On October 10, 2005, I began working at AGC in the Abingdon, Virginia  plant– at that time called AFG Glass, and today that ended.   I was very certain this is what I wanted to do in March…not as certain in May…but today as I pulled out of the Kingsport Corporate Services Office parking lot, I was happy.  Starting my new life!

Fall is my favorite season of the year, and there are lots of opportunities among the family of bloggers to share fall decor ideas.  I can’t wait to get started.  I have some inspiration in these beautiful sunflowers my young and precious neighbor, Sarah Kiser, gave me.

So…I got home and following a celebratory nap, I continued thinking about fall.   I decided there was no better time than today to start introducing autumn into my house.   It was also more fun than cleaning windows.   Since you enter my house from the foyer, I started there.

Here’s how my foyer has looked all summer…

So, to transition to fall here’s the minor changes I made today.   I decided to use the P. Buckley Moss picture commemorating Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots festival as the festival occurs in September.    The “B” was to also undergo a transformation.  It is not exactly as I want it but it will work for a day or two until I fix it.   Of course, I added gourds since I’m covered up in them.

However, as I looked at the picture, it just looked flat…a little blah.   I like a live plant here and there — even though this topiary is not as healthy as it used to be–so I added the plant and removed a few of the gourds.  Here’s what my foyer looks like tonight as I go to bed.

Back to these gourds…they are everywhere in my house.  When I stumble on come up with a good idea, I get all the mileage I can out of it.   I picked 200 from my garden, and when they are not rotting I really enjoy seeing them in my house.    However, I have to “cull” them weekly.    Here’s what happens if I forget to look through them…..

Gag…I should have warned you.  This little monster was rotting in a bowl in our dining room.   Does it make you hungry…want to eat at my house?

Earlier today I was completely chapped thinking I smelled cat pee in the dining room.  We keep gates up to keep the cats out of most of our house, and I was immediately mad at Mike for possibly letting Sweetie Pi (she’s a mathmetician in the cat world) in the dining room.   However, I could not find the cat pee.  I looked…and sniffed…and looked and sniffed some more.   I know…nasty.

Then, I spotted the gourds, and started pulling them out of the bowl.  It was bad.   There were about five that were starting to rot, and the bowl had moisture in the bottom.  Guess what it smelled like?

Not to get too far off the subject, but the stinkin’ rotten gourd thing reminded me of when I was in my 20’s and worked at United Telephone in Bristol.  I made a huge ordeal about an odor at my desk and had everyone looking for a dead mouse.  As it turned out, it was my feet.   Just thinking about it makes my face turn red.

And…I am all thumbs today.   That little “B” was going to be such a smashing idea.  You would have been very impressed with me…heck..I was very impressed with me!  A little bit of fall themed scrapbook paper, slap the “B” on and immediate results.

I got my “B” at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon so it was a little over $1.00.    I had such high hopes for my “B”.

It didn’t work out.  I didn’t read the instructions.   I’m getting a new “B”.  I’m following the instructions after I ruined this one.   Although it does look a little scary…maybe a Halloween “B”?

If you see a completed project on this blog, you will know that it was EASY with a very good success rate. Follow me…I’ll find the most mindless projects that give good results and share them!!

Thank you for reading my blog.  Please leave a comment so that I will know you’ve been here!   If you like what I’ve written, please share the Facebook post with your FB friends and ask  them to follow RiverCliff Cottage.    I would appreciate it.