A Walk in the 'Hood on a Fall Morning

Most mornings I walk Sam up the hills to the far end of the subdivision, about 2.5 miles round trip.  I finally remembered to take my camera along.  Due to the clouds, the mountains can't be seen.  However, the clouds are beautiful in these pictures and you can click on the pictures for a better view.  The pictures are in random order, not our specific route.  Too hard to move pictures around when posting,  Anyway, come along and enjoy the walk with me.   



Looking down the last hill before we turn around to come home.  This would have the best mountain views, if not for the clouds. 



First hill we climb (view is looking down).  Don't be deceived, it is a huge hill!

 

Houses in the area are decorated for Halloween.  This is simple and my favorite



Scarecrow "love birds" at a house in the 'hood

 

You might have to double click on the picture to see this house all decked out for Halloween



After over a month of walking this hill, I am still out of breath at the top



Looking down to my street.  You can't see my house, but it would be on the left.

 

This house always is landscaped beautifully



First of two round-abouts we walk around.  Now if Americans would only learn how to drive around them!

Another pretty view

I love living here!



My street

 

Witch cat statue in front of my friend's house.  Too cute!



Sam the Man with the Playtime Plan

I can't resist blogging about my Sam. Always up to something, he keep me on my toes. Here are some recent pictures.

OK, Mom - let's PLAY



Belly rub?

Am I cute or what?

Betty Davis eyes

Sound asleep

Fall Decorations

A scarecrow to welcome you

Two of the things I really enjoy in my new home here in Canton, GA are my fireplace mantel and my front porch.

Almost every day I sit on the wicker love seat and watch the world go by.  When the humming birds were still here I would spend hours watching them at the feeder.  Now, I am seeing the winter birds arrive.  Although more skittish than the "hummers" some are getting use to me (and Sam) sitting within 10 feet of one of their feeders.



Sam and I both enjoy sitting on the front porch

And, I decorated my porch to fit the season.  The love seat is now covered with a fall colored cloth (actually a tablecloth) that I think looks great and adds warmth to the porch.  The wagon I "won" at the silent auction benefiting the Cherokee County Humane Society.  It was loaded full of garden items - too many to mention.  I really was fortunate to win this item and all of the goodies in it.  A scarecrow, fall leaves, a pumpkin and a wreath on the door complete the decorations.  More Halloween-ish decorations will be purchased after October 31st when they are on sale and they will be carefully kept until next year.  I think a couple witches will grace the tree in 2011.

   

Witches for Halloween



Decorated for the fall

 

My fireplace mantel is also decorated for the season.  And, yes - those are really candy corn pieces in the glass jug.  Ha!  It was full a week ago.  I just changed some of the items out for a couple of weeks and add my collection of witches and my quilted witch panel.  After Halloween I will add some Thanksgiving items and the fall panel will return. 



Moved things around a little

My dining room table has a fall runner on it along with a basket of harvest items.  My coffee table has fall colored candles in a wooden bowl.  Other little fall items are spread out throughout the house.  Even the table in my back screened porch has a fall tablecloth on it. 

The last few years in my house in Milwaukee I hardly decorated at all for the seasons and holidays.  Only the wreath on the front door changed every few months.  Maybe because I usually spent Christmas and Easter here in Georgia with family, that I lost interest in decorating for the seasons in Wisconsin.  This house really calls out for seasonal decorations and I am looking forward to Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and the rest of the holidays. 

Halloween door

Fall Door

Almost every house in the subdivision has some fall decorations gracing the front porch or yard.  It is fun to walk every day and see them.  

It doesn't take much effort to decorate for the seasons (well, expect for Christmas - I have a ton of stuff).  It changes things up a bit and makes the house more interesting.  I enjoy it and I hope you do, too!

Chandelier

Getting ready to start cleaning

Years ago I purchased an antique chandelier for around $80.  It sat in my basement in Milwaukee for years.  I hauled it along when I moved to Georgia.  Good thing.  I had a ugly, cheap "chandelier" in my dining area that I hated.

Yuck.  How ugly is this light fixture?  Even if I had purchased little shades for it I would not have liked it.

When Sally was visiting last July we were talking about the ugly light fixture and I mentioned the chandelier in the garage.  So, we hauled it out and took a good look at it.  Then we removed all of the prisms, and I purchased some Brasso and started cleaning.  No easy task. I rubbed and I rubbed and I rubbed.  But the results were worth it.

If you look at the edge on the left, you can see the difference of "after" polishing,  The rest has not been cleaned.

 The "arms" that I removed to make cleaning easier.

I had it all rewired and after some chasing around found additional chain for it.  I also learned that it was probably made between 1900-1930, so finding more chain was lucky, as it has a pattern on it (sorry no picture of it)



This picture doesn't do it justice.



It now graces my dining room.  I love it!  It has over 76 prisms and I am still missing 6-8 of them.  Luckily, I can order them online and will be doing so.  But it looks great.  It is on a dimmer switch and at night, it glimmers and shimmers.

Glimmering and shimmering.  Well, maybe my hand moved a little!

It was worth the wait!

Sam and Me

It is hard to find a dog as cute and fun as my Sam

He is a very affectionate fellow.

Likes to lick my ears.

All in all, he is a good dog!