The first day of Fall for me anyway! Awesome day!!!!!

We had storms go through last night and a cold front and it was in the 50's when I got up this morning. Yes!!!  Finally my kind of weather!  I got up early and the girls and I went for a 3 mile hike in the wonderfully brisk morning air.  They were pretty relaxed after that but it energized me, thank goodness!  Hmmm....looks like the front door needs to be cleaned....I see nose prints all over it!

  I came home and picked up the yard of sticks that had blown down in the storm and collected my first bucket of kindling for the coming Winter.

 

 Plus, I couldn't resist gathering some acorns before mowing the lawn..........

 

When I came in I noticed one of my African Violets is starting to bloom!  I bought it from the local Garden Club and there were no blooms when I bought it so I had no idea what color they would be.  It's going to be gorgeous with pink blooms and yellow ruffled edges!  How pretty it is...bad picture but you get the gist of it.

 

 I think God knew the girls and I needed this day of nature to sooth us,  blow fresh air into the house and exercise to clear the mind and renew the limbs.  In the South you get cabin fever in the Summer not the Winter! LOL!  Oh, and did I mention football was on today?  Perfect college football weather....tomorrow the NFL starts....oh yeah!
P.S.  I did NOT get the lawn mowed however....it started right up after not having been used all Summer but I realized quickly that I had an extremely flat tire and some low ones too!  I called my Deere expert and he said he'd stop by tomorrow but I should have been moving the mower and rotating those tires.....now he tells me!  Anyway, hopefully I'll only need one at about $100.00 a tire.  My car tires cost that much and they're LOTS bigger!  I guess my next mower won't be a Deere at those prices!  I hope you had a great Fall day wherever you are.  Please stop by tomorrow to see my YOP update.....my bath mat is done!  Can you believe it?  It doesn't look too bad either.  TTYS!

Did I say I was staying home today?

Not!  I forgot it was recycling today and farmer's market too.  Here's what I got at the market.........

 

Summer squash, eggplant, sweet potatoes and 2 little baby cabbages!  Just the right size for me! I'm visualizing baked sweet potatoes, sauteed Summer squash with some Parmesan and garlic, some apple slaw and more eggplant Parmesan.  I never get tired of it.

I started crocheting another potholder.  I'm really liking the looks of it! 

 

I finished a book this past week.  I picked it up at a "spin-in" at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas last year. (No, I'm not a spinner but hopefully some day maybe.) It looked interesting and it was but it was not the first book in the series and therefore a little confusing.  A friend gave me 2 other books in the series so now I am reading the first book in the series.  It's well written and many people give her high marks but I'm just not into sorcery and magic much so I'll probably read them since they're there but unless I really like them after 3 books, I won't be reading anymore. They're good but just not my cup of tea...not yet anyway....time will tell.   

 

 I did get around to one of my friends blogs today but I am so far behind!  It's the story of my life...."a day late and a dollar short"! LOL!  I hope you had a wonderful day where ever you are.  Fall is trying to come in here but at near 100 degrees it's spawning some severe storms and tornadoes.  There are warnings out now for thunderstorms but nothing yet.  Supposedly once the storms go through tonight and tomorrow we will be cooler.  It sure would be nice.....I'll take "cooler" any day after this Summer.  My Fall clematis is  blooming (what's left of it...half of it died off this Summer) which is a good sign of Fall!  Take care and TTYS!

Went to Wally World today...............

First of all, thank you all for your uplifting and soothing comments.  You REALLY are my friends and I am SO grateful I have all of you!  You just don't know how  much it meant to me....thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You lifted me up so much I got the courage and strength to go to Wally World and you  know how it tires me out but.....the dogs were looking at the few cans of dog food left and then looking at me with those pitiful eyes so,  off I went.
 Here are a few fun items I got while I was there...........
The Fall issue of Flea Market is on news stands now!  It doesn't last long when it's out so,  if you like it,  go get a copy now before they're all gone.  It's a little pricey at $9.95 but then what isn't nowadays?  I love it though because it shows us how to utilize and display lots of collectibles and items we love but are not sure of what to do with once we get them home.   It's in my TOP TEN magazine list!

BTW, after "feeling the love" last night in your comments, I picked up my bath mat I'd been knitting and which I hadn't picked up all week.  I finished it even weaving in all the ends!  The knitting angels were definitely with me too.  It doesn't look too bad actually.  Yes, I did make mistakes but it could have been so much worse! LOL!  I will be posting it next Sunday for the YOP update.  I'll be trying socks again now for knitting and for crochet I picked up some cotton yarn today to make some dish cloths or potholders. 

 

This color would be great for a hostess gift or a swap with a patriotic theme and below is a color I know my son would appreciate in his kitchen.  If I remember correctly, I got 2 potholders out of 1 of these skeins and they're only $1.77 each. 

Thanks to you all, I feel uplifted today, hopeful and grateful that I have such wonderful friends out there that I've never even met!  You guys are GREAT!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a great day today.  Thanks again so much.  I'll be home tomorrow but out "visiting" my blogging neighbors to see what you've all been up to.  Blessings to all of you!

Happy Labor Day to all of you..............

There's a saying that a Mother is only as happy as her saddest child.  I have a child...an adult child that brought me some painful news this week and it's not over and there's hope and faith but it shook me and my foundation pretty good.  I haven't posted or blogged or even read emails.  I've just done what I've always done when the storms of life have hit me......I keep active and distract my mind from thinking too much.  I've done all I can for now except continue to pray and have faith that "whatever God brings you to he'll bring you through".  I am sad though so my usual joyful blogging and commenting would be hard to "fake" and who wants "fake bloggers"? But on the other hand no one wants to hear about problems either...I'm sure you all have plenty of your own! LOL! I will return slowly but surely.  I just need to get my balance.
I sometimes wonder if we're all given a certain amount of joy and sadness when we're delivered to earth and once it's gone that's it.  I would hope that it all balances out in the end but who knows.  I hope you are all well and enjoying the last weekend of Summer (unofficial) and that the crisp cool days of Fall will be upon us soon.  It was 95 here today and humid since Isaac came through but on the plus side there's no more fire danger!  Stay well my friends and be as happy as you can for as long as you can!