With Mother Nature's Help

As most of you know, this past weekend we opened our home for our township's Founder's Day Historic House Tour!  Now that I am finally able to hold my head upright again (man, was I house tour tired!), I would love to share some photos of the house wearing its fall colors, and invite you to the Fall Decorating Party at Hooked on Houses--one of my very favorite blogs!

My husband and I chuckled (maybe it is more accurate to say we weakly smiled) yesterday as we recounted all the craziness we put ourselves through these past few weeks as we feverishly prepared for the big day. All of the scrubbing, painting, arranging, inspecting, vacuuming, re-arranging, revisiting, revamping, and never retiring--it is enough to make one Historic House Tour Hysterical.

This is my favorite time of year in the garden. With the days becoming shorter and the nights cooler, the colors intensify and become more saturated.  Everything has grown and grown all summer, and is putting on a wonderful show before going to bed for the winter. I  was happy to have my crab apples greet people as they approached the house.

I plunked some red mums in my new planter.....

I love the tight little buds of red on the blooms that haven't quite opened yet.

and put a cabbage in the old birdbath by the porch...

In years past, my ornamental cabbages were afternoon snacks for our resident family of groundhogs. I really do think that they believe that they own the house, and that I am just the sucker who pays the mortgage.  Let's just see if they can get to the cabbage this year! HA!

For inside the house, I bought some eucalyptus greens and snapdragons to round out the cuttings from the garden.

It has been so nice to have them around to enjoy. When I finish rooms for clients, I almost always incorporate fresh flowers....but I admit, I don't always take the time to do so for myself, especially not throughout all parts of the house.

While the house isn't yet filled with pumpkins, gourds and other fall items, I am pleased with the simple embellishments that Mother Nature has so generously provided with all her September splendor...all right outside my door!  Please visit Julia's Fall Decor Party to see how others are celebrating the change of seasons!