Weekend Reflections

Welcome back to Weekend Reflections from Sweet Valley Acres. This week was much quieter than last week – no brush with fire and no mix-ups with orders! That gnome pillow fiasco still makes me laugh.

So what did happen…

Well a momma deer and her two sweet fawns ate all the leaves off of my sunflowers that were sticking through the fence. They also ate my potato vine and hydrangea as the gate was left open into the court yard. They were so sweet that I could not chase them away. This is a photo we have of two fawns resting at our previous home. Check out the quail jumping off of one of them!

We have a night hawk that swoops in under our covered deck and almost flies into our heads if we are sitting on our outdoor sofa. Sorry, no photo of that as I am always frantically ducking down! Instead here is a photo of a metal jug I received this week. I love it!!!

My birthday is coming up and to my absolute delight Bentley is building me something I have been dreaming about for ages. Here is a hint – it has a southern flare and it hangs.

We watched Cruella last night and I cannot rave enough about it. It was fabulous! Cruella’s outfits were beyond marvelous. How wonderful it must have been to work on that set.

I participated in my first ever blog hop and the theme was outdoor dining. Any of you who know me well know this is something I love. If you didn’t catch it here is a link to the post. You are going to love it. I decked Annie (our greenhouse) out in full fall decor for a romantic dinner for two plus I have all sorts of tips. Here is a little peak at how pretty she looked.

Another outdoor dinner party I featured was one my daughter put on. It was a diner en blanc. Are you familiar with them? The short and skinny on them is that you purchase a ticket to attend on a specific date. You are given a location to go to for a bus. The bus then takes you to a secret location. You need to dress all in white and bring your own food and utensils. It is absolutely gorgeous and you meet many people. My daughter had a private one for three of her close friends and it was fabulous. Here is a picture…

While I was preparing that blog I met up with four very lovely ladies who had such good ideas for outdoor dining so I thought I would feature them here. First Karin of Karins Kottage has such a lovely blog filled with all sorts of ideas. One idea that I loved was that she turned a paddle board into a serving table! Is that not genius? Function and flare. I love it. Below is a photo but click here to see her blog.

Then I met Stacy Ling from “Bricks and Blooms”! Check her out!!! She has the most lovely garden and offers so many diy’s, recipes, decor. You are going to love her blog. While wandering around on her blog I came across the most delicious Rumchata cupcake recipe. Do these not make your mouth water?

Who doesn’t adore mason jars? I have such an affection for them. They are in my kitchen where I used them for all sorts of things, pretty well all of my candles come in mason jars, and I even have mason jar solar lights! Then I saw this adorable arrangement by Kimberly Snyder of “Bloom Where You Are Planted”. I just look at this and immediately smile!

Last week my son reminisced about how much he loved Shirley Temple drinks from when he was a kid. I loved them too. Well he is now 24 and he said he wondered if there was a mixed drink for adults that tasted like a Shirley Temple. I said I had never heard of one. Then Kippi from Kippi at Home came into my life and while I was perusing her lovely blog, what did I come upon but a “Dirty Shirley”…it’s an adult version of the Shirley Temple!!! Who knew? Well apparently not me lol. I purchased the ingredients and tried one last night. Delicious is all I can say!!! Took me right back to my childhood.

One last photo and this is from my dear friend Marieza’s blog. She created an outdoor dining spot in her back yard and it is delightful. Here is a sneak peak of it…click this link to see the entire transformation!

Here are a few more fun things I saw…

Like this sweet date night picnic idea…

All you need to know to get ready for fall…

Or this delicious summer butter bean salad…

How about this lovely young woman who also likes to decorate and dine in her greenhouse…

Did you know Oprah has a favorite brownie recipe…

So many beautiful fall mantle ideas…

Copper leafing a pumpkin looks divine…

This scrumptious baked apple recipe!

Well that is it for now! Wishing you a weekend filled golden hours and Dirty Shirley’s…or regular Shirley Temple’s whatever your preference is!!!

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