~~~A BOOtiful, SPOOKtacular Halloween!!!~~~

The night begins! The candles and Jack o lanterns are lit. Soon the scary and BOOtiful trick or treaters will arrive. We are ready with the TREATS!!!!!

 See the jack o lantern upstairs on the bridge?

 Orange candles are in all the windows.

 The foyer bakers rack has a candle to welcome you all.

 The bench on the porch is decorated to welcome one and all!

 Our first group of trick or treaters!!!

 The leaves are falling.....

 Candy corn and pumpkin seeds are the base for the candle!

 Cute little Irsh lass!!!!

 She brought her pot of gold to house her candy. We didn't get alot of children but I love to see who ever comes. Fond memories of when my kids were little. Hope you all had a fun night!!!!!! XO, Pinky

I am joining Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wed. @ http://www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

~~~On the Menu Monday~~~

HI everyone! Tonight I wanted to share a great recipe with you and I will be sharing it over at Yvoone's party On the Menu Monday. Just click on the button on the left side of my blog to go to her party and see LOTS of great recipes!!! Hope you like this. We usually serve it with a pork roast. It is YUMMY!!!!! Turbo Dog Braised Cabbage

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Prep Time:

0 min

Inactive Prep Time:

0 min

Cook Time:

0 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 servings

Ingredients

1/2 pound bacon, chopped
2 cups thinly sliced onions
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Creole mustard
1/2 head white cabbage, shredded (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 Turbo Dog Beer , or any beer you have!
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, render the bacon until
crispy. Add the onions. Season with pepper. Saute until the onions are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the mustard
and cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and beer, cover and cook for 20
minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cream, stir to mix and cook, covered for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Copyright 2008 Television Food Network G.P., All Rights Reserved

Happy Halloween to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XO, Pinky 

OcSNOWber!!!!!

Yes, SNOW in October! Who woulda thought???? We went to a wedding today and left this morning in the snow and came home in SLEET and snow:(  This is CA RAZY weather!!!! I snapped some pics when we got home to show you. This is looking from the garage out to the front. I didn't want to get wet, I was all "dolled up" you know:):):)

I have NEVER had snow on the porch with Halloween decorations!!!!

 Looking from the foyer to out front.

 A half hour later we were getting an accumulation!

 Remember I showed you how WELL my impatiens were doing last week? HA! Not so well now, covered in snow:(

Hope you didn't get it too bad where you are. We actually got off pretty easy. The bride and groom were heading to the Poconos, and they were getting 8 to 10 inches there!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope your day is SPOOKTACULAR!!!!!!!!!!!!! XO, Pinky

~~~The Leaves are Falling Outside AND In!!!!~~~

Hi everyone! Hope you are all ready for a fun weekend. We are going to a wedding tomorrow so that will be FUN!!!Even though they are predicting some SNOW!!!! Just a LITTLE though. Our leaves are NOT glorious this year:(. So far. I am hoping for more color SOON! I took some shots from around the house for you. This is out the kitchen window.

 This next one is looking out the back sliding glass doors.

 It is NOT pretty on the deck right now. I could sweep and blow the leaves 3 times a day. That is NOT happening:):)

 The begonia is still blooming!

 And the impatiens.

 This is looking out the front windows that flank the front door.

 Then I went upstairs to the sliding glass doors in our room.

This is NOT dirty glass, it is the screen:) I guess IT is dirty:):)

 And out our bathroom window. Yes, I have a view of TREES from every single window or door in this house.

 Looking out the windows on the upstairs bridge. I just blew the driveway on Wed.

 Now for the ugly part: this is my poor hibiscus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:(:( I am SO upset! I don't know what happened but the leaves have turned yellow and are falling off!!!! NOOOOOOO! We kept this alive all last winter and now this! I am going to PRUNE it hard and hope it comes back. I'll let you know. I love this plant, love that it is braided and last year it BLOOMED inside for a long time. So sad. Keep you fingers crossed. Have a GREAT weekend everyone. XO, Pinky

~~New use for a Rag Wreath!~~~

Happy Wednesday everyone! Last night I got together with a group of friends for dinner and to do a craft. We decided ahead of time to do a rag wreath. SO, I decided ahead of time that I would use it for a different purpose. I knew it would be neat to put it on my Halloween table around the cake stand I am using. SO, I chose 2 fabrics that I thought would compliment the plaid tablecloth and also have a touch of BLING!!!!

 the 2 different fabrics that I chose.

 It fits and works perfectly! I love it! I was worried at first that my fabrics were too "wimpy". They wouldn't have been great for a hanging wreath but they DO work here!

 If you didn't see the original table I will put the link at the end of this post for you.

 While at Joann Fabric I also found this bottle brush tree and knew IT would be perfect too! PLUS, it was 60% off!!!! The colors are perfect.!!!!

Here is the link to the original table: http://designsbypinky.blogspot.com/2011/10/bewitching-table.html  So what do you think? I hope you like the little addition to the table! I do! Happy Halloween (a bit early) everyone!!!!! XO, Pinky I am linking to several parties;

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Motivated Monday at Be Colorful

Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter

More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home Project

Savvy Homemade Monday at Home Savvy A to Z

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess

Show and Share on Thursday at Southern Lovely

Open House Party Thursday at No Minimalist Here

Share Your Creations on Thursday at Kristen's Creations

Hookin’ Up on Thursday with House of Hepworths

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/2011/10/potpourri-party-9.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+2805+%282805%29

~~~Joe's birthday trip to Longwood Gardens~~~

HI everyone! Well, yesterday was Joe's birthday and he decided he wanted to go to Longwood and walk around. It was a GORGEOUS day, just perfect weather. I took a few shots in the car on the way to try to get some of the color on the trees. Then a shot at the entrance.

 Here are some beautiful pink mums. They were alongside a bed of cactus with pink blooms.

 This sight was a SHOCK! We have never seen these beds empty! BUT, there is a reason.....

 They are planting tulips for next spring! The lady told us that they had planted 17,000 (yes that is THOUSAND) on Sat. and would be planting 8 to 10,000 yesterday!!! That is only a fraction of all the bulbs, there are over 100,000 bulbs planted every year!!!!!

 Then we moved on to Pierce's Woods. Joe loves this area.

 Some pretty color on these trees.

 I captured Mr. Squirrel I assume gathering some nuts for winter!!!

 I wanted SO bad to pick some of these hydrangeas, drying on the bush. I love the brown color!!!

 There is a beautiful pond here where the geese like to hang out.

 The kids that visit love to play here in this huge tree house!!!

 This is a beautiful weeping willow tree.

 We should do this too. We have deer that eat many of our bushes in the winter. I guess it is "natural pruning", LOL

 Huge waves of Pineapple sage!

 The roses are still blooming so beautifully.

 The grounds seemd to be in a state of "transition". This is the fountains and lights. They do fountain shows where the fountains are lit up and "dance" to music!!

 The bell tower. It was actually chiming as I snapped this picture.

 Here we are at one of Joe's favorite spots on the grounds.

 This is an amazing train set up. They change the display every year. It is set up in the Spring and stays til January, then it is all taken down and a totally new arrangement is set up next year!!!!

 It is amazing! And the mums etc. look SO pretty!

 This is MY favorite display in the Fall. HUGE pumpkins and LOTS of gourds.

 Can you guess what this one weighs????

 WOW!!! BUT, it isn't the biggest one!

 Does my butt make this pumpkin look fat????:):):)

 Finally we got to the conservatory. This is an amazing display that also changes for each season.

 COLORFUL croton.

 Wait til you see this!!!

 All these different mums are grafted onto ONE stem!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is ONE bush!!!! Each one is labeled.

 These are parasols that are hung from the ceiling of the conservatory.

 And, the water lilies are still blooming too!

 This one was huge, about 8-10 inches across!

 These are mum arches!!!!

 The base of the arches. The flowers are always displayed in such imaginative ways! Wouldn't it be nice to have an ARMY of people maintaining your gardens!

 AND, I spied something else: they have started to wrap the trees with Christmas lights!!!! The Christmas display is something to behold!!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of beautiful Longwood Gardens. After, we went to Chadds Ford Tavern for a late lunch/early dinner. We had some ham, cabbage and bean soup and roast beef sandwiches. I am going to try to make the soup, it was delicious. If I come up with a recipe,I will share it with you. XO, Pinky
I am joining Kim for Wow Us Wed. at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/  Please visit her party to see some awesome things!!!!