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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

...bounties of Autumn

Hello everybody....
wow...this fall weather has been just about perfect here in West Texas.

I did see on Fox News that OKLAHOMA had a terrible sand storm not long ago...
I am really sorry for the ones that were hurt. Sandstorms can be very dangerous, indeed. We have had them so bad here that I couldn't see the middle of the street, nor the house across the street. TERRIBLE....

We are still enjoying strawberries...I can remember when they were considered
seasonal but with the hot houses booming, we can have them most any time of the year now.

Green and red apples, pumpkins, red and orange bell peppers, 
plums and pears...
The fruit markets are a BLAZE with beautiful colors...
AUTUMN COLORS and AUTUMN SMELLS
cotton bolls...
I had a few in my post yesterday.....
we raise a LOT of cotton around our area.
Mr. Sweet's dad was a cotton farmer for most of his adult life
and did mighty well at it, I might add.
He and Mrs. Conklin started out as a lot of young couples did in the '30's....
poor, working jobs for very little pay, living paycheck to paycheck...had 5 children to cloth, feed and educate....and yet, they had a dream....a dream of someday owning a
small cotton farm. They scrimped and saved for years and finally.....
bought their first farm with 360 acres.....he was a good enuf farmer that in a few years, they were able to buy their second farm.
How in the world can people save that much money? 
...autumn sunshine
I don't know if I should say it but.....
I am thinking Autumn colors and
abundance of wonderful veggies and fruit might be taking over 1st place...even over, *gulp.....
CHRISTMAS in decorating....
Of course, there's nothing in this world that will take the place of 
THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS....
but I do love all the pretty fruits..pumpkins of all colors...
COTTON BOLLS....:))
Of course, come Christmas time with all the beautiful trees and lights and wreaths
and .............presents.....I will be liking Christmas better than fall.
I am sooo fickle....
Just in case you are under the mistaken idea that COTTON BOLLS aren't beautiful... take a look at these...!! 
....and just imagine a huge field full of these beautiful bolls....
takes your breath away !!
♫♪♪...O, I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten.....♪♫♫
...WAIT A MINUTE...
I AM in the Land of Cotton.....

I wish you could just feel this cotton.....so soft and cuddly.

 It blows your mind that something this beautiful turns out so many other beautiful things....

Cotton is my very favorite fabric to wear....

cotton sheets...

(once, a long time ago, my mother gave Mr. Sweet and I a set of satin sheets....
O MY...I couldn't keep those sheets on the bed and we could hardly stay on the bed ourselves....hahhhaaa...
sooo slick !!





My mother gifted me this lovely, vintage wicker tea cart in about 1974, for Christmas.

She would have no idea how much I would love it...
and how much I use it......for many, many things.

"Thank you, Mama...I love you and I miss you every single, solitary day."
 ...there's those little tiny BOO'S again.

OOPS....gotta go.
I just heard the fridge door open and I KNOW Mr. Sweet is after that
last RED pear and I have to beat him to it.
"Here, Mr. Sweet....eat these plums and strawberries and green pears...
I WANT THAT BIG RED ONE. !!"
*BIG SMILE

Love to all and HAPPY FALL, bj

33 comments:

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Love your bounty and can't go wrong adding in cotton bolls.

Stacey said...

Cotton bolls are beautiful. My dad lives in Lockhart right around Austin. There are just fields and fields of cotton there.

Linda said...

I am drinking in all that fall beauty in your pics!! Just gorgeous!!! The fall weather hasn't reached us here in Katy yet. We came in from Amber's today and the camper was all hot and stuffy! It wasn't too bad outside but I HAD to turn the A/C on to get it comfortable enough to do my evening routine.....clean up and start dinner. Perhaps YOUR fall weather will reach US in the next few days! SO happy you have some to enjoy!

Barbara F. said...

I just saw cotton bolls in person for the very 1st time at the blogging conference in Raleigh, NC, and now I am hooked! I have asked a blogging friend to mail me some. :) I didn't know they grew cotton in TX. Southern climes are so wonderful! xo

Anonymous said...

Hi BJness! We just had some delicious strawbabies tonight! I love your pretty vignettes and the cotton boll is nice. My mother grew up picking cotton on her daddy's farm. They barely made ends meet but after I was born they kept us in fresh milk and meat from the old hogs. I remember my grandma frying up some of that fresh ham and we'd have red eyed gravy to dip the biscuits in ! Yummy!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

I just love your cotton bolls...wish I could find some around here. I think that you just see the beauty in every season you're in.....it's part of having a grateful heart and that's a blessing!

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

Such pretty pictures. I see from the other comments that I'm not the only one who thinks that cotton bolls are pretty. They don't grow cotton here in this part of Missouri. I don't think soybeans would have the same decorative effect.

Olive said...

I love cotton too and grew up right by long rows of cotton fields. Live near some now too. I cannot stand polyester it's hot and itchy-cotton is the best.

Blondie's Journal said...

Oh, I would love to have that tea cart...it must be so fun to decorate! And I am seeing cotton bolls popping up everywhere! Your husband's parent were very industrious. Where there's a will, there's a way!

I read today that Christmas is in 9 weeks. Yikes!

XO,
Jane

TexWisGirl said...

i'd have been fighting him for that pear, too. :)

LV said...

You just about covered most of my country memory lanes for me with this post. Cotton takes on a totally different perspective for me. I had to pick it and drag a long sack more that\n I care to remember. I like your new "self photo".

Beth said...

The fruit and veggies look so good. I love pears too.
The cotton bolls are beautiful!

Jackie said...

Oh my, all that fruit looks so good. We got snow here again last night so I think that Autumn is over here for another year.

God Bless.

Vee said...

Oh I'd love to see a field of cotton. You make it sound so fine. Cotton bolls must be used in many decorative ways...wreaths perhaps? Loved seeing all the colors represented here today.

Patti @ Pandoras Box said...

Your comment about the satin sheets made me laugh - my husband and I slid around and laughed and giggled every night for a week - then the sheets were washed and donated to Goodwill - I don't know how anyone can sleep on them!

Pretty decorations! It has been COLD here, the trick or treaters will most likely be wearing their winter coats again this year!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Another nice post. We nearly always have strawberries in the house. And blueberries.
I think your new picture is so cute. You are a little cutie, bj.
Hugs,
Mona

Lynn said...

Nothing I like better than a colorful, tasty vignette! Enjoy fall:@)

Debbie said...

Love cotton bolls too and I long ago bumped Christmas out of the way as favorite holiday and decorating time in favor of fall. I love the colors of fall and the natural beauty of it.

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

A bounty is right! What gorgeous color!!! I am loving all the fall color this year!!!
Lucky you to have cotton bolls! I would love to get my hands on some to decorate a Christmas tree!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Cotton! 'Tis the only fabric to go on this bod! :-) Has been, for ages.

You know, I think our own inner "clock" sets us, to what we "are-into" at different times of the year. All-Autumn is singing its song to us, now.

But after Thanksgiving, the sparkles/warmth/joy of Christmas-time will sink into our consciousness and we'll turn our sights, to that kind of decorating, in our nests.

I like to just kind of go with the flow, of what "calls me," when. :-)

"Auntie"

Theresa said...

I just saw beautiful cotton fields on my way to and from the beach:) They are gorgeous! Love all of your pretties, especially that tea cart! LOVE IT! Memories are so precious! Have a blessed and beautiful FALL day dear BJ, BIG HUGS!

Ricki Treleaven said...

:D LOVE this post. We were looking at some pretty cotton fields traveling back and forth to the lake this weekend.

Happy autumn!
xo,
RJ

Madeline's Album said...

Fall is a very pretty time of the year I love all the colors but how I hate keeping the leaves raked up. I have alot of trees (oak) in my yard and between the leaves and acorn falling it keeps me busy. Love your photos. Have a blessed fall day. Madeline

Madison Layne said...

Love your fall decor. Cotton bolls remind me of home. Always enjoy your posts! Thanks for mentioning Behind the Screen Door. Great stuff, I just had to buy a couple of things!
Happy Fall, Cecelia

Linda @ A La Carte said...

bj these photos are so pretty! I love how you just 'see' the beauty in things. I too am Loving fall and yet I know I'll move on to Christmas with Joy in my heart, then Spring and on and on. I guess it's why God gave us so many seasons to enjoy! Hugs, Linda

Beverly said...

Autumn does look quite well on you, my sweet friend. (I like the red pears better than the green, too.)

Connie said...

You're right. The fruits of fall do rival Christmas decorations. I suppose because they are so natural..not made made glitz.

The Farmers Daughter said...

Of course I LOVE cotton! I'm sitting here in my living room, watching them pick it! I did a post on decorating with it at The Country Farm Home last week (in case you missed it). I am so glad people are beginning to see cotton as a possibility in their decorating styles. Great post!

Chenille Cottage said...

Hi bj!
"I used to live in the land of cotton...Old time serenade not forgotten...I moved away...I moved away...I moved away from Dixieland!" (I think I forgot the original version, but, I made up a new one to match the fact that I moved to Oregon.)
I miss seeing the fields of cotton with their pretty white "popcorny" (howz that for a made-up word?) blooms as far as the eye can see. How I wish I had taken a little bit with me when I moved.
I guess I'll have to be content with the gazillion yards of quilter's cotton in my sewing room!

Thanks for the beautiful post. I got tickled with the way you signed off...hearing the fridge door open...Reminds me of my house, too.

Blessings, my friend,
Carolynn

Donnie said...

Loved your post today and your photos are wonderful. Take care.

Katherine said...

Love these and I have been thinking of using cotton bolls. I am now following your feed (can't seem to get GFC to work lately). Thanks for visiting me! I hope you'll come join my party if you get the chance!

http://kraftykat76.blogspot.com/search/label/Gettin%27%20Krafty%20With%20It

xinex said...

Love your bountiful post, BJ. The tea cart that your mom gave you is really gorgeous, love the details. There are still a lot of cotton fields around here since it was the main crop in the olden days.
....Christine

Annesphamily said...

Loving all your lovelies! I adore that wicker cart! Your mama sounds like a wonderful lady! I miss mine the same way you do too! It is when I need to talk with someone who will just listen that I miss her the most!
I do love the fall colors! You have way too much way there in West Texas! Love and Hugs Anne