Nuttin', Honey

After finishing crunch-time, getting my Harvest and Christmas samplers ready to ship off for Market, I have found myself quite at a loss for blog content.

Not that I've just been sitting around catching my breathe. There has been lots of the usual... laundry and food prep, and cleaning dishes, and cleaning kids, and supervising kids, and supervising dogs, and feeding dogs, and grocery shopping, and school supply shopping, and picking raspberries, and even a day spent visiting my Mama and Grandma.

My Dearest has been working very, very long hours, coming home late and wiped out, only to have to get right back at it on the weekends, cutting firewood for our house and his Parents' house. I think I'm feeling his tiredness and translating it into my own life. We need a vacation! A really, really long one... perhaps a month?

Since I have no recent pictures for you (I know... how can that be? Beth almost always has a camera attached to her finger), I'll show you a sweet little vintage pincushion that I added to my collection not too long ago...

I'd like to give Crewel Work a try sometime.



And have you ever seen Jelly Jars like these?

I found them at my local Goodwill for .39 cents each. I really love the folky and naive raised Angel and Crown motif, and was super curious about them. So, even though I don't collect old glass, I brought them home anyway and did some research.

It turns out that they were made by Kerr, and the Angel and Crown are the Kerr Family crest. I haven't been able to pinpoint how old they are. Anybody know?

And that is all I have for you this Friday. Over and out.

Happiness is...

when Raspberries burst into ripeness just as Strawberry season tapers away...

dicing up Rhubarb and turning it into a custard-y pan of perfection (seriously.)...

eating Zucchini Bread...

having your 3 1/2 year old Daughter ask why your childhood toy has a tattoo on her bum...

What is Art?

Our Resident Artist has gained some competition.

It all started with a trip to the store to buy school supplies for the oldest. The colored pencils were buy-one-get-one-free, so the littlest got a box too.

Apparently she likes colored pencils much better than the crayons that she has constant access to, for it has been a non-stop art fest ever since.

This is "Some Gwass and X's and Da Sun Went Behind a Twee":

When asked what this piece was, she declared, "It isn't Anyfing, Mama. Its just Cowors."

And that makes me really happy.

Thanksgiving in July

If I thought finding Christmas ornaments in July was hard, its only because I had yet to try finding Autumnal-looking foliage.

I was saved by an Elderberry bush and a shocked-by-heat grapevine.

Shop owners will be able to purchase my 2011 "Harvest Sampler" at the TNNA show in Baltimore on August 13th. I will be making it available in my etsy shop for direct purchase soon after.

Christmas in July

It feels rather strange to be finishing up Christmas designs when Summer has yet to really descend upon the hills of Oregon.

But that's what I'm up to this week. Imagine trying to dig deep enough to find holiday ornaments for a photo shoot this time of year. Lucky for me, some clever antique dealer had these two sweet oldies still out for sale in her mall space.

Shop owners will be able to purchase my 2011 Christmas sampler, titled "Sing We Then Merrily" at the TNNA show in Baltimore on August 13th. I will be making it available in my etsy shop for direct purchase soon after.

What I Found on His Nightstand

Now that our oldest is preparing to head of to afternoon Kindergarten in the Fall, I have been weaning him off of his daily nap. He still has to spend the time resting on his bed, but sleep is no longer mandatory.

He usually spends the time reading (yes, my pre-K kid is an avid reader) or playing with small toys. As a result, the bedside vignettes have grown increasingly complicated and interesting.

Paying the Beavers a Visit

This past weekend, the four of us went on an adventure together to see what the Beavers have been up to.

Its a bit of a hike for short legs, with a nice, steep road to trot down.

The only creatures we saw along the way were some centipedes and spit bugs. The spit bugs created quite a stir amongst the youngsters. And not a nice, friendly kind of stir, but rather an almost-hysterical-gettitoffofme! kind of stir.

There are always ample opportunities for my lens, when out in our bit of the forest.

Like this crest of Foxgloves, my favorite native wildflower...

Salmonberries...

Oxalis...

Blackberry flower buds...


Down along the edge of the Beaver Pond, there is a nice sitting log.

It is really very hard to describe the complete transformation that has taken place.

What used to be a small-ish creek bed is now such a widespread waterland that it is hard to see the opposite shore.

I have never been to a Southern swamp, but this is how I imagine it to look.

Moss dripping from the trees, the air full of birdsong and bugs and humidity.

About the only thing we don't have, other than crocodiles, is heat (gotta love Oregon!)

The top edge of the dam stretches off into the distance.

The huge amount of sticks and logs that those buckteeth have chewed is staggering...

determined, industrious, busy creatures.

A Pretty Something

I have this little "vase" that I found at a thrift store for a dollar.

It is actually the bottom of an old miniature oil lamp that has gone pink from exposure to sunlight.

So charming and sweet and lovely, and the evening light makes it glow.

It always makes me happy to re-purpose something old and discarded. I wish I could have a copy of the journal of its life.

Who used it to light the way to bed and perhaps write a letter or read a few pages? Who left it sitting on the windowsill, thinking it lovely enough in form to use as decoration? Who broke the chimney and lamp works, but still held onto the base? And who decided to donate it, instead of throwing it out with the trash?

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the flower cluster is from a Crocosmia growing in my friend's yard. She brought it over along with some really yummy cookies. Lucky me.

The Vegetable Garden

I had a photo shoot with the veggies a few days ago.

They were in rare form, posing and primping like fashion models.

Potato,

Tomato,

Corn,

Zucchini.


The herbs next door, not to be outdone, sent their best show-stoppers out to impress.

Parsley,


Sage.

The newest garden plot, where the pumpkins have been banished to make room for a horde of tomatoes, was caught off guard, and only had an amazing display of weed-less dirt to show.

The blue and raspberries, not to be outdone, blushed sweetly with color.

Picture of the Week