The other day, I realized that I love this season because the flowers from the summer and the autumn foliage are starting to overlap.  We haven't had much frost yet so our front porch is an eye-catching mix of pansies, impatients, gourds, and tiny pumpkins.  Not to mention all those maple leaves.  

I wanted a totally different color for some of my fall things.  This year, I went with purple.  Hooray!  (Yes, I just hooray-ed purple.  Ha.)

     My parents have had a tiny red shed that looked like a miniature henhouse/barn.  Man, I loved taking pictures in front of that thing.  However, the years and the weather have not been kind to our dear shed so my husband and my dad ended up tearing it down while my father had a new one built (for the record, this one does NOT look like an adorable red henhouse.  Boo for modern upgrades).  

     However, the craft/antique store near my parents' house took the leftover shed-wood and made these adorable black crows.  Hooray for small town-living (where people 'find out' you tore down your shed) and new-things-out-of-old-things!  

 Love and Christmas is next!
H.

The Week in Review, I suppose.

I remember a time when you told me to be careful of the questions I asked because once you ask and you learn the answers, you can never take it back.  You can never un-know it and sometimes that is sad or weird or just hard to get over.  That knowledge is there forever, dancing around in your head like grouchy little hornets waiting to attack.  

And I wish I would have listened and next time I will. I mean really will.  


And I think maybe this blue color I seem to be wearing on my mug lately is just poor timing.  An abundance of late-spring rain and too much Kate Rusby on repeat.  

I'm better now, see.  


Well, two good things happened this week. 


 1.)  We received this pretty package in the mail and we leave very, very soon.  ((sigh)) There is much to do before we can plunk ourselves into the Pacific Ocean or enjoy the stretch of road between Monterrey and Big Sur.  I have a feeling it will be exactly what we need.  California/Hawaii, here we come.   

2.)  We are making a lot of headway on these shiny new floors.  More on that later, I'm sure. Hooray for less vacuuming and fewer allergies!  Boo on you carpet, I say Boo!  

Think of 2 good things and post them enthusiastically. And leave one of these. :) 


My best to you.  


Love, H.  

Stripes on Walls

     I am oh-so-antsy to paint. This run-of-the-mill light tan color that the sellers picked just isn't cutting it anymore. Truth be told, I have always sort of kind of disliked it.  Stripes in the entryway?  Summer 2010.  Let's do this.  :)  

http://www.housepaintingtutorials.com/images/wide-painted-wall-stripes-21127561.jpg

Fruit

I know I am getting older because I look forward to going to bed. I look forward to it a lot. Just last night, Tim was all curled up reading, nagging me to close down the laptop and head his direction. It was super late, and the dogs were snoozing on the couch and I was (((as usual))) click-clacking away. I yelled to the other room, "Okay, here we come!" and I got excited. Like, the kind of feeling you get when the opening act is over and the band is coming out. It was sort of silly and perhaps a true sign that I am closer to thirty than twenty. I need my 7 hours...give or take.

We painted our room. It was the first room we've ever painted together and it went quite well. It is a dark blue/gray...the color of storm clouds and sleeping in and the ocean in December and I love it more than I actually thought I would. I love the contrast of the walls with the white woodwork. When it is all said and done, I'll put

some pictures up. However, this may will take a while...

One thing you should know about me is that January is a hard month in my book. The excitement of Christmas is over. The weather is cold and spring feels miles and miles away. As a teacher, in February, you have Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day to anticipate and March means tulips and leprechauns and spring break. So, January has spent 27 years or so trying to redeem itself. To this date, not much has worked short of Martin Luther King Day and the occasional blizzard.

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and hemmed and hawed over buying clementines. I LOVE clementines, but they are a bit pricey. However, I saw this little cutie poking out of the bag and had to snatch them up right away.

Talk about a sign of hope. We are Right Smack Dab in the Middle of Winter and here's living proof that somewhere, the world is green.

Scarlett is funny. Right now, she is focused on anything she can get her little paws into. I recently purchased a jar of decorative, plastic cherries to put in a vase with a candle resting on top. It just occurred to me that a good 3/4 of those cherries now have tiny shallow teethmarks in them. I have been heaving a lot of sighs this month, it seems. What's one more? Oh. Dogs.

In other news, how 'bout this banner (((sheepishly pointing upward)))? I recently dowloaded "GIMP" which is a poor man's version of Photoshop. Overall, I like it. I am not computer-savvy. Basically, I like checking my email. I wanted something a bit more-permanant-looking...something that looked customized. Fun. Intentional. But I have a hard time keeping up with these crazy graphics-design-dark-rimmed-glasses-wearing-kids. I needed to keep it simple. I don't want to look like a.) I'm trying way too hard and b.) a monkey did my banner.

I am on the fence about the fonts, but I like it for now. What say you?

Love, H. (who-hates-sounding-like-she-is-fishing-for-compliments-and-just-wants-an-honest-opinion)