A SURPRISE AND SOME AUTUMN TOUCHES

What a be-u-ta-full day today!!!

Today is just about as perfect a day as we've had 'round these parts in a long time. Comfortable temps, just a hint of a breeze, low humidity.

Gorgeous!

I hope you all are having a beautiful, restful Sunday afternoon as well.

I'm recovering today from a busy half-week. Yesterday, we hosted a surprise 70th birthday party for my Father-in-law. It was another beautiful day to celebrate his milestone birthday with some of his close friends and family. Some of the family members that attended, we haven't seen for many years. It was almost like a mini family reunion!

I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. It's always a treat to celebrate with family along with good food and drink and reminiscing stories.

As usual . . . I didn't take as many pics as I should. I did get some snaps of the guests, but I wished of would taken more pics of the set-up before the guests arrived.

The guest of honor, my Father-in-law (on the left in the baseball cap) surrounded by dear and close family.

Some of the guests.

There's my handsome Hubby on the left in the Hawaiian shirt and shades.

Look Ing Gooood!

My Father-in-law and his sister.

My Father-in-law and Mother-in-law and their close friends.

My Mother-in-law (purple shirt) and more of their close friends.

When entertaining, where I have the most fun is setting up the decorations and creating fun tablescapes.

I topped the tables outside in a fall-ish style. Using fall-inspired quilt tops, or "wips" ~ "works in progress" ~ to add some color and dress the tables.

I also created these cute centerpieces for the tables.

Cut the top from a pumpkin to allow a mum to fit inside. I found tiny mums at Lowes for $1.25 and medium sized pumpkins at our local Amish Farmer's Market for $3.00 a piece. A simple bow added to the mum and a Dollar Tree scare crow finish off the centerpiece. Easy peasy, quick and cheap!!!

To keep your cut pumpkins fresher longer, rub with inside and cut areas with bleach. Or, better yet, just spray with a bleach cleaner like Clorox Cleanup. The bleach will slow down mold growth. Then, after about 30 minutes, rub the cut areas with Vaseline or cooking oil to keep the pumpkin from shriveling. This treatment will keep your cut pumpkins fresh for about a week.

I wanted to share with you how darling this little dining set looked outside under the cherry tree.

A friend donated this set to Son No. 2's new apartment, but it hasn't made it there yet ;o)

I love how the print of the table cloth coordinates with the pale yellow paint.

I may just leave it out there for a few more days, just so I can admire it from the house {provided there's no rain in the forecast!}.

We had sooo much good food yesterday at the party. I'm afraid I seriously over cooked. There was enough food for a football team!

Meatballs, roast beef with au jus, pulled pork bbq, fresh turkey subs, hot wings, baked macaroni and cheese, and cole slaw. Dips, chips, veggies and fruit.

I won't have to cook dinner for a week!

I did all the hot food since we were hosting, and I have two 18 quart roaster ovens for preparing and serving for large crowds. Those things have paid for themselves so many times. Definitely worth the investment.

Anyway, I was especially very pleased, and proud, at how well the pulled pork bbq turned out. It was sooo yummy. Fifteen pounds of pork shoulder slow roasting for 14 hours had my house smelling divine.

Whenever we have pulled pork bbq, we have to eat it the way I learned on a trip to North Carolina many years ago ~ topped with cole slaw.

Delicious!

In getting ready for the party last week, I managed to put out just a few autumn touches around the house. I held back a little on the Halloween. Seems I always jump right into Halloween, and almost forget about showcasing just fall accents. Maybe I'll try to hold off on Halloween until October 1st.

It's gonna be tough! ;o)

Halloween decorating is one of my favorites . . . a very close second to Christmas.

Thanks for visiting!

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