Autumn Mantle Decor

Hi!  What a wonderfully busy weekend!  A special thanks to you who took the time to comment on my latest post.  I want you to know I appreciate your advice and comments. I really do agree with those of you who commented!  I have to say, it was so refreshing visiting whatever blogs I wanted to this weekend without stressing over it.  It is such a blessing to have YOU who relate, pray, and encourage as I continually strive to find the right balance between my blog life and my real life.  Thank you again!


I am also so very thankful for parties like Tabletop Tuesday @ http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ that allow me to share my love of decorating, especially seasonal decorating!  What a wonderful time of year this is to decorate!  I hope you'll join me and many others today as we share various styles of vignettes.


Fall decorating is in full swing at my house.  I've even added a few new goodies that were, Oh, so hard to resist!  Gotta fill up that new "fall box" I'm creating this year ya know.  LOL!  Today I'd like to show you my vignette on the mantle over the fireplace.

You probably were expecting lots of goodies all over this mantle weren't you?

I have always leaned towards a very streamlined look on my mantle and only recently did a very busy vignette on it this summer with the sailboats as shown in my header.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason I really like to keep this area more simple.  Maybe because the fireplace itself is so large that I prefer to keep it more the focal point of the room than all my knick knacks.

You will see that I have my constants that stay the same year round.  They are the off white candlesticks.  I love how they compliment my mirror and sconces.  I have been advised to put up a different darker mirror or print or something more bold, but I really don't want to do that.  This is what I like!

I made these two floral arrangements several years ago.  Previously they were the only fall decor on this mantle during the season.  I love the rich colors I used to create these topiary style arrangements.  I also just love the plaid ribbon I made the bows with.  I always make all my own bows, as it is so easy to do.

Here is my newest addition, these sweet little birdies from Michaels.   They are such perfect fall birds!

I originally thought I would paint the gold swirls on the brown birds to another color but after getting them in my house and seeing them with the rest of the autumn decor I have decided to leave them as is.

The basket I picked up at a yard sale this summer got a few florals too.  They came from Michaels also.  I had too many for another arrangement I did for the front porch.  You'll have to keep watch for that post!  It's decorated and ready for show just after I give the porch a good fall cleaning!  Large front porches really get soooo dirty!!!

Well, that's it for now!  Oh, did you notice I took the blue slipcovers off of my pillows too?  It's back to the brown color for fall.  Love that trick!

  It's taking quite a bit of self control here not to go all over the house and show you everything else.  You'll just have to keep coming back for more now, Okay?   Trust me, there's more, lot's more!  Did I mention how much I love seasonal decorating?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Labor Day Break

For my regular followers, I wish you all a very happy Labor Day weekend!   I am going to take a break from the labor of posting to get caught up on all your wonderful blogs.   For me this also means I'm probably holding back on commenting on some of your wonderful posts too!  I've been doing this somewhat for awhile now as it seems the only way I can visit more.   This doesn't mean I don't care about your post it just means I need more time to visit more friends.  I hate it when I loose a friend, even an online friend.  I do pay attention to my friends who follow and feel sad when someone leaves.   I really am trying to keep up with everyone but honestly, I just get so overwhelmed at times.

It is not easy for me to create my own posts to share, visit all of you who comment, visit those I follow and visit everyone in all the parties I join!  Okay, let me say it now, I am not a super blogger!  I probably never will be.  It is very hard for me to keep up even under the best of circumstances.

Lately the circumstances in our family (both our extended families) have not been the best, and have left us with a sad resignation of things to be.  This is the way of life at times.  We do know that God is with us and it is in his hands and for that we are so grateful.  I tell you this because I want some of you to know if I am neglectful at times it is because life's circumstances have taken over.  So, if I have offended any of you I am sorry.  I love reading and "looking" at all of your wonderful blogs and golly there are soooo many!  So please bear with me as I take some time this weekend to enjoy your wonderful posts and continue to spy and lurk on you awhile and rest up a bit.  

Hope you enjoy your Labor Day too...labor free!
Have a good one!
Mary

Labor Day Dreamscape

Labor Day weekend always brings about a flurry of activity around here.  Our little town hosts a BIG labor day parade filled with local businesses, civic and religious organizations and politicians.  It's held on several of our main roads and ends at the high school where several vendors set up shop to offer their wares.  For us, Labor Day weekend also ushers in another year to celebrate the day of my mothers birth.   This means my brothers and their family will definitely be in town too.

 And if that wasn't exciting enough we are adding one more day of celebration with my husbands family at my brother in laws this year to welcome them into their new home and mostly to spend a little more precious time with my father in law.  Everyone on his side of the family is coming into town for this event as well.  

Somewhere in the midst of all this fun we hope to have a little quiet time to relax and enjoy Labor Day.   You know, Labor Day, the day you rest from all your labor.  (chuckle-chuckle)  So I'm thinking it will go something like this.   We will sneak away for a bit just the two of us, because our sons will have had quite enough of us, it will be later in the day and will look something like this.

 

Hoping this Labor Day finds you enjoying the moments in whatever way suits you best!  Whether you are spending time celebrating with family and friends or just relaxing all on your own I hope each of you gets a chance to enjoy the fruits of your labor. 

Linking with  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Tablescape Thursday. 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!  I hope you enjoyed my setting.  Have a happy Labor Day!

Mary

Bird Watching at Bomb Island

Saturday night we were finally able to do an evening raft up to see the birds with our cruising fleet.  I have mentioned before our attempts to do this event that were thwarted by evening thunderstorms.  Last Saturday the rains held off and the birds had not yet flown the coop.  It was a successful adventure all around for everyone.

Here we are upon our arrival outside the islands all rafted up together.  This is our friend Tom on his boat!  He also had two additional passengers.  We rafted our boat up next to his on the end.

Looking further in there were 5 boats total that rafted together.

Here is a great shot of the sun as it was going down.

To recap, every year we have thousands of Purple Martins that come for the summer to an island on our lake called Bomb Island. They scour the surrounding areas by day, but at night they all come back to roost for the evening on one island. It is centrally located in the lake and has since been named a bird sanctuary due to this spectacular event. It is quite a sight attracting many boaters to park around the island in the evenings to watch the birds come in for the night.

Looking off our stern you can see several boaters parking for the show.

A nearby boater decides to do a little fishing while waiting for the birds.  In the background you will see one of larger tourist boats on Lake Murray.

This boat is called the Southern Patriot.

It is one of two boats that offer cruises to the public for a fee. 

The Southern Patriot is open to

 large and small parties for evening tours and rentals.  There is another boat on our lake that offers dinner cruises as well.

This is the first boat to offer tours and is always quite exciting to see when it comes by.  It's a good sign to see it here for the evening too!   It encourages us that perhaps we are going to see the birds.

  We had been worried we would not get the chance again since they leave our state this time of year rather abruptly.   They are only here for a few months.  Luckily that was not the case and we were able to watch them and enjoy great company with each other as well.

This is a photo from our bow looking towards the

 island!

Another photo of a point off the island..we were still waiting to see if the birds were going to come.

This is one of our members who rode with us.  Both he and his wife were with us, they are photographers that met in a photography club.  I had hoped to get their photos to share with you but they have not forwarded them to me yet.  Stay tuned for that as I am sure they will be wonderful!

Here are the birds as they begin to arrive over the island!

I apologize I could not get any close up shots but hopefully you will still get the impact.

Slowly they start to fill up the sky above.

It's getting late and my photography skills are so bad.  I was too busy socializing and only kept remembering to pick up the camera every so often.

But as you can see all those specks are flocks of birds.  It is truly a sight to behold.

As the evening sets in and the majority of the birds have landed, it is time to go home.  It's a long trip back for a sailboat.  We decided to motor back for the evening.

We pass the Southern Patriot again later in the night, all lit up it's a beautiful sight as well!

We had a wonderful evening with a great group of people.  If you ever get to come to Lake Murray in the summer, be sure and plan an evening of bird watching off of Bomb Island.  You will not be disappointed, even better if you get to share it with a few friends.

I am linking up with http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

for Outdoor Wednesday.

Be sure and visit the link above for more wonderful outdoor adventures.

Thanks for coming by today,I hope you enjoyed the show!

Mary