It's Fall at the Cabin Again!

There are so many things to love about fall in the mountains.

I never get tired of this view as we crest the hill on the way to our cabin. It always thrills me!

And I still get a rush from the first view of our cabin through the trees.

I love how long the fall mums last in the cool mountain air.

And how fall and summer mingle on our entryway coat hooks until the last summer things get packed away.

It's not quite cool enough to pack up the summer pillows and throw.

But little by little the warmth of fall finds its way into the cabin.

In thick red curtains to keep the chill at bay.

In the warmth of a morning fire.

A sprinkle of soft felt leaves.

Small glowing pumpkins.

Fluffy Autumn mums.

Football games on the TV.

And painting inside where it's warm.

But the very best part of fall in the mountains is the mountains.

Every year its beauty takes my breath away once again.

Autumn at our Cottage

Happy Fall!

Touches of Autumn at our Cottage

Today, I'm sharing little touches of fall decor at our cottage. I asked my husband to bring up my big plastic storage boxes from the basement last Friday and spent an hour sprinkling a bit of fall color into each room. Normally, I'd empty those boxes and spend a few days decorating our home for fall, but this year I only had time to put out a few things. I was only home from the cabin for less than a week and my time was crammed full. I was running out of time to get any decorating done at all, but I didn't want to head back up to the cabin without changing our summer decor. At one point, when my fall leaf swag wouldn't cooperate and swag properly over the armoire in the living room, I lost patience and tossed it back in the box. No time for unruly swag nonsense! 

Here's how my three and a half days home went: first we had dinner with our daughter and her husband before they left on vacation for Park City, Utah. Then my brother in-law flew into town on business and stayed with us for three days. During that time I squeezed in a hair cut, a doctor's appointment, our annual meeting with our insurance agent to review our coverage, some shopping for the cabin, daily dog walks, paid the bills and caught up on paperwork, and did a ton of laundry. We finished up the week having dinner with our other daughter and her husband who were just returning from their vacation to Hawaii, and the next day we headed back up to the cabin for the weekend. 

Probably sounds like nothing to my readers who work hard at their jobs everyday, but for this retired lady it seemed like a lot! I didn't have much time to enjoy my fall decor until we got home from the cabin again this morning, and as I came into each room I was so glad I had taken a little time to add just a few small touches of fall to welcome us home. 

When I realized I left my camera and tripod at the cabin I wanted to share my sprinkles of fall with you anyway, so I tried out my husband's iPad camera. It was a little hard to hold steady, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it did, especially in our low light. 

As you can see, there's nothing new or fancy going on with our fall decor this year - just little touches here and there. Yet I love how every year I can reach into my boxes and pull out the same things, arrange them in new spots around the cottage and in new ways, and they feel like new to me. 

I just love that!

I'm so glad you stopped by today, and I hope you've found time to sprinkle some warm and cozy touches of fall around your home, too!

Happy Thanksgiving

My Lazy Days Fall Decor

I have a secret to share with you today...

I haven't decorated my home for fall yet! 

It's not that I haven't noticed fall is coming. The leaves aren't quite changing colors here yet, but I can definitely feel it in the air; a cool crispness in the mornings. I sat and looked at the summer flowers on the family room ottoman this morning as I drank my coffee, thinking to myself that I really should change them out to an autumnal arrangement, but there I sat - unmoving and (dare I say it?) unmotivated. 

As I got up to put my empty coffee cup in the dishwasher, I stopped suddenly and gazed down the hallway from the family room towards the dining room and noticed the light in there looked different. I realized with a smile that fall decor had found its way into my home all by itself without me changing a thing.

Something you may not realize about our home is that it's surrounded by tall shade trees and gets very little natural light. Most of my blog photos of our home have been shot on a tripod with long exposures and wide open shutters and then light-edited a lot. 

So, trust me when I tell you, the little glimpses of sunlight you see in these photos are very exciting to me! They mean the sun is moving low enough in the southern sky to slant through the tree branches and enter my home with the soft glow of fall - my very favorite fall decor!

So no new autumn flower arrangements today (and no tripod and light editing, either!) I just grabbed my camera this morning to share what I see, the soft glow of my lazy days fall decor!

Even Tucker is glowing today!

Thank you, fall sunshine! 

    

Thanksgiving Table 2015

Hi, everyone! Wouldn't you just know it! I came down with a doozy of a cold, and I'm stuck in front of the TV with a box of Kleenex in my lap for a few days. The good news is I shopped for Thanksgiving groceries before I got sick, and I should be feeling better in time to prepare and enjoy our Thanksgiving feast with our family. If I had to have a cold just now, 
this was very good timing. 

I still have a couple of things I finished last week to share before Thanksgiving, so I'm setting aside my box of Kleenex for my laptop for just a few minutes this morning.    

First, is my simple and casual table for Thanksgiving. 

I found this soft cotton plaid tablecloth at my favorite thrift store last week for five dollars and thought the colors would be great for our Thanksgiving table.

I also found a set of these tiny amber glass cups for fifty cents each that I thought would make cute fall place card holders. I got the idea from this wonderful Thanksgiving Table On A Budget YouTube video made by Anita of Far Above Rubies.  (Anita designs the most breathtaking tablescapes.) 

For my simple table I just tucked in some faux leaves, a small ratan ball, and a place card I downloaded and printed from Place of my Taste. Everything else in my place setting I already had, including my "working" water glasses and amber goblets from World Market along with my clear embossed salad plates and gold dinner plates from Fred Meyer and cloth napkins from Pier One Imports.

The second thing I have to share today is my Thanksgiving chalkboard sitting on the ledge above our sideboard. I hadn't changed it since I drew the American Flag for the 4th of July, and it needed a quick update for Thanksgiving. I just found a bunch of doodle ideas on Pinterest and made them really big!

And that's it! Everything's ready for Thanksgiving except for stuffing and roasting our big turkey. I'm so excited to soon be over my cold and enjoying all the food and good company that comes with the day! But, for now, I'll be closing my laptop and snuggling up with my box of kleenex to watch a bunch of The Good Wife on Amazon Prime. (ahh-ahh-ahh-choo!)

I'll leave you today with my chalkboard's sentiments. I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  

{Note: I'm happy to report that on this Wednesday morning I'm feeling much better and about to start cooking up a storm for our feast tomorrow. Ain't life grand?! Thank you for your get well wishes, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!}

I'm sharing this week at 

The Scoop
Cozy Little House