Hello November!

I do believe our October was colder than November has been so far. The sunny clear days that are hitting 70 degrees when normal is 50. It has been a delight! Love the extra time to clean up the gardens and the tons of leaves! The Morning Glories are all gone.

 The girls have a nice new roost. It took a couple of days, but the four older hens roost each night and the younger one are on the lower roost they had before. I was so happy to get the dog cage out of there. Hubby sanded everything nice and smooth and his idea for the wings so no draft from the vents would hit the girls. He filled the bin with sand. Boy is that easy to clean.

 The girls are enjoying their pumpkin treat. They gobbled it up right down to the skin.

 Just a peek. The yard glows red this time of year. It is so pretty and the air is perfect. As you can see the pool is all closed up for winter.

 This is a view of the garden I take pictures of all the time...all tucked in for winter too.

Just in case you forgot this is how it looked this summer....

So I have been working away, all Cannas plants removed and stored away, all Dahlias dug, cleaned and stored. Today I got all my Zinnia and Marigold seeds cleaned and put into labeled jars, ready for next Spring. I have been going out each day to cut back and clean up another bed. The yard was looking pretty darn good, but today it has started to rain leaves....all day long too. You can't find our driveway or lawn.

~ahhh Hello November~

October Birthday

 The end of the season and the beginning of a new one. I am sure you are tired of my chicken pictures so I will change it up a bit. My grandson lives in the city and they came down for a small family party this weekend. He loves cupcakes so this is what we did.

It was just a small party, family only, but the kids love their Halloween stuff so we did this and had lots of fun and laughter. my Grandchildren are getting so grown up at 21, 18 and the girls are 16. Time does fly. I am trying to slow down and savor the moments and this was one of them!

Goodbye

Well it is September...the end of summer, time to say goodbye to another season. I feel the nesting instincts moving in. Mostly I just don't know where this summer went. There were not real special plans, but there was always something to do. I will show you a couple things I did, but never took the time to post about it.  Show you a couple small changes here at The Country Nest. I did take time in my gardens and felt quite happy with them. I have got a couple ideas for changes there too.

I added a new Old table in the living room. Now I am thinking about new couches and am so ready, but these are so comfy that I will miss them. The new ones seem stiff. While I love prim style my family lives, watches TV and sometimes sleep in this room. These were Clayton Marcus sofas and the store we bought them in is long gone. I know it is time for an update, but I will miss my old friends. I have even thought of having them reupholstered. I don't know what I am going to do.

~Some of this was done~

I added a table to replace the wicker one on the porch.

I have added some crocks to my collection and I Love, Love, Love them all.

~and some more of this~

 

I added a rusty sunflower the spins in the wind. You can catch a peek of my bottle tree. I am just starting to collect bottles.

I started a bottle tree, now I need to go in search of some more bottles :) I just thought with lots of blue bottles it would add a bright spot among all the green. I can see it from the pool and from the kitchen window. I love in the morning how the sunlight hits it and the blue shines.

Another addition to our home the Hobo kitty now has a forever home here and I couldn't be happier.



I also took a nice day trip with a couple of friends to Avery Hill Farm.
My pictures were taken with my phone and I did not take any inside. I have to admit that we were chatting away and I wasn't thinking about pictures. We met Connie and she was just as nice as could be. I got a beautiful jug which I just love along with a few other  goodies. Connie brought us into her beautiful home and we were all so excited.....it is beyond words all the while feeling warm and homey. Thank you Connie for a wonderful day!

Sad to say my Hummingbirds will be leaving to fly south in a week or so. I will clean and fill my feeders at least one more time :(

 

OK, I know this is getting long so I will save the garden tour and Tasha Tudor's Birthday for next time.
Enjoy these last few weeks of Summer before we have to say Goodbye....I love Fall, but do hate to see Summer go.

Fall Mantel

I have a hard time decorating this mantel. The brick is from floor to ceiling and it sits in the corner of my dining room with a door on either side.  I seem to lack for new ideas.

I went out on Sunday while hubby was watching the Patriots win and cut some bittersweet. I love bittersweet, but it is a highly invasive plant, so I only use it inside and then I burn it when I am done. I do love it so. It simply says fall to me.

Then I put a bit of bittersweet in the living room as a small nod to Fall.

 

Some bits of fall~

There is the smell of woodsmoke in the air and the big maple tree has dropped her leaves. The pumpkins are stacked as is the firewood. Patio furniture is stored away until next year. We have cleaned the screened in porch and put the windows in....goodbye screens. I cut back the front gardens and remulched for a clean look. Cut back and started digging up my cannas roots. I had started a pulled pork sholder in the crock pot this morning. I love how it smells each time I step in the door. I can work in the yard and not worry about dinner.

 Love the color these mums turned out to be. The buds were tight and I did not see the color until this week.

 Just a touch of fall in the living room....and some orange pillows and a throw too.

 

 

 

 

The spiced apple cider is calling me and I do so love Once Upon a Time and then Revenge.

 See you later!

 

 

Fall is in the air

The sunflowers are smiling as the season comes to an end. The tomatoes are ripe and the plants are going by. I have started to get out my harvest decorations. I just seem to be moving so slowly this year. I thought the nip in the air this morning would get me in the mood, but it didn't. I am not quite sure what is going on with me these days....but I don't like it.

I will be back with some more fall decorations if the mood hits, if not, oh well, maybe Christmas?

Happy Labor Day weekend.

So what did you all do this weekend? We had a quiet weekend here for the most part. The last two weeks have been really crazy. Our youngest child has moved back home for a while and along with her came her 10 month old Husky pup. The pup is a beauty for sure, but there has not been a dog in our home for 20 years. I am so NOT prepared for this. My poor 8 and 9 year old cats have been terrorized to say the least. Well our daughter and her dog went to visit with a friend for the weekend and so the kitties were happy and content and we relaxed a bit. It is hard for all of us to adjust to living together again after so many years.

Well on Saturday night we went to a quaint little restaurant in Fairhaven called Elizabeths. We had a meal to die for and some great martinis too. I had scallops on a bed of greens that were so fresh and just so wonderful. Topped with shoestring sweet potato fries. Sorry no pictures. Hubby had salmon on flavorful rice with cucumber salsa on top. More fresh greens here too. It was the perfect night for a ride. We went in our Austin Healy. Top down, warm breezes, perfect!

Then on Sunday a morning of yard and pool work and then it looked like rain so we went up to Holliston MA to Jackie's Primitives. It did indeed rain. Poured and by the time we get there it is almost closing time, only 1/2 hour....but Jackie being the wonderful person she is stayed a bit late.

Now I got some nice stoneware, a yellow ware bowl, a brown jug and best of all an old wheelbarrow. I have been looking for a while and this was the one, I fell in love.

 By the time we got home it was too late to go get what I had in mind to fill the wheelbarrow so instead we made homemade pizza and cooked it on the grill.

Ok, so no cooked pictures, I am slipping, it was so good and we were hungry I just forgot to take pictures.

Now it is Monday and we get up and do a bit more yard work and then I say to hubby, let's go for a ride and pick up a couple mums for the wheelbarrow. Sooooooo.......

 Now you are limited as to what you can put in this car, so I only got what I really needed.

 Home again. You can see we did not even put the rakes away. One of my kitties looking to see what we have and make sure the Dog wasn't here.

So here she sits filled and in the front yard. I just love her. I can't wait until those mums open up and it has some more pumpkins around it. I need to remember it is only Sept. 3rd.

So we needed a bit of Fall at The Country Nest and the best is still yet to be :)