Now that my birthday is over (thank you all so much for the well wishes, by the way) I feel like fall is officially here and that means it’s time to decorate my house for the season. Part of me dreads this because it’s work and also because it’s a slippery slope to Christmas once the fall stuff is up but mostly I love the fall stuff I have. It makes the house look cozy and inviting and that’s my favorite way to have my house look. Today I’m going to share with you 3 tips on readying your house for the fall season.

1. Add lighting. While I abhor an overhead light I just love warm table lamps and candles and strings of twinkle lights – everywhere! Sadly enough, the days are getting shorter and to me there’s nothing cozier than twinkle lights and burning candles. They drive out the darkness and shed a soft glow over everything. Bonus points if your candles are autumn scents like Macintosh and pumpkin.
2. Change your curtains. In the summer I have sheers with valances in the living room but when fall arrives I take down those valances and I put up red and white buffalo check drapes. They make the room darker but they make it warmer and super cozy. The red is great for fall right through Christmas and even on to Valentine’s Day. I also swap out throw pillows and table runners at this point, replacing summery blue ones with warm red ones. And then I put soft throws and patchwork quilts everywhere.
3. Use seasonal decor. My mantle is loaded up with pumpkins. My kitchen window and dining room chandelier are draped with silk leaves. I have special autumn wine glasses in the dining room cabinet. I’ve got Halloween signs up now and those will be taken down and replaced with Thanksgiving ones when November hits. It’s warm and inviting and charming, perfect for entertaining friends for football games, eating chili and stews, and baking something delicious.

That’s how I get my house ready for fall. Are there special things you do? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

And please add a link if you wrote a post for this Thursday. Thanks!

Dale had to sing with his band last Saturday and it was a wedding so he was gone for a long time. Often when he’s gone like that I will make plans with friends to have dinner or shop or something but this week I chose to stay home and enjoy some time to myself. I wanted to work on True Colors (I’m sort of worried that I’m going to run out of yarn so I’m knitting really fast right now to end the suspense) and it was chilly and cloudy out so that meant . . . knitting and television. It’s been quite a while since I had an extended amount of time to watch whatever I wanted and this is what I chose (it’s Thursday. there are three) :

The Glass Castle. I know the book is always better and in this case that’s especially true. The movie was good and the casting is great but they really glossed over just how horrid and impoverished Jeannette Walls’ childhood actually was. In the movie her parents came off as quirky and artsy, drunk and homeless but in a slightly charming and not really threatening way. In the book Walls describes eating lunch scraps that other kids had thrown away, the deplorable condition of the places they lived and really paints a picture of dysfunction and neglect. In the movie whole thing comes off more as nostalgia and I found that disappointing.

Me Before You. See above. Okay, not really, and I did actually like this movie quite a bit. Emilia Clarke does a bang up job of Louisa (and I couldn’t for the life of me make her be Daenerys!) and the rest of the cast is equally good. Of course the story is condensed somewhat but the friendship that develops between Louisa and Will feels genuine and the whole thing stays pretty true to the book.

Nashville. I’ve been meaning to watch this ever since our trip to Nashville last April and now that I’ve started I must admit I’m hooked. It sort of reminds me of Dallas back in the day except instead of a ranch and oil rigs it’s music. I love seeing the places in Nashville that we visited and the music is pretty good and, while it’s definitely an evening soap opera, it’s also pretty entertaining. It’s junk but it’s good, you know?

Have you watched anything good lately? I know a lot of you like to listen to books and knit but to me it’s television and knitting that go hand in hand so I’m always open to suggestions for good movies and shows.

If you wrote a post for today be sure and include a link below and thanks for playing along!

Three things on my mind this Thursday . . .

1. Hannah’s graduation tonight! I’m so proud of her and the work she does already, having her Master’s in Special Education won’t make her a better teacher but it will make her eligible for advancement and a raise. She’s worked hard to get this done and I still remember how I felt when I finally got my Master’s in Library Studies – relieved and happy and proud – so I hope she feels all of that and more.
2. Knitting. I’m currently only knitting a pair of socks as the sweater I had started is languishing – partly because it’s too warm now to care about sweater knitting but also partly because I think it’s going to be too big. When I was at SPA I bought a kit from Ball and Skein to make A Walk in the Woods and I’d really like to get that started this weekend. I’m hoping by putting it on the blog that I will remember to actually do it. I also need to block my Islington Shawl. It’s been on the arm of the sofa in the den for a couple of months now and I need to just.do.it.
3. Making the blog more lively. I feel like I’ve settled into a boring routine around here. Weekending on Monday, Three on Thursday, Eye Candy Friday . . . it just feels a little stale right now. It’s easy because I don’t have to think too hard about what I’m going to blog about but . . . the goal here shouldn’t be to get a post written in 5 minutes, the goal should be to share my life and ideas and thoughts. I need to set aside more dedicated time for writing because when I go back and read what I wrote a few years ago it feels sharper and better and more meaningful.

And that’s what’s occupying my mind this day. What are you thinking about? I’d love to know!

If you wrote a post for this week please share it with us by linking to it. Thanks!

Thank you all so very much for your kind comments yesterday. My heart breaks for all of us who are without our moms, especially those who are dealing with a recent loss. And those who lost a mom at a tender age. And, well, let’s face it, no matter our age and no matter the circumstances, it’s a blow.

I have 3 things that happened yesterday that made it easier, though.

1. Hannah called. I told many of you who commented yesterday that this happened. I never expected, when I recommended that those of you with a mom call your mom, that I would get a call, too. But my girlie came through in an amazing and unexpected and totally loving way. She told me that she loved me and was proud of me and that she was grateful to be my daughter. There’s nothing better than that and, aside from not being able to tell my mom about it, it was a perfect moment.
2. I got flowers from my friend Rose. Even though she is super busy with her own family and running her own business, she stopped by after work with a lovely bouquet of tulips and daffodils. Just because. And that’s what makes Rose one of my favorite people in the whole world.
3. An evening with Jack and his mom and dad. Who can be sad with that little face grinning at you? And, you know what? My mom would absolutely adore him.

So, yeah. It was a hard day . . . but . . . YOU all helped and my family and friends helped and . . . you know what really helps? I’ll never have to go through the 20th anniversary of my mom’s death again. So there.

Happy Thursday, friends. If you wrote a post for today please include your link below!

Your mileage may vary but to me it felt like January just draggggged itself out longer than usual. I did my best with the hygge and the savoring but I can’t say I’m sorry to say goodbye to January. And that means HELLOOoooo to February! And here are three things I’m looking forward to this month.

1. School vacation week. Dale is off and I’m planning on taking the week off as well. I don’t think we’ll be traveling anywhere but it means we don’t have to get up at o’dark thirty and hopefully we can get cracking on painting a room that we’ve been putting off for way too long. And by we I mean that I will do things like select paint colors and supervise while he does all of the actual, you know, work.
2. SPA. It’s at the tail end of that vacation week and I’m so ready to go to Maine with friends. To hang out and spin (which I haven’t done since last SPA, I think), to knit and tell stories and laugh, to walk around Freeport and shop, to eat and drink and just do whatever we have a mind to do.
3. New knitting projects. The first clue for the TTL Mystery Sock 2018 is released today and I’m planning on starting tomorrow. I’m also planning on joining Berroco Knit a Lopi sweater knit-a-long. I’ve narrowed my choice down to either Skógafjall or Iðunn. I’m leaning towards Iðunn but I need to make sure I have enough yarn – I ordered 2 sweaters worth when I knit my Stopover but Iðunn is longer and I don’t know if I’ve got enough. I’ll be making a decision first thing tomorrow, I think, so feel free to weigh in on this one. Whichever I choose, I will counting this project as part of the Team Rules Schmules group that Vicki and Terry started as part of the Knitting Olympics.
   

February is getting to off to a great start, I think. And it’s a short month which means it will be March before we know it – and March brings the first day of SPRING.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below!