Isn’t this cute?

And do you know of any reason why I can’t make something like this? I’ve got the window and the paint.

Tomorrow!

I drove home from Bristol last night very carefully. At 6:30 in the evening, it was pitch black and raining like cats and dogs. I drive a Prius which gets great gas mileage, but it does not perform that well on slick roads–especially when they have wet leaves over them. Yikes!

What a difference from the gorgeous Sunday we had yesterday.  Mike and I went to church and then came home and jumped into doing outdoor things.

One of my outdoor things yesterday was brushing Luckie and Gracie.   Look at Luckie in this photo…she looks pitiful. Unkept. My Luckie Dog looks like a stray. (Well, a fat stray.) Luckie and I are both ashamed.

I brushed and brushed. I used a Furminator. In this picture, there is just a little bit of dog fur on the ground around Gracie and Luckie, but it gives you an idea of how much fur came off of Luckie.

It was everywhere. I raked most of it, but even so, this was left behind.

my true love) for $14 each. They are so durable and light to move, and they come in assorted colors.

Whoops! I hate it when such a good plan goes awry.

Before another minute passes…

Before I look at the Pottery Barn Christmas catalog for the 17th time…

I want to enjoy this pretty piece of autumn that Katie Harris painted and I purchased at her Mendota gift store. (Note…Mendota still doesn’t have a grocery store…just Katie’s little store that she opens when she wants to….just another eccentricity of our rural life!).

I’m liking this a lot. And look…remember those gourds that I grew and gathered and gathered? Talked about them a bit here.

There are a few still here along with my pumpkin I made for 25 cents. I’m going to have to get the beans out of that pumpkin if I don’t go to grocery store soon!

Before fall gets away completely and we’re totally wrapped up in the Christmas holiday, I also want to give someone an opportunity to have this cute little Thanksgiving apron and dish towel. I wish I was rich…I’d give something away every day. It’s so fun. Each one of you could be my Secret Pal! Alas, I am not rich in that way.

Here’s the apron…I hung it on the fence post. See the turned ground behind it..the naked trees? Winter’s near!

Here’s the dishtowel. I bought it at the Family Bakery in Gate City, Virginia, with this blog in mind. I’m so grateful for all that I’ve been given. It’s fun to share.

To win this, it’s very simple. Just leave a comment on the blog saying anything you wish–the comment section is at the bottom of this page where it says “leave a comment.” The second way to enter is to comment on the Facebook entry where this post was introduced. You can enter twice..once on the blog and once on Facebook. The drawing will be random on Friday morning. The dishtowel and apron will be in the mail to the winner that afternoon. Should arrive in plenty of time for Thanksgiving!

If you don’t need or want a Thanksgiving apron or dishtowel, please share this blogpost with someone who might so they can be introduced to RiverCliff Cottage. More blog readers would be sweet!

Thank you for reading. Should I apologize for the post a few days ago where my face was green?

Nahh…

How are you dealing with the time change?  And the fact it got so cold recently?  Me…I’m out of whack.

We’re using the heat now, and my skin is dry.   I have very dry skin. When I attended high school, I didn’t have a pimple. Not one. That served me well when I was 16, but not now.   Tepid showers, tons of lotion, lots of moisturizer, vitamins, water, and humidifiers throughout the house.  That’s me in the winter. I’ve got some good help with my employer, About Face Aesthetics, Skincare & Weight Management.” Lots of lotions and potions and facials and fun stuff that really help.

Still….I was sitting in the kitchen thinking about my dry skin on Tuesday. You were watching the election results…I was thinking about something of major importance…dry skin.

And then…I looked at this.

Honey

I looked at a pint of my honey. It has so many useful properties. I pulled out the iPad and googled something like “homemade honey facials.” Avacado, honey and olive oil kept coming up.

So I peeled an avacado, took about four tablespoons of honey and about one tablespoon of olive oil and put them all in the blender. Here’s what it looked like.

Have you seen the Exorcist?

And guess what I did next? My husband was totally grossed out. He would not look at me…much less take a picture! Chicken. So…I took one of myself.

Here’s another one. I think I look like a gay man in this one. Seriously. And here’s something else….Don’t my teeth look good against that green?

Maybe I can get in the movies!

And guess what? It worked!

Do you remember a post I called the “Cast of Characters“?  In that post, I was gathering things for  a wall display above our master bedroom dresser.

It moved a little further along today.  I’m not finished, but do you like it so far?

At one point, it looked like this….

The Annie Sloan Chalk Paint product said it will work on plastic, so I painted that green pot “Duck Egg” blue.

I laid these cheap bracelets from Kohl’s out so everyone would think I was very neat in the way I remove my jewelry. One is actually plastic…the smaller one. I looks like real silver and I’ve had it for over two years! The bigger one is something cheap, too. I’ve lost any good jewelry I’ve owned, so I don’t even bother to try. I’m a junk jewelry kind of person!

Hey…I’ll bet I could paint them with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, too!   Just kidding.

Here’s a plate I moved from the bathroom. I used to have several of these and I accidentally broke three in one day. I almost cried.

Here’s another angle of how this area currently looks. Notice the little blue frame with nothing in it? It will say “Family” in chalkboard paint when I get this finished.

.I have never really liked the way the master bedroom looks in this house. With the new slipcoverered chair and ottoman coming and the new bedside end table…

I may change my mind and like this room!