Beautiful Fall Weather

Wow. This weekend. The weather could NOT have been better!

So, I watched sheets dry in the breezy warm sunshine, noticed the leaves as they fell, all while drinking FROZEN coffee.

I also had a book, of course. But it was deep, requiring me to look up from it from time to time to remind myself of what a beautiful yet humble backyard I have to enjoy all of this in.

Also? Fall smells AMAZING. 

But if you think this is all just a bit too perfect, as THGGM removed the sheets from the line he pointed out a rabbit carcass not more than a yard from where he is standing.

Oh.., I took pictures, for sure. This is NOT our first rabbit kill discovered in that same area. It looks as if our fenced in yard can be accessed by either a fox or a coyote, which I am told are not uncommon at all in our neighborhood.

I really love wildlife. But at a greater distance than this. 
 

Bringing In the Leaves

These kids DID come rejoicing, bringing in the leaves!

They even brought along a Leaf Compactor. 
Arrival time was shortly after lunch, and continued working until after the sunset.

You know how I'm not one to brag (hahaha!) but goodness, did these three work HARD!
They seem to have gotten an excellent work ethic from their diligent and hard-working parents.
THGGM looked into what it would cost to have yard cleanup done, so he offered them that amount, to be split three ways.
Not only did they work hard at bringing in the leaves, they figured out the math down to the last fraction.  Oh, and they did take a couple of breaks when THGGM brought the leaves to the yard waste dump.  When they saw the car pull up, Famke would announce it, and off they would go.  Once, one of the boys said he was tired.  Famke looked at her other brother and said, "That means more money for us!" which of course meant off the three of them went.  Together. 

They were also rewarded with donuts from Marge's Donut Den, but they made quick work of those.  There was milk too! 

So fall is now cleaned up and dragged away, and it's onward and forward to Christmas!
Yay! 

On Friday

 It appears to be another year where it took us until November to reach peak color.

I'm enjoying the lovely red outside my living room window.
Once they are gone, I will mourn the loss.
Doesn't look like it will take much to blow the rest of them down.
I took these as we were leaving to drop something off at a business a bit south of us.
I happened to keep my camera with me.

The sky was full of clouds, except to the west, so we decided to chase the sunshine and ended up in Holland.
Do YOU think this sign is necessary?
Has someone actually NOT noticed that the road ends?
Do some people see bridges where none exist?
This is a mystery to me.

Anyway, the color was spectacular! 

 

T

We ended up at Holland State Park.
It was gorgeous there.
It always is!

Pumpkins!

There are a variety of ways to make a cloth pumpkin!

Even though no children come to play with me on Monday anymore (they are all in school all day) I've still managed to make a few things on Monday, and pretty much everyday other day too!

This one is just a widowed wool sock!

So, I've tried just about every idea out there for making cloth pumpkins.
A few years ago I made a few that were, for me anyway, complicated.
This year I went for quick and easy.
The first few I made by tracing a large circle, sewing it like a yo-yo and filling it with stuffing.
Then I tried some smaller ones in which the inside was a rolled up sock.
I even made one where I liked the look of the sock alone, so never bothered to add any fabric to cover it.
After I had more than a dozen already made, I found on Pinterest the EASIEST cloth pumpkin EVER.
I REALLY REALLY TRULY TRULY mean that!

I thought I was done, but noticed I had nary a pumpkin in my kitchen and HAD TO remedy that!

The last three pictures show the ones I made using this easy peasy idea.
All you do is use a square of fabric about the size of a cloth napkin.
Set a roll of toilet paper in the center.
If you want a pumpkin that is a bit more rounded, wrap a plastic bag or two around the toilet paper.
Bring up the center of all four sides to the top of the toilet paper roll.
If you can, press them in, if you can't don't worry, the next step will hold them in!
Now take the four corners, and one at a time fold them into the center of the roll.

I've used different things as a stem.
In the top picture, the bigger one is the first pumpkin I made using this easy method.
Since I had just written Fall on the chalkboard, I just stuffed the old piece of sidewalk chalk into the center to hold everything while I looked for a wooden "stem".
But, who knew?
The chalk looked GREAT so I left it there.
The next few I made using old wooden clothespins as stems, and tied either twine or raffia around them.
And for this last one I used a wooden spool of thread.
What I LOVE most about these is that when it is no longer fall, I do not have to store them!
All I shall need to do is pull the "stem" out, and put it back where it came from.
The napkins or fabric scraps can be folded and put away in the drawer in the kitchen or into my fabric bits stash.  And, well, we all know what the toilet paper is for.
So, that's it!  So extremely simple.  There was not one thing that I had to go out and buy to make these.
Let me know if you try this!

Yesterday Felt Like Fall

Yesterday Jonge had two Fall Ball games.
And the weather!
It was in the sixties, which is normally my most favorite temperature EVER, but there was wind, and although we all tried NOT to complain after the hideous heat and humidity from last week, it was impossible not to mention every five or ten minutes just how COLD it was!

Feintsje made up his own ball game.
I never quite figured it out, but it involved laying flat on his back and wiggling until he got to the ball.
Then he threw it at someone.

Yes.
It truly was that cold.

 Jonge's team won their first game, but not the second one.

Outside, under a quilt, hot coffee - LIFE IS GOOD.

Kado came to the second game, so Feintsje had someone to play with who was closer to his age and interest level.

They thought they looked hilarious with their hoodies tightly around their faces.
Of course, I thought they looked adorable.
Not the look either of them were going for.

Famke even joined them.
Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet, during this game most of the action was on this side of the fence.

Not sure if it shows up well in this picture or not, but the clouds were INCREDIBLE!
These looked like letters, and at one point the last three spelled ICE.
Why I didn't think to take a picture then, I'll never know.

Tuesday In Lake Geneva

Last Tuesday THGGM and  I were able to spend the day with my aunt in Wisconsin.

Since it was NOVEMBER, we were able to get the butternut squash soup at Simple again!

I have yet to find a recipe that sounds even close to what their's is, but I intend to figure it out myself someday.

Today wasn't that day, but.., there's always tomorrow...

No water in the fountain, but I still made sure to take pictures of it.

My lovely aunt

There was still a remarkable amount of color even though it's November.

Some of the leaves have been dropping off while still green.

Lake Geneva is GORGEOUS in the fall.

The shopping there is good too!

Where Is Fall?

In the past ten years we have lived in this house, our front yard tree has been a brilliant red at least by now.

Not so this year!

Just something I noticed yesterday while sitting on the couch drinking coffee and looking out the window.

So lovely to have a day with nothing to do!

Fun Times

Summer is now LOOOONG over, and seems so far in the past already that I can barely remember it.
So odd how that works.
But I am ALWAYS excited for FALL.
And, this fall, Broeder is my afternoon buddy three days a week.
A week ago Pake and I realized that he was going to need a bike to have here.
So, of course, we set out to the thrift store to find the perfect bike with training wheels for Broeder.
If you live in West Michigan and need a bike, Love INC in Hudsonville is the place to look.
This is the third bike we've purchased there and we have never been disappointed.
They have a "bike guy" who does fantastic work reconditioning them.

A tumble or two does NOT stop this guy.
He's not one to let a bit of difficulty stop him from reaching his goal.

Just a bit of steadying from Pake and he was off again.

Here comes Broeder!
He has such determination!

He wanted me to take a picture of him with his bike.
Because, you know, it isn't a real picture unless you say "CHEESE!"

Have I mentioned lately that I am having the time of my life?
Yes. Yes I am!

Fall Family Photos

 Today our entire family climbed into the woods at John Ball Park for our annual Fall Family Photo.

This one was the best of all of us, even though the sun left a strange glare from behind.

Youngest Son and Daughter-in-law2 with their children, Hertsje and Broeder.

Oldest Son and Daughter-in-law1

The grandchildren

Daughter and Son-in-law with their children Jonge, Famke, Kado, and Feintsje