Porch!
When we did the deck last Spring, we also had the front porch done. I just forgot to mention it until now.  We had a faux stone treatment added and the old railing replaced with one that matches the deck railing.  Also extended the porch forward by about 2 feet, just enough to be able to use the porch without falling into the planter.  Speaking of which, someday will get that fixed, too.
They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here—
…the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.
O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.
from When the Frost is on the Punkin by James Whitcomb Riley
This is for my friend Tami. The first thing she said when she arrived at our house, after my family finished mugging hugging hers, was that our banister was going to look great for Christmas.
The candy garland is from my childhood.
This buffet table is about 90 years old and newly restored to its former glory. The dining room is too small to fit the whole set, so this piece moved here. Philip actually came up with the idea to put it here, and I like the weight it gives to the entry way.  Plus, it provides some nice display area.
Right now it has our lighted Nativity. I bought this so long ago that I can’t even remember when. This is the first time we’ve had room to put it out. Originally we had Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and animals all set up, too, with Baby Jesus safely tucked away until Christmas and the Wise Men waiting off to the side to begin their journey. Then one of the children said that maybe we should put Mary and Joseph away, too. And boom! It hit me. Boo has a statue of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem.  We packed everyone away and put the statue out instead. Now we are reminded of Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey all through the Advent season.
I smile when I see this statue. Mary’s patient, resigned face is so telling of her end of pregnancy state. I have been pregnant for two Advents, both times just about ready to pop, too. In fact, my girls were each born at 8 pm, one 3 days before Christmas and one 3 days after. I am eternally grateful for the comfort of our car instead of having to sit on a donkey.
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So here’s today’s Design Delemma. The staircase seems to need something (during the rest of the year, mostly). Or does it? It curves, so it’s tricky to hang anything up, but I suppose we could make it work. My original thought was to put a round table in the space, but with the buffet table we’d just end up zig-zagging around. So what say you? Attempt to hang something on the curved wall? Leave it as is? Here’s a different view, capturing the whole hallway.
A squad of snow soldiers keep silent vigil over the entrance to our house.
These guys claim the foyer for the USA.
LTC Freeze’s battalion has seized the high ground in defense against the children that are rumored to be in the area. Freeze is the 3rd guy from the right, with the red hat and green scarf.
(hmm, next time I’ll close the cabinet door for a better picture)
Snowman Army all present, sir!
Several people have asked to see pictures of our new house, a request I’ve blissfully ignored. We’ve lived here for 4 months now and those months have been filled with school work, scouts, dance and vacation. Not to mention unpacking and decorating. We’ve been having our dining room set slowly but surely restored to its original glory and battling what can only be described as zombie wasps. But that’s a story for another time. The point is, our house isn’t as presentable or as photogenic as I’d like it to be. However, if I wait until it is, the children will be grown and out of the house and it will be time for us to downsize. So here we go.
If you come in through our front door, the first room to your immediate right is the music room. We don’t have need of a formal living room, so we moved our grand piano into the space and are attempting to created a somewhat formal but welcoming library/music/quiet area. It’s going slowly since this is one of 3 rooms which we’ve never had before.
Look what I did yesterday:
I moved a ladder in!
Heh heh. Actually, I did something I’ve wanted to do in our home for several years. I added a quotation to the wall above the window. Here, I’ll show you a close up:
It says, “If music be the food of Love, play on. -Shakespeare.” How perfect is that for a music room? I did it all myself, except for Philip bringing me the ladder. Which we left there, since it looks so classy.
That’s the window at the front of the house. Now walk with me towards that window, then to your right and we’re looking at the piano.
Doesn’t that look nice? We need a lamp in here because this is the one room in the house that didn’t have some kind of overhead light. The angel next to the stairs doesn’t actually live there. My grandmother made her for me when I was oh…6 years old. She (the angel) is waiting her turn for the washing machine since the years have been a little hard on her.
So my decorating dilema for the day is two-fold. First – see the curtains in the front window? I’m not too thrilled with the rod showing there. The red curtains are always open and the sheers are always closed. Any ideas for how to hide the rod? Or just leave it?
Second – what sort of lamp should I get for the piano? I’m thinking floor lamp. The adjoining room is the dining room which has cherry wood Queen Anne furniture.
Our piano has arrived. A week later than expected, but it’s here. When asked about the delay, the mover said “it was bigger than we’d expected, so it took longer than we expected.”
I’m wondering if maybe they had strapped it to their backs and hiked over the Rockies with it. No matter, it is here now.
We were actually pretty impressed by the movers. They got this 900+ pound piano off the truck, up two porch steps and into the house in just a couple of minutes. As they stood there catching their breath, one guy said, “There’s no air up here!” I can’t imagine the effort needed to move a piano at 6,500 feet above sea level!
They reassembled the legs and pedals and moved it into position, then one guy lifted it while the other slipped the cups under the wheels.
Pumpkin Girl and I are thrilled to have it. It looks great in our house and it sounds beautiful, even though it probably needs to be tuned. I have to say that I love this piano! My mom has been saving it for me, waiting for us to stop moving around. And now we have and here it is! I’m having fun playing it again and I’m working on getting a couple of my more impressive pieces back up to speed. And now I’ve got to find a piano teacher for Pumpkin.
The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur. We’ve spent a ton of money trying to stimulate the economy through our home decorating efforts. Pillows for the reading nook, curtains for Pumpkin Girl’s room, a guest room bed for whichever Nomads turn up on our doorstep, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t even remember.
Then our stuff arrived. Pumpkin and I were looking out my bedroom window when a moving truck loaded with crates drove by. “Hey cool,” I said. “There goes someone’s stuff.” Then the truck slowed down and began to turn around. It was our stuff, of course.
The unloading went well and we were amazed to see what happens when you more than double your square footage. Every prior move to this resulted in our new home being crammed with boxes and misplaced furniture. We could barely move and sometimes had to unpack boxes just to be able to reach a bed or the toilet. Not so with this house! Not one room is overstuffed which makes the whole unpacking ordeal so much easier. And, to our great surprise and relief, we did not go over our weight allowance, but were under by about 2,000 pounds. Which is good because we have to pay by the pound for any excess.
Our stuff actually took up two trucks. Still less than 17,500 pounds!
While the movers were here, the children and I spent part of the morning on our deck. We watched the gliders from the Air Force Academy fly over us and spotted a deer behind the house.
(click the picture to embiggen if you can’t see the deer)
And now the days are consumed with unpacking. It’s painful. Even with a bigger house, it can be difficult to find places for things. It took me 3 days to unpack the kitchen. Just unpack – there’s still a little bit to put away. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and moved on to the linen closet and the children’s rooms.
And I desperately need decorating help. More on that later.
This morning I had this charming fall display:
Our home has come under its annual pumpkin infestation and I was getting ready to blog about it and how Bip walks around saying, “Mama! Puhhn-kin! Two Puhhn-Kin! Ghost! Wooooo-ooo!”  But then…
Today when we returned from dance class and found this:
What happened to the other pumpkin? I asked my neighbor, who happened to be outside, if she had any “extra” pumpkins on her porch. Not that her kids had stolen our pumpkin or anything. Like me, she has a 2 year old and you know how they get. But nope, no extra pumpkins on her porch. She suggested that maybe squirrels had gotten to it, because they’d been eating the pumpkins and gourds she had on her porch and outdoor table. I guess it’s possible, but could a squirrel carry off a pumpkin?
Then we walked closer to our door and saw this:
Argh! Dang squirrels! They not only moved the pumpkin, they ate it! Here’s the whole scene of the crime, to give you an idea how far the pumpkin was moved:
You can see the rest of the pumpkins to the far left, then the purloined pumpkin snack on the far right. I would have loved to see the varmint in question trying to move it! And isn’t that a lovely rusty pole right in the middle of the walkway!
I guess the heat is making the squirrels crazy. We’re just trying to have a little fall festivity and it’s like 92 degrees out and the squirrels are eating the decorations. It’s the end of the world, people. You heard it here first.
Here’s a little tour around my house as it’s decorated for fall and Halloween.
Let’s start outside.
This is our front door. My daughter loves that little ghostie in the window. I made the jack o’lantern with the mums.
Here’s Bip with the pumpkin lights in the garden. He was actually kissing them right before I took the picture, but he wouldn’t do it again. Silly boy!
This is a view of the whole garden. I made the ghost in the window.
And a little pumpkin right under a tree.
Inside the house and this little ghost and spider hang from a light switch.
Turn the corner into the dining room and you find my baker’s rack. I made the little witch. Some of the things on the baker’s rack light up, I’ll take a picture tonight and post it then.
Here’s the buffet table. These pumpkins have tea lights in them.
The table.
One of the ghost candle holders up close.
I made a set a whole set of these coasters.
A little cookie ghost hanging on the china cabinent.
In the living room, most of the decorations are up on the entertainment center. That’s my oldest peeking out of the play kitchen. He’ll be 8 tomorrow!
Upstairs in the children’s rooom, Pumpkin Girl has a little ghost that I made sitting on the window ledge next to her bed.
On their bookshelf is a little Halloween light up village that they use as a night light.
On the way downstairs is this string of bats that I made, hanging above a coat rack that I also made.
I hope you enjoy this tour of our home. You can see other homes in the Halloween Open House here.
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