Wedding countdown has commenced

We're less than six weeks from the wedding, and the last of the design decisions have been made for the big event. I spent the day in Austin recently, working with our bride, her planner and a couple of her vendors - the florist and stationer - to nail down final details. I also took my mother-in-law shopping for her wedding shoes. She settled on a lovely pair of low heeled sparklers that caught her eye. That's next on my list, figuring out my shoes and jewelry now that I've finally settled on a dress. I swear this fall is rolling downhill like a snowball, gathering speed, and I need it to slow down so I can enjoy every little thing.

A harvest of acorns

Thanks to the fact that we got some rain over the summer, our resident squirrels and deer are enjoying a decent crop of acorns dropping from the oak trees scattered across our five acres. It just so happens that the biggest acorns are those nearest the house where trees got some extra water from our sprinkler system. That means the deer and squirrels come up closer to the Finn and Pepper fence to enjoy the bounty. The squirrels have a habit of slithering through the goat fencing to get the acorns that have dropped in the dog yard, which makes our watchdogs crazy. 

Both Finn and Pepper have a terrier eye for yard trespassers. Finn in particular will commence to barking the minute he spies a squirrel or deer in the yard or along the fence line. Pepper will usually come over to see what all the commotion is about and then I have two busily baying cairns eager to get out the back door. In the video above, our great squirrel hunters treed a big fat acorn eater right outside the fence. If you look closely in the video, you'll see the squirrel angrily flicking his tail in the tree because he was so rudely run off from his snack. I love how the dogs come loping back to the porch, happy with themselves for a job well done running off their backyard nemesis. 

Beautiful inside & out

My monthly volunteering at a local group home for girls was focused on inner and outer beauty. Our Chicktime leader arranged for a beauty consultant to come in and discuss the benefits of good skincare so that the girl's outside reflects their inside. The girls had a lot of fund learning about how to take care of their skin, which included a clay face mask.

In my role as snack lady, I whipped up some ranch and onion dips. To keep with our pink theme, I even added a little dye to make them pink. The girls gobbled up the chip assortment with dips, as well as the pink cookie cakes and candy I brought along. As always, the leftovers went back to their cabins to enjoy for a snack over the weekend. Next up is our halloween/fall themed day. I've been busy gathering  the items to make BOO! bags for each of the girls, which they always enjoy receiving. It continues to amaze me how simple things like deodorant, socks, a scented chapstick and ring pop puts a smile on their faces. Talk about giving you perspective!

 

It's me, I'm Goldilocks

Goodness gracious, y'all, I have had a humdinger of a time in my search for the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress. I purposely postponed the more serious dress shopping until this summer because I was working to drop the winter blubber. Now that this has been accomplished, I find myself starting to feel pressed for time.

I swear I didn't think this process would be so challenging. Granted, it took me a solid few months of trying on a variety of styles to narrow down what's most flattering on my shape. Then it became all about finding the right dress silhouette in a color that works with the bride's vibe. Easier said than done, it seems. Right color, wrong neckline. Right length, wrong sleeves. Right style, wrong fabric. And thus the dress selection difficulty. At this point, I'm still waiting on a couple custom dresses to arrive from overseas, as well as two I ordered from a boutique (see below). I've got my fingers crossed that at least one of these will be "the one". 

At my age, it's not as if I can throw on any old thing like our daughters can and still look fabulous. There are things like a postmenopausal belly to consider. Don't get me started on batwings. Plus the swan neck that's leaning more turkey wattle with every passing year. And so it goes. At least I'm a couple sizes smaller, so there's a silver lining to my old lady dress dilemma. I've about decided I'm being a total nitpick because these pictures will be enshrined in the family lore, sitting around in beautiful keepsake picture books until I take my last breath. One day I'm sure I'll look back on these pictures and marvel at the fresh(er) face. Maybe our great grandchildren will do the same. At this point, the one thing I do know is I have to make a decision soon so any alterations can be accomplished since I can't show up wearing my comfy old brown chenille bathrobe that the family calls my bear suit. Right?!

 

So long, September

How is it the last day of September? I long for fall all year, and then it goes by way too quickly. These next three months will be littered with all sorts of fun things, not the least of which is our older daughter's wedding. Before that, we've got little trips planned to Dallas to visit the younger daughter. The husband and I are also heading to a new lake in northeast Texas to check out the possibility of it being another retirement option. Then we'll be flying to a resort in Colorado for the husband's annual board meeting and strategic planning retreat that includes spouses. We're keeping the road hot, as my granny used to say.

Per social media, last week was national daughter's day and I missed it. Since I neglected showing them off on the socials, I'm posting a couple recent pics of our sweet lovelies here in the blogosphere. I'm still not sure how two very average looking folks like me and the husband created such pretty girls, but there ya go. These pics were taken of our very own Lucy and Ethel when they were in Miami for the older daughter's bachelorette weekend recently. Y'all know I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for all the drinking festivities. Fun was had by the bridal party, no arrests were made, and they all traveled home in one piece. 

 

Finn's hooked on the telly

I have no idea why, but our younger cairn Finn has become quite the television watcher. We had noticed him giving it some attention for the past six months. But now it has ramped up to very regular viewing. The problem with that is he's easily excited and/or disturbed by what he sees on TV. I think many of us can relate to witnessing disturbing things on the telly, y'all, and most times that's the evening news. 

At first Finn just barked at dogs. Then it branched out to all animals. Now it's anything that catches his attention. It's to the point where I had to go in search of the old fly swatter I had ferreted away beneath the laundry room sink to use as a deterrent. Truly a granny Doris move right there. I don't have to actually wield the fly swatter. All that's necessary is using a strident tone of voice and waving it in a threatening manner to get him to stop the television barking. He's such a quirky little guy. Who can resist that face, I ask you... even when it's naughty.

 

 

False fall has come and gone

It's an annual occurrence, the excitement surrounding that first little cool front that pushes through to get us out of triple digit temps. We call it false fall. Actually, we get a lot of these false falls every year because the warmer temps creep right back in. Fortunately for us, our first hint of fall arrived earlier in the week, a bit ahead of its usual schedule. I sat in one of the porch swings at our pool pavilion in the late afternoon to do a bit of reading and didn't break a sweat. It was pretty amazing, y'all.

In honor of fall creeping up on us, I hauled out my new wreaths to put on our front doors. With the kick-off of college football season, I figured this year we'd represent our family's undergraduate institutions with a bit of Gig 'em and Hook 'em decor. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they're not off to as good a start as the Longhorns. But yeah, we'll hang in there and see how it goes.

The anticipation of autumnal weather means it's time to break out the big old soup pot and start looking at some of my favorite recipes. I decided it was still a bit early for chili, and so I whipped up chicken taco soup for me and the husband to enjoy. Broth based, with double the veggies, it's pretty healthy. But then we go and ruin that with the addition of toppings like sour cream, avocado, crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheddar cheese. The yummy tasting stuff is never good for you, lol!