What Does Home Mean To You?

After another crazy day at work, followed by two hours in the dentist's chair, I couldn't wait to get home. It is getting dark earlier now and that made the trip home seem even longer, and somehow, colder. As I drove, I thought about "home"...and why I was so anxious to get there.

To me, home is a safe and welcoming place...

Where I can wind down and take a few moments to regroup...

With someone who is always glad to see me.

It's my happy place.

It's home to my collections...

And home to my books, old and new...

Where Tom Swift and Stephen King live happily together in my cupboard.

Home is my cozy farmhouse kitchen...

With its autumn smells...

And warm memories.

It's the place where I can escape...

And create...

Where I can think up ideas...

And occasionally actually finish them.

And, after a long day, it's the place where I can change into my ugly cozy flannels, relax...

and dream about tomorrow.

What does Home mean to you?

This post is linked to:
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage
Anything Goes Party at Type A Decorating
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Got Apples?

We sure do! The days are warm, the nights are cool, and our trees are loaded with fat, happy red apples.

We've had such good times picking, eating, cooking and decorating with apples this week that I just had to share some of the fun. 

Every September, our apple trees bring friends and family to our yard to help us pick. Everyone likes to take a turn climbing the rickety apple ladder we inherited with our 1830 farm house.

And apple season gives me yet another excuse...

 to run around outside with my camera.

But the best part of the season is eating a fresh apple right off of the tree.

And bringing the rest inside, where apples, cinnamon and nutmeg fill the kitchen with the sweet scents of the season.

We tried a new apple recipe on Sunday that was easy and delicious. Since it was cooked in a crock-pot, it made the house smell wonderful all afternoon. I thought I'd share it with you...

Ingredients*

8 slices raisin bread, cubed

3 (or more) apples, peeled and sliced

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups half & half

1/4 cup apple juice or cider

1/4 c. butter, melted

*Since we are on Weight Watchers, we substituted skim milk for the half & half and cut the amount of sugar in half...still delicious!

1. Place bread cubes, apples, and pecans in greased slow cooker and mix together gently.

2. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour over bread mixture.

3. Cover. Cook on low 3-4 hours or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 6-8 servings.

And if your guests are still hungry?

Why not invite them to make caramel apples?

At this time of year, it's all good!

Enjoy!

I'm linking up this post to:

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Rednesday at It's A Very Cherry World
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer
Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Bye, Bye 70's Style, Part 3: Down Comes the Shiny Brass Chandy

Once my DH saw how hard I worked painting our family room ceiling beams (see 9/8/11 post), he finally "caved" and agreed that it was time to replace the shiny brass chandelier in our dining room. Thankfully, another icon of 70's style has been banished forever from our 1830's farmhouse.

I had added shades to try to update this 70's eyesore a bit...they helped but I still hated the shiny builder's brass finish and wanted it GONE!

Here's the back story:

I bought a new chandelier for the dining room a few years ago...but DH didn't want to put it up...he really loved this old brass one. I tried everything to convince him...showed him before and after magazine photos, innocently walked him through Pottery Barn a few times, hung it in the garage to show him how gorgeous it would look...even made him suffer through decorating shows on HGTV...but he still held out for the shiny brass one. Deciding that jeopardizing my happy marriage over a chandelier was pretty silly, I dejectedly placed the new one in the attic...where it sat for three years. Until last week. Surprise! I came home from school to find the ugly old chandy DOWN!

Even better, my very dusty new chandelier was hanging in it's rightful place over the dining room table. Maybe this "Bye, Bye 70's" thing I've got going is starting to catch on with him!

Here's the new chandy in place. It's got a rubbed black finish instead of shiny brass...

which looks so much  better with my black hutch...

and I love the change!

Who knows? Maybe I can get DH to give away his polyester leisure suit next!

This post is happily linked to:

Open House Thursday Party at No Minimalist Here

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Anything Goes Party at Type A Decorating

Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

The Inspiration Board at Homework

Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage

Farmhouse Friday at Laurie Anna's Vintage Home

Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Bye, Bye 70's Style, Part 2: Updating the Fireplace

I actually tackled the fireplace in our 1970's family room addition before I got up the nerve to paint the ceiling beams (see previous post, Part 1). Again, the goal was to lighten, brighten and leave the 70's far behind. So, down came the rustic mantle...constructed from yet another dark-stained beam.

Here is the only photo I have of  the mantle "before" (maybe I thought it was just too ugly to photograph)...hopefully it will give you a sense of what it looked like. It, and the dark ceiling beams, really sucked all the light out of the room.

On a spring trip to Cape Cod, I found this old mantle in an antique barn and purchased it for only  $15.00.  After a coat of the same paint I used on the ceiling beams, it worked perfectly to update, and soften, our fireplace.

Sometimes the simplest changes can make a big difference. 

The trim got a coat of paint too...

The Minwax Dark Walnut, that old standby stain of the 1970's, is almost gone!

I think I'm on a roll...next it's on to the dining room!

I'm linking this post up to:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

Bye, Bye 70's Style, Part 1: Painting the Ugly Ceiling Beams

Although our farmhouse was built in 1830, it underwent an extensive renovation in the 1970s. A family room addition was added at that time (on the right in this photo from last fall) and some of the the fixtures and trims in the house were "updated". Replacing and neutralizing the 70's "improvements" has been a long term project for DH and I over the past nine years, both inside and out.

One project we debated for a long time (DH was opposed; I said, "Let's go for it") was painting the beams on the family room ceiling in the "70's" part of the house. These before and after photos of a similar outdated family room in the September 2011 issue of Country Living magazine (p. 99)  broke the tie.

Here is the magazine family room "after":

And here's a close-up of the Country Living room "before"...sadly, a lot like mine.

This is our family room "before". Although houses built in 1830 did have exposed beams (ours does in the original section), these were pure 70's. Stained deep brown, as was the "look" at the time, they made our sunny family look dark and dated. I hated them...

So... I painted beams all last week...at night...up on an old ladder...during my first week back at school! Call me crazy but I knew it was "now (while I was inspired) or never". Those 40 year old beams soaked up a full roll of blue painters' tape, two coats of Bin and two coats of finish paint (Sherwin Williams "Brown Sugar") before the job was finally done.

Here's the result...Bye, Bye 70's...Hello 2011!

The room is much brighter and the ceiling feels higher now. I am so happy with the results that I've started some new "Goodbye 70's" projects this week. Hope you'll stop by for Part 2!

From "Groovy" to "Pottery Barn", I remain, your faithful late night blogger and obsessive decorator,

This post is linked to:

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Farmhouse Friday at Laurie Anna's Vintage Home

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff & Nonsense

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors