Come On Fall, Bring On the Leaves! I’m Ready!

Last Friday I shared a few faves and promised to share the rest this week, so here they are!

This Has Been A Life Changer

Recently in a post I shared a photo of a fern on my deck. There were leaves on the deck that day and normally I would have taken the time to use my electric blower and blow them away, but my yard guy was coming that afternoon and they usually blow off the decks while here. So, I didn’t want to waste time doing something I knew they would be doing that day.

A few readers noticed the leaves and mentioned there were some good blowers out there. I had shopped online about a year ago for a blower because I absolutely hate using my electric blower. It’s super heavy, very loud and the cord is constantly getting in the way.

I’m not sure why, but I never got around to buying one last year, I guess because the yard guys blow off the decks every couple of weeks. But there are times when I’m having friends over that I really do wish I had a better blower for clearing off the decks.

Pony Tail or Fox Tail Fern

 

So, about a week ago I went online and took a look again. I searched for a cordless DeWalt leaf blower (since I have several of their tools already and like them) and came across this one below. You may remember from some of my DIY projects in that past (like THIS one, THIS one and THIS one), whenever I need a new tool, I always buy DeWalt if I can. They always have great reviews and by sticking with one brand, I can use the same battery/batteries across all my tools.

Dewalt Tools_wm

 

The reviews online were great on this blower, so I ordered it. I didn’t have to order a battery since I already had three DeWalt batteries, two smaller ones that I often use for my DeWalt flashlight and drill, and a larger battery that I like to use for my circular saw.

I absolutely LOVE this blower! I had a battery charged up and ready to go the day it arrived. I cleared off both decks and blew some leaves out of the garage in no time.

I love that there’s no annoying cord to drag around, makes the process so much faster! Oh I how I hated that about my electric blower, dealing with that long, long cord and having to drag it around everywhere. Leaves were forever getting caught in the cord which drove me crazy. Also, this blower is so much lighter and much quieter than my old electric blower!

dewalt-cordless-battery-operated-leaf-blower

 

I placed my larger DeWalt battery in the battery thingy and it was still going strong after I cleared off the two decks and blew out the garage. I didn’t charge it afterwards because I want to see how many times I can do that before it has to be charged again.

If you’re looking for a great blower, I can definitely recommend this one. You can read the reviews where I purchased mine here: DeWalt Blower. If you don’t already have the battery, you’ll find it with a battery here: DeWalt Blower with Battery

 

dewalt-blower-with-battery-installed

 

In the Dark!

Recently our power in the neighborhood went completely out and stayed out for several hours. At first, I thought it would just be out for a short while and lit several of my scented candles. That was a mistake! Since they were all scented, they became way overpowering pretty quickly.

I blew out some of the candles and finally recalled that I had purchased a lantern a year or so ago. I luckily remembered where I had stored it and it worked perfectly for the 3-4 hours I was without power.

The next day when I had power again, I went online and ordered some more. Next time the power goes out, I’d like to have more than one lantern on hand.

The lanterns I ordered are a bit different but they had awesome reviews and were a great price. I ordered one set for myself and another set for my son and dil. Looks like the price has come down even further than when I bought them. I really like these lanterns and like how they collapse for storage. You’ll find them here: Lanterns

lanterns

 

Recently I received a question from a few readers about the tartan dishware I use in table settings at Christmas and throughout the fall and winter. I looked and they are back in stock again. You’ll find the chargers here: Tartan Chargers

Williams-Sonoma Tartan Plaid Chargers for Christmas

 

I purchased the tartan dinner and salad plates the first year they were available, then bought the chargers the second year.

You’ll find the dinner plates here: Tartan Dinner Plates and the salad plates here: Tartan Salad Plates

Tartan Dishware from Williams Sonoma

 

I’ve also been getting some questions about my winter tartan bedding. You’ll find more information about how I decided to go with tartan for the winter in this previous post: Dressing the Bed in Tartan, Ralph Lauren Inspired

Tartan Plaid Bedding With Plaid Bedskirt For High Bed

 

The duvet, sheets, pillows, etc are available here: Tartan Bedding. To read about the making of the dust ruffle, check out this previous post:  No More Faking It

Road Trip Santa Pillow and Tartan Bedding

 

I’ve gotten several questions about the “Road Trip Santa” pillow I purchased last year. That pillow came from Pottery Barn but so far it’s not on their website for this year. Will let you know if I see it back in the stores again this year.

I’m pretty crazy about this pumpkin pillow that’s currently on sale here: Pumpkin Pillow  I’m getting so excited about Halloween and Christmas, I can hardly stand it!

pumpkin-pillow

 

Okay, I think that covers what I’ve been buying lately and hopefully answers any additional questions I received. If I missed one, just let me know in the comments below.

I’ll leave you with these floral rainboots I’m crushing on, are these not adorable?! These would be so cute for fall, winter or spring. They are available here: Rain Boots.

rain-boots

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Comments

  1. OK, you simply must stop posting links to all your pretty things! I now own the great sailboat silverware — great for summer dining — and the fun antlered silverware just arrived yesterday! I can’t wait to use this during fall dinners and think it would even be creative to use during casual Christmas meals when everyone is keeping an eye out for flying reindeer! No, seriously, so much fun following your blog and watching the seasonal transformations of your deck, porch and rooms. Keep it coming!

  2. So happy you posted about the Dewalt blower. I’ve been cursing my big heavy electric blower all summer and your “testimony” has pushed me over the edge to get a small battery operated one. I don’t have other Dewalt tools so I’ll need to purchase batteries, but my screwdriver/drill is ancient so I may be replacing that with Dewalt also, so batteries can do double duty. I love that you do so much shopping for all of us – thanks.

    • Yep! I really like the DeWalt tools. I’m glad I started with those. I pretty much always have a battery charged up since I have 3, so I love that. When my drill (which I use as a screwdriver) starts running low, I don’t have to stop and charge it, just pop in another battery. I also like that these batteries so not do what my old battery operated screw driver used to do, it seemed to always be dead when I needed it. These batteries hold their charge while sitting on a shelf so they are ready whenever you need them. Such an improvement!

  3. Susan, I could really use the blower and the lantern. We had a power failure; actually the electric company upgraded their system and we were out of power for quiet awhile. I too had a candle or two, but promised myself a new lantern. As for the blower, we used to hose off the patio, but with the drought the neighbors would come out and scold me if they saw I was wasting water, so a blower will be in my future. Thanks as always for doing the research.

    • I really do like this one, wish I had bought it last year. Definite improvement over my old electric one that was heavy and so loud! I’m got it in my “donate” box for my next trip to Goodwill.

  4. Anne Shaheen says

    Susan-Society6.com has beautiful “painted” pillow covers for all seasons,holiday,etc. The covers average about $25.00 each; some less.
    I have also bought their covers with pillow insert at great prices. My grandkids especially like the change in pillows for seasons. I currently have a pillow cover featuring a red wagon piled with pumpkins. The quality of the covers are excellent, and have a zipper closure.

    • That sounds sooo cute! I like to that too, swap out the pillow insert. You can buy just the cover for the Santa pillow, if they do bring it back again. Thanks for the tip on the cute pillows!

  5. I was just thinking last night that I should get another blower. The cord drives me nuts too! I also love the rain boots, so cute. Being in Real Estate sometimes the yard is wet and squishy and so I keep a pair of Crocs in my trunk, but these are so much cuter.
    I can’t wait for Fall either, this heat is too much!

    • Hope you see some relief soon, Charlotte! Today was really nice here, not too bad. I was in Atlanta touring the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and it was really pretty.

  6. Sandra D in Joliet says

    I have the Winter Greetings set from Lenox (the cardinals, chickadees and nuthatch ones). I love them. I don’t use or have chargers but they are lovely. I too recommend and buy DeWalt tools. The boots are so cute but I need a wide width and those “duck” type shoes never seem to come in them. Even Sloggers don’t unless you buy the men ones and they are just plain blah colors.

  7. Regality (aka The Quing) says
  8. I Absolutely love your bedding it is so gorgeous. and for the blower it looks to be light weight and easy to use thank’s for sharing .

  9. I bought a drill by the same maker and love it. I have small hands and cannot use the man-size drills. They had one that fit me perfectly for my little jobs.

  10. bobbi duncan says

    Love the DeWalt products! Know one gift I’ll be getting hubby for Xmas—the blower. We have yard service but, like you, there are in-between times I wish to blow off the porch and in the garage. Pumpkin pillow is pretty with it’s watercolor look. Susan, do you know the manufacturer of that red berries salad plate in the last tartan china picture you posted–couldn’t tell if the table setting was one of yours or William-Sonoma’s.

  11. Love the pumpkin pillow! It’s still hot here in our little corner of western NC. All the stored boxes of Fall decor are down from the attic. Now I have a cold. Next week Fall will arrive, all around the house at least. Fall and winter are my favorite time of year. Autumn leaves, cooler temps, all the colors of both seasons, cuddling by the fire, watching holiday movies, the seasonal tablescapes! & decor, the foods we only seem to cook during these holidays, the first signs of crispness in the air, snow (if we get any), the Christmas “feeling in the air.” I can’t wait!

  12. Mary Deckert says

    I just ordered the blower and the lanterns ~ thanks for the great tips!

  13. Bethany Otto says

    I am fairly new to reading your blog and I love it; however I do want to ask why a noisy blower when a lovely straw broom would do the job just as well?

    • A blower is a million times faster (and less frustrating) than using a broom. A blower can easily get into all the little nooks and crannies of a garage–like behind the lawn mower, the standing tool chest, the potting bench, the shelves, etc… places that are very difficult (if not impossible) to reach with a broom unless you unload everything and drag it out away from the wall. So a blower can do the job of cleaning out a garage in 10 minutes, something that would take the majority of the day using a straw broom.
      Regarding the deck, trying to sweep a deck can be a complete, hair-pulling, sanity-losing nightmare. The bottom horizontal rail of both my decks is about 1-1/2- to 2 inches up from the deck surface. (See the fern picture in this post to see what what I mean.) So the leaves will not go underneath the rail, via sweeping. I’ve tried that and basically you have to destroy the broom by laying it almost flat down on the deck and using it to literally shoving the leaves underneath the bottom rail, at least that’s what I would have to do on my deck that doesn’t have stairs going down.
      On the other deck, the one that has steps, I have to sweep all the leaves over to the stairs, then sweep them down all the steps, which takes forever.
      With a blower, you simply blow the leaves across the deck and through the balusters/rails of the deck, none of that business of trying to shove the leaves through the 2 inch space underneath the bottom railing.
      So, a blower is much, much faster and a whole lot less frustrating. That’s why you’ll never see gardeners or a gardening crew sweeping decks.

  14. I love the Tartan duvet. Trying to rationalize the expense. Might have to just go for it.

  15. I LOVE those boots! I also love all the Tartan bedding and wish my budget would stretch that far, but I don’t think it will. I’ll just enjoy the pictures of yours! I wish the same about those Tartan chargers – but I did find some affordable ones at Michaels last year, even though they are plastic, I’m looking forward to using them again. Thanks for all the updates!

  16. Being in hurricane season, and with the upcoming winter season, the tip on the lanterns is very timely. We have a emergency plug-in that comes on when the power goes out, so you can find lanterns/candles. And you can grab it and use as a flashlight, which is especially handy for those in apt/condo buidings if evacuation is necessary.
    This looks like the one we have: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Slim-Line-Power-Failure-Light/16486657

  17. Always love your suggestions as you really do your research…going to have to check on that blower as my hubby has a heavy gas blower and I would love one I could just pick up, turn on, and see the leaves go away….cute rain boots too!

  18. I’m a die hard Dewalt chick all of the way 🙂 And I also wanted to mention that the Wednesday “To Grandma’s House We Go” link party just started over at grandmashousediy.com and I thought you might be interested in joining it, thanks!

  19. That leaf blower is awesome! I’m tired of dealing with that long, long cord and having to drag it around everywhere. The yard guys come weekly and in between I drag mine around! Battery powered sounds fantastic! Oh my, love that chargers and I love, love those rainboots!

  20. Susan… I agree the PB pumpkin pillows are wonderful!! In fact, I loved them so much last year after seeing their catalog, I asked my “ultra-talented” sister to paint/sew these for me which she did in water colors….now I’m enjoying them as a pair on my sofa. They are definitely a treasure!! 🙂

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