I am checking off a few items off the Autumn Bucket List

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The Autumn Candle

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I have a stash of candles and most of them are autumn scents.

However lighting a candle by itself is a little boring.

When I was at Wal-mart I found this little goodie (thanks to an instagram post)

For a mere $14.94 You can have this beauty.   It holds on of the large 3 wick candles from Bath & Body Works

Click here to get the candle holder with free shipping

But I figured it was good for Halloween, Autumn and Christmas pending a little decoration.

I used some glue dots to hold an autumn leaf to the roof to make it “autumn”

See how roomy it is

All lit.   This little table was a handmade table that my Uncle made for his Mother (my Grandmother).   He died in WW2 at the young age of 21.    My Mom used this table and did not use coasters so there are rings on the finish.  One day I will sand and refinish it.   It is the perfect little table (and it hold my gooseberry patch cookbooks).

All cozy and Autumn like!

Lovely side view of both the house and the rings on the table.  LOL

Pumpkin Bread

I made pumpkin bread this morning.  I bought this mix as Sam’s club.

I prefer the Libby brand but this brand is easy peasy and you can also make cookies and pancakes.  I might try the cookies.

For variety I added some of the new Maple flavored morsels from Toll House.

Yummy chips in yummy batter.

I decided to use my new Rae Dunn platter.   I guess I have started to collect these things.  Ugh, I may be sorry.  However I am not having a lot of luck in my search for Halloween items.

It came out moist and yummy with a hint of maple.

Nothing as good as moist yummy pumpkin bread in autumn.

and finally a quick post on something that was NOT on the autumn list an Iphone wallpaper.

I never, ever thought about changing the wallpaper on my phone  I added this cutie to my iphone.

Click here to get your own copy of this wallpaper.

Thanks for checking out my autumn list!

See you soon!

On the morning of my birthday I went to my Facebook page to see what was happening with all my friends and family.   I was shocked and saddened to see my favorite vet in the world had passed away.

Doctor Tracy McFarland was by and far the best vet I have ever encountered.   I am such a critic of animal doctors and they vary from lack to skills, to money focused, to sometimes and shockingly cruel to animals.  So when I found Dr. Tracy that first day I know I found the best there was.   She had taken care of my Kahlua, my Scooter and my Beau.   I wish I knew her when my Maxwell was sick, she probably could have saved him.

The first time I went to see her was after I went to another doctor to exam my newly adopted kittens.  That doctor was barely even examining the kittens and I left unimpressed.   I found the Cat Doctor in the yellow pages (remember this was 15 years ago) and made an appointment.   I saw Dr. Tracy.   She examined every inch of those kittens.  Checked ears and eyes, felt the bone structure, felt the stomach, looked in their mouths, and answered my questions.  Without a doubt I knew this was a woman who knew their stuff.

Dr. Tracy saved my Scooter twice from a severe illness, brought Beau back from the brink of death and yelled at me when I brought in my Kahlua a little too late to save.

It is no surprise to me the amount of love shown to the office and family after her death.  I am grateful that I was able to mail the card to her before she became  to weak to read cards.

She meant so much to so many.

Rest in Peace Doctor Tracy you will be missed!

Below are some picture from her memorial service.  Pictures taken from Facebook.

Autumn also means pumpkin spice and autumn food.

Here are a few goodies I found in the stores.

Apple Cider Donuts from Trader Joes

Apple Cider Jam from Trader Joes

Pasta and Pasta Sauce from Trader Joes

Pumpkin flavored Pepperidge Farm cookies from Target

and finally pumpkin bread box mix from Trader Joes

Bon Appetit!

Watching Hallmark movies always bring in the season, either Harvest or Christmas.

Hallmark did a nice little preview to give you a sneak peek of the movies coming up on every Saturday.

If you missed the preview, you can catch it here.

I watched the first movie called “Truly, Madly, Sweetly”

Truly, Madly, Sweetly
Premieres September 22, 2018
Natalie, the owner of a San Francisco food truck business selling cupcakes, and Eric, a finance manager and divorced dad are brought together when Eric’s aunt, also a longtime customer of Natalie’s, passes away and leaves them a building which happens to be the site of a once-famous bakery. Forced into this new partnership, they discover selling the building won’t be easy because it has been declared a historical site. Romance blooms as they spend time together in the process of renovating the old bakery. However, Natalie’s desire to keep things strictly business could put an end to the partnership before the grand opening.

I rate this a 4 pumpkin

Now that we have looked at a few pictures of autumn it is time to get some of those bucket list items done.

If you have not read my bucket list, please click on the pumpkin below and it will take you to the post.

To kick off the season, a simple change like a garden flag with a wonderful Autumn sentiment is a good beginning.

These cute little garden flags are from Joann Fabrics

Just click on the pictures to be taken to the website where you can get one too.

I also put a lovely Autumn wreath on my front door.   This is just the beginning,  However it will remain simple until Halloween is over.

This cute little wreath was also from Joann Fabrics.  I loved the velvet pumpkin nestled in between the foliage.

Just a simple start to the bucket list.  Happy Autumn.

Today is the first day of autumn.

Please tell Southern California that is the 1st day of Autumn and not the summer that never ends.

I love autumn, the crisp air, golden and ruby leaves, pumpkins, a little fog in the morning, cuddling up in a blanket with a good book.

Maybe one day I will live somewhere that actually has Autumn and not brown crispy plants that will more than likely be fuel for yet another wildfire.

ok, ok,  get back in the mood.

Lets looks at some wonderful pictures of Autumn

Imagine looking over the valley of exploding autumn colors, gold, orange, yellow, reds, olives, dusky purple, all fiery and glorious.

Or Creating an Halloween scene with leaves and crows, jack o’lanterns and mums

or taking a walk during a gentle rain with rows of Jack O’Lanterns inviting the season.

Or walking in the woods and coming to a covered bridge.

Maybe finding a quaint cottage with pumpkins and cornstalks

Welcome Autumn, we have waited so long.

I am not a big fan of Summer and usually around this time of year I am more than ready to bring on Autumn.

I have been channeling Autumn and have gotten all my friends and co-workers to bring on Autumn thru wishful thinking.

Not sure if it will work but I believe in using your powers to summon up the goodness of earth.  And in this case, the season.

It must be working because the stores are putting out the autumn and Halloween items.   I am seeing pumpkin spice everything start to show up on everything, not sure about pumpkin spice motor oil but who knows.

I looked at several buckets lists and since a lot of them involved activities I will never do (go on a nature hike) or cannot do (no piles of fall leaves in Southern California), I made my own list.

Since I am a crafter/baker/creative person that lives with two little dogs the list has things that are achievable for me.

Follow along to see how I do this year.

If you want a copy of this bucket list, please click below.

Autumn 2018 Bucket List

Penny and Olive here.  We are hacking Mom’s blog.  She never puts enough of US on the blog.   She does silly stuff like cards and quilts.  So we will just have to hack into her blog and fix that!

Mom promised us 4 days of new park adventures.   She is on vacation this week and she said she would take us to 4 different parks during her stay-cation.   All new sniffs,  new grass, new shade, new poop places.

We are here to rate the parks and let her know which parks meet with our approval for future parkies!

Park One – Dr. Richard H. Rioux Memorial Park

This park is in the hills of Stevenson Ranch.  Like most parks, it is next to an Elementary School.   However the park was large enough that you could not even see the school.

Lots of Grass

Lots of Trees

Picnic Tables for Mom to rest at

Plenty of Shade for us to rest under.   We try to rest in a cool spot FAAARRRRRRRR away from benches so Mom has to stand there while we rest!

Hee Hee Hee, I love to make the hooman stand and wait for us to rest!

I did not even poop at the park, which I love to do.   One of life’s greatest pleasures is to poop at the park.

Hey Olive, Mom says you will NEVER be a instagram star as you REFUSE to look at the camera!

Not TRUE!   I just choose to model when I am in the mood, which is rare and hardly ever!

See I can model, if I so desire.

OK let’s get back to rating the park!

Grass and Trees

5 paws!  Lots of grass, lots of trees!  Makes lots of shade.

Crowds and Hoomans

There were people there but they did not cause us to bark.   Maintenance guys were mowing, so avoid Tuesdays!

Places for Mom to Sit and Rest

Lots of benches, but had a lot of dirt around them.  We could not sit in the grass if Mom was sitting at the bench

Poop Bags Available

Did not see any.  But we were only at one section of the park

MOM stuff, like easy to get to…parking…nice view (she does not care about sniffs)

She says it was close to home, easy to park, plenty of parking spaces,  Lots of trash cans to throw poop bags away.   Walkways so it is easy for her to walk.  Overall pretty good.

Our over all rating for this park is a total of 4 paws up!

I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Signing off – Olive and Penny!

Well it is that time again.

As I showed you last year, I collect the Lenox Holiday collection.   Such beautiful dinnerware for the holidays seasons.  It is sort of an extravagance considering I rarely use it.   However I collected it when I bought my house and pictured myself having lots of holiday parties.  Back then I had money to burn, now I am on a budget.  But this my Christmas gift to my self.  It is black friday so I got all 4 pieces for $100.  Not a bad deal.

This year I bought the 4 hostess gifts that were a great price.

The Lenox Holiday Lazy Susan Tray.

This will be great for appetizers or a cheese platter.

The second item I got was the bread tray.  Obviously to hold bread, either for the table at dinner or some pumpkin bread in the morning.

Up next is the divided dish.   Since I am not 100% sure of the dimensions.  It can either hold olive/pickles.   Or if larger, two side dishes.  Either way, it will look great on the table.

The last piece I got was the chip and dip set.  Some great dip in the middle with some chips.  Or humus and some pita bread.  You could go crazy and do mashed potatoes and gravy.   Nah, but it could be done.

Because I bought 4 items, I got these bowls for free.  I really anticipate them telling me they are sold out.

Posting these on my blog really helps me keep track of the items I have brought previously.

For years and years I have been collection Lenox Holiday China.

I have the entire place settings for 12 people and a ton of matching accent pieces.

Fortunately for the last few years it has just been grabbing the new pieces and the great sale items.  No huge ticket items.   All bought and done with!  I swear I must have everything.

This year I have added these two beauties to my collection:

The Lenox Holiday Covered Dish – 6-1/2 x 9-1/2

The Lenox Holiday Round Platter – 13″

I love how they tell me it is dishwasher safe, like I would EVER put my china in the dishwasher.

I really need to inventory my china.  But more importantly, I need to have a dinner party again.

Thanks for looking!