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Post by 3piggles on Oct 10, 2017 13:47:00 GMT
This would normally be the best time of year for hanging out laundry, but the last two of three years have had summer weather, with the heat and humidity, instead of the cool, crisp, dry fall air we used to get. In the typical fall air, the laundry dries really quickly. It would be almost as fast as using the dryer, especially if there's a breeze. Spring and summer are rainy, here, so not as consistently useful for hanging out laundry. Winter, oy! Too cold and snowy Nate has continued on his way, and the sun is shining through clear blue sky. So nice after several days of dreary weather. Yesterday I had the sun lights on in the house, so the plants could have some UV rays. I'm off to bike a circuit around the neighborhood, as it's been two days. Getting hot today, though much dryer than the last few days, so I might be able to get out to bike again, after dinner.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 11, 2017 8:24:01 GMT
It has been mizzy here from the start Bean sweetie and I hope it decides to stay dry and your washing can billow happy without getting wet lol! I am glad Nate has been put in his place Piggles love and doesn't think about returning in the future. Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 11, 2017 17:37:30 GMT
We have some possible frosts over the next 10 days, which is as far out as the forecast goes, so we'll be making room for the plants to come inside. We really have to get the dirt changed in the vertical planter, so I can move some of the other plants into it, and bring it inside. Warm weekend coming, so we can always put them back outside. I've found that some annuals are only annuals because they won't survive our winter weather, so I want to bring those inside, and see if I can find places to plant them, so they'll live over the winter. Petunias and Lobelia die off over the winter, and come back the next summer. Maybe with the grow lights, they won't die off over the winter? The Fall/Halloween decorations are out all around the neighborhood. We need to get ours out, too. Saturday is probably going to be the best day, as hubby won't be working, and we could get some rain on Sunday. We couldn't do decorations at the condo, and lived too far back in the woods to bother with them at the house before that, so hubby is having a lot of fun with decorations
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 12, 2017 8:12:09 GMT
I love the idea of fall decorations Piggles love, we do not have those unfortunately or ones for Halloween. There are plenty of things in the shops for Halloween but I haven't seen any decorations outside people's houses.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Oct 12, 2017 8:43:32 GMT
We don't see any autumnal decorations either. They sound nice, especially if they involve lights. The Halloween decorations tend to be a bit tacky so less fun to look at unless it's the actual day!
Our weekend visitors bough the kids Halloween masks, so at the moment my son is trying desperately to make me jump (which doesn't happen very easily). His best one was waiting for me to open a door and then sneaking in behind it wearing his creepy mask, so when I closed the door, there he was! I still only gave him a 'mildly startled' rating though, so he trying to up his game!
EDIT: You reminded me we do have some seasonal banners for the forum, so I just changed it.
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 12, 2017 14:55:09 GMT
LOL, I can imagine him thinking so hard about ways to scare you All the decorations are marketing to sell more stuff, but it's nice to live in a neighborhood where people bother to decorate, and do it mostly tastefully. I guess the owners have told a few people to tone it down, so we never get obnoxious levels of decorations, which I've seen in some places. Mostly the fall decorations are red/orange/yellow leaves to wind around lamp posts or hang along the roof line like Christmas lights. There are a lot of the male and female burlap people on stakes so they'll stand up in the yard, bunches of corn stalks, and bales of hay, pumpkins and gourds and Mums. Still, while it's simple, it's still uplifting to just bike or walk around the neighborhood and see what different people have done. We copy each other, which is fine. It's more about the spirit than the expense. No one is trying to outdo anyone else. We're researching new Christmas lights, as ours are really old, and missing a lot of bulbs. We want battery operated lights for outdoors, and wouldn't mind them for indoors, though I leave the lights up year round, around the front window and the slider. Drive's hubby nuts with all the electricity I'm using, which is probably about $5 a year, so I have to take down the old lights, get him to put up new ones for the hols, then have him leave those lights up. We got a timer for the tree lights, last year, so they turn off once we've gone to bed, and turn on after dark. Not at all sure where we're going to put the tree this year, as the Jade plant we normally moved to give it a place, got really big over the summer outdoors.
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Post by Bean on Oct 12, 2017 18:02:09 GMT
LOL, I can imagine him thinking so hard about ways to scare you I could just tell him to go out and hide by the bins at the side of the house when I'm about to empty them in the dark - he'd get me then if he jumped out on me! I don't want to make it too easy though.... The decorations sound really nice. At this time of year when I'm naturally lamenting the end of the long, light days and warmer temperatures, it'd be nice to see that kind of thing! Great that it's not competitive too, I can never understand people wanting to outdo one another. I think I'd quite like a real tree this year, but I'm not going to talk about it for a couple of months, thanks!
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 13, 2017 1:55:46 GMT
You reminded me we do have some seasonal banners for the forum, so I just changed it. Just saw that when I logged in, I really like it! (Another board I'm on used to change its banners every holiday, but they had some sort of changeover and they lost all their bells & whistles. Nobody's happy about it, especially the admin, but there's not much anyone can do.)
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Post by Bean on Oct 13, 2017 8:06:49 GMT
Oh that would be annoying.
This forum had an update last year and although I had to make a few tweaks, it actually works better as they store some forum images for you now - before you had to host them elsewhere and then link them, so that was an extra step to put me off doing anything (especially with photobucket being a pain in the bum)!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 13, 2017 9:42:13 GMT
Oh dear, don't get me started on Christmas but I think banners are a great idea Baz love. We will probably need some new lights for the tree this year and Paul wants to get rid of the tree we already have too. There is nothing wrong with him once he is decorated and I think it would be a shame. I miss seeing the kids at Halloween but they are told not to knock on doors in our area as many elderly people live here.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Oct 13, 2017 15:08:44 GMT
We have a Christmas banner too, Jo. Remind me to change it - in December of course!
Oh don't let Paul chuck your tree if you like it! We've had the same one for years, although I'm always tempted by a real one. They're so much wider though, and we don't have much spare space with the pigs. Anyway, look at me getting sucked in to this conversation - what a wally!
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 14, 2017 2:02:12 GMT
I love the Fall banner, and love the Christmas banner, too I think it's nice to get a bit of seasonal or holiday spirit going Oh, don't let Paul toss the tree. That can be one of your money saving efforts, to make the old tree look nice with a minimum of expense! Think Charlie Brown We've had the same tree for years. It's a table top tree that goes in a box and into storage between uses. We do need to replace the lights periodically, as that's really what makes the tree. Every year hubby likes to buy something new for the tree, just to spiff it up a bit. It doesn't have to be anything expensive. It might be a special decoration or strand of tinsel or berries. It's just to add a little something. Hubby has gotten much more into outdoor decorations, so we're looking for something nice to add to the collection for this year. Again, it doesn't have to be a lot, but so many deccies are battery operated now, we'd like to get a lighted wreath for the front door.
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Post by Bean on Oct 14, 2017 8:40:29 GMT
We haven't added much in the way of decorations for years. Part of it is probably because we're so often away for Christmas. The kids choose a new tree decoration each year, that's one tradition we have. But I like the idea of sprucing up what we have every now and then. My husband wouldn't be interested in that kind of thing though, he's limited to saying 'Yeah, very nice!' when the kids have finished decorating!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 14, 2017 12:43:01 GMT
Of course, we do Bean love, as usual, Jo is being dopey. I don't want to chuck the tree away ladies. I know he is a bit straggly but he is fine once he is up and decorated and he looks forward to coming out so much. In fact, I have heard rustles from the loft, I think he is waking up (OK, I know LOL Every year Paul is going to put lights around or kitchen window but it has never happened. He is good with the decoration though and I decorate the tree with times of rest in between. Hugs Jo xx
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 14, 2017 12:45:21 GMT
Not sure what that smiley is but it isn't the one I clicked on. Yes Bean hunni, I will be reminding you before Christmas about the banner, promise LOL
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 14, 2017 15:13:03 GMT
I love the lights most of all. Christmas is during the dark time of year, when our days are really short, and our nights are really long. I don't care as much about them being Christmas lights, as I do about them simply putting some pretty light into my life, when it's really dark outside. Since ours are mostly LED lights, they only cost a few pennies to run, so it's an inexpensive way to brighten the long evenings.
We're trying to make a plan for bringing in the plants for the winter. Not as easy as we expected, because we have a lot more plants than we had last year. Looks as if we might have to create some shelves, as our plant stands aren't tall enough.
We're having some beautiful weather today, so the leaf peepers should have some great foliage viewing opportunities.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 15, 2017 14:28:51 GMT
I agree hunni, I find that lights take up a considerable amount of Christmas charm and I get as much pleasure in looking at them as I did when I was a child. My parents used to take me up to see the lights in Oxford and Regent Street, I was always captivated. Another thing I remember doing before Christmas if it was raining on my way back home from school. I used to love the car lights reflecting in the puddles, it somehow made everything more exciting. Oh for a Christmas as it was then. I bet the plants are happy sweetie and are looking forward to being toasty warm inside LOL!
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 15, 2017 15:15:13 GMT
I noticed, in all the pictures of Scandinavian winters, that there were white lights on the trees on the city streets, on building entrances, in parks, pretty much any place lights could go, and it gave those long, dark winters a beautiful glow, something took at, and just a festive quality. I knew I felt that way when the Christmas lights were on, so figured why not have them as winter lights, instead of Christmas lights. Once the tree has been put away, I still have lights around my front window and the slider, and I'm thinking of creating a valance for the slider out of ribbon and lights. Can't find a valance I like.
We're off to get some florists foam blocks for the window boxes. Hubby removed all the flowers and dirt, as the dirt gets really heavy once it freezes and gets covered with snow. I'll use the florist foam blocks to hold fake flowers to give us some color and interest during the fall and winter. I have a lot of fake flowers in Fall colors, that used to be in a big plant that has since died, so it will be nice to get them outside to create a nice fall look.
I got the two burlap people look quite happy in the back yard. They really brighten up the back yard a lot, as they have a lot of orange fabric, etc. on them. We will bring them in for storage before it snows, but for now, they are quite festive.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 16, 2017 12:05:34 GMT
I would love to go to Scandinavia Piggles love, I have heard such wonderful things about it, very clean and healthy. I think it is really nice when people have external lighting even when it isn't Christmas, it provides a warm cosy glow and I just love it. I hope you were able to get your boxes and I am pleased to Mr and Mrs Burlap are quite happy lol!
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Oct 16, 2017 13:58:14 GMT
Those lights do sound lovely. I'm going to have to have a look into them.
Jo, did you get the red sky today? It was so strange here, with the whole sky almost glowing in the afternoon, and it casting an orangey hue on everything too. Apparently it's from sand blown in by the storm, much of it from the Sahara. I remember when this happened before, all the cars were filthy for the week after!
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