Green Thumb Sunday

It's Green Thumb Sunday, hosted by Tricia at As the Garden Grows. If you'd like to participate, just click on the link to find out how.

This week I'm going to show my readers a little autumn decorating that the boys and I did last weekend when they stayed over on Friday night. I had picked up a few things up at the dollar store and we had fun putting everything in place.I bought two miniature scarecrows on skewers especially to put in my plants. The boys put them in my snake and spider plants. My patio table has a little of an autumn look. The snake plant has sat beside the boy with the watering can all summer. The spider hung from the porch and the Wandering Jew was sitting on the porch railing. When the nights turned cold, I moved the spider and the Wandering Jew to where they would be more protected. It won't be long before I have to bring them inside for the winter.

Last Sunday after hubby and I visited Princess Point, we stopped at Michael's. Now all my regular readers will know that I love scarecrows and that is the first thing we saw when we pulled into the parking lot. They were 50% off and fit right into our budget.

My fairies make my garden look a little magical at night when the solar lights come on. I enjoy seeing them in the flower bed just outside the side door. If you notice, there are a few colored leaves laying just to the left of the bricks that form the border. Yes, the leaves are beginning to turn.

I love autumn. It is one of my favorite time of year; the other being spring. I love the cooler temperatures and the trees dressed in their colorful autumn gowns. The evergreen trees form a beautiful contrasting background to the mix. I can't wait to get out and about with my camera as autumn moves into full swing.

Enjoy the day and be sure to take some time out for rest and relaxation. Read a book, play a game with a child, take a walk along a nature path, or do anything else that will bring you some autumn joy. ~Blessings, Mary~

St. George Apple Festival

The boys stayed overnight at my place on Friday so Mom could have a Girl's Night Out. Dad was working.

Early Saturday morning, we headed out for the St. George Apple Festival. It is an annual event, but we had never been there and neither had Mom, so we stopped and picked her up before we headed out.

The photos aren't in the order I wanted them because Blogger is giving me a hard time. At least I got them uploaded. For a few minutes I didn't think I was going to be able to.

In the morning there was a scarecrow contest. Now if you are a regular reader, you will know that I love scarecrows. There was a variety but I only took photos of a few.
The scarecrow above was right near a kids' book display. Jordan looked at the books and saw a couple he liked. This was near the beginning, so I told him to look around and see what else they had. If we didn't find anything else he wanted then we would get it on the way out. He did get a book when we were leaving. It was titled, The Dog Who Thought He was Santa Claus." That should be fun book for him to read. There was nothing for Brandon's age but he has a lot of reading to do in school this year, so he didn't mind.

This guy was cute and was guarding the telephone booth and the food booth.
When I first saw the Granny Biker Lady scarecrow, I had to take a second look. She looked mighty real sitting there with her back against that pole. If she didn't take first place then the judges weren't seeing the scarecrows through my eyes. She was awesome.

Jordan took the photo above. He is a dog lover and thought that sign was just great. It is a no pooping sign for the lawn. I'm sure if hubby made his mind up to do so, he could make him one.
Both of the boys were enthralled with the wooden toys. An elderly man made these and he also had transport trucks, fire trucks with ladders and airplanes. Brandon is thinking he would like a career in woodworking and he mentioned that to the man at my prompting. The man told him to forge ahead with his dream that cabinet and furniture makers made good money. That made Brandon stop and think.

This booth was the first one we saw when we got to the apple festival. It should have been first, but as I said, Blogger was being difficult.
This booth had lots of handcarved wooden items. The stools were well made and very intriguing.
Above is a beautiful green area with a fountain and lots of lush greenery. In the summer this area would be alive with blooms.

Jordan wanted some candy floss and since we didn't get to the local fair this year, we got him some. Brandon got a candy apple.

Brandon was not in a good mood today. Here he is giving me "the look." Mom is watching to see what I'm going to do. The best thing to do when Brandon is being like this to say, "Brandon, that's enough," and then leave him to sort it out for himself. It makes him worse if you harp at him. He has been having a difficult time with his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder lately. He was well behaved, but was just being ornery. I told him that Grandma could be ornery too if he didn't settle down and so he just kept his looks and thoughts to himself. Sometimes it's difficult to decipher if he is being a teenager, if his Asperger's is making him act the way he does or the Obsessive Compulsive. He has a lot on his plate, for sure. If we don't know what to do, how can he? And remember, kids with Asperger's Syndrome dislike crowds and noise. This wasn't really crowded nor was there a lot of noise, but if Brandon wasn't feeling up to par, it may have been enough to bother him.

This couple had a very pretty booth filled with autumn decor items for the yard and home. They also had a few Halloween things.

The booth above was all about gardening and had some plants in some nice rustic planters. I enjoyed browsing and so did Mom.

Can you believe that the flowers above are made from apples. Apparently Mom had seen these before, but I hadn't. The greenery is artificial but the flowers are made of apples.
This man could play the pan flute and make heavenly music. I would have liked to look at his booth closer, but I knew we were going to lose Brandon if we didn't hurry along. I didn't want him to have a meltdown, as this would have made everyone, including him, feel bad.

I bought some goat's milk soap for Brandon, as he has a lot of dry skin on his face. He told me he would use it and a woman was selling it. She makes it herself and says that many teens use it for skin problems. I did get a photo of her booth, but Blogger won't let me upload it.

Mom and Brandon headed back to the van, while Jordan and I went to see if his book was still there. It was and I told him that it must have his name on it or it would have been gone. He thought that was funny

As we walked back to the van, we saw a few vintage cars. Again, Blogger won't let me upload those, so I will save them for another day.

Enjoy your day and be sure to take some time to stop and smell the roses. ~Blessings, Mary~

Show and Tell Friday

It's time for Show and Tell Friday. If you would like to participate, drop over to Kelli's at There's No Place Like Home.

Last weekend the boys and I went to a local store that deals exclusively in gifts and seasonal decor items. We enjoy browsing and picking up a little something here and there to make our homes a little more colorful. This store is reasonably priced and they have a Christmas section all year 'round.


Many of my readers know that I like scarecrows. I guess you can tell by the background and header here that they are one of my favorite autumn things. Well, lo and behold this little store had a scarecrow ready for hanging. I thought it would look great hanging outside of my door for the autumn season. I love it!

After we left there, we went to the dollar store and picked up some autumn leaves, a box of pumpkin candles that we will share with others, a ceramic pumpkin that I thought was delightful and a little scarecrow sitting on a bale of artificial straw with a cob of corn and a black-eyed susan beside him. I also bought some of these things for the boys to give their mother. She was delighted.

I bought several of the pumpkins on a piece of binder twin that I will hang along my porch to give it an autumn look. The boys and I plan on going to a local farm where they sell fruit all year round to pick up some gourds, some Indian corn, some cornstalks and a bale or two of hay. Then we will add spider webs and make the place look a little spooky for Halloween.

I hope you enjoyed my show and tell this week. Be sure to click on the link to Kelli's blog and visit others who participate in Show and Tell Friday. I'm sure there will be many autumn decorating ideas this week. Enjoy! ~Blessings, Mary~

Autumn Photos of Canada and a Urgent Prayer Request

In a few days autumn will officially arrive. Spring and autumn are my favorite seasons. Spring because it is a time of rebirth and autumn because the weather is cooler and Mother nature paints the forests with reds, oranges, browns and yellows against a backdrop of evergreen.

The photos below are some that I've taken over the years. They show the beautiful colors that autumn brings to our part of the world.

The above photo was taken in northern Ontario in the 1990s. Hubby and I went up north for a weekend getaway. Behind the rocks in this area was a lake. I forget the name of it now, but if we went there early in the morning, we could see otters playing. It was an awesome sight. One of these years I would like to return to this area again.

This photo was taken on the same trip. This one is near Bobcaygeon, Ontario, which is on the Trent-Severn Waterway. You can fish for Muskie in this region. Bobcaygeon pronounced Bob-cay-je-wan is an Ojibwa word meaning "at the shallow currents." It was incorporated as a village in 1876.

The above photo is one that was taken on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I love Cape Breton in autumn. There isn't quite any place on earth that is so beautiful. It has mountains much like the Smokeys - another place that I love to visit in the fall.

New Brunswick is also beautiful in autumn, though the year I took this the colors weren't as vibrant as they sometimes are. My MIL lives in New Brunswick not far from Moncton. It is a beautiful province with lots of forested areas. There are an abundance of Moose in this particular area.

I'm not sure where this one was taken, but from the other photos that were with it, I would assume northern Ontario. The colors are amazing. And finally, back home to the Grand River Valley. This is the Grand in all of her beauty. The colors were just beginning to change, but like all the rest of the photos, this was taken previously and is not this year's photo.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Canada in autumn. I would love to see the Rocky Mountains in the fall of the year. I have seen them, but only in winter and they are magnificient. I stayed in Cranbrook, BC, which is in the Interior of British Columbia. The Rockies and Purcell Mountains surround this beautiful town. I would love to visit there again and get some photos. Maybe one day. Until then, I will be happy with my memories of all the beautiful places I have visited in autumn.

If you would like to see some beautiful photos of Cranbrook, please explore HERE!

Take care and enjoy your day. ~Blessings, Mary~

Prayer request Update

Jo at Moodscapes has an urgent prayer request. It seems her friend, Janice, at Wildflower Cabin lost her granddaughter in a fatal car accident on September 13th. The mother and father of Poppy Josephine Hart need our prayers. Poppy Josephine is resting in the arms of Jesus. Please keep the family in your prayers.