Happy Thanksgiving!

I am cooking the turkey this year and I feel so blessed to have my family to cook for! I am also thankful for all the friends I have made this year in blogland! I am sending everyone Happy Thanksgiving wishes and I will be back after the holiday!

A Fun Christmas Destination

Everyone seems to be getting in the holiday mood around blogland so I thought I would show you a place that my husband and I went to last Christmas. We were on our way to visit my gravely ill mother-in-law in Georgia so we decided to stop in Pidgeon Forge and check out the holiday lights. We drove past this hotel called "The Inn at Christmas Place" and thought how nice that would be to spend the night and really get into the holiday mood. Well we walked in and immediately you smell the faint aroma of cinnamon! It's not over powering....just enough scent to lure you further inside! We decided to stay and make it our Christmas present to each other!

It was getting dark and this is what was across the street from the inn......Christmas Village!

This is the back of the hotel! Can you imagine? It looks like something you would see at DisneyWorld! Actually this is the door you enter to go into the lobby.

Inside, the lobby is absolutely gorgeous! Christmas decorations are everywhere!

Just past the lobby is a balcony and when you look down there is a glockenspiel...not sure if I spelled that right? It goes off every hour, on the hour and little doll people come out of it and circle around....ring the bells.

This is the main fireplace in the lobby...beautifully decorated!

Another view of the lobby. Later that night a wedding party came to stay there and took photos of the beautiful bride and groom in front of the decorated tree.

When you got off the elevators you would see vignettes such as this one.

Another vignette in the lower lobby.

Not only was the hotel public places decorated, so was each private room! You could even order your own decorated Christmas tree and have it delivered to your room.......extra $$, of course

The mattresses were even special and you could order one of those to have in your own home!

Private balconies to view the mountains from your own room.

This was the view from our room!

Is this not beautiful? This is something we might do again sometime. If your planning on going to the Smokey Mountains for the holidays I would highly recommend that you stop and just go inside the lobby...you don't have to stay there to see how pretty it is. Also, another fun thing to do is that right before Christmas they have a live Santa Claus that comes in and sings carols with everyone and visits with each of the children. This place oozes Christmas 365 days a year.....nice to experience during the holidays but not in the dog days of summer...at least not for me!

My First Knitting Class

I took my first knitting class today. I seen in my local library newsletter that they were offering a free class. I picked up the phone right away and signed up. When I first got married my girlfriend tried to teach me since she had just taken it up. Well, that was 37 years ago and needless to say I put knitting behind me. I did manage to take up quilting quite successfully and have made several crocheted afghans. Quilting has now become over whelming to me and I have kind of lost the interest so I decided I needed something more "contained" and easy to handle....thus, the interest in knitting.

I love to look at all the beautiful colors in yarns and the endless array of scarves I could make with them is so enticing!

I had several "teachers" today and they all showed me the same thing to do but each one showed me a different way! Uh oh......this confused me all the more. I intend to stick with it and I may not become an expert....... but maybe I will make some new friends along the way and hopefully get at least one scarf out of it! Wish me luck!

Trick or Treat

Last night we went to our son and dil's house and got to experience Trick or Treat night again. It's been years since my boys were that age so it was so much fun to be a part of the excitement! Of course, you must spray paint the hair to get ready!

Some of us only had to sit on a lap and look cute as a "pumpkin"!

Being a "rock star" is always popular with the people passing out the candy!

A "hambone".....oops, I mean a 60's Mod girl is always fun or as I called her "Miss Hullabaloo". Do you remember that show from the 60's?

Before the sugar kicked in!

We seen a lot of decorated homes....some cute.....

Some scary ones too!

I don't know about you but Halloween is a big deal these days. I don't remember anyone ever decorating like this when I was a kid.

Inflatables are very popular.

What a fun night! Perfect weather, crunchy leaves under our feet, topped off by hot dogs, chips and chocolate cake! Thanks for letting Mamaw feel like a kid again!

Country Festival and Fall Drive

We had plans to go to the Apple Butter Stirrin Festival last Saturday but the weather was so nasty...chilly with spitting rain, that we decided to sit that one out. Sunday on the other hand was spectacular and we headed for the Thornville Country Festival....about 20 miles away. The photos just don't do the beautiful scenery justice.....I wish I could have shown it in a panoramic view!

After a wonderful drive up and down rolling hills we pulled into the little town of Thornville. I had to take a quick pic of this darling little house! I feel a little inhibited taking pictures of peoples home....I try to do it discreetly!

The streets were crowded with people looking over all the vendors booths.

Even though the sun was bright and sunny the breeze was still a little on the chilly side!

I picked up a really cute winter hat and a yard chachki. After checking everything out we headed back home but took another route through the backroads.

This is another tiny village out in the country.

Almost home......

Don't you just love these old Mail Pouch painted barns! It is outside our town a few miles.

The view below is a photo of our town from a point above the river that runs through downtown. In person we could see more color dotting the hills in the background. We are having such wonderful warm and sunny weather this week! Enjoying it now because rain is waiting in the wings......again.

Fall At My House

I can't explain it but my roses are actually pretty impressive right now....they must love the cool temperatures and the moisture and sunny bright days!

After a rainy few days last week we had the most glorious fall weekend here in southeastern Ohio! I can not describe to you the most beautiful weather. The kind of weather that makes you glad to live in Ohio! We went to the local Farmer's Market and got some fall treats and I picked up this really cute plant sitter from a local vendor. It is made from a swinging cafe door and then attached to a little bench. I thought it would look really great with a fall mum.

Today we went for a drive in the country to savor the leaf color and the beautiful hillsides dotted with reds, yellows, oranges and gold. What makes it even more wonderful is that it is about 10 minutes from my house! We stopped at a local farm that sells pumpkins and mums, indian corn and other assorted unusal gourds. We like to buy local and the have great prices!

Autumn Greetings at my front door!

Oh and we can't forget what is the most important thing in Ohio in the fall!

I have the house pretty much decked out now with mums and indian corn and pumpkins.

Hope you enjoyed fall at my house......

It is the end of a beautiful weekend.....the sun is going down and the firepit is crackling. Time to contemplate what lies ahead next weekend. Hopefully it will be more beautiful weather because I am going to The Apple Butter Stirrin Festival in Roscoe Village and also the Thornville Country Fair. I will be taking my camera with me!

Happy Fall!

The beautiful colors of Autumn! There is no other season that is more vibrant or colorful than fall...especially here in Ohio. I have been a little under the weather with a pinched nerve in my neck so I have not been anywhere to take photos or antiquing or anything new and exciting to blog about unless you want to hear about my new chiropractor! I thought I would at least welcome fall with the rest of you!

Remember the days when we used to lay in the leaves and make forts and had leaf fights? Or make huge piles of them to jump into or just run through?

When I was a kid I can remember the smell of smoke in the air from neighbors burning leaves down at the street by their homes. They don't do that so much anymore because of pollution but any time I do smell that aroma it takes me back to my childhood and good memories!

Bright crystal clear days with bluer than blue skies and shimmering trees that made you smile to see their happy colors. The great thing about fall is that no matter how old you get it comes around every year and we get to experience it all over again!