It's never been my wont to put much energy into adorning the exterior of my architecturally displeasing two-story home.
But, lately, the architecturally displeasing exterior of my home has commanded a great deal of my time and energy as the Prince and I spend ourselves repairing, re-painting and re-thinking it.
So, when the Prince returned to work after our recent 100 hour work week, and I returned to a more 'normal' schedule, my mind was still back-burner turning on how to beautify the place
On Friday, when I had the pleasure of taking a talk-and-walk through the neighborhoold with an old friend, we passed this beautiful pine tree someone had just cut down and placed at the curb for 'big junk pick up day'.
I say 'passed', but we actually stopped to harvest some really beautiful pinecones from this tree.
They were very 'pickery' and we had to handle them carefully to keep our fingers from getting punctured.
By the time we got back to the house, we had talked ourselves into making fall wreaths for our front doors.
Our newly-black front door looks much more inviting with it's new adornment.
Does it look like the typical fall wreath to you?
I wish you could see what I see.
It's actually a wreath made of memories.
The big, 'pickery' pinecones remind me of the lovely stroll I had with my friend on a beautiful fall day.
The small, slender pinecones remind me of another thoughtful friend who, recalling my penchant for making pinecone elves, picked these up in Colorado for me last year.
The small 'ordinary' pinecones remind of the time spent with my daughter, two fall's ago, searching for pinecones to use in the Christmas centerpiece.
The large pinecone brings back a walk I took on the mean streets and the wonderful surprise it was to cross a patch of grass with a lone fir in the middle and find it had dropped a gift just for me.
(The 'silk' leaves remind me that I really hate artificial flowers, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to get a little color in her wreath.)
I think it's just a wonderful thing that this simple wreath can bring such a powerful bunch of pleasant memories to my mind.
Isn't life rich?