Another Very Special Birthday Outing...

Today is an extra-special day...it's my father's 83rd birthday. When I asked him what he would like to do, he requested another fun day at Dixon Gardens, just like we had for my birthday in April that I shared with you here. And this fall outing was every bit as pretty and fun! (You might enjoy seeing how Dixon looks in Winter, also). We hope you'll enjoy seeing everything with us!

It's hard to believe that Daddy is 83, isn't it? Doesn't he look dapper? And he's a lot of fun, too....I have to try to keep up with him!

Memphis isn't necessarily known for its beautiful Fall seasons. Some of ours are pretty, and some go from green to brown, depending on how much rain we received in Spring and Summer. But, this year we must have gotten plenty, because this is one of the prettiest Fall seasons I have seen in years.

My favorite spot at Dixon: "Europa and the Bull", framed by gorgeous Fall color:

The picturesque entrance to the gardens at Dixon...

aren't these little flowers happy-looking?

I loved the color on these mums. Dixon has beautiful plantings almost year-round, and always something lovely to see.

More breathtaking color...

The back of the museum at Dixon, as seen across the rear lawn from "Europa and the Bull"...

These are called "Spider" mums; I think these were Daddy's favorites.

I was pleasantly surprised to find new water lily blooms this late in the season. I love the reflection on the water.

The ferns in this antique planter will soon be dormant, and it will be fun looking forward to seeing them again next Spring.

This is my father's favorite place at the Dixon...that allee that is lined with the beautiful blooming pink azaleas in Spring.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing how pretty Dixon is in Fall, just as it is in Spring, and celebrating my father's birthday, too. I'm the luckiest woman in the world to have such a wonderful father....Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I hope that you're having a nice start to another autumn weekend. I can't believe how close it is to Thanksgiving, can you? Have you got your menu planned yet? We are taking a short trip to Nashville tomorrow, in hopes of seeing a little more Fall color on the drive before the rains next week take a lot of the leaves down. Have a very happy weekend!

Happy Halloween! (and Blogger issues)...

I just love Halloween! I think that it started with my mother, who adored this holiday. She would make us cute little Halloween cupcakes and cookies (all month, I think), and decorated the inside of our house and also the porch even before it was a popular thing to do. She had such a sense of fun about the spookiness and the colors and the dressing up, and it just rubbed off on my sister and me. So, now we both do up Halloween in a big way at our own homes, and I'm sure that it makes our mother smile.

DH, who's always up for a good time, immediately caught on to the sense of Halloween fun in our family, and we started collecting vintage Halloween decorations and party favors when we were first dating (which is a good thing, because they are much pricier now). He has happy memories of dressing up for Halloween in grade school in Kirkwood, MO, and then after school having a Halloween parade for all of the parents, going right down the middle of the street in front of his school. Doesn't that sound like a happy memory? We never had parades like that here...I'll have to admit being a bit envious! ;-)

We found the vintage Halloween mask above at one of our favorite antique malls here in town, and also the vintage papier mache luminary. That little noise-maker was the very first Halloween piece we bought together. The doll below was a fun Marshall's find this year.

I just love this little "Crystal Fortunes" card. It has fortunes for boys on one side and girls on the other, and would have been fun to use at a Halloween party. DH found several of these at an old (OLD) party store downtown that was closing several years ago. They had quite a few vintage party favors and decorations from years and years ago, and DH was able to buy the entire lot for $10! I don't know how someone hadn't discovered those before, as they are quite collectible now...lucky DH! Since he had multiples of everything, he shared his find with my sister and my mother.

Another vintage paper mask in my mother's favorite character, a black cat! and more noise-makers...I think that the noise-makers are our favorite thing to collect. The old owl lantern also was found on one of our antique adventures.

This sweet-looking witch was also in DH's great find at that old party store. We had 6 of those in that lot, so my sister and father also each have 2 to use with their decorations.

We found this cute box of Halloween cookie cutters at a Gallatin, TN antique mall during our first antique-hunting trip to the Nashville area about 20 years ago. I didn't have the heart to open them and use them, as the box is so sweet.

This little guy is another Marshall's find...

Each year, we've thought about not decorating, but our college-age boys still expect us to go all out. I'm glad that they haven't outgrown the fun yet. Someday, I hope that they will be enjoying some of these things at their own homes.

My younger son is sweet and thoughtful about bringing me little things that he finds when he's out, and he bought me this cute guy on the bike on sale this week. I think that he's a nice addition to the den, don't you?

And remember this Halloween banner that I saw at the Collierville Town Square earlier this month, and shared with you here? Well, it made its way home with me!

My sweet daddy bought us this cute wood decoration on sale at Kirkland's. I think that it reminded him of how my mother decorated our home each year---I know that it did me. As fun as all of the decorations are, I think that the ones from people you love are the most special, don't you?

Whether you celebrate a light-hearted, fun-loving Halloween or have a joyous celebration of Fall and the harvest season at your home, I hope that it's the best one ever!

I tried and tried this afternoon to get this post to publish and then visit all of you, and I couldn't get blogs to load..they would either lock up, or throw me out completely. I don't know if it was a Blogger or server issue, or just my own internet acting up. Hopefully it will be more cooperative tomorrow!

Pumpkin-Pickin' Fun!

We've been visiting Tom's Farm in Rossville, TN, for our yearly "pumpkin fix" since the boys were little. Well, actually, we started visiting the pumpkin patch in the front yard of Tom's family home before they had the "farm" set-up during the fall. Their pumpkin business has grown and grown, and they've added so many fun activities, too! I hope that you'll enjoy tagging along with us this year...



SO many pumpkins to choose from this year...all sorts of shapes and colors and textures. Which is your favorite?

I would love to have a basketful of these, wouldn't you?

We all liked the "warty" pumpkins, too.


My big old boys won't be here at home that many more pumpkin seasons, will they? I'm so glad that they still love to go (or at least love to humor their Mom and Dad!).

My younger son searching out the perfect one...

I already have mums for this year, but these cheerful ones are awfully tempting...

That looks like fun...who's up for a hayride?

They even have the perfect place for taking a fall family photo.

Do you have time for a walk through the corn maze before we go?

I think that the guys made some nice pumpkin choices this year, don't you?

I hope that your week is off to a lovely start! It's very cool and crisp here today. Has fall arrived at your home yet? I'm working through Wednesday this week, and hope to be visiting many of you and doing lots of catching up later in the week!

Fall Afternoon on the Square...

The Town Square in Collierville, Tennessee, is one of our favorite places to visit for lunch, shopping, or just a relaxing walk, all year...but especially in Autumn. I first blogged about this lovely and charming spot here. It is so festive, and will definitely get you into the "fall mood". I'd love for you to come walk with me and see the sights, and maybe do a little shopping, too!

Some of the shop owners may not want photos taken inside, but we can certainly peek inside the doorways, can't we?

These cute little black cats are all decked out for the holiday...Aren't these pumpkin turkeys cute? I've seen those quite a few places this year, have you? You could use the metal "turkey parts" from year to year, also.

Let's walk this way...it looks like there are lots of goodies along this walkway...

I love this Halloween banner, and those hand towels, too. I think that hand-painted banner might be something I'd like to have at my home. Should I buy it?

I love this display...the colors are so festive!

That cat is adorable, and the serving pieces would be perfect for a Halloween party...

This scarecrow would be such a happy addition to the garden.

And this turkey would be great for Thanksgiving...The city workers really go all out to make the entire historic district look festive, don't they? They have decorations and displays everywhere you look!

Look...another cute, welcoming scarecrow, and I love that wreath, too!

I'm so glad that you could visit the Square with me today...I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did!

I'm so glad that it's the weekend, aren't you? This week was an extra-busy one, and I'm ready to have some fun. Mississippi State is playing at Knoxville, TN, today (Go, State!!!---but good luck to the Vols, too!), so we're at home this weekend.

I think we're going to stop by the Vesta Home Show, which features several homes up for sale and fully-decorated. It is always fun to see what the latest trends are, so I will try to take a few photos to share with you!

I hope that you have a great weekend!

Happy Fall, Y'all...I've missed you!...

The past summer was somewhat eventful, and I am so glad that I can now log on and say hi to all of my blogging friends! In late May, I started a new job, working from home! It is a bit more intensive than my research job was (I didn't even think that was possible...famous last words!), but the people I work with are wonderful and supportive, and working from home is bliss. It couldn't have been a more timely change, either, with the faltering economy and rising fuel prices.

The temporary downside was that we had to convert to wireless in our home, and we've had problems with that all summer long. SO frustrating! My work computer worked fine (it is hardwired), but the others, dependent on the wireless signal, worked maybe 5 minutes at best, and then would time out. It made blogging and visiting sites next to impossible. We finally found a wonderful tech at Comcast this week (after about 12 service calls), who figured out what the problem was in the original set-up, and now all of our computers work...like they should! Such a relief for all of us, and so nice to be able to be back online for fun! I don't have as much free time right now as I would like, but I hope to be able to blog at least once a week or so...I've missed it, and all of you, so much!

I know that the economy has everyone a bit stressed, us included. DH's job is more recession-sensitive than mine is, so he's working harder than ever, as most everyone is these days. We are certainly thankful for our jobs...and for our health. I had a few health issues crop up in early summer as I changed jobs, and thankfully am feeling healthy and back to "me" now. Sometimes change can be a good thing!

Enough about me! I'm dying to catch up with all of you over the next week or two...I have quite a few months worth of lovely photos and updates and news to enjoy on all of your blogs...

Until then, I thought you might enjoy seeing the first of our fall decorations and what is growing in our garden right now. The mums above are on our front porch, and this is how we've dressed our front door for Fall:

Here is a better photo of the pocket arrangement; DH and I had fun putting this together with flowers we bought 1/2-off at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. DH is actually a better "arranger" than I am. :) We tend to use brighter colors around this area of our home as the porch is shaded most of the day, and more muted decorations just don't show up well.

We bought this hand-painted slate at our local Fall Festival a few years ago, and love that it can be used all the way through Thanksgiving.

Our sedum has done especially well this year...always a nice surprise...

and the Dogwood trees have just put out their Fall berries. Soon, those leaves will be turning pretty colors, too. Our Fall so far has been fairly sunny and crisp. It still is in the 80s most days, but nice and cool for being in the sunny South.

And, for those of you who are like me and also love the pretty blossoms toward the end of summer, this is probably my last rose of the year (I think that this one is "Miss America"). I'll look forward to the cycle starting over again in Spring. There is a sense of comfort in the changing of the seasons, I think. It is dependable...a steady rhythm...that gives us a sense of continuity in times like these.

I hope that each of you had a glorious Summer, and a nice start to your Fall. I can't wait to visit with you...it's so nice to be back in blogland!