Autumn Decor

For my birthday this year, my mother gave me a subscription to my favorite magazine - Victoria. 

It's my favorite because the homes featured in Victoria are always the most beautiful that I've seen!

Rich, elegant, and warm are the best words I can think of to describe the photographs within a Victoria's glossy pages.

They pull me in and I study each vignette, asking myself questions like, Now look how they paired that Japanese print along side a French toile - how'd they do that?

This month's edition arrived and I was unprepared for the inspiration that would strike me.

Up to that point I had felt unmotivated to begin any fall decorating, but a few minutes with my new issue gave me the fresh ideas I had been lacking.

I noticed a theme - blue and white dishes with red roses.

See? Here's an example...

(Page 38 of this month's issue...)

I felt a surge of hope because I realized this look was very attainable for me.

 I already had some blue and white pieces in my china cabinet, and faux roses in my Christmas decor bins. 

Although I had never before used them for fall, I thought, If Victoria can decorate with roses for the autumn months, than it's good enough for me!

So I set to work...

I pulled my fluffy fur pillow out of storage, and tucked a few red roses in here and there...

My living room hutch is mostly colorless - just English Ironstone and antique books, but I'm enjoying having a little red in it now. Not much, because too much would spoil it, like pouring too much salt on your dinner. 

 Just a pinch of red on the mantle... a little here... 

and a little there...

I continued my Victoria-inspired look into the dining room...

A blue an white pitcher holds some clippings from my yard along with the faux roses. Not all of them are red, however. That helps to round out the arrangement, and deepen the look...

I have no idea if that's an actual decorating rule. I can tend to make things up, haha!

 The blue and white with roses is continued into the kitchen...

Here's the view from another angle...

(I love sunbeams in a house! It's so warm and welcoming!)

The only autumn decorating I've done in our family room is place a few pumpkins on the mantle. 

But I do have a little blue and white in here as well.

Yes, that's Lawrence Welk on the T.V. haha...

Sometimes I turn it on and put the volume up to fill my house with the happy, old-fashioned music.

I like to pretend that I don't really live in 2018.

 I don't belong in this modern world, sigh...

I can't handle what our world is becoming. I remember life before things like technology and school shootings...

Were things not better then?!

But that's why I try to make my home a lovely and warm place.

Sort of like a cocoon from the world.

I have to get out in it at times, but I enjoy coming back here to an environment that embraces me with a feeling of home...

Isn't that why we decorate after all?

I enjoyed doing something different for my fall decorating this year.

I prefer an uncontrived look in my home anyway, so I don't mind that it isn't modern or forced. 

(Think large "It's Fall Ya'll!" signs from Hobby Lobby.)

Remember, the best authors don't tell their readers what they wish to convey, rather they show it instead.

To me, the best decorated homes have a way of showing warmth and love without all the fashionable hype.

I have no clue what outsiders think of my home when they enter here, but to my eyes it's warm and beautiful.

"The question is not what you look at, but what you see."

- Henry David Thoreau

How's your fall decorating going?

xo,

~ Courtney ~

A Family Trip

We had heard that a delightful stretch of Indian summer was heading our way.

So a short and impromptu family trip was decided upon to celebrate.

One wonderful benefit to homeschooling is that we can vacation whenever we want.

What a luxury!

We also discovered that the hotel rates in tourist towns become very reasonable after the school year starts.

It's past prime season, I suppose.

We thought we'd take advantage of the weather and the cheaper rates, and drive the kids up north to see Mackinac Island.

Our hotel room window faced the lake, and it was lovely!

The sun was warm, but never hot...

The air cool, but never cold...

The sky was bright and clear.

What a wonderful way to say good-bye to summer!

We felt so lucky.

The kids had never been on a ferry boat before.

The ride over to the island is a delightful twenty minutes or so.

The kids did great!

It sure was fun to watch them experience it!

Micah and I made this same journey twelve years ago during the summer we were dating.

On that trip, we had our picture taken under this round gate...

(July 2006)

I was determined to find that gate again and snap another picture!

Micah remembered exactly where it was.

It's still there!

So Roman took our picture...

(Sadly, I can see that a bit of aging has already occurred. *sigh)

The gate is the entrance to a private home and property, and I remarked to Micah how I couldn't believe we had unlatched it and stood inside!

We were young and gutsy then.

This time, we were respectful and just stood on the outside.

As this was going on, a bright and bubbly couple walked past and began to chat with us.

I told them about how we had spent a day on the island twelve years ago when we were dating, and someone took our picture under this gate.

The woman said, "Well, you should have a picture of the whole family under the gate!"

How great! I thought.

So I handed my phone over to her, and she took this family picture for us...

The Lord has blessed our twelve years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Mackinac Island sure is a charming little place.

There are no cars on the island. All transportation (other than walking) is either horse and carriage or biking.

It was weird to watch my children bound across the streets there and know that I didn't have to yell, Watch for cars!

Although we learned quickly that it was helpful to yell, Watch for horse manure! instead.

Haha!

It was early Sunday morning when we first arrived and were "fresh off the boat", as the saying goes.

So we thought we'd grab a small coffee and walk around until we found a church we could attend.

(I pretended I was a local, and a peaceful stroll down the quaint and quiet streets, with coffee in hand, was my usual way to church each week.)

We found this darling little stone church...

I told Micah I felt embarrassed to go to church in our tourist clothes.

He assured me there'd be other casually dressed folks there.

We approached the entrance and were greeted at the door by the pastor and his wife. They were, of course, dressed for church, and so was everyone else! And there we were in our t-shirts and walking shoes.

I felt silly.

I whispered to Micah, "Everyone's dressed up here but us!"

"It's ok," he said. "Nobody cares."

I certainly would never want to be disrespectful to a pastor, or discouraging to a church's members, but Micah was right. Nobody seemed to care. Everyone was extremely kind and welcoming to us.

Our casual appearance had caused me to be extra vigilant about my children's behavior, though.

The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to our row!

And we did take up an entire row! Haha... It was a very small church.

But once the service had ended, a man who had been seated behind us commented, "What a nice bunch of kids. You ought to be proud!"

What a sweet little church family.

I left there feeling uplifted, and not at all thinking about our casual clothes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

The rest of our trip was very relaxing and enjoyable.

The kids had been given a little spending money from their grandma before we left, so we enjoyed popping into a few shops.

There were trails and roads and beaches to explore, too...

Sometimes a passer-by would notice us struggling to try to cram six heads into a selfie...

So they would offer to take our picture for us.

We always said, "Yes, please!"

Memories are made of this!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Driving back down through Michigan, we kept passing signs for homemade pasties.

This is true Michigan culture and tradition, of course. So we had to stop and eat a pasty before we could even think about going home!

You know what they say, When in Rome...

I asked our waitress, "What can you tell me about these?"

She said, "This is an old Cornish recipe. They used to make these for the miners - easy to wrap up and take with them to eat."

(I love finding out little nuggets of information like this.)

Yes, this was a wonderful little trip.

It's satisfying to give your children experiences and pleasant childhood memories.

If you ever find yourself driving through the upper peninsula of Michigan (sort of between Escanaba and Manistique), may I suggest you stop in the little ghost town of Fayette?

It is now an awesome state park, with a beautiful beach and the original structures from the 1880's that can now be toured.

A small home and the town's school house has some cute exhibits inside as well...

We enjoyed our time here.

Have you ever been to Mackinac Island or Fayette, MI?

We will probably stay put now for the winter, but I am thankful for the chance we had to get out and visit these towns.

I will hold these memories in my heart.

And as always, I am thankful for the chance I have to record some family stories, and share it all with you!

Thank you for reading my blog!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Staying Well in the Fall and Winter

It's time to start thinking about how we want our lives to look for the upcoming cold weather months.

Comforting casseroles... Fires in the fireplace... Good books to read...

It's wonderful to think about, isn't it?

But on the top of my priority list is staying healthy and feeling well this fall and winter.

I practiced several health habits last year, and we had a very healthy winter.

I'm excited to try them again this year!

I would like to share them with you in today's post.

Because falling ill sure is miserable as a mother, isn't it?

And watching your children take to their beds sick is even worse!

Let's have a healthy year!

The best way I know to do that is by way of prevention.

As the famous saying goes, Prevention is the best medicine.

Well, everything I will mention here would be considered preventative. 

(I will warn you that I'm about to show you some products. I do not make money from my blog nor do I sell any of these products. The following is just a few tricks that have worked for us.)

When taking care of my family during cold and flu seasons, I like to think in terms of staying on top of our health, and being in control.

So, there are a few things I do everyday...

I start by giving each of my children one multi-vitamin and one Airborne every morning with their breakfast.

Even while we're healthy, we all get an Airborne a day.

I like them because they are packed with vitamin C, and keep our immune systems strong while germs are flying around.

Once the breakfast dishes are washed, I start up my diffuser with a few drops of Thieves.

I run it everyday, even when we're healthy.

Remember, the thought is to build up your health so that your immune system can fight off illness.

Diffusing oils has become so commonplace now that hopefully you already have a diffuser on hand.

I had a cheap one for a couple of years and it recently broke. I told Micah about it one morning and he came home that night from work with a new one for me.

He had stopped at Walmart and said he picked this one because he knows I like birds. Bless his heart.

I know you can get very beautiful and good quality diffusers, probably on-line. But for now this one works just fine for us, and I'm happy to have it.

Another thing I have done with Thieves, and it worked very well for me, is to mix a few drops of it in coconut oil to keep by my bed.

I had put the mixture in an old lotion container that I cleaned out.

I had read an article about how the pores on the bottoms of feet can absorb anything into the bloodstream quicker and better than other areas of the body.

So last winter I would put it on my feet each night.

I plan to do it again this year, because I remained pretty healthy last winter. 

Another great thing to have on hand is raw, local honey.

As you can see, I have already begun stocking my pantry, and we've already begun using it!

This is not to be confused with your everyday supermarket honey.

Even honey labeled 'local', may not be local to you!

(I read the fine print on a bottle of honey at Walmart recently that said "local' on the front, and it was manufactured two states away from where I live!)

I get our honey from a family friend who is a bee keeper in our area.

I drink it in my tea and feed it to my children.

Honey has a long medicinal history.

I have read that it has antiseptic and antibacterial properties.

When my children tell me they have a sore throat, I will make them warm honey water to drink.

I've also just given it to them to eat, straight from a spoon.

It soothes sore throats and can even act as a natural cough suppressant.

Speaking of sore throats, whenever I feel I am coming down with a sore throat, a handy trick that's worked for me is to gargle with hot salt water.

It kills the sick germs in your throat.

I like to put a pinch of baking soda in the water, too.

This works really well!

If I feel I'm coming down with something, but have an event or obligation on the calendar that I cannot miss, I will gargle with this mixture (I make the water as hot as my mouth can stand it!) and then take an ibuprofen.

I feel better almost instantly!

The last few things I'd like to mention have nothing to do with products - they're more habit and lifestyle tips.

But I feel they are just as important!

For me, protecting my and my family's health includes these two things - lots of fresh air and a low-stress life.

What good is eating well, using oils, and taking vitamins, if you're breathing stale, germ-y air and your nerves are on edge?

I know everybody's different, so take what I write and use common sense by comparing it to your own situation. I just know for myself that I break down quickly if I allow too much activity to stress out my life!

I stay home as much as I can. We go on nature walks and I am mindful about opening windows to air out the house.

I also sleep with my bedroom window open, even on very chilly nights.

"You would rightly think it horrid if anyone tried to drink dirty water or eat swill, but it is just as nasty to breathe bad air, even though you cannot see how bad it looks. Now there are many people in this world who are very clean and particular about everything, except about the air they breathe. Some of these people are afraid to open the windows and change the air because they say they catch cold so easily. But if they opened their windows often enough, and breathed nothing but fresh air, they would soon grow so much stronger that they would cease to catch cold so easily."

- H.A. Guerber, Yourself and Your House Wonderful 

A large part of what can add stress to my life is being around negative people.

I love to surround myself with uplifting people.

I am lucky that most people in my circle are lovely to be around.

The people who are not, I limit my time with.

"He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."

- Proverbs 13:20

Sometimes you cannot avoid such people entirely.

Perhaps it is a co-worker, a boss, or an extended family member, so you don't have the luxury of limiting your exposure to them.

When I am in such situations I do two things - I depend upon the Lord to give me the strength to be around these people. And then I focus on being kind to them, even though they are not kind to me. Because who knows? I may inspire and uplift them by my good example. 

But if I can avoid them, I certainly do!

I have politely declined invitations to social gatherings because of this.

Not because these people have control over me, but because I know the value of a peace-filled life.

For me, being around negativity can cause an inner turmoil to happen inside me. That leads to stress, and stress can potentially break down my immune system, leaving me vulnerable to getting sick.

It's best to pour my time and energy into my own family, anyway.

My husband and my children are my favorite people in the world!

"Learn what it means to be happy, and to make others happy in your own home."

- H.A. Guerber 

Of course, there are certainly other ways to stay healthy. Faithful hand-washing and regularly eating fruits and vegetables have great health benefits, too! This was just a post about what's been on my mind lately, and what I know has worked for me in the past.

You are welcome to give me any tips about how you stay healthy in the comments!

We can learn from each other!

Let's stay well this fall and winter!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Some of the photos in this post were taken from Yourself and Your House Wonderful and A Child's Garden of Verses.