autumnal entry...

it sure is feeling like fall around here!! even the hackberry trees have been dropping some crunchy leaves around my house.

i am getting ready to head back to the beach, and i have been working really hard this week, to get my clients gardens put in order........although my body is aching in places that i'd rather not speak of...ahem.....

i thought it would be so nice to return to a very autumnal house....and so i pushed myself today.......when i should have been resting these old bones (did i just say that out loud?)....pushed myself..... to spiffy up the front and back porches.......

that is...after i spent the morning shopping for a new refrigerator! apparently the OLD one needs a new compressor and the vote is in....it is better to buy a brand new fridge than keep on repairing the old one.

why is stainless steel so much more expensive??? is it because that is what we all want? and we will fork out the money for it??

it is so unfair.

decorating my porches for fall is much more fun than buying a new fridge.
i added a black crow to the wreath that i made last year.

i found this lovely dried okra garland recently, which i absotootly adore!

but not as much as i am adoring my old screen door! the first thing i do in the morning, even before making the coffee, is open the front door, so the kitty's can lay in the morning sun. little miss daisy has gotten so used to this ritual, that now, if the door is not open, she will lay on her back in front of the door.....paws outstretched and pointing to the door. cats are soooo subtle.

the screen door gets me in trouble though......hubby comes home and mumbles something about having all the doors open with the air conditioner running....oops.

i need to remember to close the doors BEFORE he gets home.

i have had this wreath for at least 12 years and STILL love it. this year i hung it on an old door out back.

this is where we spend most of our time...

o.k that is it.....thanks so much for stopping by.....i just love when you come visit.....

i am joining Rhoda at southern hospitality blog

for a "door decor fall party".

mmm

mm

by the way...i went for the stainless steel...it arrives tomorrow.

now...i could use your support on something.

i have heard that all appliances should match??

suddenly, my black dishwasher, stove and oven (which i thought looked so cool 10 years ago), well, they aren't going to look so good now sitting in the same room as my new stainless steel fridge.

am i right?

come on...we SUPPORT each other, right?

i just need to let my hubby know what all you smart bloggers think about this....

mm

mm

on another note...

a big shout out and lots of LOVE and PRAYERS to two of my favorite people.

my bestie jen (one of the most active people i know of), broke one foot and one ankle last week. she was jumping over some groceries...long story.

and Mr. lee (God love him) had a brain anurism.

both are doing spectacularly well!!

i love you guys!

happy fall y'all!!

hey everybody!!

.......fall is officially here and it makes me so very happy! the very next day after my last post....well......i got my artsy fartsy mojo back...yay!!

.....weird how that works......and so i have painting AND gardening AND decorating here and there......pulling out some natural elements which speak to me......

more gourds, raffia, dried seed pods from my black eyed Susan's, wheat.....

a most loverly muted palette of browns and umber's and white tones....

so here are some random shots i took around the house today......

including some of the paintings i am working on.....

it helps me, to see them on the computer screen.......

tweaking will ensue...

it seems i am settling into a once a week posting on my bloggy......

in order to spend my quality time...

and true focus...

on my art...

and love

of the great outdoors.

this mildness...in the weather....the doors and windows open....white cotton curtains swaying in the breeze....kitty's playing with the bugs on the other side of the screens....the sound of children playing outdoors.....

this...

is the pay off for the long. harsh. summer...

the reward....

THANKYOU....not taken lightly.

fall is so bittersweet and fleeting.

i want to drink in every single luscious moment.

and

have fun

playing.

mmm

mmm

i hope you are playing too?.

yippie skippie! fall is just around the corner....

in the last two weeks the temperature has gone down a good 30 degrees and finally we can open the doors, to let the the fresh air waft through the screening...


i found this 100 year old screen door a few months ago and it was almost perfect for the front of my house.......almost, in the fact that my carpenter had to shorten it by 4 inches...but other than that it is pretty perfect....i did not even have to paint over the original old paint.....as it is the same black/green as my door and shutters!! when i bought it, i doubted it was REALLY 100 years old...(especially at a mere 20 smackeroos)...but my carpenter gave it a close look and confirmed that yes indeedy it was at least that old. my house was built in the 1970's and has never had a screen door! and now after another LONG HOT summer.....well, i can open the doors.....and it feels like my house can breathe......
me too.



especially if i open this backdoor too......although that does create a vacuum effect and slamming of the doors does occur....(the kitty's and i found that out, after being startled more than once)hence the use of doorstops.



but now...



the house can breathe.




nothing much came of my showing at the art walk......well, i didn't sell anything, that is.



i don't know if it is the change in the weather or the painful sty on my eye last week.....but i seem to be in an art slump right now.......i am kind of STUCK on this last painting of mine....i know it is a temporary block......i am learning to change focus...until that "block" clears........so i thought i'd have some fun pulling out a few fall items for the house.



this gourd garland i had hanging over my front door last year, but with the new screen door (which opens outwards) that was not going to work....so i am trying it over the fireplace for now.




i rather like this palette of aqua and raw umber.....

and i had to share this last shot of "hearts-a-bustin" or "strawberry bush" as some call it....it is just about to bust open and reveal its scarlet seed pods.....so SO pretty this time of year. it is sitting inside my brand new wire basket that i bought from Sassy Trash at the Bella Rustica Marketplace, Nashville's very first Urban Barn Sale which was this last weekend at Tap Root Farm. it was a gorgeous setting for this really fun sale, but rather hard to navigate through the narrow aisles of the barns once you (me) had your hands full of purchases......perhaps next year they will think about a having a station to drop off your purchases until you leave.......like a coat check....just suggesting. all in all, it was a fantastic sale! the vendors, the setting, the weather, the live music (of course...this IS music city, after all), and all the shoppers were just chipper as could be. i hope this becomes an annual event!

anyhoo.....i am so happy about our milder weather...... as i have some gardening projects to finish up in the next two weeks, before my fall trip down to the beach. YAY.

i hope your home is breathing.

yes, you can.

"our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

~ Mariann Williamson

mm

mmmy mantra.... as i delve further.... into this thing.... called art....

dreams....

last weekend, i spent a most loverly time with my friend ellen.

i met her at the farm, where she keeps her horses and i took over 300 snaps of the gorgeous creatures. i have been painting like crazy lately and primarily focusing on horses......my goal is to have my very first art show, this fall.

..........aahhhhhh!

did i just say that out loud??

"this fall" is like right around the corner!

oh boy, that makes it seem even more real.

it makes me feel both excited and scared.......but in a very good way....

the thing is though, in order to balance out my time, i fear i will not be blogging as usual. i plan on posting (i can not help it), but commenting around takes up valuable time that i must use.....

to court my muse.

i hope you understand.

all photos taken by me.....

in ellen's, to die for, screened in porch.

a taste of what is to come....

and so please excuse....

me for just a while......

while i work on making my dreams come true.........

mmm

mmmm

revised...

oh my goodness!!!!!

i am dying here.

since i started this post this afternoon,

since i wrote "making my dreams come true", and i kid you not about this......

i have received a call from my neighbor/artist/ friend.....

she will be picking up some of paintings in the morning to hang them in a shop called Just Around The Corner.......in downtown Franklin.......turns out my cute little town is having its very first art crawl tomorrow night!!!

and I (yes, little ol ME) will have paintings hanging there for everyone to see!!!

incredible......

this is another first for me!

i am so excited......

gulp.

o.k. gotta go tweak a few things and put my signature on my babies!!!

double gulp!!

and

thank the powers that are greater than me,

for this most amazing gift.

ask and ye shall receive.