I'm Back

I'm back! did anyone miss me? It's been a hectic few weeks! I've had unexpected house guests--the good kind! Not bugs or insects of any kind. lol
Our daughter's air conditioning went on the fritz and it was way too hot to stay at their house.
We've had record breaking temps all summer. It stopped working on a Thurs. night and, of course, the AC companies were too swamped to get to it Fri. and they don't work on the weekends unless you pay a hefty fee.
Who could let these cuties suffer in that heat! They stayed till Tues.
What fun to have the babies around 24/7.We let these cuties come too.

On Wed. morning we left to go to Gatlinburg for a couple of days. My brother rented a log home for a week and asked us to join him and my sis-in-law for a couple of nights. It was so much fun!

We were way up in them there hills. No one around except the bears. Literally! I'm not kidding. We put in a call to have a maintenance man bring a wire cage for our garbage cans because the bear or bears kept getting in them. A little scary just going to the car. Yikes!

I'll do another post and show you the pictures where we captured a bear in a tree and one along side the road.

We got home late Fri. and Sat. company arrived from CA for a week.

During that week I had a check-up at Emory University in Atlanta for my kidney condition.

Thanks to all of you that knew and said a prayer for me. The results were better than expected.

You guys are the best!

We got home and moved the two girls from CA into an apt. and it hasn't slowed down since.

On another note:

When we returned from our long trip to MI in July some of my plants didn't look so healthy from the extreme heat.

Hubby wanted to get some new urns and plant new flowers. I was so tired of the pinching off of the dead-head syndrome, I decided to plant Coleus and potato vines. They grow so fast, I thought I would show the progression.



Here's the start of them in late July.

It didn't take but a couple of weeks and they looked mature.

Now they are almost as tall as hubs. Which is 6 ft. We trim the vines every couple of days. I think they grow 3 " a day. lol

Well, that's a little bit of what's going on. I'm sorry you haven't heard from me in awhile.

What's been going on with all of you?

Fall Tablescape

It's been hetic around here the last three weeks and I'm reposting some Fall decor. I'll be back soon. It's beginning to look a lot like Fall at our house. Not the weather but the decor. We have been busy getting our Fall decorations out. Just in time for Tabletop Tuesday & Tablescape Thursday.

These are fingertip towels that I'm using as napkins. They have a cute leaf on them.

The dishes are my summer dishes that I use for outside eating on the patio. They were a pretty fall color so I decided to use them.

My hubby got in on the act, again, (lol) and did the centerpiece. He used pumpkins, gourds, acorns and pine cones.

I've had the pumpkin place mats for a few years.

The chargers are Better Homes & Gardens . They have a pretty leaf pattern around the edges. I found them at Walmart for $3.00.

The leaf tea light holders came from Old Time Pottery.

A cute leaf serving dish.

I found these cute leaf coasters at Dollar Tree.

Amber stemware glasses.

Pumpkin salt and pepper shakers.

I found little pumpkin place card holders at Pier One, on clearance, a couple of years ago.

Thanks so much for taking time to visit. Be sure to check out all the other tabletops @ http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/& tablescapes at
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/.

New Bird House

A friend of ours gave my hubby this bird house recently for his birthday. Since he has retired he enjoys watching the birds that come to our other feeders.

I wasn't sure where I wanted to place it in our yard until I saw a little picked fence at The Christmas Shop.

Here's how the project started.... 1 bird house.....




little stakes from Walmart to hold Tiki torches......

a 6 ft fence post......

a hubby who is willing to spray paint just about anything....

a cute little butterfly to hang on the fence and voile!!

I had to move it after I realized the sprinkler head kept knocking off my butterfly. lol

Joining Susan @ http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/. Be sure to pay her a visit to see other outdoor posts.

Hope you're having a great a week and thanks for taking time to visit!!

Look-A-Likes

Have you ever noticed how much dogs and their owners resemble each other? It's as amazing as it is amusing.

It even passes down to the next generation! lol

I hope you enjoyed a little humor today. It does the body good to laugh or smile!

Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like medicine". I guess we would all benefit to laugh more.
Enjoy your weekend and stay safe

Mackinac City

Hi everyone! Hope you've had a good week so far. Still hot and dry in our neck of the woods. How about yours?

After our family reunion in lower MI, we decided to take a few days and head north. Five more hours north! We drove to Mackinac City, spent the night and headed to Mackinac Island the next day.

Here's a beautiful hotel by the water there.Gorgeous flowers everywhere.

And--of course lots & lots of boats. MI has over 11,000 lakes . The scenery is beautiful at this time of year.

Check out the huge Coast Guard Ship.

The evening we arrived in Mackinac City we decided to drive across the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace. It is the world's third longest suspension bridge at 5 miles long. It sways in windy weather and the sides are not very high. They've had a couple of cars go over the side.

Here we go! My sister won't open her eyes the entire time she's on it. lol

Whew! We made it!

I told you they had lots of boats!!

It's getting dark and time to head back across the bridge. Look at the sunset on the water. Isn't it pretty!

Back in Mackinac City we stayed at a Best Western on the water. They had some nice touches.
Isn't the swan on the bed cute!

Check out the toilet paper fan.

After breakfast the next day, we were off to Mackinac Island. The Island's only modes of transportation are by "hoofing it", bicycle, horseback (another form of hoofing it) lol or horse and carriage. NO CARS! It's like going back in time. In fact, "Somewhere in Time", with Christopher Reeve & Jane Seymour was filmed there.

It's an amazing experience to walk around this beautiful island!

They ferry you over every half hour or hour, depending on which ferry you take. Check out that rooster tail!

There she is in all her spendor---The Grand Hotel!

She boasts the longest porch in the world with great white pillars. She has been named one of the top 100 hotels in the world.

Thanks for coming by today!
I always enjoy your visits!

I'll be posting more pics of Mackinac soon!

Rooster Party

Bella Vista is hosting, Show your Rooster Party on Friday. Be sure to pop over and see all the Rooster collections that are being displayed.

We had company over today for a casual lunch. It was a good time to pull out my Rooster dishes and use them.

Here's the big guy--center of attention!

All of the dishes came from Home Goods. Silverware from Tuesday Morning.

Napkins from Pennys and napkin rings from Pottery Barn.

Monogramed coasters.

Cute salt & pepper shakers from Ross.

A large serving bowl.

Oval platter that was great for transporting the food from the grill.

Love this cute little dish-just perfect for the butter.

A vignette on my pass through counter.

I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan.

Be sure to visit all the beautiful tables at her blog.