Getting Outdoors....

My poor dear daughter has been putting up with everyone sick around her. I haven't had much energy to do a whole lot that doesn't drudge up this cough. I just had to pull it out of me to get out today...So she can get some excercise and fresh air. Even a bit of fresh air would be good for me too. We bundled up and went out.
 
So glad we did. It made my girl happy. Made me happy to see her brighten up. It rained the past couple days here so she decided to run in the wet grass barefooted as to not ruin her shoes like the last time we went to the park. They were muddy. Her feet were cold, but she enjoyed every minute of it...Even the dog enjoyed running through the wet grass and she is usually such a priss about getting anywhere near mud. We sat on our blanket together and did a little bit of people watching.For the most part we had the park all to ourselves, which was nice.
 
My chest hurts from the cold and the coughing, but so worth the time I had with my girl.
There are so many blessings and gifts around us...Even the little things, like going to the park. Here are some more gifts I am adding to my One Thousand Gift list.
****
27. Blustery days in the park
28. Sitting on a picnic blanket with my daughter
29. Watching my daughter run in the wet grass barefooted
30. Having the park all to ourselves

Nature Autumn Walks...

 
It's officially Autumn...One of my favorite seasons. Yet, this is also the time where we seem to pick up those nasty colds and flu's. And, again my family got struck with it. Just as we thought it was all past us a couple weeks ago, we were hit again for a second time last week. A lot of vitamin C, water, rest and time...We are finally on a mend. Freckles and I started taking little walks around the neighborhood last week for a bit of exercise and fresh air...Most every time we find leaves and seed pods etc...lying around and bring them home...It is fun to collect God's beautiful works of art.
  
Yesterday we went out for a brisk nature walk around, picking up all sorts of pretty items. Leaves,twigs, pods, dried up berry looking things...all in an array of Autumn colors. Just, simply majestic. We live in the subs...which isn't like the best place to take in a nature walk....but surely even in the burbs or a city, you'll find a tree or something to marvel at....Even if it's in your own back yard. We are getting really excited... in a couple weeks we are going to the Hoot, Howl and Prowl at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve for a mile hike adventure to see some critters ( we are hoping owls) in the evening hours...And Freckles gets to dress up as a wildlife character...Oh yes she is....So we decided to make an owl costume for her to wear. Can't wait.
 
Okay, so back on what I was talking about. Oh yeah....Nature walks in our neighborhood. We collected some sweet things to decorate in our home for Fall...So we came up with this little darling floral arrangement using the nature finds we gathered from our walk... in a tea cup
 ( which my Gramma gave me the set)
I love this set. Isn't it just adorable? 
I really love how something like nature finds can be so simple, yet beautiful in a little vignette.
 It just looks so charming and warm. Well, I am off...I have some preparing to do for our Literary Tea on Saturday.... We just love our tea and books. Hope you all have a lovely weekend ahead.

Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year...

Departing summer hath assumed
An aspect tenderly illumed,
The gentlest look of spring;
That calls from yonder leafy shade
Unfaded, yet prepared to fade,
A timely carolling.
- William Wordsworth, September


"Beauty is one of the rare things
 that do not lead to doubt of God."
- Jean Anouilh


"Even if something is left undone,
everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."
- Elizabeth Lawrence



In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year,
 bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.
 And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time,
 do we get such superb colour effects as
from August to November."
- Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden


"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.
Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."
- Samuel Butler


“But I remember more dearly autumn afternoons in bottoms
 that lay intensely silent under old great trees”
- C. S. Lewis


"Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow."
- Author Unknown
*******
"Crown'd with the sickle, and the sheaten sheaf,
While Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain,
Comes jovial on."
- James Thomson, Autumn, 1730

“Dear God, thank you for the warm, sunny days of summer and all the fun we had, especially our times spent with our friends.... For various activities Fall has to offer us, including spending time outside, walks around our neighborhood, bike riding, nature walks, apple picking, picnics, drinking hot coco, wearing sweaters,  field trips and tea parties . Let us live with joy in the world You’ve given us, now and always. Amen

Baking In The Mud Kitchen....

Freckles played out in her mud kitchen today....She asked me if I wanted to
 order something...I asked her if she would make me a cupcake.

And this is what she came up with.
With a snail on top?



She made a couple mud cookies and pretended that
 she was about to eat a spoonful of mud. Thankfully she didn't eat it.

It was a good day... Playing outside.

Happy Campers...Our Backyard Camp Out...

As promised...

Here's the pictures of our camp out in our backyard.

We had so much fun the last few days in the great outdoors.

It felt like camping in a campsite...

Even better, since home was just a few steps away.

Freckles enjoyed it so much, she wants to keep it all set up for a while...

So we can camp out more nights.

We had snacks available and yummy little plums

picked fresh from our plum tree.

Even Missy was having a grand time outside, rolling around in the grass.

She was by our side the whole time we camped.

I set up my old table with chairs and vintage table cloth....decorated and all. It was charming. If I were to ever go camping out in the woods somewhere I would want to bring all of my stuff to decorate the campsite. Wouldn't that be fun?

It took me two hours to figure out how to put the tent together since there were no directions.It drove me crazy, but I finally figured it out by looking at the picture. We placed my vintage quilt on top to add some charm to it. We also added a little red polka dot welcoming mat.

When the sun went down we set up a lamp outside and played card games, then crawled into our tent and snuggled up in quilts and afghans watching a movie on the computer...

Hope you enjoyed our campsite tour.

 Have a great week!!!

Linking to:

It's A Very Cherry World!