Birthday Sale!

Tomorrow is my birthday.

On November 25, 2014... I will officially be in my fourth decade.

Yep. Four-Oh.

Forty.

40.

And I honestly couldn't be happier about it! I like milestones, and this feels like a big one in all the right ways. Four decades of life experience under my belt, and likely at least four more to go (if I trend with most of my female ancestors). So that means I'm at my middle decade. Hows that for sobering/invigorating? I've been reading a book called Pursue the Intentional Life by Jean Fleming. In the beginning, she asks "What kind of old lady do I want to be?" This feels like the right time to be thinking about such deep thoughts, and a good time to be able to change course if I need to.

And also a good time to offer a nice sale to all of you loyal readers. My birthday present to you, so to speak. If you spend a minimum of $10 in my etsy shop, you'll be able to enter the coupon code "40isthenew30" at checkout to get 40% off of your order. Starting right now, and ending at midnight tomorrow the 25th.

Happy shopping!

Have You Ever... ???

In all you live-long life, have you ever seen something like this?

I am completely baffled by this old pincushion.

She appears to be made of horsehair-stuffed silk. And I think she used to have a ruff of some kind around her neck.

Her head has a big hole in the top, presumably where her hair was once attached.

Otherwise, all I can say is, "What in the world!", shake my head and smile.

And speaking of old pincushions, do you like her pillow?

Its an oldie too, given to me by my Sis-in-Law for my birthday.

Methinks I might be a bonified pincushion collector pretty soon.

Wow

You all knocked my socks off with your response to my Sis-in-Law's candles. She didn't anticipate the positive response, and completely sold out in the first day. She is absolutely thrilled, of course, and is working on filling requests, and hopes to have more listed soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

As a thank-you to ME for telling you about them, she brought a candle out to me, and I am loving it, up there on my mantle. If you have been on the fence, wondering if you should get one or not, stop wondering and get one! You won't regret it.

The other WOW, the one that still has me shaking my head, is what my Farmboy gave to me for my birthday.

I can't tell you just how long I have been wanting a laptop computer, but never felt that my want justified the expense. Well, he has once again delivered, giving me a gift that I am super excited about. I can listen to music in the kitchen! Design samplers under a shade tree in the Summer! Stop hogging the family computer for work so the kids can play on PBS Kids once in a while! Write my blog while sitting in a cozy chair by the woodstove! How many other silly, frivolous things can I think of? Lots. Happy me.

I'll be spending my day trying to get the color balance and lighting just right, loading my design software, simmering one very large turkey carcass down to broth, catching up on housework, and perhaps digging into the Christmas decorations. What will you do today?

Thur-tee-sev-un

How did that happen?

37.

Still young, you say.

I know.

But oh, so close to forty and officially-probably-not-a-kid-anymore.

I don't feel a day over 28.

I hope I can still say the same in another decade.

I'm taking the day off from computer stuff, but don't forget that this is your last day to get in on my birthday sale!

Lets Talk Turkey

I think I want a pet turkey.

Just so I can look him in the eye and have a gobble-off every so often.

Turkeys are strange, clumsy, and somehow super-cool looking all at the same time.
Sort of like me. Or like Josh Krajcik on the XFactor, who has perhaps my new most-favorite-voice-of-all-time, but who looks like the burrito maker that he was in his former life.

But I digress.

I like turkeys. A lot. Possibly because I was born in November, and every several years celebrate my birthday on Thanksgiving.

I don't have a collection, unless the combined grouping of a cookie cutter, sampler, table runner, and mug count as a collection.

I decided last year that I need a Turkey to hang on my kitchen wall during the Thanksgiving season, and have been letting the idea simmer in my head ever since. But with the season now upon me, all of the lingering pieces have come together, and I am in the midst of stitching up a turkey out of wool pieces.

I absolutely adore wool applique work. In between projects I forget just how much I love it.

This fellow will be revealed in all his completed splendor very soon.

Birthday Presents

As promised, a peek at a few of the gifts I received this year...

I'll start with an amazingly perfect-for-me antique rhinestone pin, shaped like a pair of scissors... Are they for paper cutting or stitching? Who knows? Who cares? I can't wait to wear them!

The old pincushion was a gift from myself- to myself (I can't seriously be the only person who does that?)

I simply couldn't resist when I spotted it on etsy. Check out the backside...

The little wooden hand was my gift from Goodwill... I got it for free when I used my birthday discount. Last year they gave me a bone china teacup. I love Goodwill.

And that Gorgeous pink Waterford cake plate (Hocking, circa 1930-40) was a gift too... arriving in a vintage hat box, under a triple death-by-chocolate cake... and ohmygoodness was it ever good! The cake, I mean... not the plate. *wink*

The linens (above), there's that hat box (below), a sweet framed paper cutting, book number 14 in a series I've been (avidly) reading since college, an old tin cookie cutter to add to my "T" collection...

and the earrings... carefully chosen by my boy, all by his self (with only slight coaching from Daddy, who directed him to the sterling rack for quality reasons).

He gave them to me with such excitement and joy, proclaiming that he picked them out, "so that you would remember how much I love you when you wear them".

LOVE.

And last, but most certainly not least...

you are going to *gasp* when you read this...

It took me a full minute, I think, of standing there with my mouth hanging open, before I began to comprehend...

My husband gave me the gift of DOING THE LAUNDRY, STARTING NOW.

Not just once, or for a week or month. But in perpetuity.

The only conditions being that I still get to hang the clothes on the line in dry weather, since that is the one portion of doing laundry that I actually enjoy! And I am allowed to run a load now and then, but only if there is a dire emergency.

This guy really knows how to give a gift, doesn't he?

There were a few other gifts given to me this year, and my Mama keeps hinting that there's another one to come, but I'll spare you the exciting-only-to-me details.

You're welcome.

A Wonderful Gift

My darling husband gave me the best gift this year for my birthday, something I have wanted for years- predating my relationship with him even!

First, I will preface the revelation with the poem he greeted me with on my birthday morning:

Today is your birthday and I made you a present,
I didn't spend a penny cause you married a peasant.
No flashy gold earrings or diamonds that shine,
So if that is what you wanted, please do not whine.
Instead I thought of you, oh what does my dear need?
I even asked Jack, but he could not give me a lead.
Perhaps a new car, more shoes, or new clothes?
But all the above could bring lack of money woes.
So from out of my stash of the odds and the ends,
And the this and the that and nails with no bends
I soon found some stuff, old and neglected,
And in very short time had your present erected.
I hope that it fits your needs and your treasures,
And brings you delight in very short measure.
You deserve all the best and this is yet another,
Hand crafted birthday present for my loving wife and kids mother!

Being that my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, we then rushed off to church, and it wasn't until we returned home that he led me to his shop where he showed me what his resourcefulness and talent had created. I neglected to photograph it then, but yesterday, after spending a good amount of time getting it situated, bolted to the wall, and filled with what it was made to be filled with, the end result was this:


I now have my very own library in a corner of my bedroom, and I am in love with it! It perfectly matches the four-posted bed that he made for my wedding gift, and the bed stand that he created for last year's birthday. I told him he could make a tradition out of making furniture for me each year until our house is filled with all the right pieces. I am blessed to be attached to this gifted and thoughtful man for the rest of my life!

Incidentally, the little table was also built by him, as well as several other pieces in our house. Someday maybe I'll get them all photographed and into a blog.