Hmm let’s see… November… AMERICAN Thanksgiving, a visit from Nana and Baba, full on fall weather, school, the beginning of the Christmas countdown. Because Nana and Baba were there in the right time frame we also saw Santa which you can read about in a previous post.

Beach towels from their travels

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Not only did Nana and Baba take over the cooking and make a full on turkey dinner BUT the Novaks also joined us! The kids were beyond excited to have the 4 boys over and we adults had a great visit.

Echo chose our seasonally coloured cake. I baked it.

And the twins decorated it.

Ken and I snuck off after Thanksgiving for basically a second honeymoon. For the first time in over 12 years we went out overnight WITHOUT kids. We went to a B and B that Karyn and I had visited previously in Wisconsin (different room). We hung out in our awesome room.

Went out for a delicious dinner at an old mill.

Dressed up for a dinner out.

Shopped at an amazing yarn place.

AND drove out of our way to an even more amazing wool place.

Oh yah I spent a little

We even stopped in at a brewery for a tasting for Ken.

And visited the capital building.

It was AMAZING.

ALMOST like back home.

It really was as good as people say!

Breakfast

Wisconsin = cheese of course

NAP

The weather went from sundresses and sunshine to snow and snowboots.

We spent plenty of quality time at the YMCA.

And Ken and I went to an open house at Shandai and Ravyn’s new digs.

We found time for Home Depot.

Crocheted in spare moments.

Cat butt coasters!

Fingerless dragonscale gloves.

Hats for cats!

The girls had their nails done by Nana.

And the twins pitched in with some baking.

We decorated our tree. 

And watched our local black squirrel run our yard like a boss.

Can you believe we even found time for schooling. 

Prepping the Christmas countdown paper chain.

And a visit with the Schwartz family!

A trip to IKEA had us well lit and the girls in new beds. 

November went by in a blink of an eye. But it was a fun blink!

Christmas decorations at the YMCA

With a first name like Halloween how can you grow up to be anything but an amazing witch? Well Halloween LaVeau managed it. A witch, yes, the best, not so much. Living in Enchantment Pointe (don’t you just love the name?) in a lovely old mansion she inherited from her aunt there is an attic to conquer and a bed and breakfast to run. A seriously seasonally appropriate book for my Halloween spirit. Forever Charmed is the first in the Halloween LaVeau series by Rose Pressey. Pressey has multiple supernatural series out for the read. I have read several of hers and fallen in love instantly. This book is no exception.

Halloween comes from a long line of strong witches… until she came along that is. Her best friend is a non magical named Annabelle who is well aware of Halloween’s heritage. I love the names of the characters in this story… Halloween, Annabelle, Nicolas Marcos, Liam Rankin, Isabeau…

With one man appearing in gorgeous perfecting during a a stormy night and another hunk at the light of day what’s a girl to do? Well trying out random spells from a book that only gives an English translation when it wants to of course.

One of my favourite lines is in regards to the vampire (nope not telling who)… when asked when he was turned:

It was around the Civil War. I just got caught up with the wrong crowd. We don’t need to discuss me right now.

With two excessively attractive men lurking around and ghosts and spells and witches and all, what more can you ask for but a mystery connected to a spell book? A coven that doesn’t appreciate 

Hallie’s efforts (perhaps because every time she does a spell it fails and someone else in the area has a spell mess up to?), a mother who is determined to support her daughter while reminding her of a rather major past error. There is comedy, romance, adventure, mystery and even the hint of murder. What more can you ask for with a suitably supernatural novel the night before Halloween??

Day 2 – September 4 

We had a few hiccups with our internet at the B&B but had an absolute blast sitting up late sewing and chatting. We both got our chance in the absolutely AMAZING bathtub jets and all. I love the attention to detail and comfort they took with this place.

We had a continental breakfast to enjoy in the morning (full breakfasts are weekends) and a wonderful conversation with our host. The poppy seed muffins were yummy. We made our plans… first to find cheese curds (as fresh as possible), then to head out for shopping and an art gallery and of course one more stop off at 7-11 before heading home.

The cheese factory we found had a wonderful window into the factory where we could see them making their cheese. The cheese curds I purchased (and put in the cooler we brought for this very reason) were fresh that day. Karyn splurged and got some swiss cheese as well. With the new regulations if food is properly labelled and sealed you CAN take it across the border!!

The art gallery was a free one found on the state university campus. Definitely a novel experience, being among the college students again and so close to the beginning of the term. It was a lovely building.

And an amazing art gallery that covered tons of different themes and eras. I must warn you… we took more than a few pictures! No flash and the phone loved it! So enjoy.

After the art gallery it was shopping in the gift shop.

And then down the street where all the students shopped to look for some amazing deals and have a light lunch. With Italian soda.

And then realize that all good things must come to an end. Our drive home was uneventful and bittersweet but amazing! A roadtrip to remember… and now for the rest of the pictures!