We have been trying to take some time off from renovations. I’ve been scheduling in some mental breaks of reading a good book, going for a nice quiet walk or doing something that brings enjoyment. While organizing I found one of my search a words, and started back on that again. I forgot how fun those are. Life can get so overwhelming with things, so much to do all the time. That speeds things up and before you know it everything has changed all around you. All those beautiful leaves have turned to Winter. Don’t get me wrong, I like Winter too. It’s all good. I just like the Fall so much better.

I’ve been collecting leaves and taking them home to inspire me when designing new coloring pages. I haven’t designed my Christmas coloring page yet for the senior center, I’m mostly just photographing and recording things for future art for later.

I started searching for those vintage wooden ornaments I like, but I haven’t been able to find any that I don’t already have. I guess I finally reached my limit, I have every style out there, that’s a little intense if you think about it. Maybe I have too many, time to let it rest. I did find a snoopy ornament that was all wooden but I am not really into Charlie Brown, except for It’s the great pumpkin Charlie Brown, that’s a classic every child watches every October. That goes way, way back.

I was able to start staging photos for my gnome kits. I did this one morning at the old house we are renovating. I had a couple furniture pieces I was working on over there so I figured I would try and work in a little gnome photo session. I put everything into a laundry basket and basically that’s how it is now. In between working on furniture pieces, between sanding and staining old doors, I started setting up the photos for the gnomes. I used to have a little studio area for some of my photographs back in the city I lived in, and now I have to find a spot for that here.

So between renovations, and everyday regular house upkeep, I’m trying to keep up on my other goals as well. The kits, the books, and the craft classes…oh, and hand making products for the shop. This also has an effect on time, making it seem like it is flying by, like where did all the hours go. I wish I had more time for the photography part. Hopefully I will have a permanent studio soon.

In studio I mean a little corner somewhere with a nice wood box to stage in, nothing fancy, just simple. Not one of those fancy studios where there are all kinds of lighting lamps and screens and….you know, not a professional studio. Just a mom crafting studio, where there is all kinds of stuff going on in the background of a homestead life. A simple yet humble little studio.

My favorite photography is the staging of products. I love creating little scenes for whimsical photos. So much is always going on in the background that only the photographer can see.

In the set up in photo above, there are chickens behind that gate scratching around for insects, trying to get my attention for more food. And behind me are those three pieces of furniture I’m repairing. One piece is an old wooden door my husband was ready to toss before I rescued it. Now I’m turning it into a store display with little shelves on it to store our honey products on. We make our own product display racks. If you buy the displays already made from retail centers they are crazy expensive. My little shop when hopefully finished will be simple as well. Maybe like walking into an old European styled french farmhouse barn. With plants and baskets and fun country stuff. It’s different when imagining something in your head, but anything is doable once you put your heart and love into it. You make it yours and maybe others will love to stop by, to create and just walk around a home sweet home kind of shop.

Even farther in my gnome photo behind me is a giant pile of scrap metal we just cleaned up to recycle later. The photo I staged for my gnome kits is just a tiny part of what it’s story tells.

I always see beautiful photos online and if you pan out a little father to show everything, there is always a mess around somewhere. That doesn’t include all these apps and filters that everyone uses now. It can mess with young people’s heads, hurting their confidence. It’s impossible to know what is real. People try too hard to keep up with something that isn’t possible. It’s all filters and apps, fake images and words written by something else, not even a person anymore. Some people are not writing from themselves they are coping something else.

Now days anyone can be anything they want, in the pretend world that is. Using the system of the machines, all anyone has to do now days is pretend to be something they aren’t, faking who they are.

They can’t figure out what to do themselves so they just copy someone else, usually it’s someone they envy or are insanely and obsessively jealous of. Then they act like they thought of it all on their own. It’s all so comical sometimes, in a creepy way of course, just how those types are always the last to do something that someone else started. They’re never original with anything they do, never the first to do anything, always second place, and always following someone else. Just shadows.

You really should feel sorry for individuals like that, they are stuck in their delusions of grandeur. So always be careful out there of these grifting types of characters, the bullies, liars and trouble makers in the world, don’t believe everything you see and hear from them…they’re tricksters. Just sharing some mom wisdom.

We went to an apple fest a couple weeks ago. I love all these small towns and how they connect to each other. We did get a tad bit lost once driving around, it was just my husband and I. These town in the Ozarks keep going and going, hitting small towns here and there, and backwoods that lead to tiny hidden towns. It’s beautiful but it can get a little unsettling when that happens as the cell service isn’t so great in some spots. But eventually you do find a way back to where you are headed.

I will have to go back to that little town and explore some more. It reminded me of that movie Baby Boom, do you guys remember that? It was such a cute movie. Diane Keaton played a character that had an apple orchard which she turned into a baby food business. That’s one of my favorite movies. I loved the scenery in that movie too. I should look that up and watch it tonight.

They always have lots of tractors on display at these small town festivals. They were handing out free apples to eat and free apple cider to drink. Inside the community building they were selling chili beans and cornbread for $7, all homemade.

My favorite booth was filled with all kinds of cute earrings. The owner had her earrings she made displayed on old playing cards. I thought that was so clever. I bought a couple of her earrings for gifts later. Small lightweight things are so easy to mail in Christmas cards.

This months thrift store remake is a Halloween tree that I purchased for a little over a dollar. I want to paint it white and add tiny felted wool ornaments and turn it into either an art piece or a Christmas decoration. I can’t decide yet, and we all know that’s the fun part, redoing something and creating something different.

It’s back to work now. I’m also preparing for the Winter garden set up inside. We have to get our grow lights set up and plastic wrap to create our indoor garden downstairs in our garage. We have several extra large shelving units in the garage and we reserve two of those units for our plants for an indoor garden for the Winter. It always looks like a jungle in our garage for that season, while there is snow outside, everything is green like summer inside.

Well, that’s it this week for our Fall adventures. I hope you all are having fun Fall adventures yourselves. Remember, stay off those screens as much as possible, volunteer, find a hobby, go for walks, bake something, read something, talk face to face to a real human being…you be you, that is always the best outcome. God bless you all and stay safe out there as always.

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