Happy Labor Day Weekend Saturday!

Happy Labor Day weekend, friends! It’s calm here this weekend. A few new recipes will be tried. Praying for a bit of needed rain…and tackling more tomatoes that require a plan to tuck into the freezer in some sort of fashion.

What’s on your agenda for Labor Day weekend?

Will you be camping? Out on the lake? Gathering with family and friends? Attending a parade or a festival? or working on DIY projects like my son is with a new office remodel. I’m watching that from a distance.

We’ll have time for grilling, gathering, and gardening for starters. Finishing a few items on the list…and still creating time for rest and holiday feels will happen here.

Last week, buckets of limelights were picked and began drying to be used for decorations for a future event. My poor dining room floor has been covered with buckets of these…and the table is holding jars of smaller ones.

Since you have to wait for the papery feel, I think I waited a little late so this year’s harvest seemed to produce more that were brown instead. Although we water, all of our hydrangeas have suffered a bit from the heat and dry spell we have had.

Plus…I think the early blooming means the early ending of things here.

Has that happened to you?

And…the blue hydrangea wreath I’m drying?

The featured wreath?

Just a word about that…hydrangeas need to be to the papery feel of drying before actually making a dried hydrangea wreath. It’s always a challenge with blue hydrangea for me…because they want to change colors that make them not the true blue that I want.

Dried blue hydrangeas, or at least mine, seem to not dry as well as the limelights. Their blossoms tend to turn under and roll rather than keep their shape like limelights.

But the colors changing from greens, turquoise with those blues, and even a bit of purples, made me grab them and give them a try. As with all of my dried hydrangea wreaths, I add more in as they dry to make it fuller and then remove some that don’t dry as beautifully as others. So far this one is winning!

If you have hydrangeas, you will learn which ones dry better than others, and at which stage.

If you want the “how to create a dried hydrangea wreath” post, just click here. Here’s last year’s hydrangea wreath…

The September VUE magazine is online!

This week the Vue magazine released its September magazine. Two favorite recipes that I have shared here were added to the great fall lunch recipes among the pages. You can read the Vue online here.

I’ll be busy working on recipes for the next issues of the VUE magazine this weekend so that I can give them my best while there are others to help us eat all of it!

This month’s article in the VUE magazine is about the backpack…hopefully thought provoking about what we tend to pack and carry. You can read that article here.

If you missed the blog this week?

A genius idea of my husband’s felt worthy of sharing since I love it so much. An addition of a swinging IKEA mirror on the back of the bathroom door that gives me a great view of my back when styling my hair, etc. You can read it here.

I don’t know about you…but, this time of year a few DIYs before winter weather hits always seems to find their way to our “to do list”.

Are you like that, too??

Still not finished with an idea board yet for a makeover for the office yet…any great ideas are welcome! A transformation to add more to the creative area of the room is happening. All in a small space.

And then there are more gifts to make. Plans for Christmas gifts for great nieces are in the works. Can’t wait to show you. Wish me luck!

Here’s what I found to inspire me this week.

Hope you love all of these ideas, too.

• With moving rugs in and out for cleaning, this new find at Amazon was genius at lifting furniture to remove and put back rugs. Soooo helpful! They even have their own carrying case.
• This article told me what plants NOT to plant with my lavender…so helpful since I have some to plant right now.
• Who knew that August was the perfect time of year for propagating plants so you have more next year? Here’s what I found.

Time for fall travel?

If fall is your favorite time to travel with less crowds and the changing fall leaves, I get it. It’s one of our favorites, too. Fall breaks may make traveling an easier option with kids or grands. If you are looking for ideas…here are some of my favorites.

• Does seeing the Southern Living Idea House sound like fun? Here’s the info for the 2024 house to tour. If you are close enough for a trip, I highly recommend it. Here’s last year’s tour.
• If fall travel is in your plans? Biltmore Christmas tours never fail to inspire or leave you ready for the holidays. You can click here for the Christmas and evening candlelight tour options…one of my favorites there.
• And while you are in Asheville? The National Gingerbread House Competition is on my bucket list to view…NOT compete! Ha!
• We will be heading to Dollywood for the Harvest Festival in the fall. So much beauty, music and great food always await at ANY season.
• And I’m always in for a trip to the beach, especially 30A in Florida…you can read about our last trip there here.

Do you need menu plan ideas?

I’m working on planning out meals for after the Labor Day weekend. Here’s a few of our favorites that I may add in next week…

• chicken enchilada crockpot casserole.

• this great 1905 Columbia salad.

And then there’s more grilling to do before the season leaves us…

• Summer garden skewers.
• Campfire s’more pizza.
• Grilled tuna sandwiches may happen here this weekend.

And one more for the road this Labor Day weekend…

What was for lunch? A simple fresh mozzarella caprese grilled cheese on sour dough with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden–then drizzled with a bit of honey! Hope you try it. Soooo good!

Happy Labor Day weekend, friends! May you find time to be creative, rest and gather with feet under your table for great food and conversation.

Blessings to you all,

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