I do not celebrate Christmas like other people do. I do not buy presents and put up a tree. I might on good years make handmade cards but it is getting harder each year to do that. I tell myself to get ready in July so they are good to go in November but I rarely do. Looks like this will be another years without an annual Christmas card. I certainly hope people don’t think I kicked the bucket. It just takes a ton of work.

But there are things I do to get in the mood. I like looking at artwork with Christmas themes. I am a huge fan of Katie Daisy. Her art is so special. Here are some of my favorites.

You can buy her art prints from her Etsy shop or maybe get a set of cards. Her prints are so nostalgic to me. The pint and mint colors and the shiny bright ornaments.

The one year my Grandmother came to stay with us during the holidays and we made a Gingerbread House.

The ribbon candy reminds me of my Grandmother and her bowls of hard candy just waiting for little kids to suck on them with sticky fingers.

Pictures of snow and winter critters with their warm coats exploring their territory with a cold stillness.

Such nice images to bring in the Christmas spirit.

Thank you for checking out my blog.

It is my final post on the Autumn Bucket List 2023. Although I finished this project before the deadline I did not get a chance to photograph it.

Again, this is another Primrose Cottage design called Autumn Rules. My sister also did this design as well as the Christmas Rules design. She even managed to mount them on long boards with ribbons and Autumn picks. She did a wonderful job. Ahh to be retired and have some extra time.

It is a little hard to see the design so here are some closeups. I used a Lugana fabric which is so easy to stitch on.

I just need to finish this project. I have the board but I need to choose a background fabric and use some autumn picks and ribbon. But no rush since Autumn is officially over. Hopefully I can do the Christmas Rules next year. So much to stitch, so little time. But now I am all about Christmas activities now so I closing out my Autumn Bucket list for 2023.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, all the pumpkins and bats are exciting to me. So it comes as no surprise that I cross stitch Halloween designs.

I decided to do a couple of Primrose cottage designs. The first is the Salem Sisters Apothecary on linen. I was hoping to get the frame from Etsy but it sells out before I even have a chance to see it on sale.

Then I decided to do a bunch of smalls from Primrose Cottage book called 13 Halloween Smalls. I just did 6 of them. Not sure if I am going to make ornaments, small pillows for a dough bowl or frame them.

These were quick and easy to stitch up. Maybe next year I can do the other ones in the book.

Now I am off stitching up Christmas designs.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Well officially my bucket list deadline has passed since today is December 1st. But I doubt the Autumn Bucket list police are going to arrest me.

Today I did my simmer pot. I would have done it yesterday but did not want to have a pot on the stove when I was going to run an errand.

I bought this simmer mix from Etsy. It is called sweet cranberry and has cinnamon, apples, cranberries and orange.

It made the house smell yummy. Even my brother asked what smelled so good.

This is the first time I have done a simmer pot. Easy to do and the scent is just heavenly. I will use this for a few more days before tossing. Technically I have no idea how long these last so I will play mit by ear, or nose. Lol. I will have to get a Christmas scent for December. I am sure there are many great simmer packets available on Etsy.

Thank you for checking out my blog.

This year the trees around the neighborhood seemed to wait until the later in the season to change. Many of the foliage I was used to seeing in its Autumn glory still have not changed and yet some trees have already lost their leaves. 🍁. Very odd indeed.

I drove around looking for some trees in their glory and found a few trees and leaves 🍁 to admire.

I did take the opportunity to go down streets I have never been down before. There were a few houses all decked out for Christmas that I will have to check out in December.

I am not one to hike but here is a photo from Placerita Canyon in all its glory. So I guess we do have the autumn season here in sunny Southern California. Who knew.

Thank you for checking out my blog and happy Autumn to all who visit. 🍂🍁 ☀️

One of the things that make autumn feel like autumn is the aroma of fall scents. Whether it is rain on leaves, pumpkin spice, apple pie, cinnamon, heavenly smells of breads, soup or casseroles cooking in a warm oven. Fortunately our friends at Bath and Body Works makes it easy by creating “wallflowers” of a variety of autumn scents in fragrance plugs that twist into beautiful night lights.

I decided to add the Pumpkin Pecan Waffles fragrance plug that smells like maple syrup, golden waffles, pumpkin spice and brown sugar. Yummy.

A nice little glow in the kitchen at night with a yummy scent. Welcome Autumn.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

This year I went with the less traditional autumn meals.

During October I made the Pumpkin and Feta flatbread. It was good considering I am not a fan of flatbread. I prefer a more “doughy” base. But the toppings were good with the caramelized onions and feta/pumpkin flavor.

The other meal I made in October was on Halloween night. I made nachos with orange and black chips. There was enough toppings on the chips to consider this a meal. Meat, refried beans, jalapeños, cheese sauce and shredded cheese, sour cream, olives and avocados. This year I only had 5 kids show up at the house. Way too much candy. Some years I have had 100 kids so it was hard to guess the number of potential trick or treaters.

My other autumn themed meal was a medley of butternut squash, cranberries and onions with slices of feta and apple sausages. A warm meals with a burst of autumn flavor.

My other meal was a breakfast. I saw a recipe for cinnamon rolls from the tube but with brown sugar, butter, cranberries and pecans. Very tasty for a breakfast. Fast and easy.

I also made a taco soup that was more like a chili. Warm and comforting.

And finally as a bonus I had my traditional Aldi Jack O’Lantern pizza. I did add some additional toppings to make it tastier.

Not very traditional this year but nevertheless the feel of autumn foods prevailed.

Thank you for checking out my blog.

I always enjoy the annual Hallmark Autumn Movie release. This years theme is Fall in Love. There are seven new releases that tie into the autumn season (kinda).

Love in the Great Smoky Mountains was a nice little movie about two estranged exes who end up together on the archeological dig in the Smokey Mountain. Of course they make up and come to an understanding while searching for a treasure.

I did not feel any chemistry so I will give it 🎃🎃.

Fourth Down and Love is about two ex lovers who are thrown together on her daughter’s football game, he, an injured pro footballer, she who resists his charms as they come together to spite themselves.

This one was cute so I would give it 🎃🎃🎃 rating.

Notes of Autumn is about two people who are two longtime bffs who live in different cities. Both feeling “stuck,” they decide to switch places and live each other’s lives for fun. Doing so has them both finding unexpected love!

I like Ashley Williams so I enjoyed this one. 🎃🎃🎃

Retreat to You is about 2 friends who are holding onto past grudges. So when the two once-best friends find themselves at a retreat hosted by one of their mutual friends, their feud is reignited. Let’s see if that grudge can turn into romance.

🎃🎃 rating

A Very Venice Romance is about an executive who pursues a chef in Italy and falls in love. The food looked great and he was easy on the eyes. Not sure what this had to do with Autumn.

🎃🎃 rating

3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost is about a ghost who is stuck in a mansion that the heroine is determined to sell. She runs into her ex boyfriend and the ghost decides to play match maker.

At first I was bored but it picked up the pace. That character did not grab me so I am giving it a 🎃🎃1/2 rating.

Field Day is about three women who are stuck doing the worst event on the PTA, “Field Day”, a grueling physical event that challenges everyone. The heroine is a recently widowed Mom who is struggling to make a new life.

I liked this one. I like both lead characters. 🎃🎃🎃🎃

Overall these movies had nothing to do with Autumn. I think Hallmark dropped the ball on this one. Give me pumpkins, a hay ride, trees of glorious gold and red. Maybe some pumpkin spice. Generally overall I was bored with these movies and was really disappointed. I hope next year they go back to those tradition Autumn/Halloween vibe films.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

I must say my cooking skills have deteriorated over time. Since I only cook for myself I rarely make a new recipe. So this did not go well…or at a minimum it did not go as planned. Not a disaster but more of a “Oops, not what I expected”. This is my story and I am sticking to it.

I wanted to make an autumn themed meal by making Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes and Kielbasa. As you can see from the picture below it should be a nice meal with potatoes.

Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes and Kielbasa

Prep Time 10minutes minutes

Cook Time 3hours hours

Total Time 3hours hours 10minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 

Ingredients

• 12 oz Kielbasa I used Beef Kielbasa, sliced into bite-size (about ½ inch thick)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter I used salted butter, but unsalted will work perfectly
• 3 cans 14.5 oz. diced potatoes, drained (I used Del Monte Fresh Cut Diced New potatoes)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced onion
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ cup chopped onions I used sweet onions, but you can use white onions or red onions
• 3 cups fresh shredded cheese I used 1 ½ cups Colby Jack and 1 ½ cups mild Cheddar. You may need more if you want to top each serving with cheese approx ½ cup.
• 1 can 10.5 oz. cheddar cream soup
• ½ cup milk (I used 2% milk you could use whole milk but would not recommend heavy cream)

Instructions

• Spray the slow cooker liner with non-stick spray.
• Add melted butter. Pour the potatoes and the spices. Mix to coat.
• Add the sliced Kielbasa, chopped onions, and cheese. Mix well.
• Add the cheddar cream soup and the milk and mix until all ingredients are well blended together.
• Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours until the potatoes are nice and soft.
• Serve and enjoy with your favorite toppings!

But what I got instead was cheesy potato soup with kielbasa. Lol. It was not bad at all, just not what I was expecting. So this autumn meal became my Autumn Bucket List for soup. Wha-la!

So at least I don’t need to make another soup.

Thank you for checking out my blog.

I have given my Autumn Bucket list a deadline of November 30th to complete. I still have a few things left to do. Oh the pressure. When Thanksgiving is over I feel it is Christmas time so it feels weird but I will call this last week a “grace period” for the slacker in me.

Since I got up early this morning I thought I would tackle the pumpkin bread since it takes a long time to bake. Normally on the weekend I finally get moving around 10-11ish. But today was 5:30am. Very odd for me but it makes sense because I went to bed early last night due to traveling most of yesterday.

Every time I make pumpkin bread I think of when I forgot to add the pumpkin purée to the mix. Sadly it was the day after my Mom passed away and was making some breakfast for my sister and brother in law. To say the least I was distracted.

The Libby brand of pumpkin bread always makes two loaves. My sister told me that she slices up the second one and wraps individual slices in press and seal and freeze for another day. A good idea that I will try.

Thank you for checking out my blog.