~ IT'S ABOUT DECOR AND FUN and SERIOUSLY SPOOKY STUFF..~

...and ..CANDY!!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!  I LOVE AUTUMN AND I LOVE THE DECOR...

I have no clue where or when I found this cake, but it was unusual  so I clicked on it way back when I first found I could save photo's by doing that.  It never occurred to me to write down where I found it..so if it's yours..just email me and I will give you credit.  Simply lovely!

I fell in love with this tablescape...if it is yours..do let me know..it's one of the neatest ones I've ever seen for Halloween.

Isn't this just charming?   I have been saying I wanted to copy this..I forgot I was going to do it..but maybe next year.  :)  

Do yo see those little black cat pots?  I  :)  almost can't stand it they are so cute!

If it's yours...just let me know..you CLEVER person!

Do you think this house is haunted?  :)

Yes, this home has history.  It is in my husbands family on Ingalls Island off the coast of Maine.

When I went in..there was a rocking chair..with an afghan over the back.  The sink still had the old hand pump.  It still works.

Everyone on the island uses well water that is either pumped or brought up in buckets.

PH and I walked the island. 

The strange thing was the only birds I saw..or heard ..were seagulls.

We spent a few days on the island, picking blueberries and raspberries..and watching the tide come in and cover the levy with ten foot of water.  It comes from two sides and meets, making it impossible to leave the island until the tide goes back out.  

The island is where I learned the meaning of the old saying "Time and Tide wait for no man!'

Person's have been known to come running across the Levy with their suitcases banging against their legs and the family yelling and screaming and encouraging them to keep running.  The Levy is covered with fairly good sized stones to keep it from washing away and is NOT easy to run on!

I was determined to see the tide come in and cover the levy so one day I sat and didn't move until the levy was covered in the ten foot of water. 

Yes, there is a little boat with a motor moored at the little dock.

So..do you think it's possible that Spirits could be there?   The island has been in the family for more years than one can remember.  

I believe.  I'm a believer.  

But then I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  :)

Just one more day...

Wish I was a kid again sometimes..but not now.

Not now.

Love,

Mona

~IS MY REPUTATION RUINED?~

Actually, if it wasn't ruined before...it will be this time!  But I am going to take a deep breath and just jump into the water...if it's icy.. :) I'll survive.

How's that for the "dramatic?"  

So..

this is what happened.

This is Frank and I.  I was sixty five and he was seventy.

This is NOT a good picture of either of us..Frank was a nice looking man and this photo was horrible.  He looked cranky and the light hit him and washed out his features.  It's just a bad photo..but I can't find the photo's we took the day we got married.   Below is another one of the family toasting us at a reception we gave so the families could meet.

This is another bad picture.
In this picture my son is on the left and my sister on the right.  We are that tired pair in the background.

  We had married in Las Vegas and had been busy getting this gathering together and we were both worn out.  I just wanted to sleep!

I do hope you are sitting down.
I met Frank on MATCH.COM  Indeed I did!!
We met for the first time online the day after Thanksgiving.. and
 met in person on December 7th, 2001, and were married on New Years Eve just three weeks later.
See?  I knew you would be shocked~!!
So was I!  So were our children and that's putting it mildly!

He, like Howard, was one of the sweetest men I've ever met.  Strong, kind, funny.  He was an outdoors man.  The antlers you see on our walls now are from him.  He was a hunter and fisherman.
He branded cattle, rode horses, owned rifles and loved the outdoors...and I grew to love Frank dearly.
He had three great kids....all grown with families.

I had a wonderful life with Frank.  When we married he insisted that I retire..and at 65, I was ready.
We traveled, we went deep sea fishing, we fixed up the home he had bought shortly before his wife died..and he was like Howard in that he and I worked together on things on our home..planting a rose garden..tree's etc.
We had fun.

Match.com was my first experience on such a site and it worked.  The only thing I remember of what I wrote in my "bio" was "I love cute shoes and soft sweaters!"  The rest has left my memory.  Why I remember that I don't know, but looking back I would not have thought it would have appealed to a man.

We nearly didn't meet because I had put in the wrong address.   When I finally agreed to try match.com..I said I would give it three days.  My friend kept telling me "Well you aren't going to meet anyone by doing nothing.  Do you expect some nice man to just walk up and knock on your door??"  Of course she was right.  I had girlfriends and as dear as they were to me..I was lonely.  So, when the three days ended..and there was NOTHING,  not a single word,  I was so embarrassed that I went to Match.com  to cancel my page.
I almost hit the button to delete and then I suddely noticed it..the address had a type O!  We fixed it and left it for another day.  The following morning...I got the surprise of my life!  There were so many responses that I couldn't believe it.  I called my friend...and we had a great time reading them and decided to print some of the ones that were interesting.   The third one down was Frank, but he had no picture and lived very far away.  Still, there was something...so I answered his letter and he contacted me.  After a week he wanted to drive the three hours to meet me.  I agreed but I told him I thought that three hours away was too far.  He disagreed!  :)

 We met for the first time on December 7, 2001 and were married on New Years eve..just three weeks later.
I know it was quick...but my instinct was right.  Just as it was 7 years later when I met Howard.
Frank and I were married for 6 years and on March 22, 2007,  I lost him to liver cancer.
I've blanked a lot of it out..and I know I seldom speak of Frank.  I know I had a hard time wrapping my mind around what had happened to him..and like Patrick..Frank was apparently healthy..then suddenly, in late January,  he came home with terrible pain in his left arm..I rushed him to the hospital.. He was gone from me by March 22.
Nedra, my best friend since high school, took a plane out from Arkansas and stayed a month with me.
I think I went a little mad.
I'd had enough of this life..my son was losing his kidneys..I was worried sick and I had to leave our home..and return to Riverside to be with my son, Dan.  Danny became my priority and it probably kept me sane.  I was needed by my son.

Isn't it amazing what you can survive?  And this is nothing to what some folks go through.

It seems I'm not the type to let life beat me..and I won't let it beat those I love.  I needed to be with my son.
The children all came..my Sandy took a plane immediately from Georgia..and all four girls came.
Eventually everyone returned home and I was alone in a town far from home..so I packed up and another dear friend, Ann, took a bus to be with me and helped me move back  home to Riverside..
and here I met Howard...and eventually began to live again..

I've written a book here ..and just think what it would have been if I had put ALL the details down.
Suffice to say..you can survive anything if you give life a chance.
There have been times, I've wanted to just give up.
I still cry, sometimes too much...but I have Howard to make me smile...and my precious family and the dearest friends in the world.
Someone always walks beside you..you are never alone.  I thought I was when Patrick died..but I was not.
It's Patrick who walks beside me and makes me carry on.
Love,
Mona

~MY SECRET IS OUT..~

Telling family secrets isn't really wise....but who cares.

How did we meet?  :) No one guessed...and if you thought it, you never said it..and..

at my age..his age...NO, it can't be!  

Yep...

On "E HARMONY"..
uh huh...it's true.

My first husband of 43 years died at just 63 years old, of cancer of the lungs.
Four years later I met and married again.
When Frank, my second husband died at 78 from liver cancer..I returned home to Riverside.  A couple of years later I met and married PH.
We don't tell people...and here I am blurting it to ...the world!

I didn't want to marry again, but after a year I began to realize I didn't really want to live the rest of my life alone..and that this time the window of opportunity was closing even faster than when I married Frank at 65.  I registered with E Harmony but I knew my chances at 72 years old, were slim to none.
I was wrong.  PH found me, wrote to me and we met at a coffee shop near our homes...For a week a call came daily asking me if I wanted to go here, or there..until finally I told him I had to get some washing done..that I had chores to do!
He was such a dear man~!

He would call and invite me to dinner saying he was going to cook for me.  

I would drive up in my little Toyota truck and there he would be, standing in front of the big window watching for me.  

By the time I got to the porch..the door would be open.  A hot cup of tea would be sitting on the table.

We were married three months later.  

We  had lived and raised our families in the same town, just about five miles apart. 

We shopped the same stores..went to the same post office.  Our children are close in age.

We both married the first time in the 1950's.  Me in 1954 and him in 1956.

We both have grown children.  He has just two and two grandchildren.

Me?  I have seven and 14 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

His life changed!  

I love him.  He takes such good care of me and I of him.  I love to do things for him..and he is the same way.  

Sometimes I will muse out loud about something I need to get done..(and this is the truth) the next time I look, it's done.  

At first it sort of rattled me, and I was afraid to mention anything that needed to be done.

I had to MAKE him sit and finish his paper or a program he may be watching..so I am learning not to mention ANYTHING that needs to be done until he takes a break from his reading..or...whatever.

If I do mention something, I preface it with "NOT NOW, but when you are finished reading the paper, can you please help me.......etc. etc.   It works.  (Most of the time)

All three of my husbands were the youngest of two boys and all three had brothers several years older.  No sisters for any of them.

Just an interesting fact. 

I could not have married more wonderful men.

Now...do you want to know how I met Pat and Frank?  :)  

No..no you don't.  LOL

Love,

Mona

She makes our family complete!

~ THOUGH AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING...

... the pear tree leaves are still green... and refuse to admit it's time to drift to the ground..

..it's pumpkin carving time.

This is my Mary and my little great, Emily!

"I could carry ALL of these!"
(She has such a CAN DO attitude!)

Whats Autumn without pumpkin cookies??  Right?

Telling a fortune...just for fun.  

...and MORE and bigger pumpkin cookies!!

My precious pumpkin tea set, a gift from daughter, Mary.  It will go back to her one day.   Fall always sees these on my dining room table!

My  very favorite Autumn painting by a wonderful artist I found on Ebay.

My sweet, sweet patient husband that I adore.   I was so lucky to find him to go through these golden years with.  I am NOT a loner...  Thank you, God!  

Would you like to know where I found this gentle man?  Just ask.  :)  At the grocery store?  Through friends?  At church?  Back in high school?  At the local gas station where he offered to help me pump gas..  Did he hold the door for me at the bank?

Or...

did he accidentally bump me at a stop light and take my name and address?

On E Harmony, one of those places on line?  At our local super market where we got to chatting while in line..and he walked me to my car..and helped load my groceries?  Or on Match.com (another online place?  At a local pub?    Take a guess.  :)

My precious girl...Mele!   She has seen me through some of the saddest days of my life.

She hears me laugh more often now.

Did I tell you that I love this time of year?  Even with my sometimes sad thoughts of my loss..

I've been blessed.  How can I be sad for long.  

I can't.  :)

God is good!

Love,

Mona

~SENTIMENTAL ME....

The photo's above are a few of my grands and my children.  I thought it made a nice Autumn header.

I have no material...I didn't take any new pictures..at least nothing worth publishing.

I did go shopping and picked up a couple of cute things to add to my Halloween collection today.

Last week we went to the mountains..for  a Hoedown..and it was fun.  The dinner was great, the music was wonderful good old country Hoedown ..but the pictures I took  turned out blurred. They presented a stage play "The Haunting of Sleepy Hollow"  ..and not a one turned out.  

So..I'll show you the only picture that did turn out.
We arrived at the Riley's Ranch at Sundown..and it was beautiful.
 I live about 45 minutes, less without traffic, from these mountains and in the opposite direction to the West  is the Pacific Ocean.  I live right in the middle.  Then if we kept on driving on through the mountains we would arrive in Palm Springs!

We are four hours from Las Vegas, Nevada.
South is Mexico and Yuma Arizona where Pat and I went to be married at 17 and just barely 20 years old.
That beautiful young man will be gone 18 years this December 15th.  I lost him in Autumn.  Autumn Leaves was our song.  Those Autumn leaves are beginning to drift by my window...and I miss him.
I always do and most of all, this time of year.

These are the beautiful San Bernadino Mountains  where so many people come to spend time in Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, etc.  We have skiing and summer sports.  I was born here in Southern California, as was my mother and all my relatives, so these are places I've gone as long as I can remember..except a short time of my childhood when I lived in Oregon during WWII.
You must click on the photo to see how desperately our mountain ranges are suffering from lack of water.  I love California..and as much as I love to travel and was delighted with the beauty of other states..California is my home..it's where I belong.

Our subtle season's are wonderful in the sense that we can go find the color, or go to the snow in nothing flat...go deep sea fishing...or to a mountain stream..  We have the giant Redwoods...we can watch sea creatures at play, such as Seals and little Sea Otters, etc...and the Whales pass our way.
Anything that hurts California, hurts me.
If I go South there is Mexico.
Things have changed so much that it's sometimes confusing to me.
Makes me sad.

I don't think there is a state in our Country that I don't have a sort of connection to and that I care about and where dear ones live.
I have blogger friends in probably every state and through them I have come to know a bit about them and their state on a personal level.
We are one.  Why can we not remember that.
How lucky we are.   How lucky I am to know all of you.
Call me a sentimental old fool..it's ok, I don't mind one bit because it's true! :)
Lov'n hugs,
Mona

~I CONFESS ~

Every day I intend to do a post..just to let my blogger friends know I'm here..but every day I end up putting it off.  If I knew the reason why, I would say.  I don't.

I'm not ill.

I'm not really depressed.. perhaps a bit.

The week has not been bad..so..  :) I'm back.

 I did accomplish a couple of things this past week that I have had on my "To do" list for a long time.

(I don't really have a list.. well..except in my head.)

The little iron front fence has been removed and the rust chipped, sanded and repainted by a professional painter, and put back in place..

 ...and my little red bench has been repainted by the same man that did the fence and in the same paint as the house trim and placed away from the lawn sprinklers at the far corner of the garage that needed some interest.  This works for me. 

I saw this gorgeous Dragon Fly sitting on one of the tippy top branches of our peach tree and thought he was worth capturing.  Isn't he/she(?) just beautiful.  Matches my little red bench to a T!   :)

 Front porch cleaned, power hosed, stripped of overgrown plants and dead ones, fountain scrubbed clean and adjusted and all ready for the season.  EVERYTHING had to come off the porch and it was knee deep in old dead plants and pots and a foot high in clippings and gunk!

 Yep..came out of my doldrums and got busy and accomplished something!  

I love this little flower box on our bedroom window.  The button mums have finally bloomed..and I'm loving it!  

I LOVE taking care of a home..maintaining it..homemaking to me is a constant thing.  I am a closet cleaner too.  I confess.  I love to clean and see things sparkle.  I have never seen homemaking as a chore but as a hobby that takes some skill.  It's been a lifetime of learning..and something I never tire of.

Just a fact.  :)

If you hate housework...that's okay.  No two people enjoy the same thing.  To me, homemaking does not stop at the front door.  It's inside and out.  It's a full time job and I never liked working outside our home.  Many of my friends prefer it..I never did.

Do you still love me?  :):)

Lovin'hugs! 

Mona

~I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE..

Not really...that was a TRICK!  heh heh!

Introducing a few..um heads of the kitchen?  Do you mind?

A bowl bull of kitty heads?  In the kitchen?  Gross, but Halloween is coming soon and I wanted to be a tiny bit scary.

Just a bit?  (shhhh..they don't know they don't have bodies...)

I still treasure this bit of art work.. the remains of a poor foolish little Fairy that didn't believe in Witches..  I don't believe that, do you? 

....but see what it says on the lid of the jar?  My little neighbor girl comes over every year and looks for things she has seen before...and this one in particular.  She always lets out a squeal..kids love to be scared.   

She is so cute.  She began her visits about four years ago..and this year..was not too happy with my delay in decorating.  (neither was her mother)  

 Black cats, and crows and ghosts, and black candles...I love it!

I think her button is glowing...hmmmmm..  

Her name is "Beth"...I thought it suited her..don't you?  :)

Every time I look at her, I get the urge to look behind me!

I...think it's that grin of hers.  Soooo...moving right along...

Sorry...she won't tell me her name.  Says it would shock me..so I've stopped asking.

:) Says to mind my own "beeswax!"  Honestly!!!  Some Witches!!!

Says his name is "Barry" and that he sings.  He says the crows that live in his hat sing with him.

Barry?  Really?  I don't believe a word he says.  

Then again...

****************

Okay, I've blown enough smoke for today.  :)

Can you tell I'm feeling good, even if it IS  1:00 in the morning?  

Huge hugs!

Mona

~WICKER IS ALWAYS SEASONAL FOR ME..

Is there no pumpkins in the markets and few anywhere else because of the drought??

Could that be it?  This is terrible!  

PH found three and bought two of them.  I gave one as a hostess gift and kept the other for my little wicker table.

My neighbor found TWO and offered to bring me one..I told her no..I would wait.

WHY did I do that?  :)  Surely someone will have some.

I hope!

I love my wicker furniture no matter the season.  It's a place where neighbors gather and we have morning coffee before retiring to the back patio.  We..are..creatures of habit.

I am no longer a crafty person.  I was when the children were young and I had NO time for it and now that I do..I don't want to..however, you see those pretty leaves and bow up there on that big pumpkin?  

I actully did that with an ice pick and floral wire.  It's not going anywhere!  

Look!  One lonely little faux pumpkin sitting on a tiny metal chair.  No potted mums yet.  I've been too lazy to get out and buy some.  Maybe tomorrow.  IF I do..will have to show it off again...is that okay?

I wrapped a grapevine leaf garland around my birdhouse.  Also a broken off piece from..something, around the basket handle.  A pumpkin sun catcher hangs in the window.  The afghan on the back of the couch in the window is Mele's look out.. 

And here she comes!

Looks like I left the front door ajar and someone is coming to see what I'm doing?  

My crow wreath from last year.  I must learn to make these.  (I say that but you KNOW I won't!) 

:)

Little red mailbox just got a bouquet of corn.  ALL DONE!

Now of course, I will change things and change things.  I always do.

Never satisfied!  

Are you still there?  If I haven't been to visit you..hang on, I'm peddling as fast as I can.  :)

I have some catching up to do!  I know!

Lov'n hugs,

Mona

p.s.  Can you  believe I did two posts in three days?  :)  I am SO proud!