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Never Forget the Attacks on 9/11

Never forget the fateful attacks against our nation on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 (9/11).

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I remember it like it was yesterday, and as time marches on my memories surrounding that day remain crystal clear.

Katie Couric relates details to the viewers: horrific to imagine, grievous to ignore, and important to forget.

Shared phone calls of disbelief.

Dealing with the feeling the towers would collapse based on the knowledge of detonation practices learned from studying Las Vegas hotel implosions.

Discussions with other parents about how to explain the events of the day to our children in an honest yet measured manner so as not to scare and upset their hearts and thoughts any further than the attacks in the name of pure evil this morning presented.

Twin Towers NYC

We regard 9/11 as a day of remembrance and reflection; a day Americans  come together in reverent thought, solemn moments of silence, ringing of bells of remembrance, and prayers for comfort and strength.

Life as Americans knew it up to that point forever changed on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m. EST.

never forget twin towers after being hit 9/11

Biography

7:59 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 11 departs from Boston’s Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles with 11 crew members and 76 passengers on board.

Five al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers on board are excluded from the total numbers.

8:15 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Logan International en route to LAX with 9 crew members and 51 passengers aboard.

Five al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers are excluded from the total numbers.

8:20 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 77, en route to Los Angeles, takes off from Dulles International in Washington, D.C. with a total of 59 innocents on board; 6 crew members and 53 passengers.

The 5 al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers are excluded from the total numbers.

8:42 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark Liberty International with 7 crew members and 33 passengers on the flight.

Four al-Qaeda terrorists hijackers aboard this flight are excluded from the total numbers.

8:46 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

9:03 a.m. EST– United Flight 175 crashes into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

9:37 a.m. EST– American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.  The crash and the fire as a result of it take the lives of 59 passengers and crew and 125 people on the ground.

Pentagon during 9-11

9:42 a.m. EST– The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounds all flights.

9-11 from Jersey City

Flickr

9:59 a.m. EST– Fifty-six minutes after impact the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses in a mere 10 seconds.  More than 800 people inside the South Tower and the surrounding area of the building perish.

10:03 a.m. EST– United Airlines Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing 40 people on board the aircraft.

The hijackers are not included in this number, and rightfully so.

passengers-crew-flight-93 (1)

Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial

10:15 a.m. EST– The outer ring of the Pentagon collapses.

10:28 a.m. EST– The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses killing more than 1,600 both in and around the tower.

FDNY

Fear came to call not expecting bravery and resilience to answer back united we stand.

Our memories will forever be filled with the events of that horrific day in our history, and even though painful to remember we should choose to never forget the attacks on 9/11.

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We are the United States of America.

world-trade-center-city

We differ from one another on many points, views, and opinions, but when all is said and done, we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Never forget.

DIY Fall Decor Project Ideas

Crisp air, nature’s bounty, and a hot glue gun is all the inspiration needed to get the DIY fall decor project ideas flowing.

apple-pear-wreath-candle-ring

The little apple candle wreath that could is falls into my PhD (Project half Done) studies.

Believe me, the faux apples are not as red as they appear in the images.

They’re red alright,  but not quite as bright red as seen in some of the images.

If I could get the lighting right on both space and camera, I’d be dangerous.

what-you'll-need

Styrofoam-wreath

apple-wreath-supplies-fall

DIY wreath projects need not be a complicated endeavor.

Where’s the fun in that?

For this particular project I chose a Styrofoam wreath form.

fall-craft-apple-wreath

Remnants leftover from the umpteen burlap bags used for everything from placemats to gift bags came together to base wrap the wreath in order to cover the Styrofoam.

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Hot glue gun used for this step.

wreath-ribbon

Striving for a more polished look than that of the rustic burlap bags, I wrapped the entire form with burlap ribbon purchased from Dollar Tree, pinning the ribbon with a few straight pins to secure into place.

wrapped-wreath-form-burlap-ribbon

Grab a paper or download a Michaels coupon and let the DIY fall decor project ideas savings begin.

Let me let you all in on a little secret…

DIY projects can get expensive, so clip those coupons.

apple-wreath-materials

Place faux apples and pears around the form to get an idea of how you want the finished look to turn out.

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Heat up the glue gun (use caution with these things), and once it gets hot glue the faux fruit in place.

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Spanish moss is not only decorative, it covers a multitude of gaps and DIY mistakes.

apples-stacked

There you have it.

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I absolutely love this sweet sweet DIY potpourri wreath from Sweet Something Designs.

potpourri-wreath-fall

Simple elegance comes to a door or chair frame near you by way of a bag or two of potpourri, a grapevine wreath, your favorite color, texture, and pattern ribbon, and the usual wreath making tools and glue gun to hold fall fabulous all together.

what-you'll-need

grapevine-wreath-medium

potpourri-mix-for-making-fall-wreath-1

Simple instructions of hot gluing potpourri pieces to wreath and topping off the look with a bow in your choice of ribbon.

fall-inspired-ribbon

Laura of Garden Answer posted another wonderful fall wreath how-to video giving us five different options to choose from.

How fall flipping cute is the owl wreath?

owl-wreath-Garden-Answer

what-you'll-need

grapevine-wreath-medium

Grapevine wreath.

Hydrangea.

Pine cones.

An assortment of fall leaves.

Feathers.

Small craft gourds.

Dried and/or fresh floral stems.

Seasonal blooms.

Decorative owl figure.

Laura uses echinacea, rose hips, hydrangea, clematis, sedum, vines, pine cones, autumn leaves, and a most darling owl.

wreath owl supplies

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Jo-ann Fabric

Owl cute is this!

Pinecone Owl

Pinecone Owl

Magnolia tree flower and leaves

Flickr

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Items sourced and found at Jo-Ann Fabrics on a free shipping Saturday afternoon signals the cart is full of DIY fall decor project ideas.

wreath-for-fall-2020

what-you'll-need

Jo-Ann-wreath

Purchased for this project list:

18″ Grapevine Wreath

Zucker Feather Products 12 pk Duck Gilded Feathers

Bloom Room Autumn 19” Millet Leaf Bush Yellow

Place & Time Fall Harvest Textured Ribbon 2.5″

Bloom Room Autumn Hanging Pinecone Acorn Natural

From nature:

Pinecones

Nandina

Hydrangea

Juniper

Fresh pine

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Nandina berries  fresh pine and juniper

dried-stems-fresh-berries

Placement is ruled by where the bulk of the clippings and stems fit best without much effort in securing to wreath.

Why make things difficult?

wreath-embellishments

Undone paper clips help to secure stems to the wreath.

glue-gun-heating-up

Glue pinecones and hanging pinecone acorn to the wreath.

placement

pine-cone-decor

Professional bow maker will never find its way onto my resume, but I can fake it till I make it with the best of them.

making-bow-with-green-ribbon

A trusty loop and twist method works, and pipe cleaners-stems looped around the center and twisted several times holds everything in place.

Once you decide where on the wreath the bow will go, feed the “ends” of the pipe cleaners-stems in an over and under method through a couple of the wreath twigs in that section.

Gentle pull up on the pipe cleaner-stem ends to pull the bow close to the wreath.

green-bow-for-wreath

Secure the bow in place, twist the ends together, tuck the stems into the wreath twigs to hide, and fluff the bow.

bow 1

Gold feathers tucked in visually strategic spots

wreath-goodies

wreath DIY fall decor project ideas

As time marches on the nandina is turning a stunning golden crimson.

So fall fabulous!

fall-colors-foliage

DIY wreaths naturally mirror the beauty of the season.

Darleen-signature-love

Happy New Year 2019

Ringing out the old year and ringing in Happy New Year 2019 in style with a performance of Auld Lang Syne by the legendary Rod Stewart.

Talk about classic style!

Robert Burns’ Scottish poem written in 1788 and set to a Scots folk melody, Auld Lang Syne is the traditional musical ode to New Year recollecting events over the year, thoughts of old friendships, nostalgia, old times, and days gone by.

As seen in the video, the long standing Scottish tradition is to sing Auld Lang Syne just before the stroke of midnight with everyone sitting or standing in a circle holding hands, arms crossed so their left hand is holding the hand of the person on their right, and their right hand that of the person to their left.

Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians popularized Auld Lang Syne as it became the traditional song of New Year played immediately after the ball drop in Times Square.

Guy-Lombardo

My sister-in-law, a staunch New Year’s traditionalist, rings in the New Year with a Happy New Year phone call to us complete with Guy Lombardo’s version of Auld Lang Syne playing in the background.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, 
and never brought to mind? 
Should old acquaintance be forgot, 
and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, 
for auld lang syne, 
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, 
for auld lang syne.

Dave and I wish each of you a very Happy New Year 2019!

May New Year 2019 bring you joy, health, blessings, happiness, good fortune, inspired projects, and beautiful surroundings.

love your style

Let’s Get Growing: Spring Herb Day

Fairs, festivals, and spring herb day celebrations benefiting the preservation of historic sights, homes, and buildings spring up this time of year.

One such local institution held its spring herb day sale-a-bration over the weekend.

spring herb day

“Get Outside” by Robert Palmer is the tune of the day and a dandy one indeed to spring herb day to.

rosemary

My herb love grows where my rosemary, mint, and thyme grows.

fresh-mint

I’m discovering the many uses of mint past its herb status of required greenery in the Southern garden color palette and glass of sweet tea.

From Better Homes & Gardens:

Mint, Mentha

Type:
Herb, perennial

Light:
Part sun, sun

Height:
From 1 to 8 feet

Mint is easy to grow.  The fragrance of mint will vary with variety as will the taste.  Fresh or dried, mint is a broad range herb used to season beverages, desserts, soups, vegetables, and meats.

garden-herbs

Chives ~  Serata Basil  ~ Rosemary  ~ Dolce Fresca Basil  ~ Thyme  ~ Parsley

Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis

Type:
Herb, perennial, shrub

Light:
Sun

Height:
From 1 to 8 feet

Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen of Mediterranean origin, an herb that pairs well with poultry, pork, lamb, fish, breads, vegetables, tomato based sauces, soups and infused oils.  French and Italian dishes especially benefit from the robust seasoning.  Rosemary plants thrive in hot and dry climates.

I am seriously entertaining the thought of using this carrot planter as the focal point of my indoor herb garden.

Carrot+Flower+Plastic+Pot+Planter

Aroma therapy at its best, the smell of fresh herbs goes well with the ooh la la factor and is stylishly accomplished with a rattan wall planter.

Rattan+Wall+Planter

Better Homes & Gardens gift the gardener an array of free garden plans.

I’ve selected three herb garden plans to share.

Click on the link below each image to download the garden plan of choice for your spring herb day planting needs.

classic herb garden plan

Classic Herb Garden Plan

colorful-herb-garden Colorful Herb Garden Plan

I used to have a friend who actually thought Ina Garten’s name was In the Garden.

In.

The.

Garden.

You can’t make this stuff up folks.

Ina does love her garden.

On a recent repeat episode of Barefoot Contessa Ina plans, prepares, plates and presents a surprise dinner for Jeffrey in the garden.

The principal of kiss, keep it stunningly simple, set the scene and the table.

Michael-Grim-florist

The Bridgehampton Florist  on Instagram

Nature Innovations Oak Log Planter

Rustic Bark Planter

Clear glass hurricane lanterns, pillar candles, ferns from the garden, white garden roses, and planter  made a simple yet elegant garden style show.

How keep it stunningly simple is that?

Ina-Garten-garden-path

Ina Garten Garden ~ Pinterest

A search and source session for the hurricane lanterns Ina Garten uses came up empty handed, but look at what I did find.

Being born, raised and living the outdoor living life in Louisiana, the word hurricane typically is not equated with beauty, but these gorgeous glass hurricane lanterns make a grand statement.

Hampton-Bay-11-in-Glass-Hurricane-Lantern-with-Timer-Candle

glass hurricane lantern

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Delicious dishes and stylish settings get the taste party started.

A sprinkle here, a dash of that, and a generous serving of it’s all in the details indisputably takes the look and the flavor from ordinary to distinctive.

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This post contains affiliate links.  I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Take Cover Now: Tornado Damage

There is nothing pretty about a tornado or tornado damage, and take cover now is a warning best heeded.

Period.

This past Sunday afternoon we learned that lesson firsthand as our town-neighborhood-house was hit by a tornado.

tornado-Sams-ClubPhoto~Cheryl Davis

We are no strangers to the force and fury of a hurricane.

A tornado however, is an extremely rare occurrence in Central Louisiana. This tornado experience was a first for us.

front-damage

Our local news station was live on the air with the entire weather team covering the storm.  The senior weatherman shouted “take cover now” and with that we took cover in the guest bathroom bathtub.

We never did hear the roaring train sound so many people remark they hear as a tornado approaches or when one is overhead.

What we did hear is the terrifying sound of trees, shingles, and various projectiles hitting the house.

The entire top of our neighbor’s magnolia tree was the first thing we saw as we opened our front door.

magnolia-leaves

Salvaged magnolia leaves placed in a mason jar injects a touch of simple beauty and Southern comfort into this otherwise ugly situation.

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Utilities are truly a beautiful thing.

We lost power Sunday afternoon, got it back a little before midnight, lost it again Monday morning and didn’t see the light of lights until last night at 9:51 pm CST.

A big, big thank you goes out to the utilities workers for a job well done and most appreciated.

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That was then,

bird-bath-feeder

and this is now.

howdy-do-down

The crepe myrtle to the immediate right is history as is the hydrangea.  The bird feeder chandelier was found one street over.

Howdy Do (the jockey) and the bird bath may be down but not out of the lawn and garden beautification game.

water-dripping-from-ceiling

The roof is heavily damaged and the inside of the house is a victim of stained ceilings, wet carpets, dirty floors, etc…

Clorox bleach and Lysol spray is suddenly a hot commodity.

My desk/computer is in Dave’s man cave, and a large part of the ceiling in the room is soaked through and through.

That’s an odor one can only take for a few minutes at a time.

Blogging will slow as the smell increases.

I will probably need several more bottles of this stuff before all of this is over.

ms.-meyers-geranium-scent

Roofs, ceilings, floors and sheetrock can be fixed.

We are safe and that’s all that matters.

Period.

Love your style!

 

Mom, You Should Let Your Readers Know What’s Going On

“Mom, you should let your readers know what’s going on” reads the text I received this morning.  The reason for an absence of Thanksgiving week posts and Happy Thanksgiving wishes is not without reason. Black Friday came a week early to the Places In The Home family.

My darling Daddy passed away suddenly Friday, November 20th and our family is reeling in grief.

The keyboard hasn’t exactly been on my mind over the last few days, but you all, my dear readers, have. This larger than life man was a powerhouse personality who touched many lives beyond the pillars of home and family.

He helped me to not only fine tune my life and character, but he helped me with this year’s Thanksgiving table.  I don’t really feel like sharing that post and pictorial now, but I do love this picture of his place card.

place-cards1

Our holiday table settings will be reduced by one only in physical presence. Daddy would be the first one to encourage me to carry on with life and the life lived within our home.

I believe the life lived within the home comes alive through personal style and taste, and that belief stands stronger today more than ever.

His life lived within our community, our circle of family and friends and our home proclaims character and exemplary personal style forever lives here.

I love you Daddy.

Love your style!