Halloween Celebrations

This Halloween can officially go down as the most relaxed Halloween to date.

I, for once, was actually ready for Halloween. 

We had the boys costumes finished days before, and they sat hanging with their treat bags, and glow sticks, with my candy at the front door. We agreed on simple, inexpensive costumes - a knight and an orange butterfly (Hudson insisted this was all he wanted to be, so we happily obliged).

The boys went out with Ryan when he got home from work, and while they were out and about, I put some music on and got food ready for after, when we'd celebrate Ryan's birthday (yes, on October 31st). And when the boys had enough walking around, they came home and we all enjoyed an evening by the fire.

My sisters even joined us to celebrate.

And while I didn't go crazy with decorations (we didn't even carve pumpkins!), Willen and I did bring all the pumpkins to the front entrance to make it more inviting.

Here is Hudson in his costume. I would love to take credit for his beautiful butterfly wings, but that was all Ryan. And I never ended up getting a photo of Willen in his costume as he was too busy looking for his sword. That was the only stressful moment I guess... Somehow despite it being set out for him, in the half hour before they left, it managed to disappear for a few minutes. 

They were all smiles as they dumped their bags out and took stock of their loot. It's so much fun when they're so little and enjoy it so much.

And now it's November. That means it's time to start getting ready for Christmas!

Fall in the Garden

I love having a garden full of white flowers, but when the Summer fades and Fall arrives, something wonderful happens. My all white garden transforms into pretty shades of greens and pinks and reds and golds.

The Anemones that I planted early this Spring have been in full bloom for weeks now. They are tall, delicate flowers that open and close with the sun.

Pumpkins now sit on our front step, welcoming all who enter.

Though we have many farm stands selling pumpkins around us, most only have pie pumpkins and tradition orange carving pumpkins. I had to drive to a few stands in neighboring towns to find more unique varieties. I love the beautifully shaped Cinderella pumpkins (front), the Ghost pumpkins (white, in the back) and the interesting varieties of Hubbard and Acorn squash.

My Hydrangeas have started turning a deeper shade of green with pink tips as the temperatures drop lower at night.

I also finally decided to paint the front door. It's now the same colour as our shutters, and I love it lighter.

    

The Ivy has started turning a brilliant shade of red.

And, we've even enjoyed a few late Raspberries.

Happy Earth Day

 Every year, on Earth Day, our local garden center hosts a sale on all of the previous year's nursery stock. Each year I make plans to attend. I've always had luck finding a variety of Hydrangea or some other perennial for 70% off.

Some of the varieties I've purchased over the years at this sale are PeeGee, Bombshell, Little Lamb, Limelight and Annabelle.

This year I happened to find five more PeeGee Hydrangeas. They were on sale for $10.

While there, I also picked up another White Japanese Peony Tree, 3 Annabelle Hydrangeas, 3 "Snowflake" Oakleaf Hydrangeas (a variety I've been looking forward to adding to my garden) and a few pots of "Cheerfulness" Narcissus. 

I can't get enough of this variety of Daffodil. I'd love to go back and pick up more to plant for Spring next year. I don't have any bulbs in the garden and these are so beautiful. I think they would look lovely around the tree in our backyard, and maybe a few little clusters in the front beds.

For now, I planted them in my containers for outside our front entrance. They really are so cheerful.

Their soft green buds unfurl into white double blooms with bright yellow centers.

I was also thrilled to see that our Lilacs along the West side of the house have budded.

This is the West side of the house. You can see the Lilac bushes between us and our neighbors. Right now, my entire front yard is a mess. Late last Fall we decommissioned our septic tank, and hooked up to city sewage. This was an awful job. The crew did a wonderful job tying down my Lilacs so they wouldn't have to cut them out, so thankfully we can still enjoy them. The grass in the front on the other hand, was completely torn up. We're still unsure as to what we are going to do with it; sod or seed.

However, in an attempt to start to clean it up, I edged in gardens this afternoon. I still need to order soil to finish the beds, but in the mean time, I've come up with where I would like to place the PeeGee and Oakleaf Hydrangeas I bought today.

All in all, what better way to celebrate Earth Day than in the garden?

Inspirations - The Front Entrance

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Here are some lovely inspirational front entrances. Your guests walk through this room in your house first, and it's been said that your front entrance is the first impression of your home.

I desperately hope that's not true as mine currently sits in it's dark and laminate state, still near the bottom of my to-do list. Oh well. In the mean time, these are some beautifully bright ones that maybe mine can someday aspire to.

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[Skona Hem]

[House to Home]

[KML Design]