Something New on the Acre?

As a matter of fact, now that you ask . . .

"I am," said the shiny front door . . .

I hear ya'll saying, "Mimi that's your same ole door you've always had."

And, of course, ya'll are right as always . . . "but I did get a NEW coat of Love today because I had been looking very tired and shabby lately ~ very faded in places . . . kind of like your Mimi's hair gets in between coloring . . . (but shhhh . . . don't tell her I said that!)"

So the tired ole door first got a good rubbing of this Mighty Wonderful Stuff!

then

after a 30 minute wait, Mimi used another wonderful product by Mr. Howard. 

After 20 more minutes this tired ole door was suddenly brought back to life!

"Not quite sure who Mr. Howard is, but I am certainly L.O.V.I.N.G. his products," says the new shiny door with it's tired ole Halloween wreath.  "You could see me better if my owner hadn't been jumping up and down and made the picture blurry.  But since she was so happy with how I looked, I guess I'll forgive her."

"Even the silly pumpkins on the front steps had wider grins and that little one with the ribbon even started glowing from excitement."

"Now, do you think she could do anything with this old wrinkled ribbon?"

"Hey, Mr. Howard, do you have anything that works on ribbon?"



Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

Fall is officially here because Mimi has finally gotten one of these . . .

source:  flickr

(updated 10/14:  actually it was 2 weeks ago now since I forgot to post this)

As I sipped my Pumpkin Spice Latte and ate the delicious banana walnut bread, I wished I already had my pumpkins from in the attic.  Then I decided to pretend I was Samantha from Bewitched and wiggle my nose all the way home in hopes all the decorations would be done when I arrived.

Well, I wiggled and I wiggled and guess what!!

Pumpkins met me at every entrance

One even had an old crow saying "Welcome."

Leading up the back steps . . . wonder what I would find inside?

Boy, my wiggling must have really worked!!

Now, who let that old crow inside?

Look in the living room . . .

Miss Bo is again in her place along with the picture of the sweet Halloween witch she was named after

and look at all Mimi's precious pumpkins!

and in the kitchen . . .

Now, girls, you know Mimi's nose wiggling didn't really get these pumpkins put in their rightful places but it would be nice wouldn't it?  Just think . . . wiggle your nose and your bed is made, your homework would be done . . . how fun would that be?

But then again . . .

 All Hallow's Eve is just right around the corner and all kinds of mystical, magical, spooky things happen then . . .

Do you think . . . could it really have been my wiggly nose . . .?

No, guess not or Mimi's back wouldn't be hurting from dragging all those boxes from the attic.

Oh well, at least Mimi's nose got a good work out that day!

Have you girls decided on costumes yet?

In Tribute to Halloween . . .

Mimi has been V.E.R.Y. excited about the spider webs that the spiders are building in the corners of the windows outside ~ after all, it is Halloween!

Yes, I was excited until the cable man came yesterday to do some work outside and opened up the 'box' he needed to work in. He found . . .

A Black Widow Spider!!!!!

It was just right outside my door . . . YIKES!!!!!!! Do you know what the silly cable man said, "Go get a jar and let's put him in it for your Halloween decorations." Has he lost his mind??? Mimi loves Halloween and decorations but really only the plastic spiders, especially not the deadly kind of spiders! So while Mr. Cable Man was so excited to have one in a jar, Mimi was finding the first largest thing that I could use to kill him ~ the spider not Mr. Cable Man! The picture above is not Mimi's Black Widow ~ do you think Mimi even thought about her camera??? NOOOOOO!! I just borrowed this one off the web.

All night, Mimi could feel something crawling on her so, needless to say, it was a sleepless night. Today the other spider webs all came down Halloween or not!

But do you girls remember the zipper spider that lived by Mimi's back door at the country acre? Every year at this time, that little ole zipper spider built his web between the 2 shrubs and everyday Mimi would tear it down while he wasn't on it. The next morning when Mimi would go outside to drink her coffee on my little brick patio, there was the web right back with Mr. Zipper sitting there laughing at me.

Say "Hello" to Mr. Zipper.

Isn't he pretty? Much prettier than that ole Black Widow, don't you think? This Mr. Zipper actually lived at the A girls house for several years. Mimi took this picture to send to the C girls last year because they don't have Zipper Spiders at their house and, so far, Mimi hasn't found one on the city acre. Somewhere in my 'hole' I have a picture of my Mr. Zipper but who knows if we'll ever see it again.

Have ya'll ever seen a Black Widow spider up close? Mimi hadn't before yesterday and that was one time too many. But you don't have to worry about coming to visit Mimi because that ole Black Widow is just one little ole brown spot on the driveway. Mimi just squashed him as Mr. Cable Man said, "I can't believe you just did that." Well, sir, just go find your own black widow for YOUR decorations!

Sure hope some little trick or treater doesn't dress up like a Black Widow! Watch what box you open, girls!!

XOXOXOXOXO ~ Mimi

A Little More Fall on the Acre

I'm back!! Buella and Betsy are turned off, 1 UPS package headed south, 1 UPS package headed north, the house is clean, the laundry's done, Halloween decorations are up (well, most of them--some are still "projects"), and Mimi's exhausted! Now, if all the other little projects were complete, I could really rest; but, since there's still more to be done, I'm just taking a quick break to show you girls some more decorations. Let's go back outside . . . Mimi forgot to show you the little scarecrow that's guarding the house.

Now, let's go in the front door . . .

Here's Mimi's little scarecrow tassle ~ made it a little different from the ones I made ya'll. I also made Miss Cheryl and Miss Darlene one like mine. I think they're addicting. (lol)

The box that holds the treats for Halloween gobblins by the tea cart ~ it's empty now because Mimi hasn't had time to look for bargains . . . maybe since the clothes are complete?

I had to move this pillow in because Miss Gigi insists on sleeping on the furniture on the porch. Now if I can just keep ya'll from getting popsicles on it when you stop to rest before going up to the "Nest."

Look on the mantle . . . Miss Bo is helping me keep watch for the little ghosts with the help of light from Mr. Jack. When I found this cute little witch last year, it reminded me of Granny who ALWAYS dressed like a witch and handed out her homemade popcorn balls. Granny LOVED Halloween ~ guess that's why Mimi likes it soooo much! Oh, and Miss Bo's name came from Granny's high school nickname in case you thought I meant Miss Boo.

Isn't she so cute?

Now here's just some of the other areas of the house . . .

These little cones hold goodies for ya'll normally; but since Mimi knew no one was coming this Halloween, I didn't put anything in them yet . . . we sure don't need them! Three of the cones came from Tuesday Morning year before last on clearance and Mimi made the other 3 last year.

Cybil and Adelynn, see your little green witch on the "Treasure Box" chest just waiting on ya'll to come play. Hope that ole crow doesn't peek her on the head! Mimi's thinking that bird cage I got at Service League salvage might eventually have to be painted black; after all, it's only been 2 years. And my dream lamp for the chest is still just a dream . . . Buella and Betsy may have to stay off for a while! Anna Grace, see the pumpkin plaque you and Mommy made for me? Campbell & Ailee, ya'll will like Mimi's table runner ~ it glows in the dark!! (Okay, I didn't know it did that when I bought it but what does it matter, I thought, the girls will like it!)

Who are those cute "little punkins" in that pumpkin frame . . . remember that was at the pumpkin farm and Mimi made all 3 outfits . . . sooooo much fun that day!! Maybe one day we can do that again. You can't see it very good, but the little black pillow asks "So, have you been a good witch or a bad witch?" Guess which one Granddaddy says Mimi has been! My apron just waiting on the Halloween cookies to be made because "the witch is in." The beautiful pumpkin towel was given to me last year by my good friend, Miss Charlotte (the big Emily's grandmother).

My hat just waiting by the door for "All Hallows Eve." As usual, just added a few pumpkins to the bowl of fruit on the buffet. Mimi will probably be moving all that good smelly stuff on my Southern Living tray on the coffee table before Thanksgiving . . . Adelynn and Baby Josie just might be tempted to try it. Mimi's not too happy with her foyer chest--one thing--that mirror (I have cans of oil-rubbed bronze just waiting to stray it)--and, hopefully, Mammaw's chest will be darker before Christmas. Well, that's it . . . doesn't seem to be as much as in the past; is Mimi getting lazy? Maybe . . . but then there won't be as much to change into Fall decorations after Halloween is passed. The dining room is the only room completely decorated "Fall." You'll have to wait to see it when you come eat Tom Turkey.

Mimi still has the front entrance of the subdivision to decorate . . . maybe tomorrow! But first, I have to complete one more BIG project . . . I'll post it after next Friday . . . can't share it yet but it has to do with Miss Pam's daughter Paisley getting on the homecoming court again.

Good night sweet ones! Hope you like all the goodies coming your way tomorrow!

XOXOXOXOXO ~ Mimi

I almost forgot . . . I've had several ask where I got the "Happy Halloween" for the black charger in the previous entry. Well, usually I ask my sweet daughter to make things like that for me through her company The Monogram Monkey but, she's so busy trying to get all her orders completed, she's closed her shop & I didn't have the heart to ask so I bought them off etsy from Anders Ruff Custom Designs. You'll have to watch for other goodies in the collection at my neighborhood pre-hallows eve party.

History Lesson Part 2 ~ The Harvest Moon

As promised last night, Mimi dashed to the upper deck a few minutes before 11:09 so I could witness the Autumnal Equinox (beginning of fall) because I knew my little monkeys would be sleeping and I wanted pictures for ya'll . . . even though I saw here that AG wanted her mommy to set the alarm because they had talked about it at school, you all slept right through!

Well, girls, it was a beautiful sight with the moon and Jupiter all lined up; but Mimi's camera didn't do it justice. Even Miss Gigi thought it was very pretty. She told me she was so glad she got to see it and would always remember it . . . Yes, she did!!

Here's what Gigi and I saw . . .

The little squiggly light at the bottom of the picture is Jupiter

Of course, there really weren't rays coming from the moon, it's just Mimi's camera. Here's a cropped version of this picture without the flash but you couldn't see Jupiter even before the crop.

I did a little internet searching and here's 2 more pictures . . .

Skywatcher Daniel Fischer took this photo of the full Harvest moon and Jupiter with a handheld digital camera on Sept. 22, 2010 from Königswinter, Germany. Jupiter, Uranus (too dim to see here) and the moon were lined up in a rare conjunction. Credit: Daniel Fischer Look at the location of Jupiter to the moon in Germany compared to Mimi's photo. Aren't the trees pretty?

Skywatcher Ruth Burkhead of Eustis, Fla., caught this view of the full Harvest moon and Jupiter on Sept. 22, 2010 while photographing the two objects from her backyard. Jupiter, Uranus (too dim to see here) and the moon were lined up in a rare conjunction. Credit: Ruth Burkhead See, the location of Jupiter matches Mimi's photo. Believe her camera might be just a tad better than mine.

Now, let's see if you remember what Mimi told you last night . . (I see 3 hands): "The Autumnal or Fall Equinox is when the sun and the earth are aligned exactly and day and night are the same length." YEAH!! You did remember!

So now on to tonight's lesson ~ The Harvest Moon

"Not since 1991 has a full moon occurred on the same night as the fall equinox, and it won't happen again until 2029," wrote astronomer Tony Phillips in a NASA announcement. According to Phillips, the Harvest Moon typically occurs a few days or weeks before or after the fall equinox. This year, though, the full moon occurs just six hours after the equinox, making it what Phillips called a "Super Harvest Moon."

Every full moon has a different name, one which varies depending on different cultures. The Harvest Moon gets its name from agriculture, explained Phillips.

"In the days before electric lights, farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset," Phillips wrote. "It was the only way they could gather their ripening crops and harvest staple crops such as pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice in time for market."

Mimi was sleeping 6 hours after the fall equinox when the Harvest Moon actually occurred but tonight on my way back home from a little shopping trip, I saw the "Halloween" moon. A big bright orange ball came over the mountain ~ it was so big I could even see the man in the moon. Did Mimi have her camera . . . NO!! I called both houses and cell phones to make sure you girls saw it but no one answered ~ I just left messages. Anyway, I hurried home, dashed in the house, got my trusty little camera, and drove back out until I could see it without street lights. By the time I had done all of that it had started to turn white but there was still enough orange for you to see it in these pictures.

Here it is far away and if you look very, very closely half-way down the picture you can see the outline of trees and to the right is our beautiful mountain.

Here's the same picture cropped ~ see how orange it is . . . and yes, Ailee, that might be a WITCH we see in the moon! The A girls did see the "Halloween" moon and called to ask why it was called that . . . I explained that I only called it that because it was orange and looked like the moon usually looks on Halloween night. Ailee, you were so upset when you ran out to see it. Your response . . . "But where's the witch?" . . . because you had expected to see a witch in the moon after you heard my message. Guess what you want to be for Halloween . . . The Wicked Witch of the West just so you can say "I'll get you, my pretty" in your crackly little voice. Only Ailee ~ never a dull moment!!

Wouldn't you have LOVED to be the one who saw this and took this picture last night--yes, it was REALLY taken last night or maybe early morning, but Mimi got so excited she just saved the picture and not the credits of where it came from . . . hopefully, I won't get in trouble because this is such a wonderful picture I had to share it with my babies!! Looks just like a Halloween Moon doesn't it girls? okay, minus the witch!

Guess what Mimi's thinking now after seeing this picture . . . yes, I need a more powerful camera (I love my camera, Mande, but more power would be great!). . . are you listening, Mr. Greenjeans? If not, maybe Santa Claus is because you know, girls, he REALLY starts listening after the First Day of Fall.

Now you can tell your teachers you saw the Harvest Moon and the Fall Equinox, thanks to your Mimi. And no more "lessons" for a while, I promise!

Good night, girls . . . Mimi's singing you a "sweet" lullaby

XOXOXOXO ~ MIMI