the lull





It's that time here in California that is not quite summer and not quite fall.  It's the lull between seasons.  I read with great interest about what's going on with all the east coast blogs I follow.They are knee deep in changing leaves and gorgeous color. They've put away their summer clothes and are wearing sweaters!  But here I sit, waiting, waiting for fall to show its lovely face. The bedroom windows are still open at night and we have not needed the heater. Extra blankets are still put away. 

I bought that little picture of the soldier up there while walking through a flea market in France.
I still cannot believe I was able to go on such a beautiful holiday.  I mean I really do pinch myself everyday.  A lot of things were crossed off my bucket list on that trip.  Do you have a bucket list and should we talk about them?









Thank you all so very much for your wonderfully kind and beautiful comments on M's house. Isn't it gorgeous?  She was nervous about me posting photos but she's been so happy with all your comments and wanted me to extend her thanks to you.





Been reading Elaine St. James' book yet again, Living the Simple Life, still one of my favorites.




I've washed all the slipcovers and as you can see I need to bring out the iron I suppose.
Often I'll break up the job over a few days or weeks even, but this time I washed everything in one day and the house now smells like one big basket of freshly washed linens.  I've also been cleaning out my closet.  It's such a good feeling getting all organized.

Hope you are enjoying this day whatever season you are in and wherever you are.


44 comments

  1. I do not always revel in my upstate New York home. But at this time of year, I am a very happy and content New Yorker. That tune will change dramatically come January.

    With the beautiful weather in Utica, you would think I would be busy at work- cleaning, refreshing and spiffing up the bungalow. But I cannot seem to get in gear. I keep taking off and doing things in the sunshine. Was it the grasshopper who fiddled while the ants prepared for winter? I do try to do one task each day, but that's about it.

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    1. i can totally understand kristien, with your long winters. there will be plenty of indoor time soon enough.:)

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  2. We are in that season too..the in between although we just go ahead and pretend its fall weather. It will be 82 here today which is cool compared to our summer weather. Leaves aren't falling yet but just the fact that it's cooler at night puts us in a fall mood. I can just imagine the smell of your house with all that freshly laundered slips. I did love that house yesterday...I can see why you are friends.

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    1. nita i would imagine the mid-west has a beautiful fall. and thanks re M's house, it is indeed one of a kind gorgeous.

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  3. We're having a wonderfully long Summer, it can't be Autumn as it's 20 degrees and my strawberries and tomatoes are still flowering and there's no need for a coat - fabulous!
    Loving that solider, what a classy souvenir! xxx

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    1. yay for your long summer, i know what a beach babe you are at heart. love that little soldier too.

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  4. I'm sending you a little fall... some cool breezes and lots of crinkly colored leaves. LOVE your blog!

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    1. thank you yvonne, it is actually a little blustery right now and they say a tiny bit of rain is in the forecast.:)

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  5. Hi Janet,

    Enjoying the cooler weather this week, even got a few raindrops on my walk this a.m.

    Where did you get the bamboo easel? So pretty...also your ginger jar on the coffee table looks a lot like one that I purchased recently on One King's Lane for a very good price.

    So many things I could have on my bucket list, never actually sat down and made one. We crossed one thing off of my husband's list when we ate at Mozza in L.A. this year. He wanted it that bad.

    Your house looks beautiful as always. :)

    Linda
    xo

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    1. it looks like a small front may be moving in here too. so exciting!
      the bamboo easel came from a yardsale for 10 cents and i got the small ginger jar from a hotel we stayed in during the summer. they actually sell anything you want in the beautiful rooms. i took a chance and asked and they sold it to me for $30. i think we need to talk about bucket lists!

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    2. Ha Ha...it's been pouring on and off for the last couple hours. Guess that small amount of rain we were expecting was not so small!

      You find the best stuff, some day I swear I'm going to Redlands to hunt down some garage sales. I actually paid $30 for my jar as well...so what hotel sold it to you?

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  6. Such a beautiful house, please come and make mine over.
    Oh we are 'doing leaves' every two days here, it's very very wearing.

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    1. i highly doubt you need me tabs but i'd love to come and lend myself to you in any way if you'll show me around scotland.

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  7. I just found out we won't be getting the fall colors over here in London. I was sad about that. I took a picture of a single dogwood in Regent's Park that has some color. The temperature fluctuates over here too. I've seen people in short skirts and flip flops walking along with women in fur coats already. I planted some tulip bulbs in a pot outside my front door today. That made it feel like fall to me :) Enjoy the weather, winter will be here before we know it.

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    1. your weather sounds a little like california's. flip flops and furs. LOL

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  8. Like Hyacinth

    I pronounce it bouquet;-)

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  9. Unlike Tabs - we leave our leaves till later in the month and do it in one fell, awful, swoop! I would gladly send you a bouquet of red, orange and gold maple leaves from Canada!

    It is funny when you say that about pinching yourself about your trip - I can say that I have never "gotten" over the two times I have been to Europe (in 08 and 12) - they are some of the happiest memories of beauty and history and just "being" that I have ever had.

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  10. Hello From Vermont. We woke up to a frost this morning and I wish that I could turn back the clock just a little.
    Side question...can you tell us a little bit about your ginger jars? Where did you find such gems, what is their story?
    Thanks,
    Amy

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    1. hi amy, there really isn't much of a story behind them. most of them were bought at yardsales. one of my favorites was purchased at The Rustic Rooster which is a store here in southern california. her website is on my blogroll and i know they do shipping.

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  11. Janet,
    I envy your simple house. It looks fabulous and peaceful. May be one day I can get rid of most of my stuff (that might be difficult because I am a compulsive collector - not of anything valuable).
    Christa

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  12. I love Elaine St. James book. It was the start of my simplifying my home.

    My bucket list is mostly traveling. We want to visit every state in our RV (when our gov. opens the parks again :/). We've been to Egypt, Italy and Paris and also want to go to England and Israel but not feeling safe to do that now.

    Anyone want to meet at the Kentucky Derby next year?

    Betty

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  13. We had a small tease of cool weather last week and then it popped back up into the mid 80's. I'm ready for fall. My favorite time of year. I love that blue and white vase. I can't believe they let you buy it for $30!! I've never thought to ask. Smart of you!
    I don't have a bucket list, but I think I should. Your house is so charming.

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  14. your cushions worked out so well J! We will miss you this w/e in Melb.

    My bucket list involves seeing Monet's garden and visiting Kathmandu.

    It used to include being a mother which I had given up on but then the baby arrived so I got to live that dream.

    The garden trip was a big bucket list thing for me x

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    1. Faux! Contact Sharon Santoni at My French Country Home blogspot. She is an antique dealer and talented at so many things; great blog. She's British, her husband is Italian, they live in the French countryside of Normandy. She has a pretty guesthouse. Sounds like she gives fab tours...brocante hunts...which involve sightseeing at Monet's home/garden in Giverney. Definitely in MY bucket list.

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  15. I love that Elaine St James book too. I've lost track of how many times I've read it. It's so soothing to read. Your house looks beautiful as always. Hope you are feeling better. xx

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  16. No bucket list, except there are bloggers would be fun to meet;).

    And this summer holds its breath and waits for winter season is so uniquely Californian. <3

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  17. Fall is in full swing here in Nebraska..I should go out and rake but I love how the fallen leaves look. We didn't have a lull, it went from warm to chilly overnight.

    I have a bucket list...mostly it includes traveling. Once we get everything in order with this move, if ever, I'd like to go to Martha's Vineyard. That's always been high on my list.

    Happy lull!

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  18. Wow your house is gorgeous ! Maybe you should be a stylist you are so talented. Thanks for the posts ..when you live in the country it is lovely having virtual friends who share so generously. Sometimes have to be disciplined not to spend too much time enjoying the blogs ...like a good book it can get away from you. My bucket list involves living in France for a year going to French classes to get started . Still LOVING my American apparel jeans AND got more colours when I was in Sydney. Thanks for everything !

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  19. Oh I see we have the same hydrangeas!
    Love the smell of fresh laundry and with open windows your home must be a breath of fresh air...
    I really do not have a Bucket List...am I missing something?
    but seriously must get my mitts on Living the Simple Life...off to see if our local library has a copy.

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  20. The lull is officially over. Trees are red and gold, the air cool. Our lull this year seemed to go by in a blink. I love your pic's! I think it's okay to have slip covers a little wrinkly. Enjoy the warmth while you still have it :) Thanks, Janet.

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  21. Oh Janet, do I have a bucket list; it is overflowing. I'd lost my hope on it several times but my husband and I have recently been turning our life upside down to get a more manageable life; downsizing, clearing out, cleaning out, moving to a smaller house/property with firm plans for the pre-retirement years upcoming; so tired of being in debt and accumulating a ridiculous amount of "things." Just keeping the best, most-beautiful and favorite. It feels so good and so right; a new start. We want 2014 to be so much simpler and calmer; healthy. My bucket list has changed a lot over the decades. I've done a lot of the things but my tastes/wants of course change with age/wisdom. I absolutely MUST see the East Coast fall colors. I absolutely WANT to go to Paris again, but it's a bit buried deep in the bucket for now. When I was young, I always had a bucket list but it was "experiences" such as rafting the rapids, go up in a hot-air balloon, parasailing; I did the not-too-ambitious downhill mountainbike ride known as the Haleakala Downhill on Maui; learn to ride English saddle on a horse; I even took ballet lessons as an adult. I learned to snow ski; I learned to ice skate...all as a young adult, not as a kid. Now, as a mature adult still in her 50s, I'm more cautious about the physical adventures because I don't trust my body as much...I'm no way going to skydive or bungee jump at this age...and I've even developed a slightly-odd fear of flying after being on numerous long-distance flights (the longest was to Rio de Janeiro from LAX; ugh)...but I'm stoked about other types of bucket list things now, like meeting relatives in the MIdwest I've never yet seen (we share a interesting heritage; I want to know them!!), exploring U.S. waterways and seeing The Great Lakes; sharing meals with my husband instead of the two-ships-passing-in-the-night due to his odd work schedule; working at the library sorting books so that Friends of the Library can make some money because, I am getting fanatical about this, saving hardcover and paperback books (recycling, for new readers). I use some technology, like the web, but I can't stand that my young relatives only text and never pick up a book on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Worst, they don't know cursive; can't do penmanship. What does that mean? Their signature will always be in block printing? They'll never be able to look at old documents and be able to read history. Can you imagine inheriting a beautifully-written letter by an ancestor and not being able to read it because you never learned cursive? Maybe it's in my bucket list to teach my 3rd cousin how to write. She is darling. I gave her Mom's piano and she's learning to play. It's made me want to play again myself, so I'm restoring another family piano in 2014 and intend to take lessons again just like I did when I was her age...because I want to; because it brings me back to my childhood/Mom/Grandma...we all played on this banged-up piano which it took me 40 years to get back from, well, the church (but they didn't need it anymore and...c'est une long histoire). Yep, the piano is in the bucket. Sorry to be so long-winded as is my norm but you touch on these things in your post that strike a chord (not to make a pun on "piano"). I love that you re-read favorite books; I do that, too. It's solace. Hey, the weather changed today up here! We got a wee bit of rain. Loved smelling the damp earth. Humid and still in the 70s but, wow, cooler nights. Fall's a'coming, Janet. Loved going into the Hallmark shop today and seeing the autumn things, the burnt oranges/golds which aren't usually my faves except at this time of year. So warm and inviting; cozy. I tried to ignore the Xmas decor; can't get into that yet but, you know, all the retailers push it so early. Thanks for another wonderful post.

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  22. Dear Janet, every time I see a picture of your house a sense of calm envelops me...imagine, if I actually was sitting in it, I don't think I would ever want to leave.
    My bucket list, to live near the sea and travel and bit more.
    Linda C.

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  23. Nothing inbetween here - it's been cool, grey and damp for a couple of weeks, now, despite some colour in the leaves. Tonight temperatures are dropping to freezing and snow is forecast for tomorrow, but it will be the wet grey kind, I'm afraid - of course, this is the weekend we've chartered a small yacht with our friends again, just like Easter when it snowed...! Life will be cosy but outdoors it will be verrry cold sailing :o

    No bucket list because we are extremely fortunate in the life we live, anyway!!
    I haven't gone back to Elaine St.James for a while, but she was part of my active downsizing, too.

    BTW you're lucky that blue works so well in your house; it just doesn't work well in this one at all for some reason, so I took my blue things to the coast!

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  24. I'm in love with that little picture, and the stand, oh my!!!
    I don't know what I would do with out Autumn.
    It is simply my very favorite month, and it fills me with such happiness.
    It is fleeting, but I soak in every moment.

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  25. It was 91degrees here on Sunday. Today it's pouring rain and in the 50's.

    Must be fall.

    No leaves turning here, but my boxwoods are covered in spiderwebs and look very Halloweenish.

    I have started my bucket list today. I am wearing a new tshirt that reads "Just Once Before I Die, Detroit Lions".

    xo Jane

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  26. What a nice post! I used to have so much on my bucket list. Now I don't have one at all- not because I emptied the list but more because I finally decided to just live in the moment and let life surprise me.. The best thing I have ever done! That, and simplifying my life - inspired by you. I am now vegan, not purchasing any leather, and am continuing to purge my home and wardrobe . It feels good! It feels lighter all the time.

    I wonder if you even know what a great influence you are! You are changing lives in your own way. Thank you so much, Janet, for changing mine.

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  27. Oh, and I forgot to mention that since becoming vegan, I have lost almost 40 pounds and so many aches and pains- especially headaches have disappeared. I am lighter in body, but as great as that is, I cherish more that my soul seems lighter and I am more and more content with each moment... So Thank You again!

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  28. Your home gets prettier and prettier, and your blog becomes more precious each day.
    -Suzanne in Illinois

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  29. Hi Janet! Yes, speaking of fall/winter and cleaning out and so ... I've lost 10 pounds since changing to a vegan lifestyle. Mainly thanks to leaving all those sweet snacks in the supermarket (hardly any sweet stuff in Austria is vegan).

    Coincidentally I have worn out plenty of my clothes. Jeans are going to tear apart soon, Sweaters are ready to serve as rugts etc.
    Now I am not sure if I should "trust" this weightloss and buy clothes for the new thinner me. I had this weight about 10 years ago, back when my worklife was less settled at a desk ;-)
    I would love to keep the 10 pounds off, especially since I go ski mountaineering and 10 pounds equal 5 large Thermos-bottles which is a crazy load to carry extra if you don't have to.

    I remember you writing in the past that you had lost weight soon after you became vegan, then gained weight and then lost weight again.
    My question is not about "how to lose weight and keep it off when you are vegan" but about "how to not lose a lot of money when buying clothes that won't fit one year from now". The doubt if this weight loss is a permanent thing.
    Will the pounds come back over time? Lets say, when vegan supermarkets start their business in Austria and all the sweets and vegan junk food will become available?
    "Of course" I don't want to buy baggy jeans but a slim fit. hehe. In the past I had some of those "useless buys" over years in my closet: clothes I bought 1 or even 2 sizes smaller after having lost weight. Not for good, not for long.

    I would love to read from you, what you notived for yourself and what advice you give.

    Thank you!

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  30. We are finally getting a little crisp Fall weather in the eastern US, and I so love the crisp, cool days. Your home is so lovely - attention to detail at ever turn. Just love it!!

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  31. What a AMAZING post:) your blog Is so beautiful ...do you have bloglovin??

    Check my blog...with stylish Swedish fireplaces:)

    Have a great Sunday dear

    LOVE Maria at inredningsvis - inredning it's, Swedish for decor :)

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  32. I love all the blue and white pots!! Do you use the dining room at all? How did you come to choose the table? Thanks; A

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    1. we eat breakfast in the dining room every morning. i bought the table at an antique store that M and I absolutely loved. it was going out of business so it was seriously affordable. it's from the early 1900's. i really think the space would look and function better with a round table but i cannot part with this table as it has so many good memories of that day i bought it and of the owner of the store. :)

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