Fall Chalkboard Pantry Door

It was painful to erase my favorite things for summer from my pantry chalkboard door,

but seasons come and go, and change is good.

My little door has a new look for Fall.

If you can't tell by the photo, it says:

Gods Little Pumpkin

He picks you from the patch and washes you...

cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff...

removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.

Then He carves you a new smiling face

and puts His light inside you to shine

for all the world to see.

I am so thankful He did this for me, and I hope I can be a light in a dark world to shine for Him.

Fall blessings,

Creepy Entry Vignette

It is 100 degrees here and I am decorating for Halloween.

Something about that just doesn't feel right.

I will share a little project I did a while back.

I bought this ceramic boot from the thrift store and painted it black.

It reminded me of a witch's boot. I plan to place some dried Fall flowers in it.

Before...

After...

I creepified the entry table with "poison", pumpkins, ghosts, witches, crows, and a spider or two.

I used the idea from Shawn's wedding to cut some branches for a scary tree.

A little witch has landed amongst the crows and spiderwebs.

a jar of frogs and spiders...

The labels were from The Graphics Fairy. I printed them and wet the paper, and then sprinkled with instant coffee crystals to age the labels. I have taped them to balsamic vineger, cherry syrup, and an empty bottle.

This little pumpkin "snowglobe" I have had for years...

You know I can't have a post without a little chalkboard...

and some cute little ghosts...

Why not place a skull under a cloche?

The skull and fake barbed wire were from Dollar Tree.

A cauldron of candy eyeballs and gummy bodyparts...

I guess only the grandson will eat those.

A nice little crow...

Halloween nesting dolls...

I bought this broom from a festival where the man was making them. The color is great for Halloween.

I don't usually decorate for Halloween, but I decided it would be fun, and not too scary. As soon as Halloween is over, this tabletop will transform into Fall and owls for Hudson's birthday party. I will share that in November.
In the meantime...I am glad you stopped in for a "spell".

Happy Halloween.

Cotton Festival

Today we went to the Cotton Festival in Somerville, Tennessee. It started with a 5K run for charity. Shawn and Darris entered the race, and we went to cheer them on.
Here the are with another running friend, Kelly.

The newlyweds before the race. The starting line (about 400 participants)... Here they come after the first round...Jackson wasn't feeling well, but he just had to come and see them run today. You could tell he wasn't himself. Shannon said he coughed a lot during the night, so I brought my stethoscope in the car. After the race, I listened to his lungs, and he was wheezing . His breathing was shallow, so they decided to take him right to the doctor. Well, the little man has pneumonia. They did a breathing treatment and sent him home with an inhaler and antibiotics. They are watching him like a hawk. We knew he didn't feel good, but you wouldn't have known he was that sick. He just loves his Aunt Shawn and Uncle Darris. Hudson held a sign, too. Well , he mostly crumpled his...
Darris is coming to the finish ... Shawn is rounding the final corner...Shawn and Darris after the race. Jackson told them,"Good job guys".

We enjoyed visiting with them after the race.
Here they are with their cotton bale "trophies". Shawn was the second female to cross the finish line, and she won first in her age group . Darris came in second in his division.

It was a nice day for a festival. You can see the courthouse and the town square. Kinda reminds me of Mayberry. After the award presentation, we enjoyed shopping the vendors, looking at antique cars on display, and eating. Shawn had a hamburger, Darris had BBQ nachos and a funnel cake, and Joey had a corn dog. I had a Philly steak sandwich with onions and cheese. That is "fair food" to me. Oh, the smells of all the foods cooking were wonderful. This time of year there are several festivals around here. I hope you all get to enjoy a festival or two in your area.

Labor Day Fun

We hosted a low country boil for Labor Day for the family. Here I am holding my 2 favorite little boys in the whole world.

Joey (aka "Buddy") enjoyed chillin in the hammock with Jackson

Joey was the cook for the day...

In one pot we had potatoes, corn, smoked sausage, onions, asparagus, carrots, and shrimp.


While the food cooked, we relaxed..

looks like Mother and Daddy were dancing...

(they weren't)... and we played...

and visited.When the food was ready , the men emptied out the pot full of good eats...

right onto the table.

accompanied by Shawn's delicious pasta salad, watermelon, and bread .

YUM...

After we ate, we played some more.The guys were fascinated with a blue tailed skink. Weseem to have them everywhere...one of the joys of life in the country.
The boys cooled off in their pools. Shannon actually got out the shampoo and gave them their baths outside, another perk to living in the country.

Hudson really enjoyed the "bath".

They put on their PJ's, and we ate chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Shannon made the cake.

We have been making this delicious cake for years in my family.

Here is my piece.

It was a fun day, but we were all tired.

Thanks for sharing in our fun.