads and Sandwiches

Cookies, Cakes and Desserts

Meats and Main Dishes

Salads and Vegetables

Beverages

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't they wonderful?  I hope you enjoyed this peek into this vintage treasure!