Hey everyone, we all love a good rescue story don't we? My Roadside Rescued Buffet is being featured at Roadkill Rescue today. I just discovered this website and it is chock full of pretty things saved from the dumpster:>) Click on the button below and check it out. Oh, and have a great Sunday!

I WON!

It just goes to show what some old sheet music, half a jar of gel medium and a lot of glitter will do. Lol

I won a $50 gift card to the local gourmet grocery store. How fun is that?

I think if I hadn't run out of steam (and time) I might have done the lettering differently, but all in all I was pretty happy with the results, and no messy carving.

Today is my day off and I have a huge list of things I want to accomplish. Odd how having less free time actually spurs you on to make the most of the free time you do get isn't it?

Cleaning and fluffing the house never felt so good.

Here's hoping you make the most of the time you have this beautiful fall weekend too. What do you have planned?

Has it been over a week since I posted!? Wow, all I can say is the new full time job is kicking my hiney, for any of you out there who work full time and blog on a very regular basis, I tip my hat to you. At some point I will be finished training, know everything there is to know about this job (snort) and be better able to manage my time. In the meantime, bear with me if I don't answer all my emails right now ok?

In other news, I had to share my latest score from Salvation Army. I have been wanting brown transferware for ages, I found this set of 7 plates for about a dollar each, on sale, and snapped them up. Three of them are in a tiered plate holder with fruits and veggies in the kitchen. I would show you how gorgeous they look, and they do look gorgeous, but I'm losing the light and it would entail more work than my sad and tired self is able to muster at the moment. One of the reasons I don't care for the winter months is how quickly it gets dark. Time to haul out the owners manual for my DSLR and actually try to figure out how to use it on manual setting to adjust for light. I have only had this camera two years. Maybe it's time to read the manual?

 Also, I wanted to tell you if you are in the market for cute knobs, run, don't walk, to Michaels. these were in the dollar section. That's right, a buck each. I had Lauren with me and she grabbed four cuties for a some day project. Now all she needs is a dresser that only needs four knobs. That's my girl:>)

I finished my pumpkin project for the contest at work last night after dark and didn't get a photo. (where is that camera manual!?) So I have to  take my camera in tomorrow and get some pictures all unstyled and everything. But I know you want to see it, and you all have great imaginations so you can imagine it in just the right setting for me right?:>)

Hope your week is going swell.

Talk at you later.

I think I mentioned that I started a new job. now let me say right up front, I don't blog about work (big sigh of relief from co-workers) but I have to tell you something funny. I work with someone who has read my blog for a while. (Hi Loretta!) Small world or what!? There is something freeing about blogging, and I bet you all feel it too. It's your own little corner and you can chat about only the things you want to and I have to tell you I was a little nervous about working with someone who read the blog.



Photo courtesy BHG.com

Why? Because, well, what if she finds out how boring I really am? What do you think she thought of that big stress zit and my bad hair day I was sporting on my first day, 'cause, I gotta tell you I was working the nerves about starting a new job.  (Hi Loretta!)

I can tell you this, everyone was sooo welcoming and nice, especially Loretta.  And guess what?

Photo Courtesy marthastewartliving.com

 This place is so cool they even hand out pumpkins to the employees and have a pumpkin carving contest. You have to love a place like that:>) Do you think I can copy that Martha pumpkin up there?

Photo courtesy BHG.com

So far, so good.  And that's the last work related post you'll see. Until I win that pumpkin carving competition......:>)

And the winner is.....

A great big thank you to everyone who left such lovely messages celebrating my 600th post.

You make me smile daily when you stop by and leave a little hello. It's what has kept me going for 600 posts!

And the winner of the drawing is.....

Cora of Heartfelt and Homemade!

Cora has a really beautiful blog and she takes the most amazing photos! Stop by and tell her congratulations and take in some of the peace and beauty that is part of her trademark at her own little corner of the world:>)

Congratulations Cora!

Ticking & Toile Tablerunner

I seldom decorate for fall. I do warm up the house with candles and throws and other cozy things, but I'm not a big fan of Halloween and somehow the autumn season seems so short I just never find the time to really fallify my home.  I prefer longer lasting decorating, making and displaying things that can span the seasons but still add a little warmth and fun.

Something about ticking stripes has captured my fancy this year.  The simplicity of the stripes has to be one thing I love, and their ability to pair with so many other patterns is another.  I grabbed some ticking scraps recently and came up with this little table runner.

 Kind of farmhouse, kind of cottage, I think it goes well with my red transfer ware and even with my plain white plates.  I love the deep ruffles on each end, and the toile I paired with the two kinds of ticking.

This little beauty is in the shop right now, and I am afraid there won't be any more like it because with my new full time job I am having to focus on some other projects. If you need it, best get over there:>) 

How do you warm up the house for fall?

Eye Candy

Just a little Autumn eye candy from our weekend. It has been perfect weather here, in the 70's, sunshine, blue skies that make the oranges and golds and reds seem even brighter.

 We decided to get out and enjoy it while we still can. There can't be many more days like this left.  We stopped at a teeny little cider mill yesterday and enjoyed the beauty.

 Have a great week my frends. I hope the weather where you are is all blue skies and sunshine.....except for my friends in Texas where I hope you get cozy rainy days that replenish your poor dry soil. I'm praying for rain for you:>)

And don't forget you have until the 15th to enter my giveaway here for the Cabbages and Roses book!

Autumn Decorating

I have to admit. I see all the lovely autumn decorations that everyone is putting up, and, well, I still have my summer wreath on the front door. I haven't decorated the porch, except for a jug of the last of my garden zinnias by the front door.  But my sweetie has been working on a new project that just got me jump started on adding a little bit of autumn to my home.

He's making dough bowls for the shop. I absolutely love them. Filling them with squash satisfies the cheap frugal side of me. I can cook and freeze these for later rather than just throwing them out like so many pumpkins, and I love the different colors and forms. I even threw in a few of the tomatoes and peppers from our garden. 

You can find this listed in my etsy right now.  For me, this was love at first sight. He has several more in the works and I love how they are turning out! This may be my only nod to autumn at the moment, but I think it satisfies my need for simplicity in my home and represents the bounty I feel we have been blessed with. So much beauty and color and so many blessings. I would love to hear how you feel blessed today:>) 

New Seasons

Change is inevitable. We've all heard that. Sometimes we embrace it, if the change is our idea and we know what's going to happen next, and we feel like we are in control.

 Sometimes we fight it. If it isn't our idea. If we have dug ourselves a nice comfy rut over the years. We can look outside and see there are new things to experience, adventures to be had, things to learn.

But we are so darn comfortable with things just the way they are.

Sometimes God changes things just to shake us up. To make us grow. Because if we aren't growing we are stagnating, dying, missing out on things that can make us braver and stronger and better.

 I'm one of those people who likes my little rut. I had everything going smoothly thank you. It wasn't exciting, sometimes my rut was irritating and frustrating and a little bit boring.

Still, better the devil you know than the devil  you don't right?

Change sometimes makes me cranky.

 I have a new job.  A full time job. I always obsess about new experiences. Do you? I worry, I fret, I think of the worst thing that could happen. And then when I've worked myself into a tizzy,  I deal with it and move on.  I start to think about the best that could happen.  I ask myself how I can make it work for me. How can I get around the obstacles I see and still make my dreams come true?

 I'm looking at this as a new season. The pressure has already started new ideas and goals percolating in my mind.  I'm looking forward to growth and moving forward and new ideas.

How about you? Any changes in your life right now?

What's the best that can happen?

If you haven't already left a comment here for my giveaway there's still time!