Lake Junaluska and Bailey Mountain Preserve in Mars Hill

 Enjoying Some Local Sight-Seeing

Hi friends! The Mr. and I have been doing some local sight-seeing recently so I thought I would share some of the beautiful scenery we have enjoyed on these day trips. We had occasion on Tuesday to visit some friends in the Lake Junaluska area and stopped by the lake to walk and enjoy the Fall colors. 

Lake Junaluska is a Methodist Retreat Conference Center with many lovely and unique homes situated around the lake and in the area. It has a beautiful walking trail around the lake that is enjoyed by many. 

I always enjoy coming here whether it is to attend our Annual Conference or simply to visit and walk around the lake. The views with the Fall colors and the mountains in the distance are just stunning!

Later this week, we drove to Mars Hill, NC to scope out a trail at Bailey Mountain Preserve. This is a relatively new hiking/walking trail that is located close to Mars Hill University. 

The preserve is located on the old Smith farm and features several old barns which were either located on the property or were dismantled and then rebuilt on this property. 

The trail begins by meandering through a meadow and then into the woods. The first half of the trail through the woods is a footpath that is covered with soft mulch. It's a steady uphill, but not steep, and offers places to sit along the way. The trail eventually turns a bit more rugged. We didn't hike the whole trail but I enjoyed what we did hike.

This tree was huge and located where the trail leaves the meadow and enters the woods. I loved the swing and we made sure to take advantage of swinging for a few minutes as we hiked!

It was an enjoyable time spent walking at Bailey Mountain Preserve and I look forward to going back and hiking more of the trail. Next time, I will be sure to wear my trail shoes and have my hiking stick with me!

We enjoy sight-seeing locally and these two trips were particularly enjoyable for me. 

I also enjoyed a time of retreat last weekend at Hinton Rural Life Center near Hayesville, NC. This retreat center is located next to Lake Chatuge which straddles the NC/Georgia border and is a beautiful spot to rest and spiritually rejuvenate. Since some of the ladies on the retreat requested that their faces not appear on Facebook, which I use to share my blog, I won't show pictures of them. But here are a few pics not showing faces.

 

That's all for now. Life has been busy lately! 

And November is almost here!

Blessings and Peace until next time!

Debbie (this and that)

🍂

A Little More Fall Decor

 Scattering Fall All Around The House

Hi friends!  Since I last blogged I have continued to add Fall items around the house bit by bit. I think that I have finally finished and am officially ready for Fall! I added the October sign you see above to the front door. 

This was how the front door looked at first while I still had the hanging pumpkins on top of the sign.

But then I decided to add more orange to the front door with the Welcome Friends orange pumpkin. This will probably stay this way until October is finished and then I may bring the other wooden pumpkins hanger back to the front door. We'll see. You know I enjoy changing things up a little from time to time!

And then, I just started scattering pumpkins around the living room where I thought they might look good. Like these interesting pumpkins around the light tree. They are made from interesting and textured material. I have actually removed the white/black/orange ceramic jack-o-lanterns to the left of the light tree. I'm much more into Fall decor than Halloween decor and I didn't think the jack-o-lanterns fit. I've decided to give them away to Goodwill for someone else to enjoy.

And these wooden pumpkins look good in front of the lamp on our round table. There is also a wooden acorn that I found last Fall season and purchased. I have a few other pumpkins scattered about that I didn't take pictures of this time. I think most readers will have seen them before.

In our dining room I created a little Fall pine tree vignette with orange stick pumpkins in my lighted pine tree and my Fall Is My Favorite truck. I love this little pine tree and I know that you have seen me use it a lot for every season. And, yes, you can see that I have added some multi-color lights to the tree, as well, but I don't have them lighted for this picture. The multi-color lights are battery operated and I turn them on from time to time for a bit more color. I'm already thinking towards Christmas and I love multi-color lights, what can I say?!

Another view of the dining room vignette. I have fun creating arrangements of my Fall items and then looking at them and enjoying them throughout the Fall season. We have had some beautiful weather the last few days and this morning is sunny with gentle breezes. I hope that wherever you are that you are enjoying this season as well. 

Until Next Time,

Debbie This and That

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Blooming Where You Are Planted: A Devotional

Blooming Where You Find Yourself 

A rose captured on a morning walk at the rose garden.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose confidence is in him.

8 

They will be like a tree planted by the water

    that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

    its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

    and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Good morning friends!  One of the pleasures I have enjoyed this summer is looking at my beautiful flowers that I planted in my back porch containers. They seemed to have bloomed more beautifully this summer than ever before. I would look at them while sipping my morning tea and bask in their vibrant colors. 

Imagine my surprise when I began to see the flowers that I had planted in containers popping up at the edge of the patio porch. I certainly had not planted them in this location!

And then on our gravel driveway. Nope, didn't plant them here, either!

And even under the steps of the stairs on the side of our porch! I couldn't even have managed to get them under here to plant them, lol!

And soon, there were little clumps of flowers all over our gravel driveway! And I had not planted ANY of these flowers in those locations! I learned from my sister that when flowers pop up in unusual places like this, where they have not been "planted,"  they are called volunteers. Did you know that? I guess the wind or birds carry the seeds or small seedlings from the plants and then drop them in random places where they  can either take root, grow and flourish or just die without blooming. 

 As I enjoyed these "extra" blooms this summer, it got me to thinking about the idea of "blooming where you are planted." I'm certain that these plants in the midst of gravel, or under the steps of a porch, would have much preferred to be planted in one of my porch pots with lots of wonderful and enriched potting soil surrounding them. And yet, they were blooming in these less than desirable spots in spite of the conditions that surrounded them. 

So tell me......are you blooming where you are planted? Where you find yourself in life right now? Am I blooming where I am planted and where I find myself?

I believe that in today's world, these are questions for each of us to think about and ponder. 

You know we can't always choose what surrounds us on a daily basis. We can't always choose what is happening around us in the world. And let's face it. The world around us can be a pretty depressing place at times. Our own personal lives can sometimes be less than what we would want them to be at times. Sadness, despair, illness, anxiety, personal problems and relationships, money worries and concerns about those we love and care about.....all of these are simply part of what comes with being human. 

But this is not meant to be a downer as a devotion. Rather it is meant to be just the opposite. Because along with the previously mentioned problems that can come with being human, there is also the capacity for finding great moments of happiness, contentment and joy to be found in our daily living! 

And just like these plants that found themselves planted smack dab in the middle of a gravel driveway or alongside a cement porch or hidden away under the treads of porch steps, we can still bloom and even thrive with brilliant colors and greenery!

Today's scripture from Jeremiah speaks about a tree planted next to a stream that sends out its roots to the water so that it can flourish. It likens this tree to people who have faith and confidence in the Lord. That tree didn't have to fear heat or drought or the inability to bear fruit when these horrible conditions might come. It didn't have to fear, because the tree had made sure that its roots were sent out toward the stream where it could draw in the life giving water that it would need to survive, and even thrive, when these less than optimal conditions surrounded it. 

I ask each of us, including myself, to ponder this question today. Are we rooted in the life giving water of Jesus Christ? Are we keeping our trust and confidence in the Lord, rather than in other people or sources? Are we looking for ways to continue to bloom and flourish and enjoy life, even when events around us are less than optimal? 

For me, relying on my faith helps me during both times of stress and times of joy, because I know that my roots are firmly planted in the Lord. 

May each of us have faith to help us continue to bloom and grow wherever we may find ourselves this day. 

Blessings and Peace,

Debbie

Fall Tablescape for Two and More

 Which Tablescape Arrangement Do You Prefer?

Good morning, everyone!  As promised, I'm back today with some more Fall decor for you. Hope that you enjoy and, perhaps, you will get some ideas that you can use in your own home decor. Who knows?

The anchor to this tablescape is the plaid table covering in a gorgeous burnt orange color. It creates the illusion of placemats but is all in one piece. Would you believe that this table covering is actually a rug? I picked it up at Aldi's and immediately thought about using it as a table covering instead of a rug. I like it. What do you think?

I also added the pretty Fall plates to the mix. These plates are just perfect for a Fall table. I started this Tablescape with just  the two woven pumpkins, also from Aldi, and the green/brown leaf plate as the centerpiece for this design. I later decided it needed "more" and added in the faux gourd and smaller orange pumpkins. I think this looks better. Which do you like best? Less or more for the centerpiece?

Doing a Tablescape photo shoot always presents some challenges. As you can see, one challenge I encountered was keeping my trusty assistant, Cassie, off of the table while I was taking pictures! She said that she thinks this Tablescape needed a cat next to the woven pumpkins in order to look complete! What do you think?!

I have little Fall touches everywhere in our home including this pretty Fall towel hanging on the stove. 

And this Fall arrangement on the table in our dining room. The wooden leaves in the bowl are actually a piece for hanging on a door. I'm using them in the ceramic bowl instead with a carved wooden pumpkin added in. 

This simple use of wooden pieces in a ceramic bowl adds to the clean lines of our wooden dining room table. I love the simplicity of this arrangement. What do you think?

The beauty of these Tablescapes is that they contain elements that can be used in many ways and in different places. They travel well! This is a snack table I set up in the handbell practice room for my handbell ringers at church. Recognize the pieces I used? By the way, those apple cider donuts were delicious!! They were a big hit with the bell ringers!

I really enjoy decorating for Fall and still have several items that are not on display yet. As we move further into the season and into October and November I will add in those pieces. We already have colorful leaves dropping from trees around our house. I decided to collect some and "press" them between sheets of wax paper. Have you ever done that? It's so easy to do. Just lay the leaves on a sheet of wax paper and then place another sheet of wax paper on top and lay a heavy book or other object on top in order to press the leaves flat. I plan to either display the leaves in a bowl or use them on a small pre-lit tree. I haven't decided, as yet. 

Fall/Autumn is such a beautiful season and I truly enjoy adding all sorts of Fall decor to our home. How about you? Are you decorating for Fall? And which Tablescape in this blog post do you like best? Any other news to share? Please be sure to leave a comment as I love hearing from you! I'm getting many comments marked as anonymous so I don't know who you are unless you sign your name. I many not guess correctly who is doing the writing! Take good care, friends.

Until Next Time,

Debbie This and That

Linking to:

Eclectic Red Barn

Nancy's Fancy Friday Linky Party

Floral top and Fall Colors in the Great Outdoors

 Floral Style and Fall Colors

Hi everyone!  What do you do when your pretty summer flowers fade away?  Well, you wear a pretty floral top, that's what!

Aren't the colors in this top just beautiful?!  This top is just perfect for early Fall as the material is just a tad bit thicker than is comfortable on those hot summer days and yet is still short sleeved for comfort as the Fall days warm up. The white background is also more of a yellow toned white/cream color which also works for Fall. 

I find this to be a joyful top to wear. If you don't have a floral top in your wardrobe, I advise you to look for one and enjoy bringing some flowers into Fall like I do! My top was thrifted, so floral tops need not be super expensive in order to bring joy!

I took a little walk around our property today looking for Fall colors wherever I could find it. I'm already seeing changes happening with color even though it isn't quite mid-September. I don't know the names of all of the flowers/plants. Some may even be considered weeds! But, I don't mind as long as they are pretty to look at and have pretty color. If you know the names of any of the plants feel free to chime in with the info.

And, I took this next photo while shopping at Home Depot the other day.

And, The Mr. took the next two photos of the butterfly on the flower while he was hiking last week. He's a better photographer than I am!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I'll be back next week with some more Fall decor so be on the lookout for another new post! Happy Saturday!

Until Next Time,

Debbie This and That

Linking with Nancy's Fancy Friday Linky Party