Take your time.

Good afternoon...... it's a partly sunny afternoon here at the old lakehouse.

 Mr. L just pulled the boat out of the water....the last sign that summer is coming to an end, and fall begins.

 Why is it so difficult to let go of summer this year?  I LOVE fall....but it just seems that summer flew by, and I missed it somehow. Maybe it's because I work....or maybe we made so many trips downstate for parties, and other things on the weekends we had off. We were only able to spend time on the boat three times this season. I don't know.........I enjoyed the parties...so what's the problem???

 Is it an "age" thing? The older we get, the faster time goes by?
I seriously tried to savor every moment of summer....but, where did it go?!

 I guess I'll have to put as much effort into holding on to fall as I did summer.
Life is so fragile. You never know when it could all be gone.  I find myself clinging onto each moment...not willing to let anything go.
Does that make me selfish? or paranoid? or maybe just a wee bit loony?

 Whatever it is that's going on....I plan to continue to experience each day to the fullest.

 I work the next three days..then Ethan(my grandson) has a soccer tournament in Traverse City, so Kelly(my daughter) and her family will be staying here for the weekend.
I'm looking forward to that! and plan to enjoy the days in between as much as possible.

Today I'm cleaning the upstairs bedrooms for our company that's coming up Friday.
My SIL requested home made pizza for supper on Friday....The kids will also enjoy some chocolate chip cookies, and maybe an apple pie.
I LOVE to cook, and bake for my family. Fall is always a great time to do some baking. LOTS of baking!
(Can you tell I'm trying to psych myself up for the change in seasons here?)
Okay then.......time to get those bedrooms ready for kids and grandkiddos.
Enjoy your day! I'm going to.

It's Monday!!!

Good, rainy Monday morning everyone!

We have been so dry here at the lakehouse, it's nice to get a good soaking rain.

I didn't go to the market with Laurie and Michelle on Sunday...boohoo.

We had sooo much to get done here before the cold weather hits.

 Mr. L finally finished painting the trim on the house yesterday. I'll share pics on a sunny day. I LOVE the trim white!!!  It looks nice against the faded grey of the siding.

 While cleaning out a closet on Saturday, I found some Fall decorations. Among them was this little wagon. The aqua-blue goes perfect with the rest of the colors here at the old lakehouse.

 The wagon is sitting on the dining room table...with the galvanized pieces. It looks good with the greys, and the French runner too.

I hope your weekend was a fun, and productive one. We finished a lot of projects here that needed to be done.
Have a fantastic week!!!

It's official..

Hello all you bloggers, and lurkers of blogs.

It's official.

It's Autumn here at the lakehouse.

Since Mr. Lakehouse has been painting the trim on the house white...I decided to clean up the porch, and put away all the Summer stuff.

 The window boxes are still looking "okay", but have been thinning out little by little. Adding gourds and pumpkins kind of helps spruce things up, and adds a few pops of color here and there.

I am loving the heirloom pumpkins this year. Some look so flat, it's as if they plopped out of the sky, and hit the ground....plop!

The sage green ones are gorgeous!

 I love nestling gourds in the window boxes for the grand kiddos to find....almost like an Autumn gourd hunt.

I worked in the gardens today...pulling all the dried and dead plants out. All of the scraggly stuff you see here is gone.

 I'm anxious to see the mum plant bloom. I'm hoping it's white, but there wasn't a tag on it...so I'll get a surprise when the flowers open.

We accomplished a few things the past two days, but have lots more to do before the cold weather gets here.
I hope the weather holds.
Enjoy your weekend....

Cool shutters

Yay!!!!!!

Mr. Lakehouse finally took the window unit out! I hate the way the air conditioner looks from the inside as well as the outside.

Now I can show you the shutters that Mr. L painted, and I distressed.

 They don't match, because of the louvers being on one whole side of just one of the shutters...but that's what makes them unique!

They are VERY old, and were in horrible shape.

 They were a dirty mustardy yellow....ewwww. Now they are a creamy white...mmmmmm.
I hung them inside. I saw them in a magazine inside, and liked it....soooooo. They are mounted on the wall above the wicker desk.

The sun was starting to go down, so the pictures are a little dark.

It's been a beautiful evening, however, which adds to the coziness of the setting.

I hung the curtains I made from a vintage Irish tablecloth my sister in law gave to me.

 Something else I've seen in magazines, and in blogland is an old picture frame with a wire strung to hang photo's on.  I used some tiny clip clothes pins to hang the grandkiddo's pics with.
I love it!!!!

I'm hoping for more good weather for the next few days. I've been working since last Thursday, and will be at the pharmacy again tomorrow. There are gardens to be cleaned,windows to wash, and outdoor furniture to be stored away.
It would be nice to have some sunshine and warm temps. Mr. Lakehouse plans to get the boat out of the water, and also get more house trim painted.  Looks like we will be busy for the weekend.
Enjoy the rest of the week!
Hugs to you all.....and thanks for stopping by!

Taking it slow.

It was a long day at the pharmacy.

We weren't busy, so that means the day goes by really slow.

Not that I want my day to rush by...but I do love being home, especially on the weekend.

Frost was being forecast last night again, so I went out to cut the rest of the hydrangea.

The white ones were the only flowers left.

I LOVE the way they look in the galvanized buckets.

 I also like the look of the gray pieces on the French table runner...that's on top of a linen runner(the crochet edge is all that shows), that's on top of the ticking runner I made earlier this year.

This isn't your traditional Fall decor. 
As much as I like the warm colors of Autumn...I guess I'm just not ready to let go of these last few moments of Summer.
I scattered the gourds(that were on the table for Thursdays tablescape) around the house. Maybe by next week I'll bring in more "Fallish" decor.
Until then.....I'm taking it slow.

Baking season

Hunting season is upon us.

Mr. Lakehouse hunts from opening day to the very end.

He hunts, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, geese, turkey, deer, and anything else that has feathers, fur, and claws.

I LOVE this time of year, because, for me, it's baking season.

The first thing I usually bake is peanut butter cookies.

They are Mr. Lakehouse's favorite cookie.

He's a big boy, and likes his cookies big!

He makes cookie sandwiches.

A cookie in between two other cookies.

 A BIG glass of milk always goes with this treat.

This is the easiest recipe ever!

My brother shared it with me years ago.

There is a little trick for removing the baked cookies off the baking pan.

Let them rest on the baking sheet for about four minutes first...then remove them.

Otherwise they will fall apart.

That's about it.  Easy peasy. and already gone!!! Well, this plate is......

Fall tablescape

I guess it's time to finally embrace the Fall season. I've been hanging on to summer for as long as possible.
Waking up to frost this morning made me realize that Fall is really here.(I'm hoping for a long Indian Summer).
I wanted to join in with Susan for Tablescape Thursday...but I showed my fall dishes last season.
However, Mr. Lakehouse and I are tasting our collection of wines, so I decided to put together a little tablescape that would enhance the mood....a little.

 My oldest daughter, Kelly, got me hooked on the wines from Howell's Mainstreet Winery in Howell Michigan.  One of my favorites is the Very Blueberry.

Then....during the Howell Melon Festival, Kelly presented me with a glass of the Melonfest wine...made especially for the festival.

Oh...my...goodness!!!

I don't usually drink white wines, but this one changed my mind forever.

It's actually sweet, and soooooo smooth.

Before leaving Howell, I visited the winery.

I came home with a whole box of wines!!

 Another trip to Howell last weekend, and another box of wine traveled north with me.

Before returning home, Kelly and I opened the bottle of Ice Wine I purchased.....another oh my goodness moment.

One of the new wines that came home with me was Hocus Pocus. What a great name for a "Fall wine".

Even the label is appropriate for the season!

 Of course, more Melonfest wine was brought home.

I understand this isn't really a "true" tablescape post, but I thought it was okay to share, because of the Autumn tone to it.

 I had to take pictures fast...Mr. Lakehouse was anxious to pull the glass of wine out of the scape!!

 The next bottle was NOT purchased at the Howell winery. It was a gift from a friend at the pharmacy. Tina visited the winery in Traverse City, and thought this bottle was something I would LOVE to add to my collection.

So...there you have it...my "Fall tablescape" for Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.
Take a trip over to Susan's blog and see what everyone else is sharing for today.
Enjoy......