Thought it would be fun to talk about AUTUMN ARTS today — with ✳prettiest❊ MUSICA — October starts TOMORROW, so here are lots of ideas and fun for your Home Sweet Home because . . .

MY HOME SWEET HOME

One of the things I love most is a walk in the woods when the wind is blowing and the leaves are falling.  See that road?  I know just where it goes, I know how it sounds, and how it smells, I’ve been going here almost every day for the last twenty years . . . Our leaves are very wet today and have a way to go before they’re this colorful . . . we’re in no hurry!  I want this season to last as long as possible, but this is what we have to look forward to . . .

While we’re out here, we gather foliage to make bouquets when we get home . . .

And make a batch of hot cider . . . to warm and scent the kitchen with apple and cinnamon . . .

. . . and to drink while we play with all the goodies we found, free from the woods!

A little thread, a few leaves, and voila!  Home Decor!

We bring home crooked branches of leaves and bittersweet to decorate.  Because it’s

. . . we are vagabonds, and our Gypsy Blood is astir . . .  

Overcome with “pathological enthusiasm,” out comes all my old wooden candlesticks and bowls and baskets . . .

This time of year, a basket of crisp apples is as pretty as a bouquet of store-bought flowers, and has a lot more going for it (besides the obvious rosy redness): they cost less, smell good, are very useful, taste delicious, and last longer than flowers!

Leaf garlands over windows and mirrors adds lots of color.

And this.  Night time by the fire is the perfect time for my my delicious Corn Chowder  — which, if you haven’t tried, you really should . . . just click there for the How-To and Recipe and have it bubbling on your stove in no time.

Put a leaf between your diary pages (especially the one you caught and made the wish on) . . . write down what fall looks like in your neck of the woods and include your favorite family memories and traditions.  (BTW, It’s OK to tell wishes to diaries, in fact, writing down dreams is one well-known way to get them to come true. ♥)

Decorate with candles and books for extra homeyness . . .

Hanging fresh laundry to blow in the wind is one of the prettiest things to do on a crisp fall day . . .

As the days get shorter, the last of the tomatoes will have to come in from the garden to ripen on the windowsill . . .

I’ve been washing feather pillows and airing quilts on the line . . . which I do in the fall to get them ready for a long winter’s nap!

  It’s a good time to gather a little tablescape of things for the season . . . how cozy will your table be this year?

Filling your house with lovely baking smells . . . such as this delicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, is just the right thing to do.  Invite your girlfriends for tea, cider, cake, and girl talk . . .

Hunker down with a bowl of Corn Chowder and a slice of sticky pineapple cake while watching the wonderful old movie Random Harvest . . . (click there to see a trailer)

Something else that goes really well with old movies on these first chilly nights . . . knitting!  You should know, in case you want to knit but you think you can’t, honestly, anyone can knit a scarf.  I am living proof.

Part of my decorations . . . must have my tissue pumpkin … and btw, I know they’re sometimes hard to find . . . so we found them for you — they’re in our shopping store!  Trees, and wedding bells too!  And all kinds of other little fall treats . . . ♥

Farmer’s Market is where these came from . . .

I find this growing wild on the far side of our barn . . . Birds love these berries; I don’t eat them, but I love them too!  I don’t know the name of this gorgeous plant . . . Do you girls know?  If you do, tell me, and I’ll put a link here for it (update . . . lots of you are saying viburnum opulus . . . what do you think?).

Have I ever shown you the Farmstand I used to have in California?  Well, here it is!

Here’s the inside . . . It had an old Dutch door we found at a flea market that Joe put in; we had firewood, old baskets, oil paintings, pottery bowls, vegetable seeds, bee skeps, bouquets of herbs and flowers, bundles of lavender, apples, lemons, pears, walnuts and onions from our garden . . . it was a little market too, so we had cream, bacon, pancake mix and maple syrup.  That red fire bucket now hangs on the rafters of my pantry here.

This is a painting a friend did of my farmstand . . . now it hangs in my studio here on the island . . . there it is, right over there!  Such a nice memory!

Here’s how it looked up at the counter . . . see the little small Lady Apples?  Aren’t they cute!  We planted a tree out there . . .

Farmstands have so much to offer this time of year . . .

Love to see dried corn on the kitchen door . . .

We wrap store-bought (Michael’s Crafts) leaf garlands around branches, and mix them with the small pumpkins on the ledge over our front door . . .

Soon we’ll have a garden full of big crunchy maple leaves to kick into the air!

Of course, we need black cats, especially now ♥.  One year ago, we visited our local shelter and found this sweet little character with the twirly mustache; we scooped him up because we knew he would help make our house even more of a home, how could more love not grow from this!  So this month, all posts will include, for your (and my) enjoyment, the CHILDHOOD OF JACK.  Here he is on our first day together . . .

Home Sweet Home, Girlfriends, it’s a dark rainy morning here, very cozy inside, but no Harvest Moon for us last night! I hope you got to see it! Enjoy your day ♥ Happy October to us all! XOXO