December Peace

I have decided and will repeat these simple words when the self inflicted crazy coo~coo~ness  of this month start to fill my days....December Peace.  I will remember the precious gifts that last forever and fill our hearts like none other...

For me, they include ~

the gleeful excitement of our young daughter...the posibility of snow...our Son home from the front lines of a scary war...my precious children...opportunities to be of service...a radio station that plays Christmas music all month...the smell of our recently gleaned pine tree...holiday wishes from a stranger...grocery bags printed with holiday greetings...Starbuck's Chrismas cups...duh!...a warm house...a pantry that has plenty....having plenty to share with others...a grateful heart ~it is the best feeling around!...a family that I love bunches and lots...friends ~ true friends, good friends...

But most of all...I will remember that this month has many opportunities to be 

grateful...grace~filled...and choose PEACE.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Pine Cones, Leaves and Cowboy Boots

Glimpses.

Pre~Thanksgiving Bazaar in a really cool barn...

Lots...

And lots of G O B B L E ...

And piles...

And piles of S Q U A S H ...

And L E A V E S ...

And L E A V E S ...

And C O W B O Y  B O O T S...

Smiles ~ Ramona

A Gentle Celebration

It is the calm...sweet calm before the storm...

I hope that everyone is taking every sweetly calm moment of it...

Every gobble~li~cious minute of it...

I can almost smell a wonderful Thanksgiving feast roasting in the oven...

I can almost hear a range full of turkeys gob, gob, gobbling a happy tune...

All together now...

I love that the sight of pumpkins does not disappear when the

Jack~o~lantern's candles have burned out...

A splendid season full of squash!

And cinnamon pine cones...

Delightfully, delightful sweet season...

Breathe deeply...feel the calm before the storm?

It is a gift...be thankful for it.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Monday

"DELICIOUS AUTUMN!

MY VERY SOUL IS WEDDED TO IT,

AND IF I WERE A BIRD

I WOULD FLY ABOUT THE EARTH

SEEKING THE SUCCESSIVE AUTUMNS."

~george eliot~

Happy Monday!

Smiles ~ Ramona

Pumpkins are the Happiest of Fruits...

I hope that everyone is delighting in the splendid wonderfulness of fall.  As for me all of the delicious food, cozy aromas and harvest loving activities make my Autumn loving heart sing a little song.

I have a fall kit...if you will, making each moment of this magical season even more memorable...if that is possible.

My fall kit includes ~ A Yankee Candle " Autumn Leaves" candle, lots and bunches of squash...spaghetti...acorn...you get the idea, jugs and jugs of apple cider on standby to be heated up and made into Caramel Apple Cider...check out my favorite recipe here, bundles of harvest corn to hang over my windows, a special Charlie Brown movie and as many pumpkins as my porch will hold.

Pumpkins are the happiest of fruits...don't you agree?

Zip~Pity~Do~Da....

Yep....the Hap...

Hap...

Happiest of fruits...

I giggle in delight when I see them piled high in front of the grocery store...

Cinderella....

Or Casper...

Or burlap...

   

Undeniably the happiest fruit around.

What is in your fall kit?

Savor every moment of your week.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Layers or Donkey

My cutie~pie daughter just asked me why the title of this blog post is 'Layers'...and I said, "You'll see." Then she said to me...."Well, why don't you call it Donkey???"  Which begs the question..."Why would I call it Donkey?" To which she replies...."Because donkeys have layers!"  Guess I haven't seen Shrek lately...this child cracks me up daily...lucky me!

So about those LAYERS...

Like adding more blankets to your beds...potatoes to your stew, a sweater or two to your ensemble it is time to add layers to our homes...isn't it the fun~est time of year to decorate?

Same old chair...cozier with a couple of pillows...

And then my favorite thing to do to kick off my Autumnal decorating festivities...

is to shop for home decor in the produce department...

Today's tchotchke, is tomorrow's soup!

But wait...I layered that pillow clad chair
with a gigantic urn of pine cones

that I gleaned last year when
Mom Nature layered the ground with these bad boys...

That Mother Nature....what a gal!

Truly the QUEEN of LAYERING...am I wrong?!

And why on Earth would you just put a bowl of clementines
on the kitchen counter?

Alone!

Slip some chubby cookbooks under that vitamin C filled bowl...

Layers!

I am layering my dining room table with an old rustic bench...

And then I am going to layer that bench with a big burlap pumpkin...

But of course!

And not to be ignored....gonna layer my walls with lots and lots of hand stitched quilts...

Yummy, yummy quilts...

And you know that I love it when an old quilt looks like it has a story to tell...

So the more worn and torn...all the more interesting the story...

Don't you agree?

My love of tea pots and interesting tops for them is endless...

A bouquet of pine cones...

A most interesting layer, in deed!

Spoons...

Want to add instant interest and instant layers to any vignette?  Add spoons!

I just made that up...

But I might be right...I'm just sayin'.

Have a most splendid week.

Throw a layer or two 'round your home and soak in the loveliness of the season that is upon us.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Booth Love

My poor neglected blog is not feeling the love of late...because I have an extreme case of booth love. 

Yes, booth love...

Sweet, antique mall, booth love...

There is still much to do in my little ol' booth~o~rama...

But with as much as I love this booth...I know it will come together quite nicely...

I am a "JUNKER" in training and I am enjoying every rusty ol' minute of it...

Hanging this clothesline reminded me that I should be at home doing "real" laundry...

Nah!

This is so much fun~ner than doing real laundry...

Don't you agree?

But of course you do...

Just a bit of burlap la~di~da for this old school house chair...

Halloween elegance...

Yum...

Details...

Details...

And still more details...

Basically this booth love is making me feel pretty darn merry...

Have the merriest of weeks.

Smiles ~ Ramona