Signs and Sounds: Fall or Autumn Wishfall Thinking

Signs and sounds hinting at an early fall or autumn leads to wishfall thinking.

Concrete proof of fall’s preview peppers the Places In The Home driveway, sidewalk and patio with yellow leaves intermingled among summer’s last holdouts.

As I blog and type “Dancing In The Moonlight” by King Harvest is currently playing on Music Choice.

Now “Night Moves” by Bob Seger is playing.

Two songs played back to back with the lyrics everybody’s dancin’ in the moonlight and with autumn closing in.

Changing colors, temps and tastes.

Oh yeah, this is happening.

yellow-fall-leavesWe crazy Louisianians grab hold of the slightest hint of a fall weather preview and hold on for dear life.

Hey, speaking of crazy Louisianans

britney-ellenLouisianians Ellen DeGeneres and  Britney Spears

Dave and I stood on the front porch for a few minutes Friday night listening to the high school bands playing during the local football Jamboree.

Humidity and mosquitoes crashed our party, making me wish for fall even more.

Hope springs or falls eternal, and I can testify to sure signs of wishfall thinking- shorter days, a changing sun that casts a bright white light through the windows, and wind chimes that play a North wind lullaby.

roux-gumbo

The first gumbo feast of fall is soon to be cooking in the big blue pot.

flour-sifter

Okay.

I couldn’t wait until the official arrival of fall for a gumbo feast.

No respectable Louisiana cook can talk about gumbo and not break out the big blue pot, make some roux, chop up the Cajun trinity, and whip up a pot of chicken and sausage gumbo.

C’est si bon!

gumbo-for-fall1

The hunt is on for Sportsman’s Paradise activities to do.

Fall festivals of pecan, tamale, meat pie, and funktoberfest are on our fall calendar of events.

black-lab

A new to me vintage mixing bowl is ready for fall recipe duty.

vintage-mixing-bowl

A bag of fresh and faux apples and a dash of wishfall thinking leads the inspired charge to create delicious apple themed recipes and diy projects.

guide-to-apples

A Guide to Apples from Williams-Sonoma


1.  Cortland – Crimson in color with a sweet flavor and crisp texture.  Best for:  applesauce and apple butter.

2.  Red Delicious – Softer in texture with a mellow, not-too-sweet flavor. Best for:  apple cider

3.   Braeburn – Reddish-orange with green and yellow streaks and a unique sweet-tart flavor.  Best for:  cooking and baking

4.  Gravenstein  –  A juicy apple with a finely-grained texture and a light yellow or red skin.  Best for:  applesauce and apple cider

5.  Gala  –  Sweet, aromatic and crisp with a light-red color.  Best for: eating raw and applesauce

6.  Fuji  –  Crisp texture and dense flesh with a sugary-sweet flavor.  Best for: eating raw

7.  Pink Lady  –  Crisp in texture and bright pink with a tart-sweet flavor.   Best for:  eating raw

8.  Golden Delicious  –  Very sweet to the taste with a golden yellow color.   Best for:  applesauce and apple butter

9.  Granny Smith  –  Very tart and crisp with a bright green color.  Best for: baking


fall-craft-apple-wreath

Wishfall thinking exhibit A as in a fall diamond in the summer rough.

The seasons they are a-changin’.

 Fall Autumn Wishfall Thinking

There is nothing like a good fall preview or autumn sneak peek to build the anticipation of seasonal things to come.

By all accounts, it’s fall y’all!

Love your style!

Making Things Pretty

Over this past weekend, Dave the Builder and I were arguing chatting about making things pretty in the grand scheme of  all things house that make a home.

Over the past 30+ years of togetherness in everything from friendship, marriage, child rearing, and business, we have been known to have our cuss it and discuss it moments.

Making things pretty can get ugly sometimes- it’s part of the process.

The quickest way to diffuse a contentious all things house that make a home moment is to start a new conversation about starting a new project!

The allure of design and decorating possibilities has a very strong appeal.

It works for us, and it worked again this past weekend.

fall-front-door-display

Constructing a fall entryway display wasn’t exactly on my fall decorating weekend to-do list, but neither was a building brouhaha.

I adopted the I’m a decorator not a fighter attitude, and from there decorating inspiration and let’s project something harmony began to“fall” into place.

front-door-arrangement-for-fall

Our don’t overthink it display evolved from items amassed for decorating times like this- an antique spindle bed post, a wooden garden basket, clippings from our cotton stalk stash, mums, a collection of faux gourds, a piece of wood from the bayou, a planted boxwood, concrete pineapple statue and one lone white pumpkin.

making things pretty

I phoned the Canadian snowbird aka our son several weeks ago with my request for pics of true fall foliage.

Louisiana will eventually see fall colors, but I was looking forward to seeing images of true fall crimson reds, deep purples and tawny maple golds.

JJ-dogsJ, J, Ollie and Caramel the Wonder Rescue Dog

It seems a Canadian cold front/rain event did away with the crimson red and deep purples leaving behind only the tawny maple golds and sweater weather.

Faux flowers and seasonal decorating accouterments fill in the blanks nature can’t.

gourds-boxwood-cotton1

Sharing in the hand me that and it needs something responsibilities, we spent the afternoon making things pretty for the fall of it all.

As I put the finishing touches on the fall entryway display, a gust of crisp fall air blew across the porch to the delight of Dave the Builder, the kitty cat and this decorista.

Perfect timing!

sir-kitty-kat

A pot of strong Louisiana coffee brewed for two made the afternoon near perfect.

wood

Photo editing is a wonderful concept.

I am becoming more and more enamored with this part of the making pretty process.

When you can take something slightly imperfect and invest time, effort and vision to produce a work rich in substance and beauty, the result is visually amazing.

Photo editing, decorating, marriage- you get the picture.

fall-theme

Love your style!

Colors Along The Bayou

We Louisianians are a patient people waiting for colors along the bayou to strut their colorful stuff.

bayou-colors-fix

We’re aware our neighbors to the North actually get to experience seasonal foliage and fall colors before mid to late November.

Fall takes it time getting down to Louisiana, but when it does it stunningly shows its true colors along the bayou in perfect fall form.

I’ve yet to find a better way to take it all in than to hit the road with camera in hand, Dave the Builder at the wheel, and the words from the song “Drive South” defining the moment.

Come on baby drive South
With the one you love
Come on baby drive South

You can be guaranteed if it’s late November the locals will be wondering if the Ginkgo trees are showing off colors along the bayou.

ginkgo-leaves-gold

This famous landmark Ginkgo tree has served as the picture perfect photo backdrop for generations of  local residents.

This picture does not do justice to just how beautiful the colors along the bayou really are.

bayou-colors-ginkgo-1

Decades old iron bridge railing has aged gracefully through the years.

Brick-lined streets, decorative ironwork and historical homes make a drive though the garden district a trip through time.

bayou-colors-3

Further South down the road we go to another small town favorite, Lea’s Lunch Room.

leas-lunchroom

Lea’s Lunch Room is known throughout the United States as the place for pie.

It’s a standing game day tradition to stop at Lea’s for one of their famous ham sandwiches and a piece of pie on the way to Tiger Stadium.

Recently Lea’s Lunchroom was listed in the USA TODAY Travel article “10 best: Delicious Pies around the South.”

All that driving and photographing works up an appetite, and it is the best excuse I know of to order up a ham sandwich and a slice of coconut pie with sky high meringue to-go, of course.

 On the road again…

Lea's-Lunchroom-LeCompte-1

The Mary McCoy Big House stands steeped in history on the Solomon Northup Trail. The story of Solomon Northup was the subject of the film, 12 Years a Slave.

Big House of Mary McCoy

Photography by Sanjay N. Patel

Bayou Boeuf community and the parishes of Central Louisiana historically factor into the life of Solomon Northup.

When I was in college at LSU I used the Mary McCoy Big House as my thirty minutes to home mile marker.

Lots of history and beauty associated with this local landmark.

bunkie-house-big (1)

Like the leaves, the colors of the season are changing from browns and oranges to brighter reds and traditional greens.

This much needed road trip was all the detour needed to help me collect my thoughts and take a breather before the next season begins.

Darleen-signature-love

Fetching Friday 14: Fire, Foul, Warmth and Comfort

This week’s A Most Fetching Friday 14 features the fall inspired focal combination of fire, foul, warmth and comfort.fetching-definiton

ff-Hinkley LightingHinkley Lighting

soup-tureenAnthropologie

ff-woodAtlanta Homes & Lifestyles

Fall-Inside-Out-Peanut-Butter-and-Nutella-Banana-Smores.-1Inside Out Peanut Butter and Nutella Banana S’mores

ff-Benjamin-Dhong-green-velvet-ottoman-0914-xlnBenjamin Dhong – House Beautiful

feathers-living-roomBetter Homes and Gardens

fetching Friday 14Design Sponge

I hope you have a fall inspired most fetching Friday.

Love your style!

A Most Fetching Friday 9: October

This week’s Fetching Friday features impressions and inspirations associated with the star of the moment, October.

fetching-definiton

fetching Friday 9

Hello, October.

I’ve been anxiously waiting your arrival.

ff-tureen-and-apple

Berthe Morisot Tureen and Apple

Cucurbita_pepo_small_edible_White_Pumpkins_9.16via

ff-blanketsStyle Me Pretty – Photography by Judy Pak Photography

Seatings and settings.  

Crisp evenings set the tone and texture for seasonal tablescapes with attention to cozy details.

rolling-pinRustic Olive Wood Rolling Pin

Currently craving.

ff-apple-pancakeApple Pancake

I hope you have a most Fetching Friday.

Love your style!

I’m Not Quite Through Enjoying Fall Decor Just Yet

Fall decor confirms what I’ve known for sometime.

I like, no, I love this fall decor time of year.

Fall excites the senses through seasonal colors on parade, thread counts of warm and cozy fabrics, tastes of pumpkin, apple, cinnamon and spices, and pitch clear sounds floating through the air of a crisp fall evening.

Those of us who live for and love the fall season savor the season, knowing fall is best enjoyed when we keep calm and harvest on.

keep-calm-fall-harvest

Fall is the gateway to the season of warm colors, cool weather fairs and festivals, and home for the holidays celebrations.

diy-fall-scentsHouse Beautiful

I wait all year for this time of year to roll around and I want to enjoy the look of fall decor for as long as I can.

I’m adopting a stop and smell the cinnamon and apples attitude.

fall decorSouthern Weddings

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decor ideas and decorations are in stores and magazines, but I remind myself to keep calm and harvest on.

I’m not quite through enjoying the beauty of fall decor just yet.

branch-light-fixture-dining-room-rustic-with-adirondack-antlers-birch-bark

Houzz

This space definitely got the natural elements works memo.

Stone masonry, white cedar logs, and birch bark veneers carry out the Adirondacks feel year round.




The spot on twig chandelier and stag horn candle holders emphasize the season and put the finishing touches on the rustic package.

rustic-chandeliers

Wildwood Branch Chandelier

You are good to go with nature inspired home decor pieces from September to spring.

Pasillas+Flared+Arm+Loveseat

Pasillas Flared Arm Loveseat

Spanish-style-chandelier

Balsimo 30″ Wide 8-Light Spanish Traditional Chandelier 

Copper cookware and home decor accents lend an element of warmth and distinction to stove and space.

Ruffoni Historia Hammered Copper Chef’s Pan with Acorn Handle

Ruffoni Historia Hammered Copper Chef’s Pan with Acorn Handle

John Derian’s Fall Frolic fall collection of digital notecards and party invitations has a vintage vibe.

The artist based them on 19th-century pieces from his own decoupage archive.

These fall frolic invitations are anything but boaring.

boar-john-derian

This time of year gives our seasonal home decor choices a permission slip signed go ahead- get cozy, relax, and stay awhile.

That Reminds Me: Seasonal Home Decorating Ideas

Thoughts of fall have naturally brought about seasonal home decorating ideas, reminding me it is time to begin putting together ideas for a fall tablescape.

Noting a stunning pair of barley twist bar stools seen on Pinterest turned my thoughts to the pair of vintage barley twist candlesticks I know I have somewhere.

Thanksgiving-table-accents-natural

Found the little darlings.

barley-twist-by-box

Isn’t it funny how an image or an item in that image can initiate the decorative snowball effect?

cozy-fall-decor-greens-blues

One Kings Lane

Textures, finishes, and color palettes evoke thoughts of warmth, coziness, and hominess- qualities so closely associated with cold weather days and nights

Decorative throws and pillows infuse a space with the look and feel of warmth.

fall-throw

Candles in scents of the season treat the senses.

welcome-home-candle-white-barn

Seasonal home decorating ideas often are inspired by the senses.

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

The versatility and style is year-round, but there’s just something about a basket that is woven into the fabric of fall and winter.

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Forget the pie, this is my idea of a slice of pumpkin love!

Pumpkin, ginger, and cinnamon- from kitchen to table to home decor accessories to color palettes.

KB showhouse 2011

Dering Hall

Traditional Home

In a few months from now I’ll be writing about how I can’t wait for spring flowers to bloom, summer colors, and there’s nothing better than the taste of barbecue.

For now, I’m looking forward to the first really cool night and the feel of a down comforter.

oranges-cloves

Also on the fall treats list is the delicious scent of cloves and oranges throughout the kitchen and dining room, and the highly anticipated first taste of a pumpkin spice latte.  

Okay, now it’s your turn.

What is it that you hear, see, feel, smell or taste that reminds you of fall?

Love your style!