Happy Fall, Y'all!

Today is the first day of autumn. Now those of you who KNOW me know that I love fall. I love everything about it - the crisp air that takes on a different quality, the apples, the new warmer clothing that we wear (well, some do - here in the South we still wear shorts and flip flops - year round), pumpkins, mums, apple cider, the smell of smoke coming from chimneys signaling the first fires of the season smouldering in fireplaces, and the best of all.....THE FOLIAGE! Oh. My. Gosh. The fall colors just take my breath away. Maple Trees. Maple Trees. Did I mention Maple trees???? We here in central South Carolina don't have fall colors nearly as vividly as New England, or even the Shenandoah Valley or even the Mid-Atlantic. Drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in late October and be prepared to be blown away. The colors are indescribable. It's as if God tossed a box of crayons into the trees and they exploded. Breathtaking!!!! I never cease to be amazed at it. Never.

This is the first autumn in I can't remember HOW LONG that I don't have any decor already out. You see, we are moving beginning Monday afternoon and for starters, everything is boxed and ready to go and I HAVE NO IDEA where my fall decorations are. Today is the last day of National Cupcake Week (UK) and wasn't able to bake any of those either. Yep, pans are packed away....somewhere. It will be a joy to be able to unpack and reaquaint myself with things that have been long stored as I had no place to put them. The new digs are only temporary, though - one year. Hopefully at the end of that 12 month period I will have found my 'place' in the sun. I'd like to think it's a little farmette - not that I want to become a REAL farmer or anything.....you know, a white two story farmhouse with a white picket fence that just screams out for climbing roses and/or jasmine. A porch with room for the rockers. A back porch with room for the swing and an outside deck/patio with room for the outdoor fireplace. Where will this be, you ask? No clue. At least right now. It will be interesting to see what actually presents itself. Knowing me, it won't even be remotely close to what I just described. I do know this, it will have to have a beautiful Japanese Maple tree just outside the window so that I can see it when I look outside. To me, what I see when I look out is far more important than the inside. What's on the inside can be changed. A view to die for.....you can't. I think I'll know it when I find it. Thought I had found it once - but unfortunately it did not come to pass. I was terribly disappointed - long story, another blog perhaps. Or perhaps not. Better to put that to rest and press onward.... "Life Cannot Be Measured in the Number of Breaths We Take, But By Moments That Take Our Breath Away"..... I want to find that moment. I'm sure you all do, too. Happy Autumn!!!

SOLD!!

Well, we did it. We sold the house! Listed it back in March, and hoped it would sell in time for us to make an offer on a house I just fell in love with in Blandford, Massachusetts. You see, this house we found 'up north' had exactly WHAT I was looking for in a house - and it had charm, and was in a picture perfect location. I could just SEE us there. I already had a life planned around that house...and that was just totally wrong! We got an offer on our house - at last. It was less than I had hoped to sell for, but still.... Then we made an offer on our dream house. We just KNEW we had it. BUT HE TURNED DOWN OUR OFFER. After focusing on that house for over a year, he burst my bubble 'just like that'....POP!!! So now we have less than a month until I close on the house I have lived in for nearly 20 years and raised my children in (well, my youngest, anyway. My oldest was 16 when we bought it)....and have no place to go. We started looking.... We have decided to find a house to rent instead of buy, simply because we don't know WHERE we want to be. Or at least I don't. One thing I am certain of, is that I want to move away and live somewhere else just once! I thought it was going to be in Blandford MA, but that's obviously not going to happen anytime soon. BUMMER!! We have found a rental - a perfectly acceptable lovely house. It was one of a very few that would allow our four-legged children to reside there as well. We're going to see it tomorrow after work. Hopefully it will be just fine for the next year. In that time, maybe I can figure out my intended life's path...and where I want/need to be. Now I won't be rushed to find something and can figure out what location touches my heart and soul. I just hope I recognize it!! Will keep you posted. Maybe tomorrow I won't be homeless after September 28! The four legged kids are packing already....