Just a Tiny Bit of Fall in the House

The trouble with leaving for a trip in early October is that I'm just not ready to go full-fall in the decor line. But when I return the leaves will have disappeared from the trees and it wouldn't surprise me if we had an early snow within a week or two of getting home. Or it could be 60. You never know.

But I didn't want to leave a summer house for my wonderful house sitter, Jan. Nor did I want to return to lavender hydrangeas and summery stuff myself -- especially with an art show coming two weeks after I return and Thanksgiving shortly after that.

So, a little bit of fall in the house. Not a lot. Nothing new (unless I bring it home with me). Lots of wreaths, on china cabinet doors...

...and other places. (And I bet you've seen all of these before, if you've been with me quite awhile!) The post showing our day at Southern Exposure when I made the arrangement below is HERE. Definitely worth a visit if you are craving beautiful fall color at my favorite place in the world! At least Michigan. Maybe the world!

My massage therapist, the Divine Sarah, gave me free-range hydrangea cutting, so some dried hydrangeas are flanking the Greeting Angel.

Hydrangeas from my more sparse bush are on the table. (I actually filled up that dead-spot in the middle after I took the pic!)

I pulled out my copper for the mantle.

And moved the cotton over there, too.

I did pull a few pumpkins out, mostly so Jan could enjoy them. I'll probably put them away the more Halloweenie ones right after the holiday. Maybe I'll show you those a little closer to the season! Apart from a few smalls here and there, I think this will have to do for now.

...she says today.

Sharing this week with:    Share Your Cup     /    Let's Keep In Touch   /     Thursday Turnabout

Postcards from the Lake: Last Postcard of the Season

I hate closing the cottage. I don't know if it's better to do it on a totally crappy day when you think, "Well, can't be outside, swim, too cold to be on the porch, time to leave" or on a perfect-weather weekend like the one we had, where you have something magical to hold onto.

Rick was traveling on business so it was Lizzie and me. She's good company in an odd kind of diva-cat way. Very chatty. Sometimes too chatty but this time it was about right!

There are signs of fall. Sneak previews of what is to come.

And, in some cases, it appears to be coming rather fast, though you wouldn't know from the 80-plus weather and blue sky.

It was a perfect swimming weekend and I did my longest swim -- over a half mile, I think, going fore-and-back. I didn't want to come out of the water!

The fungi is coming out in force now.

I'm fascinated by the shapes -- they're like little fairy houses. If you were old enough to see "Peter Pan" with Mary Martin on telly when you were a child, you might remember the lost boys lived underground and the tops of their houses were spotted mushrooms! I wonder who is living under these?

The exciting thing is that I got a new camera with a 40x zoom (which you have to hold VERY steady!) It's about a half-mile of water between my beach and the county park but you can read the name of the trailer that was parked there!

And in Lizzie's eyes, how many colors do you see? I lost count. (I took that with the zoom from across the room; a little fuzzy but still pretty good, considering the distance.)

I did have time to paint a bit (a very little bit) and to chill out.

And I was blessed with an appearance of the lake heron. I've only seen him flying this year.

On this day he made a much longer appearance, walking the beach.

Wish I could get underneath the dock so easily!

My friend Richard dropped by on his way home from delivering his new novel to bookstores in the north. I'll have a review and Q&A with Richard about his book soon. And my cousin David was up with some of his friends. David is now the official owner of my dad's old fishing hat. He asked (who would have thought to ask if anyone wanted this old cobwebby hat?) It had been in the utility room for years (dad died in 1993), yet I'd never been able to get rid of it. It is right where it belongs! Dad would be so thrilled!

He told me I should check out the moon, a wonderful crescent.

As it dipped lower in the west, it turned this wonderful shade of red. I didn't do anything to this photo. It was that red!

A peek inside. It's so cozy!

David's friends were great and were happy (or at least acted happy!) to let me join them for dinner. Bill even fixed our pesky door lock -- and that was great because I wasn't sure I'd be able to fully close and lock it when I left! Now I can.

When I headed out, the car was packed so full, I couldn't see out the back window! It looked like the Beverly Hillbillies, except it was all inside. Even Lizzie had stuff atop her carrier! Bet you didn't know a Toyota Corolla could hold so much. I thought of those who had to evacuate Hurricane Florence as I was packing. I'm pretty sure I would have packed different things. It wold not have been three bags of books and art supplies, a guitar, ten planters or potted plants, lots of dirty laundry, a computer, a monitor, three bags and a cooler of food, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. (Actually, a yappy cat in a carrier!)

Time for the last cottage selfie of the season.

Goodbye, Cottage. There's a chance I'll get up again but it's a pretty small one. I'll miss you.

Feels like the end of summer.

Sharing today with:    Let's Keep In Touch    /    Share Your Cup   

I'm Writing Today at Modern Creative Life

We have a few more days until fall officially makes its bow and we welcome a new season with the autumnal equinox. But I'm still remembering summer.

Please join me over at Modern Creative Life this week while I reflect on summer's way of being an escape from the nine-month year, those months from September through May where our schedules seem to get out of control.

The theme of this issue is "Escape" and escape I do. It may involve a black and white cat, a walk down a wooded road, or a dip in the lake.

And of course, there will be a sunset.

I'd like to take you with me, so come on over, right HERE!

Sharing this week with:   Pink Saturday   

This, That and the Other Thing

Before the month gets a little too crazy, I thought I'd wrap up September. It was a month filled with road trips to the lake.

Home repair on the cottage.

Running into an old friend and former work colleague while picking up Rick from his Lansing to Mackinac bike ride.

Picking up a rider all in one piece!

Good dinners on the porch.

Progress.

Pretty flowers.

Signs of fall.

New wreaths.

Baking.

Pretty stamps. Magical...

...and thoughtful.

Planning!

And a little more work to do!

(Not to mention decorating for fall -- but that's for another day!)

Where are the Children?

"To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. 
If you let it stay there after it has got you in you may never get over it as long as you live … ” 
Frances Hodgson Burnett, "The Secret Garden"

I've been a little worried lately. The lip treatment wasn't fun (and I'm still experiencing the after effects, which aren't pleasant). Time is flying and soon we will leave for our trip but my foot still isn't up to par; I worry a bit about walking. Frances Hodgson Burnett was right about letting bad thoughts get into our minds. It's not so easy to let them fly away.

I had a little time to kill while waiting for meds the other day so it was healing to take a spin around the MSU Children's Garden.

We've visited here before. It was a little different then!

 

The first thing I noticed was "where are the children?"

The peacock was there.

And the Flamingo and the butterfly.

Mary of "The Secret Garden" was in a field of zinnias.

And the bunny was ready to greet people. But no children.

It was so beautiful, this warm, sunny, early September weekday and the only children I saw were two, coming as I was leaving. OK, school is in session, I get it. But I missed them, their squeals of happiness at the xylophone where they can walk on it and make music with their feet or their delight when running through the maze, seeing a lovely bloom or pondering the moon and star support.

No one was in the "treehouse" fort.

Looking from its elevated height, one could see much of the garden.

Monet's bridge was tranquil and quiet, no little feet scampering over it on this fine day.

There was nary a ripple on the pond, the water reflecting the blue of the sky.

And there was color.

So much color.

Bright walkways.

Cheerful hollyhocks.

Sunflowers that couldn't quit, of every variety and golden hue.

Flowers were everywhere.

Even the fences were jazzed up!

But no children.

When we last visited the sheep, he looked like this:

It felt cold, not dead, really, but not alive, and one wondered how it would ever be spring again. But then, as Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote in "The Secret Garden," "“As long as you have a garden you have a future and as long as you have a future you are alive.” Now our sheep is bathing in the sun.

Soon the pond will freeze over, the petals drop, the blooms dry and fade.

Plants will be pulled out, the ground prepared to weather another snowy winter.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden,” wrote Frances Hodgson Burnett in "The Secret Garden." 

She is so right.

I think I need to return here soon -- and I bet I know a little boy who would love being lost in the maze, making music with the xylophone and even riding atop the sheep! I'll have to work on that one! Soon!

Sharing this week with:    Let's Keep in Touch   /    Pink Saturday   /   Gardens Galore (Everyday Living)