Au Naturel

Last Sunday afternoon my hubbs and I decided 

to take a little nature hike

into the park that borders our subdivision.

There are great trails that wind through the woods

which are frequented by joggers and nature lovers alike.

The post I did last Friday for Vintage Inspiration Friday

really had me ready to get outside and see what I could find.

I wanted to find some acorns since I've been seeing

 all the faux ones out in stores and blogland.

This girl was just not gonna pay 7 bucks for a small handful...sorry.

As you can see above our walk yielded some specimens

along with some walnuts in all their yummy "green-ness"

maybe I'll start a new fad...

decorating with stinky green walnuts!

(I actually love this fresh color of green!)

I've had this great little metal carrier stashed out in the garage

just waiting for this kind of display.

I used some faux and some real leaves in the mix.

Added two of the smaller "Salty Caramel" candles with the goodies,

all on a bed of dried moss.

Don't tell, but I had to glue the "caps" back on these little critters.

So, here are some of the sites along the way.

Lots of bluebird houses with little wire mesh stoops.

Pretty typical woods 

with a great display of color on the trees.

The fences on the back of the houses across the street.

Whatever this once was had been there a long, long time.

So we wandered around the trails for quite a while.

talking, laughing, picking up bits and pieces.

There were lots of bird noises, rustling in the grass, and leaves falling...

But I heard a noise and we looked in that direction...

can you see what we saw?

How about now?

I have to tell you my husband was beyond excited!

He loves to go to "Deer Camp" each year,

but really enjoys the "male bonding" and walking around in the woods,

and oh yea, not bathing for days at a time.

(wouldn't want the deer to smell ya...)

Wow, this was one handsome really big guy,

Couldn't tell if he was an 8 or 10 point.

But he was used to hikers so he wasn't spooked, 

he took his time and stood right in the middle of the trail

watching us for several moments...

then wandered on his way.

So we both enjoyed our afternoon.

Then I put this together today so I could share the fun.

I hinted at what my big project was Sunday afternoon.

I'll share more Thursday

when I search out some Fall Outdoor Dining inspiration.

Hope you'll come by;

Hope you're having great Fall weather,

xoxo,