Thursday, November 19, 2009

FALL fix-ups~

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and you know what that means.  Soon we'll be trading in all our warm festive fall decorations for more greenery and sparkle which I am looking forward to but I don't like to rush the seasons around here, much to my local big box stores dismay. Every year they try to entice me with all the new and improved " made in china " stuff  they hope I can't live with out but I stayed true to my own ways and went rummaging around for things I could re-invent, re- arrange and re-use right here at home!


My fall table -scape is simple but does the trick for adding some color and it's all stuff I already had. The lantern  and glass candle sticks are Target original's I have had for a few years. The handpainted tray was a yard sale deal. I paid 10.00 dollars for it and tucked it away thinking I might hang it on a wall in our dining room but I just never found the right place for it.. I love it as a foundation for the lantern and candle sticks this year! I enjoy adding  nature's gifts to my decorating themes so I went scavenging in the back yard for pinecones, and found a few varieties as well as a few cut rounds from logs we have burned in our out door fire place. Free and festive! So, before you head out and run up your credit card... do some rummaging of your own. You might be surprised at what would make-do one more year! It's a great feeling to re-use old things in a new way. Each time you do not only will you remember past occasions, but you will be making new memories to last a life-time.



I didn't stop there! I decided to create a Quiet Corner just for me! In the ideal world a space such as this would be in a small room, studio, library, or den. I know!...Let's DREAM BIG....Maybe even a totally detatched outdoor space like an old english conservatory placed in the midst of a flourishing cottage garden.  A place where you could close the door and with it all the daily noise that goes along with our busy days as the makers of a good life for ourselves and those we love.
 Back to reality...My Aunt  Karen has such a place out on her back deck... She calls it Karen's Cabin~ It is an enclosed deck that has taken years to evolve into her own special haven. It's her place to un wind and let her hair down. She has country collectibles stacked here and there, a long blue bench that seats at least 6, and a rocking chair or two, a lodge pole swing, a table and chairs, old lanterns and games a few quirky sayings on the walls, and country fabrics to complete the theme...She is a country girl at heart and her quiet corner is just the place to be if your in need of the kind of nurturing only some soliltude can bring.This time of year as the sun starts to go down in the western sky she pours her self a cup of tea and starts a small fire in her chiminea... I have had the pleasure of sitting on that deck for family gatherings too and it is nothing short of delightful. I am inspired by her authenticity and the patience it takes to create such a haven.  After all, life isn't an HGTV episode and if we're smart we won't try to live it in quick 30 minute blasts...Maybe she'll send us a pick or two?

Here we are riding the carosel in Sandwich, MA. during her visit here last fall... When she's not taking in some solitude back at " the cabin" she likes to take a ride on the painted ponies! 

Let's get back to Quiet Corners shall we?

Once I had made up my mind that I needed a quiet corner of my own, I only had one place to go.. Our bedroom. Lucky for me I have been using a desk my mom had painstakingly stripped a few years back  in another room... It called out to me, along with an antique chair my hubby had brought home for me one day.. Some people bring home stray dogs (God love em) we bring home stray furniture. I already had an antique lamp beside the bed that I purchased from a flea market because it was the exact replica of the one in my hubby's families summer cottage. With a little muscle from our teen -age son I had a Quiet Corner of my own in no time... I placed a few more of my favorite things on the desk top... Shells and rocks, a family photo, a writers ink-well, and a small stack of my favorite books and magazines.

No electronics allowed~

                                                          A few of my favorite books...




And my favorite magazine~  Mary Janes Farm. It's filled with everyday organic living recipe's, re-purposing tips, and the most uplifting, charming and inspirational stories I have ever read in a magazine from women of all walks of life.  If you ever wondered if you were a farmgirl at heart.. Mary Janes Farm will confirm it! It is a slice of America we haven't seen in a long time!  Treat yourself!Go and get the Old Fashioned Christmas Issue on the stands now. http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

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