Halloween Fun, Concerts and Fall Decor Pics

 A Little Bit of This and That

Rose from trip to Elizabethton, TN

Hi friends!  The last rose of summer is about gone and I have lots to share with you today about what I've been doing of late. In true "this and that fashion" there will be some fun pics from Halloween, Fall decor from a recent trip, just a little bit of bragging about The Mr. and, of course, some food! Let's get started. 

Last Saturday night The Mr. and one of the bands he plays in gave their annual Halloween Concert at The Whitehorse in Black Mountain, NC. I have to tell you, it was so much fun! The band members dressed up and their costumes were spectacular!  I have several to share with you. 

There were scary, creepy costumes. 

And beautiful flower costumes that light up in the back!

Costumes from movies!

Cat woman costumes!

Sweet costumes!

And well......costumes that aren't really costumes, lol!!

I almost didn't go to this concert but I'm so glad I changed my mind and went. I would have missed out on all the fun. 

And speaking of concerts, The Mr. played a solo at another band concert this past Tuesday and he did a wonderful job. 

He got loud applause at the end!  I'm so proud of his musical abilities. 

How about a few more photos from our day trip to Elizabethton, TN?  I love this farmhouse decor porch.  Everything looks so cozy. I think I could spend a few hours in that porch swing on one of those rocking chairs. 

And I loved this gate all dressed up for Fall with a sunflower and leaf wreath! This makes me want a white picket fence with a similar gate around our property. Alas, it wouldn't work!

And while Fall decor is pretty, so is a beautiful and healthy plate of food!  This was a tasty meal I pulled together today. Steamed rice with veggies with the addition of flaked chicken and some Durkees onions. On the side were steamer bag green beans that I sauteed in olive oil with the addition of onion powder and garlic powder. And, of course, some juicy mandarin oranges to complete the plate. This was a colorful, delicious and healthy meal!

So how's that for a little bit of this and that from my part of the world? Now, it's your turn to share a little bit of this and that from yours. I can't wait to hear from you in the comments!

And, whatever you do, please, please, please don't forget to exercise your right to vote!  Make your voice be heard!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Autumn/Thanksgiving/Fall Centerpiece Vignette

 Creating A Multi-Purpose Fall Vignette

I decided to play around today creating a centerpiece for Fall. I like to simply use objects that I already have on hand around the house and see what I can come up with. I gathered several items and had a fun few minutes arranging and rearranging them and I think I created a vignette that could easily slide from Fall right on into Thanksgiving. 

I borrowed some pumpkins that I was displaying in other places and found an orange charger that I had tucked away in a cabinet. I scoured through my candles and found a glass votive cinnamon scented candle and a couple other candles that I thought would work well together. And there is a little egg that has beautiful tans and blues all swirled together that I added to the mix.

The colors represented here are mostly earthtone/Fall colors that compliment each other with a touch of blue in the candle and the egg to pull it all together. With vignettes like this, I try to vary heights for interest. By the way, the candle holder holding the blue candle is actually a vase but it works beautifully I think! 

Are you creating any vignettes or centerpieces for Fall? Getting ready for Thanksgiving? If you're like me, you can't believe that November is just a few days away and the holidays will be upon us before we know it! Whatever you are doing, I hope you are enjoying some fun, creative and beautiful days.

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Sunday Drive to Elizabethton, TN

 A Fun Sunday Afternoon In Tennessee

Hey friends!  I have a picture-heavy post for you to see today. The Mr. and I haven't done a Sunday drive for quite a long time.  So today we decided to go on an "adventure" together to Elizabethton, TN. This is a town I have driven by a lot here lately on my many treks to West Virginia. However, I have never been to Elizabethton until today and I must say it is a quaint little town with a lot to see! The Mr. has been driving through this town a lot lately on his way to hike on the Appalachian Trail and he wanted to show me some sites that he has noticed but not spent time really visiting. The pic above was taken at the Tennessee visitor's center. The center was decorated for Autumn.

 And although The Mr. thought it was a bit tacky, I had to have my picture made with this guy as well. After all, we were playing tourists for the day!

Our first stop was this covered bridge located in the heart of downtown Elizabethton. It's on a walking tour and has parking beside it which made it easy to stop here and walk around for a bit.

The covered bridge is over Doe River and was built in 1882 at a cost of $3,000. I haven't seen covered bridges outside of New England so it was fun to see this today.

Only foot traffic was allowed inside the bridge and the floor of the bridge has been reinforced. You could see between the floor boards, however, so I kept a tight grip on my phone! 

This is our only pic of the two of us together on this little adventure. 

After visiting the bridge we did a little walking tour of historic homes that were located nearby. The homes were really beautiful! 

I loved this front door with leaded glass panes. Many of the homes were decorated for Autumn/Halloween.

This was an historic cottage. Several of the homes had either large sitting front porches or wrap around porches which I love!

Look at the turret and the beautiful details of this house!

And this house needs a little love but was still beautiful. Can't you imagine sitting on that lovely front porch with a glass of iced tea in one hand and a good book in the other? I think I could pass many happy hours here. 

After a quick lunch at Subway (fine restaurant dining was not on our radar today) we headed onward to The Carter Museum which you see here. 

Unfortunately, the house was not open for us to tour inside but we enjoyed walking on the grounds and looking at the family graveyard to the East of the house. The Carter Mansion is the oldest frame house in Tennessee and was built between 1775-1780. The owners were brothers John and Landon Carter. The county was named after John Carter and Elizabethton was named after his wife Elizabeth. There is also another historic house in Elizabethton called "Sabine Hill." We didn't make it to that home today. 

The Watauga River flows in behind the Carter Mansion making for a picturesque spot. 

Our final stop for the day was at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park which houses a replica of Fort Watauga. This was one of the first permanent American settlements outside the original thirteen colonies. The actual fort was located about one mile away and was the homestead of Matthew Talbot who operated the first gristmill in the Watauga settlement. Due to concerns about attacks from the Cherokee, who were aided by the British Army hoping to defeat settlers during the Revolutionary War, Talbot's land was chosen to use as a safe place for settlers to go to should an attack happen. Indeed on July 21, 1776, almost three hundred Cherokee warriors attacked Fort Watauga. The attack lasted for about three hours with sporadic attacks happening over a period of two weeks. Up to 150 settlers took shelter inside the fort. Eventually, the Cherokee fled further south and the Fort was left in peace until the remaining Talbot family moved to Georgia in 1785. 

I can't imagine how 150 people managed to live together in these sparsely furnished little cabins. 

There were only five cabins inside the fort. I imagine many people slept out in the open. 

It was quite interesting to read about the history of this area. The Cherokee, of course, were here first before their land was encroached by settlers. It was interesting to me to learn about how the British Army provided guns and ammunition to their Cherokee allies. Later, in 1780, the Overmountain Men came together once more on these grounds to assemble and travel over the mountains to fight against The Loyalist Army, led by British Major Patrick Ferguson, at King's Mountain, South Carolina. The Loyalist Army was defeated and this battle helped to win the American Revolution.

Our little adventure today was filled with history, beautiful homes and gorgeous scenery. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

How about you? Do you like to be a tourist for the day? What have you done recently that you really enjoyed? Be sure to let me know in the comments, okay? 

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Visiting Asheville Parade of Homes Wearing A Houndstooth Jacket

 

Hi friends!  One of the things that The Mr. and I enjoy doing each Autumn is visiting homes that are part of the Asheville Parade of Homes. This is held each October on the first and second weekends and the homes we visited have all been lovely. I have snippets to share with you and there is even a bit of fashion involved! Many thanks to The Mr. for his photographic skills with these pics. The pic above features blue and gray against gorgeous hardwood floors. I love the color combination!

All of the houses had pretty bathrooms and interesting lighting throughout. 

The showers in some of the homes were absolutely huge! This one went all the way to the ceiling. 

I'm always partial to blue and white kitchens. In our first house we painted the kitchen cabinets blue and I thought they were so pretty. This style looks crisp and clean doesn't it?

In past years, the homes we toured featured walls that would open up. This year the focus seemed to be super tall windows and doors that almost reached the ceilings. It made for lots of light and views but I think they would be challenging to keep clean!

The Mr. and I both really liked this wallpaper. The fixtures look great next to the wallpaper in this guest bathroom.

These fixtures were pretty cool looking, as well. 

This house was so interesting. Part of it looked like a log cabin. And on the inside there was an eclectic mix of chandeliers and pot bellied stoves! So fun. 

There were many interesting decks and porches. This interesting outdoor fireplace caught our eye. Very unique compared to other outdoor fireplaces we saw. 

And, oh, the huge walk-in closets we saw! With lots of room for shoes and hanging clothes and lots of drawers. No dressers or bureaus in the bedroom would be needed with these big closets! It certainly creates more floor space in the bedrooms.

We toured homes on more than one day so that is why you see me in two different outfits in these pics. The flowered top and ruffled blue jean skirt in one of the above pics was a bust fashion-wise. I'm definitely going to need to work on that outfit because I don't find it figure flattering at all. But, I did want to share this houndstooth jacket with you. I bought it off Poshmark a few months ago and this is my first time actually wearing it and I really like this look! The jacket has a velvet collar which I like. To me, this jacket is a little retro. I remember having a couple outfits with velvet collars in the 80's and I liked them very much. So, this outfit is a winner in my book. The cut of the jacket is slimming compared to the ruffled blue jean skirt and top. I like outfits that look structured and I feel I look better in them. I think it may be time to do another overhaul of my closet looking for more structured tops. 

What do you think? Are you a fan of structured tops like me? How about taking home tours? It's fun to see what is new and different with each year's homes being built! I hope you are having a beautiful Autumn season. Be sure to talk to me in the comments! Love hearing from you.

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Fresh Flowers and Fall Decor

 

Hi everyone!  As I get back into blogging I thought I would share some of my Fall Decor with you. Some items you may recognize but there are a few new items as well. In the picture above you see the foyer table all decked out with some of my favorite pumpkins. My "Hello Fall" sign is a yearly favorite. And The Mr. brought me in a beautiful Fall leaf and I thought it looked just perfect on the foyer table!

The lower tier of the foyer table features a beautiful flameless candle lantern topped with silk flowers. This was a memorial sent to my sister's service by my loving friend of many years, Mary Lou. The lantern has the first verse of the hymn, "Amazing Grace" on the front and it is just lovely! 

As we move into the living room, the side table holds two wooden pumpkins and this gorgeous basket of fresh cut flowers that were given to me after I returned from WV by my dear friend, Sharon. These flowers are so beautiful and just go perfectly with the Fall pumpkins and the green glass vases. I just feel happy every time I look at this table!

And now we are in the dining room and this is my "Fall Corner" vignette. I just love the many ways to display my pumpkins. Whether they are alone on a shelf or in a basket or bucket, nothing says Fall like pumpkins!

This sweet african violet was my choice from a basket of flowers sent to my sister's service by some lifelong friends/neighbors of my sister. Each of my sisters and I were supposed to choose a flower to take home with us. I thought that was such a kind gesture. The tall angel was given to me by my oldest sister so I wanted to display it next to the african violet. The little violin playing angel was given to me years ago by my friend, Mary Lou. I didn't get a very good pic of the little leaf lights but they look pretty lit up at night. I found them at Dollar Tree and should have purchased more than one set because they are not very long. 

And, finally, here is the front door. It is boasting this colorful Fall wreath and a little stuffed pillow that says "Autumn Time." Would you believe I can't remember where I got the little pillow from? I think my mind is not quite back to normal yet but it will get there! I'm just so thankful for wonderful friends and flowers and blogging and Fall! 

It's such a beautiful time of the year! How about you? How are you decorating, celebrating and enjoying this wonderful season?  Oh, and just a heads up that some of your comments are coming through as anonymous so I'm not always certain who is sending a comment. If you feel okay about it, please leave your first name at the end of your comment so I know who you are. I think it is something to do with blogger. Thanks much!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Letting You Know Where I've Been

 

Hello dear friends and readers. Since I have been absent on the blog for so long I thought I should check in and let you know what has been going on in my life. If you have been reading for awhile you may have figured it out anyway. 

I have mentioned previously that I had an ill family member. And then in my August 11th post I shared that it was my oldest sister who was ill. My whole family visited her and tried to help her as much as we could. She began Hospice Care a couple of weeks ago and then, late Wednesday evening, my sister was called home to be with Jesus. 

As you can imagine, these last months, weeks and days have been tough for me. I am the youngest of five daughters and I love all of my sisters very much. We were all there for one another when we lost our Mother and Father. My oldest sister was already an adult when I came along and so I don't have childhood memories of our "playing" together like my other sisters do. Rather, I have memories of her taking me to the park on Saturdays to feed the ducks, shuttling me and my friends to football games, being my Sunday School teacher in junior high and my youth counselor at church, and caring for me in the evenings when my Mom was working and my other sisters had already married and moved out of the house. In some ways she was a mother figure in other ways a sister. Even though there were twenty years between us in age she and I still managed to have sisterly arguments. I think that is normal among siblings no matter what the age difference! She bought me my first violin and was a big cheerleader for me as I played concerts throughout school and college. I always knew she and my Mom would be in the audience! As our Mother aged and became ill my oldest sister took care of her with myself and my other sisters helping as much as we could. When our Mother passed, she became the matriarch of the family and many holidays and celebrations were held at her home, which was our family home. 

These last few years were very hard on her, and on all of us. Her many health issues worsened and, with Covid rampant, she was quite isolated. She suffered several falls and broken bones in addition to the illnesses and, for me living so far away, it was a constant worry wondering if she was alright and receiving the right care. Stubborn, as well as loving, she resisted my many "efforts" to persuade her to move into a senior care facility and insisted that she could manage at home alone with assistance from family living locally and a  lady who came in for only a couple hours a day. When her illnesses reached a point where she absolutely could no longer be at home we found first a rehab facility and then an assisted living facility for her. She desperately wanted to "go home" and it broke my heart. When we found the assisted living facility for her we were able to move some of her own furnishings in and decorate so that it was a bit more "homelike" for her, at least. 

She had a lot of faith in our Lord and I know that she is at peace now, no longer sick and suffering and reunited with family and friends who have gone before her. Her funeral will be this week and her sisters will gather together with brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends to honor and celebrate her life. I ask for your prayers in the days ahead. I was her medical power of attorney and I worked with all of my sisters as we tried to make the very best decisions for our sister. My job is done now. Life will go back to some normalcy in the days ahead as I will not be making the long trip up the interstate to West Virginia for awhile. I will try to resume normal posts with my blogging. 

But, there will be a hole in my heart for a long time to come. 

Until Next Time,

Debbie