A Few MORE September Morns!

 I have been loving these milder September Days......

It's cool enough to turn the AC off and open the back bedroom door when I wake up.

At least for a few minutes!

I do my prayer time, scripture reading and prayer journal while I enjoy mu first cup of coffee and the sweet fresh air.

For my second cup of coffee, I carry it outside on the kitchen deck.

I love looking up at the sky as I continue to pray and meditate.

Our backyard is a registered Back Yard Habitat and we see so many critters out here.

Louis Dean loves putting up bird houses and filling the feeders!

Once the sun hits the kitchen deck, we relocate to the patio outside our bedroom where we read Little House on the Prairie and our John Wayne book.

Louis Dean found a Home Depot bucket full of sea shells and dumped them all along one edge of the new garden bed he built recently. He said he needed to use the bucket!

Friday morning I was awake at 4:20 - my alarm was set for 4:30!

Amber had a medical appointment for 8:00 so I went over to do the school run for the Bell Grands!

I LOVE doing that and I took special fall cups and napkins along with a teapot of hot cocoa, toasted Brioche rolls with butter and cinnamon sugar, pumpkin muffins and bacon!

We had a leisurley time together and at 8:30 we were on our way to school!

I love this so much better than when they were in elementary school and had to BE there before 7:30!!

I dropped them off and went back home to pick up Louis Dean.

He did a few dishes - he absolutely LOVES washing dishes!

Then we went to Trader Joe's - I love that place!!!

He bought a big bouquet of flowers for Amber!

Her procedure went well and she is doing fine!

She and I both love movies so we watched Hollywood Homicide......

This was LD's expression through out!

NOT a John Wayne film!!!

I took dinner over and we all had dessert first!

A plain yellow cake mix cake with choclate frosting.

It is Mike's favorite and I've been making these for him since he was a lifeguard at North Lake Pool way back when!

Dinner was good and we ate in shifts.

The girls had gone straight from school to the high school to play in the band for the football game.

I wanted to see them play but it was late and I really and truly cannot drive in the dark anymore.

I CAN drive from my house to Amber's and back no matter the time - day or night.

The lights work and I can do this - but that's all!

Mike took this video so could 'see' the girls playing!

Since we were gone all day on Friday - Saturday was a 'Home Day!'

I finished a baby quilt and have it ready to mail plus I finished Chapter 35 of my book.

Alas, Word doc shut down and I lost part of it so regrouped and rewrote a hundred or more words - then saved it as Chapter 35 (Recovered). Then I couldn't FIND it but at last I did and went in to delete the OTHER Chapter 35 - but deleted the recovered one instead. I did a dumpster dive to get that one back and now I have TWO Chapter 35's and that's the way it is.

I emailed them to myself so they are now safe from drive by clicking!

Louis Dean and I enjoyed this appetizer tray in leiu of dinner on Saturday night.

I was really tired today (Sunday) so I watched church online and LD and I worked some outside.

He did some more work on his new deck while I worked on cutting back ground cover and pulled weeds.

Last night I finished the baby quilt for Louis Dean's GREAT -great - granddaughter!

I boxed it up and addressed the package.....

And I will mail it off tomorrow!

It was such a glorious day this blessed Sunday!

I turned the AC off and the attic fan on and opened the house up.

Samantha and Tabitha were both allowed to go outside and enjoy themselves.

They would stroll back in from time to time but they pretty much stayed in the backyard.

They are inside now and the doors are closed but I will be turning the attic fan on before we go to bed tonight. The low will be 60 degrees!!!

I am loving every single one of my September morns!!!

Three Beautiful September Morns With 27 More to Come!!

 I love my little seasonal traditions and routines!

September First is my own personal holiday and, while at times I have hosted teas, dinners and luncheons, I usually celebrate this special day alone.

It was a quiet September Morn here and I didn't play my September Morn song until the fruitcake cookies came out of the oven and my coffee was made, candles lit and the scene was set.

I've been buring pumpkin candles for weeks now but I save these three votives in a pumpkin for the First September Morn.

They smelled delicious!

Louis Dean was still in his room doing his 'stupor time' - meaning making coffee and getting dressed and then just sitting there in his music room waiting to wake up.

One year - I think it was 2011 - Amber drove up from Katy to surprise me.

Mike had gone hunting and she arrived just as my song had started playing and I was pulling the cookies out of the oven!

She and I laughed together Sunday as she always 'respectively declines' fruitcake cookies!

But the pumpkin muffins were next and she loves those!

I know it's silly but I still get a little teary eyed at the first strains of the music.....

and the beauty of a September Morn.

I baked and fluffed and basked in the glow of happiness for the very beginning of the cooler months to come.

We drove over to Dallas to watch the Bell grandgirls play one of their first hockey games of the season!

They WON!!!

Girls Texas Heat!

Then we drove to McKinney to watch Harrison's game!

Granddad and Kailey......together always.

Sweet Logan and Trystan!

I just LOVE looking at them!

Love seeing him get a goal!

They won!

He is on the Texas Jr Brahmas travel team this year and the girls are all on the Texas Heat travel team!

What a perfect way to celebrate September First!

Father/Daughter!

Just so you know - they really are father and daughter in heart, spirit and legally!

Louis Dean adopted Amber in 2013.

She wanted him to BE the grands REAL Granddad - and so he is and always will be!

It was quite the adventure on Sunday afternoon - driving to Richardson, Texas and then to McKinney and then home. All before dark! Now that the seasons are changing, we will be more limited in driving only in daylight hours.

I am so very thankful I can drive from here to Amber's and back no matter the time, season or weather conditions - within reason!

Louis Dean defrosted our freezer on Saturday and I 'found' several steaks and a bag of O'Brian potatoes so that was our dinner on Sunday.

Monday was a blessed day in that the house was clean. I am caught up with everything except the quilt for Baby Aliyah and writing my book. 

Louis Dean's deck is a done deal!

He added a stone step up to the deck after I took this pic.

The funny thing is - he seemed worried Monday morning and said, "Linda, let me ask you - WHY did I build that deck??" I assured him he had a reason - and even if he didn't - he did a good thing!

I am excited about landscaping the new garden spot to the left of the new deck.

We plan to buy the bushes, flowers and ground cover on Wednesday.

I want low maintenance things agreeable to the Texas weather.

On Monday nights we take our trash to the curb and Louis Dean was deep into his music arranging so I bagged up and hauled a ton of stuff - out to Stephanie's curb!

Maybe not a ton but hundreds of pounds as I had to use one of Louis Dean's carts to get it all out there.

Step by step. Inch by inch. Little by little. a little here and a little there.

Or as in King James Version of the Bible.....

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: Isaiah 28:10

I try to look at what I can do RIGHT NOW - be it little or much.

For years now I have been hauling stuff to the curb - nothing that Louis Dean loves and needs and will use - but junk and trash that he has accumlated and is reluctant to part with.

So far he has never missed a single thing that has disappeared.

He actually thinks he is cleaning things up!

That's a Win!  WIN!!!

Monday night's supper was coconut shrimp and air fried veggies.

And toast!

All that lugging and hauling wore me out so it was an early bedtime for me.

It was 9:00 before I woke up.

Sleep is a beautiful thing!

It was cooler and wet today when I met up with Brenda for our Tuesday Treasure Hunting.

I love a rainy day!!

We did NOT make a huge haul like we did last week but we still found a few treasures.

So TRUE!!!

Every minute of every hour of every day of every year....

At nearly 76 years of age - I really do feel like I am 'fine wine.'

The glass pumpkin I already had - and now it sits in a wreath of pretty fall flowers.

The foyer is now a pumpkin patch!

Brenda and I left Texas Thrift and I stopped at Goodwill to drop off several bags of stuff.

While we don't usually shop Goodwill anymore - they lowered their senior discount from 30% to 10% while Thrift Giant and Texas Thrift offer 30% discounts. Still, Brenda was hoping to find a faux pumpkin for her front porch until the real ones come out in the markets.

I thought - what could it hurt?? So I ran in -Thank goodness I had an umbrella in the car as it rained all day! Sure enough! I found a large tall pumpkin just like the one she was looking for - plus these two rustic ones for me!!

My best treasure wasfound by Brenda - of course!

What an elegant jacket to wear with a simple black or cream dress!

And I have both!

For $2 I bought this tub full of fall cupcake and candy liners.

More pumpkin muffins will be made soon!

Brenda and I end our Tuesday visits with lunch at Chic-fil-A and we linger long while we eat and talk.

You could call Tuesdays With Brenda my 'Therapy Days.'

I shopped Aldi as I am making dinner for the Bells on Friday.

While I dearly love the rainy weather - by the time I got home I was soaked!

As in my shoes, my dress, my wrap, and even my glasses were wet!

I changed into dry clothes and put up the groceries before joining Louis Dean in the gazebo for a glass of wine.

His job was taking the grapes off their stems while we visited.

He still loves to sing!

Sometimes he forgets the words but I love that he loves music!

It's the Eve of September!

 I have spent every day this week preparing for September!

The house and gazebo are completely decorated and clean and spruced up for the first September Morn of 2024.

As I look back over the years, I have actively celebrated September First as my own personal holiday for at least 50 years! I am 75 now......and I am still as excited about this day as I have ever been!

The den is dressed up for the season!

Back in the 80's I started decorating in August and I remember mt friend, Jean Lancaster, saying that I had faith that fall was coming! It was 100 degrees and I was knee deep in fake fall garlands and plastic pumpkins!

Then there wer \e some years when I waited until September First to even get the decorations down from the attic.

Now all of my fall 'debris' is stored in a building outside and the attic of that building holds seasonal stuff while the bottom floor is where my tubs are kept. As in dozens of tubs! Plus shelves holding fall dinnerware and glasses and ceramic pumpkins and more.

As I have grown older I have started the fall process earlier.

July 6th, 2022, my sister Nita died and I was devastated.

Sometimes I still am.

To comfort myself I decorated for FALL and cried as I did it but somehow it helped.

By August first - it was all done and Jesse took me and Louis Dean to the mountain cabin in New Mexico.

That set the tradition to start earlier - right after the 4th of July.

My goal this year was to be DONE by September First - and I am.

I know I'm a little over the top but I decorate for ME!

If no one ever sees it - I would still decorate.

I hope I always will......

I love fragrance and beauty and warm and cozy are two of my favorite words!

Do you think everyone loves the season they were born in best?

I know Amber loves summer and all that goes with it - and she was born in June.

Ben may prefer summer as well since he was born in August. I need to ask him about that!

Summer and Jesse were both born in the fall - October and November.

I do believe this is their favorite season as well.

Today has been such a blessing as I tidied up the house and set out my clothes for tomorrow.

We will be doing church online in the morning and going to watch the Bell grands play hockey in the afternoon.

I made my fruitcake cookie dough and set out all the things for pumpkin muffins.

I even put parchment paper on the cookie sheets and the cupcake liners in the muffin pans.

I took a good long shower and washed my hair and painted my toes!

The only thing I did NOT do was blow out the gazebo - but it is what it is.

Louis Dean has had a nice long hot bath and is in the den watching a western movie.

I'm about to join him with a tray of meat and cheese and crackers and such for our Saturday night supper.

He's already watched two western movies so I will switch to something we both like.

The gazebo has not been used much this summer but will be more occupied once the weather is cooler.

We have four major 'sitting areas.'

The gazebo.....

and the driveway......

and the kitchen deck....

and now the patio and the deck outside our bedroom door.

This is one of my Happy Places!!

Love all of you who are reading my words and I pray for you.....

thank you for the encouraging and kind comments.

Wishing you all the Autumn Blessings for this season!