nostalgic fall harvest decorating

Added a little decorative touch....Autumn....I do miss the beauty of WI in the fall....along with pumpkin farms, the crispness in the air (before it turns bitter cold;), apple farms....the giant pumpkin Fest, the north woods craft fairs.....the pumpkin patch farms just don't compare down here;)





feeling nostalgic as my parents had TWO offers on their WI northwoods home....in one day;)

Fall in the Smokies!

I miss fall!

I do, I really miss fall in the northwoods....it is just not the same down here!  I miss pumpkins and mums and Indian corn, and carmel apples, and all things fall harvest crafty and pumpkin patches and apple cider and hot cocoa and apple orchards and apple pie and the giant pumpkin fest and the beautiful colors and the crisp air (ok, maybe just a little;) and and and........ But, it's a good trade off for us, can't have it all:)  So, we try to do a fall camping trip every year, to get the flavor of fall (the colors weren't changing yet this year, but there were a few orange leaves on the ground...and that made me happy:)  And, so here is my little tour of Fall in the Smokies:

 




 

 




and since I now live in the south: "happy fall y'all!"
(this English Major literally just CRINGED typing that;)

Autumn Sunset

Basse's Pumpkin Farm

What can I say except I LOVE pumpkins:) The day started out very dreary and drizzly--I was just about to build a cozy campfire to cuddle up with my girls when the SUN CAME OUT! I decided to go outside and move the Sienna in anticipation of the Fed Ex delivery of the new organic mattresses and box springs for the girls' new log beds--and I was shocked to discover, not only was the sun out, but it was WARM too--like almost 70 degrees! Thankfully the delivery came just on time, because we thought, let's get outside and play. So what better to do than to hit the pumpkin farm--again:) This one is right by our house (in fact you can even see our doctors' office behind the farm in one of the pictures). The girls enjoyed the fun playground and the little barn they built for the kids, and most importantly--hay--lots and lots of hay:) After we got done playing for awhile we went into the little country store and bakery and purchased a snack to bring back outside (the girls picked out a pumpkin and lady bug sugar cookie--I just had popcorn--I've been getting sugared out with all of my baking as of late (I say this as I eat a hard boiled egg and a piece of my apple pie for lunch:). Anyway, fun beautiful day--now I better hurry and wash their new sheets and bed skirts so I can get them on the line--there's a nice breeze today too!

More Pumpkin Farms!!

What can I say, except I LOVE pumpkins:) It was 65 degrees and sunny today (we haven't seen a lot of sun as of late) so we decided to get outside and enjoy the spectacular fall weather and colors! We went to Culvers for a VERY LATE BREAKFAST (bad mommy)---and then we headed over to our local pumpin farm--they were closed! They close on Mondays, like restaurants I guess, that work all weekend. So we found not one, but two other pumpkin farms (one I knew about and the other I found just by driving and driving--great way to get to know the Sienna:). Since we already have our pumpkins, I bought apples--so tomorrow when it's raining again we'll make an apple pie and caramel apples!

Harvest Home

Just having fun decorating for the harvest season:) All of my favorite warm colors!

Lunch at the Gingerbread House

Notice, two teeth now missing. She showed some of the other patrons and workers at the Gingerbread House. One older women said she lost her two top front teeth at 6 and they didn't grown in til she was 9!

The girls and I had lunch at the Gingerbread House Monday, after our field trip. Since I've posted pictures from this place before, you'll probably guess it's a local favorite of mine. It's kind of a coffee shop meets European pastry/ soup and sandwich place with a lot of character. When we first moved to our town, this was truly a farm house--we watched the renovation take place for over two years, waiting and wondering what would take the place of the farm house--and boy was I thrilled when one day the Gingerbread House opened up for business. They've since added an ice cream shop in an outbuilding. They also have some chickens outside, which my Fairy Girl loves to visit. Further, inside, it's adorable--all original wood flooring, a fireplace--beautiful old farm tables, decorated in rustic country. And when you go upstairs there is a small quaint craft shop. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it here--it has so much character and it's only a mile from home. The only problem I have is a lunch for me and my two little girls came to $40 plus tip--not including the shopping I did upstairs. I made the decision to replace some of my old mugs and plates with some very colorful and cute pieces that I picked up last night. I have the feeling part of my desire to go there is just to enjoy the colorful dishware:) Basically I'm creating my own "cutsy cafe'" with charm and character, in the heart of my own home--ok--we'll see how long that lasts before we wind up back at the Gingerbread House. Since it's so close to home, I may use it as a night time escape once in awhile to "recharge"---bring a book, (they have cozy chairs too), order a hot cocoa and read by their fire:)