Finally Fall!

After a month of traveling the countryside, I returned home to Springfield to settle into fall.

I was finally feeling the mojo. I started craving chili and squash and apple cider and knew it was time to decorate!

I stowed away most of the beachy summer decorations (some of them made their way to my office to tide me over during the winter). I dusted off the mantle and pulled out gold chargers to corral plants and papers, rescued deep orange chinese lanterns from the basement, and added grasses, nuts, and seed pods for the finishing touch.

Pumpkin bowls and a pumpkin soup tureen perch on the dining room hutch while a spaghetti squash chills in the fridge and pork chops and apple brine wait for their turn in a sour kraut crock pot supper.

Ahhhh.... It's my favorite time of year!