Upstate NY Fall 2012

For those of you who live where there is no Fall. I feel for you.  I lived there for a long time too.  Now I really appreciate Autumn leaves!

More Fall Splendor...

 It has been one of those days.... we went on a picnic at the lake and I wasn't really feeling very well, so I just hung out and took a few pictures.  Thought I'd share the pretty leaves with you, My Friend.

The Pumpkin Patch and Fall Decor

My friend Janet and I went to a farm and found pretty pumpkins today, so I came home and redecorated the whole house.  Here are a few of the major areas... done.

The table on the back porch.  The tablecloth is just a piece of fabric I had lying around.  That weird

owl is something my kids picked out a few years ago.  He seems very at home sitting on the table.

The thing with the pumpkin on it is square paper plates.  They were $1 at the dollar store for about 50 of them.  Good deal!

My fall table inside the front door.

Check out this funky gourd.  It is striped underneath and pumpkin-like on top.  Love it.

This is the kitchen table where the kids eat breakfast and lunch.  They will love these

gourds!

I have more to do, but I think this is enough for now.   Halloween is right around the corner, so I will be

adding that stuff in the next few weeks.  Have you started your fall decorating yet?

So... Fall Is Here

I thought I'd share some pretty pictures of our backyard all prepared for Fall.  These were taken with my Nikon CoolPix S9.  The best news of the day???   My FIL had an old camera sitting around that he hasn't used in about 20 years, so he gave it to me!  It is a Minolta XG-A 35MM.  I have to get a battery and film for it and I will be playing with it next.  Can't wait.  It has a macro and zoom lens. 

The bad news?  The pool closing is scheduled.   Although we had a 90 degree day on Friday, we couldn't swim because the water is 60 degrees.  Brrr!  Luckily, the temps dropped overnight and it was crisp and 65 today.

Today we threw the boys in the car and headed to Johnny Appleseeds for some fall fun... apple picking!  After getting lots of pictures with several different cameras (yes, I may have gone crazy!), we headed back to the store {which sells high-end furniture} and looked around.  In the back of the store, they have a wonderful coffee/tea room which overlooks the pond. So pretty and the coffee is amazing... oh.. and free!  I wish I had taken my camera in with me.  I would have shown you how cute it is.

Look at all of these apples!

Love this shot!

We brought home a whole bushel.... wonder what I will do with them all???

The best part of picking?  Sampling!

 Mmmmm... here's what I did with some of them... turned them into chunky, warm apple sauce and served it with homemade chili, flax corn chips and Vermont Extra-Sharp Cheddar.  Such a nice, warm meal on a nice fall day!

Fall and Halloween Decor Ideas

I've used a lot of cake stands to make fall's harvest the center of attention this year. I love the pretty colors of veggies from the farmer's market and vegetable stands. The best part is that you get to eat them too!
Apples picked fresh from the orchard and potpourri in diplays. If you mix potpourri with fruit, however, you can't eat the fruit. These are on our screened-in porch table so they will stay for a long time. It is nice and crisp and cool out there.
Paper and velvet leaves scattered about a display adds to the fall feeling.

Sneeky spiders show up in a lot of my displays. They also add cobwebs to my stair railings and on my lights hanging above my tables.
A rat hangs out under my 2-tiered pie plates. An orange bow adorns the top (although you can't see it in this picture). Skull and crossbone spoon and fork decorate the plates as well. These were from Oriental Trading Company a few years back.
Mixing purple, apple green, orange and black, make a whimsical table setting the my boys love a lot.

Satin ribbon and a plastic spider make a great little napkin ring. Just hot glue the ribbon into a ring and hot glue the spider on the top. Very easy!
My boys have a few Halloween toys, so I take advantage of them by collecting them up and hiding them here and there in my displays. These pumpkins are on the table and will eventually be polka-dotted with furniture nails.
Another of the boys' toys on our napkin holder.
My entryway table....
A spider adorns the corner of the mirror frame. I cut some "fire bush" and stuck it into a couple of dollar store vases. Some leaves have fallen from them and I left them because it makes the table look more festive!
I love this canvas I found at HomeGoods. Very fall and very me! I love the way the striped vases mimic the one in the canvas and the one below it has the same color scheme. The smaller vase has some ornamental grass in it. I have had it since last year and it stayed very nicely.
Mean looking bat hangs from the light inside the main entryway of the house. Scary, right?
A pillow my friend gave me last year. So cute!
I've had these bat balloons on a stick since the boys were little and we decorate with them every year.
Cute black kitties on the table. Look at those faces. What's not to love?
That's it so far for the Halloween and Fall decorating. Hope you found some inspiration in some of the ideas!

Tami