Tags, Meme's and Awards, Brady and more Fall Decor

What a gorgeous weekend we are having here in Central MA. Absolutely delightful. It was a busy Saturday Behind and outside of My Red Door! We took advantage of the weather and got our yard work done this morning. I put more of my perennial garden beds to rest, touched up the bark mulch and I finally got the last of my outside fall decor in place. It feels so good to have it done and now we can enjoy it as we come and go. Our home is at the beginning of a long street in our neighborhood therefore many neighbors pass it coming and going in their cars and on their neighborhood strolls. At least once while I am out there digging in my garden in my oldest clothes, no make up on, hair a mess, dirt on my face and usually with my butt in the air, someone will stop and tell me they enjoy seeing my seasonal decor or what is blooming in the garden. Most homes in our neighborhood are done in the run of the mill builders landscaping with little imagination. A few folks put a pumpkin or mum out in the fall and some use lights and blow up yard ornamentation at the Holidays, but otherwise, it's pretty simple and certainly there is nothing primitive to be found. It really makes our home stand out - for better or worse!

Before I get to those pictures, the important stuff first! I've been tagged by Jess over at Life The White House. YES - The White House! You didn't realize I was that connected huh? Seriously, Jess is a sweet gal who is blogging about her attempts to become a mom, something so many of us took for granted. They have faced many obstacles, and I wish Jess and her husband the very best in this journey.

The Rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them (well - there ya go - perfect for me!)

FIVE WAYS BLOGGING HAS AFFECTED ME:

1) It has connected to me to many other gals who love primitive and colonial decor. I get to see their homes and primitive crafts and I am inspired. And it makes me realize that what is prim in New England is not necessarily the same as prim in Ohio, or Nebraska or Utah or California. I definitely see that prim around here is very much inspired by colonial decor and historically accurate items. In other areas, prim can just mean something old and grungy. We all have our own definition of prim - but we all love black and homespun and crocks and treenware!

2) I am learning more about the real lives of farming families. Several of my blogging friends are wives of real life farmers. I love the education I am getting. It makes me appreciate the fresh eggs and milk and produce even more.

3) I am meeting gals from all over the US and Canada and I get to see their parts of the country! I love road trips that explore the back roads of our great country and through blogging, I can get a glimpse of their home towns and home states as well.

4) The pressure is on - but in a good way. I am inspired to get projects finished knowing my peeps enjoy it when I post pictures.

5) I get to talk about and share things that are important or interesting to me. I mostly choose to make my blog lighthearted about home, family and friends and not delve too deeply into social issues, but I can if I want to.

I could list many other ways that blogging has changed my life, but I'll leave that up to all of you that choose to join in because I choose to tag everyone that reads this and decides to participate.

And my sweet friend Tammy over Country Girl at Home, has honored me with the I Love Your Blog award. I have already done this one so I will simply say a sincere THANK YOU to Tammy. I love your blog as well so the feeling is mutual !

Sometimes tags, memes and awards can take up a lot of precious blogging time and so for that reason, some of my blogging friends have mentioned they prefer to avoid these. I respect that. Blogging takes time, uploading photo's, writing the post, reading comments, checking out other blogs, leaving them comment etc. I know some gals that actually have lives outside their blogs. Imagine that! They have kids to raise and sometimes home school or get to school, jobs to go to, houses to clean, meals to cook, yards to tend, pets to feed and walk, errands to run, laundry to wash, beds to make, etc etc. Tags, memes and awards can really eat into that very limited blogging time and I never want to assume someone else wants to take the time to participate. Therefore from now on, this is the route I am taking with ALL awards, memes and tags. I will mention it in my post, participate myself, and I will link back to the person honoring me, but I will not single out blogs and instead, ask anyone reading it to participate if they so choose. I have thought about this a lot and I think it is the only fair way to handle them in light of the comments and posts I have read on this subject.

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One of the more fun things we did today was to doggy sit this guy here. This is our grand doggy Brady, named after Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. Our son Jay bought him for his then girlfriend Angela in the fall of 2005. He was the cutest and softest little guy. He reminded me of the pound puppy stuffed animals the kids had when they were little. Growing up as the daughter of the mailman, I saw my dad get bitten several times. When I was dating David, his dog bite right through his lip, requiring him to have plastic surgery. So Brady was and is the first and only dog I ever loved. He tricked me though. He didn't stay that small sweet cuddly little guy I fell in love with - no, not at all. He's about 150 pounds right now. But he is the most lovable big guy and he knows he has us all wrapped around his tail! Brady has a very special relationship with my DH. Brady will walk right past other people to go lick DH. LOL -It's a mutual admiration society. Brady loves his Grampy and Grampy loves Brady! He's pretty smart too. He knows he cannot lick me, but he can slide right up against me and I will pet him to his hearts content. He looks up at me sometimes as if to say "have you gotten over it yet? Can I lick you now?" Sorry Brady - that ain't gonna happen in this lifetime!

This is Brady watching us leave. When we get outside, he'll be looking out the window as we drive away. That's his very own couch he is on.Complete with his own blankets. He is not spoiled or anything. Not at all. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you! And yes, Brady does watch golf with his Grampy.

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And finally, here are some pics of my outdoor fall decor. You can see what a pretty day we had. The air was a dry as can be and just cool enough so that it was pleasant working outside in the sun. One good thing I can say about all the rain we had all summer, our lawn is still very green.

The front left corner of our yard.

Left side of the garage
The garage
To the right of the garage

Front garden area

Mr Scarecrow sitting guard

Front door (the sign says Harvest)

Sunday is going to be another gorgeous day, and if I can tear DH away from the TV and the Ryder Cup, we are going to the orchard or farm stand for some apples.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday, and I'll be back on Wednesday with some show and tell of my trip to Pickity Place with my friend Chris again. It's wonderful in the fall!

Until next time - hugs, Linda