Okay, here. Listen to Frank Sinatra crooning for a mo if you want to, and then come back. Now, Frank has the actual world on a string, what with sitting on a rainbow and all. I, on the other hand, have a shoestring.Belts are extraordinarily tight in this house (and not just because I eat too many carbs). Times are not so good (like I have to tell you this). If Barack Obama is re-elected, and we continue on this course, the deficit will be up to God knows what by the time he finishes his second term. That makes me feel the way I feel when I open my credit card bill: panicky. And horrified. Yes, it was for stuff we needed (refer back to tight belts, above)--well, mostly anyway, but holy moly, it sure adds up. I'm pretty sure this is what Mr. Obama says when he gets the deficit bill at the end of the month-- "Well, it was for stuff that we needed--well, mostly anyway, but holy moly, it sure adds up." But the problem is, I don't think Mr. Obama feels my panic. Or my horror.
So maybe ask yourself how you are doing now, compared to four years ago. Yes, Obama inherited a mess. But boy oh boy did he make it worse. Please, please, vote for Mitt Romney. He's good at this. Our country needs a CEO, not a professor. I feel so strongly about
this! Well, okay, that's the end of my stumping. I'd actually do more stumping if I got to wear a straw boater like Samantha Stephens did when she was trying to get a stop light on Morning Glory Circle. And a sash. I need a sash.
Moving on! Now, you know how much I love autumn, and my autumn decorations. In fact you can read last year's post on the subject. It seems like every year (for the last, actually, four or so years) I have had to ramp up my thriftiness. I have purchased no new fall decorations. Any recent acquisitions I have I scrounged from nature. There I was, in the park, 
a crazy lady picking up acorns from under oak trees. But you have to see them--they are like little textbook symbols of autumn. So perfect, 
and I couldn't just leave them all there to be lawnmowered into oblivion.And I love the big seeds from the California buckeye trees. (By the way, the seeds are toxic, so don't lick them
or anything.) In autumn, the tree produces this odd, pear-shaped fruit that is really just a husk for the seed. The seeds look like burnished nubbins of wood. Very fall-y. 
You can also call the seeds "conkers." Which we do.Another natural decor item I'm putting to use are the rose hips from my garden. I purposely did not deadhead the roses after their last bloom in the summer. I wanted to see how all the rose hips would look, and they are so pretty!
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Rose hips and Michael's scented pinecones[/caption]They are perfect for standing in a vase or scattering in with conkers or acorns or, say, pinecones. In fact, I actually did buy one new autumn decoration, but it was cheap ($2.50!). In Michaels they have mesh bags of scented pinecones. I love how they smell, all cinnamony. The first day or two they are rawther pungent, but the scent softens pretty quickly and makes the area around them smell delightfully cozy.
While I was out foraging, feeling like a cross between Martha Stewart and Grizzly Adams, I came across these trees with the most beautiful
berryish/seedish/flowerish things on them. I picked just a few sprigs, came home, plunked them in a vase and, if I may say so myself, perfection!So that, my friends, is this year's autumnal decorating on a shoestring. And I do kind of feel like I've got the world on a string when I have beautiful things around me. And so much the better if my beautiful things were free!
And don't forget--VOTE.
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