Halloween Treats!!!

It is almost Halloween! Frost is on the pumpkin here in my area! Just the perfect time to share this bit of yumminess with you. It is also nice to share with your loved ones! I plan on making this up to bring to the Salon tomorrow.

Ye Olde All Hallows Eve Brew
1 C. Blood Drops
1 C. Owl Eyes
1 C. Cats Eyes
1 C. Chicken Toenails
1 C. Colored Flies
1 C. Butterfly Wings
1 C. Earthworms
1 C. Cat Claws
1 C. Ants
1 C. Snake Eyes
1 C. Monkey Brains
1 C. Lizard Gizzards
1 C. Bat Bones
Measure all magically mysterious items carefully into your cauldron. Once all is filled in, quickly, like a butterfly's wings, mix thoroughly. Let it sit and putrify for a few hours. Then, serve your victims (they shall think they are guests) and watch them transform themselves from dour mortals into delighted children.


shhhh - here are the real secret ingredients!
Brew Recipe:
1 C. Blood Drops - Red Hots
1 C. Owl Eyes - round candy (the ones that are out at halloween (white with orange & black)
1 C. Cats Eyes - peanut M & M's
1 C. Chicken Toenails - orange cone-shaped candy
1 C. Colored Flies - M & M's
1 C. Butterfly Wings - dried banana chips
1 C. Earthworms - gummy worms
1 C. Cat Claws - sunflower seeds
1 C. Ants - raisins
1 C. Snake Eyes - chocolate chips
1 C. Monkey Brains - popcorn
1 C. Lizard Gizzards - thin red licorice strings
1 C. Bat Bones - pretzels sticks




Now here's a FUN thing to do: Let's see how many participate and PAY IT FORWARD!

I love this idea that I found it on Sleepy Hollow Craft Company!
Here's how it works......I have agreed to make a little handmade item for three people who agree to do the same thing on their blog to "Pay it Forward". The first three comments to this post who agree to do this will continue the chain of giving....
1. You comment on this post
2. You receive a handmade gift from me!
3. You post this message on your blog and offer a handmade gift to the first three who comment.
4. Thus, the cycle continues and everyone has fun and beautiful crafts to display in their home!

Just think; a gift and it ain't even Christmas! This is NO Trick! Happy Halloween!

Today is my anniversary! Larry and I have been married for 12 years. Why is it that it seems like forever and yet just like
yesterday? I picked out some neat love songs ~ There are several in a row. I put the Randy Travis I'm gonna Love You Forever song first. I remember when it first came out years ago, I cried because I thought that kind of love had passed me by. Then I met the big man.

I had been a single mother for what seemed like an eternity when I met Larry.

I told him "I don't need a man, I need a donkey."

He replied "Where in the back forty do you want me to kick up my heels ~ I'll hee haw for you."
Wow, the beginning of true love! I was as serious as that groundhog eating my vegetables this past summer and so was he! One day while we were "courting", this song came on the radio. Larry grabbed my hand and said, "I'm gonna love you forever and ever, Amen" Who can resist a good man and good music? Hubba, hubba, hubba



Larry is the mushy one in the marriage; I am not. He buys the best cards and gifts and flowers. He even does it on un events! He never forgets dates like birthdays, anniversaries. The only reason I remember my anniversary is because I have one of those lists on the computer to remind me. That doesn't make me a bad wife does it? I am good at other things. I have a great sense of humor, I am loyal, faithful, and Larry thinks I am easy on the eyes. I have also learned how to turn around three times before I sit down. I would make a wonderful lap dog.

So, Happy Anniversary, Luscious. I'm gonna love you forever and ever, forever and ever, AMEN.

What a Glorious Feeling!

There is a buzz all over the Piedmont Triad - it's raining! It is 6 am and I am soaking wet. I got up to the sound of the pitter patter of the wet stuff. I ran to the front door and just couldn't help myself. I opened the door and stood under the maple tree right off my porch and got slapping WET! I danced around in the red mud from where the water line was repaired last weekend. I slipped and fell but who cares? It is RAINING and I let that glorious stuff wash me off. As I sit here, I am shivering a little bit - the window is open and a sweet, almost muggy breeze is wafting through - I am giddy, senseless, delirious.

In an hour I will be at work fixing hair on my weekly Friday customers. Little ladies like Betty, and Betty and Marie and Susan and Betty and who cares how popular that name was way back in the day? Today they are all beautiful to me and they will have to get their bonnets out, umbrellas and I will spray an extra dose of spray for good measure. How about an extra dose of Freeze n Shine, Maude?



Haven't listened to the weather programs. They lie. For weeks we have heard, rain is possible this week. And it has rained everywhere but the Hill! All of that is behind me and fine with me this moment. We are getting pelted with RAIN! Great big heavy drops!

I am really running late and will update later one. I just had to share my little bit of personal joy with you this morning!

I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again!

Jack, Jill , That Hill, The Bull; and Why Water is Necessary

When I was a little girl I spent many a wonderful summer day with my cousin Butch.

My brother and I, along with my cousin Butch would play Cowboys and Indians, climb trees, and spend our mornings damming
up Uncle Andy's creek so we could swim and catch crawfish. Uncle Andy was our Granny's uncle. He had been married four times, each time to a lady who had the name Mary.

That is another story in itself since Andy lived to be 99.

Our granny lived up the dirt road from Uncle Andy. She and Poppa Coy had a log cabin, lots of fruit trees, chickens, some hogs (I loved the little piglets) and of course, a big garden patch. There was no electricity in the cabin, no running water nor was there indoor plumbing. She had a big two seater johnny out back. Perhaps that was where I learned my fear of spiders.

But that is another story.



We always were mindful of the bull at Uncle Andy's. He always stood under a tree on the big hill way far up on the property. To get to the creek, we had to pass through the pasture, watching our step for cow patties with one eye and the other eye always on the bull. One summer day, after a particularly satisfying time sliding from the big mossy rock in the middle of the creek into the cool water, we began our journey back home. Coming out of the thicket, into the pasture we surveyed our position and that of the bull. Certain that he was oblivious to us, we started trudging along, our soggy, slick clothes sticking to us - I remember how good that cold
felt on such a hot day. The boys were always ahead of me, always trying to lose me, a tagalong interloper that was a stinking GIRL.

The bull noticed us this time. Probably because the boys were jumping up and down, hooting and hollering all at the top of their lungs. Perhaps he was merely curious about us - in retrospect, I choose to think that.

However, when the boys saw him coming down the hill at a fairly good clip, they screamed RUN! Looking for the bull under the tree, it registered in my brain that he was heading our way. I began running down the hill as fast as my fat little legs could carry me. I declare I could feel his breath snorting down my neck! I slipped in a particularly fresh pile and lost my footing. I rolled down the rest of the hill, much like Jack and Jill. After I scrambled back to my feet, I saw the boys with Uncle Andy leaning against the gate post. They were laughing. Winded, wet from the creek, stained from head to toe with grass and fresh manure, I surely must have been a sight. I didn't stop running until I was under the fence and standing behind Uncle Andy.
The bull was standing back under the tree. It appears that he lost interest in us fairly quickly and trudged back up the hill to his shady spot to watch this blonde headed gal in pig tails roll through the muck all the way down that hill.



That story is still legend on the Hill. I have put enough years behind me to find it mildly amusing these days. Butch still finds it rather hilarious. He took relish in sharing that particular story of my youth with Larry this past weekend. We had need of Butch - he has a backhoe and we had a fierce break in our water line. All weekend he and Larry dug a new trench and laid the line, finally connecting the new pipe and restoring my sanity. Butch regaled my big man with every story that I had almost forgotten from those lazy summer days. How nice it would be to return to those halcyon days, hiding away from the world in the dreaming tree, watching the rain walk up the road, sitting out back snapping beans with my granny once more, and never wondering how I am going to pay a $1200.00 water bill.



my cousin Butch

Too much of a good thing can be FUN

I am a happy person. My house can be a mess (that's a given), my cooking skills lacking the pizazz I utliized when I was a newlywed, but heckfire, shoot! I like having fun. My days off from work are generally spent running - you know, the errands that are always time stealers, chores that are just plain blah, blah, to which I occasionally say BAH HUMBUG! Did I say occasionally? Well, perhaps a bit more than occasionally . . . anyhoo, I am working on several projects at the moment and thought I would give you a sneak preview.





I finally found the battery charger for my camera, Angie!

Okay, back to play and paint and thread and yarn and putting on a second pot of coffee.

of love, broken dishes and what matters most

We eat off mis-matched china dishes.

I am not saying it is Larry's fault.

When I was just starting out on my own, living in an efficiency apartment in S.C., I used to frequent junk stores. I purchased my furniture, pots, dishes there. Nothing matched. I would laugh and call my decorating style 'Early Poverty". Today those stores are called Antique Stores and I still look for old fashioned junk stores.

I am not saying that this is Larry's fault.

I like mis- matched cups and saucers, luncheon plates and soup bowls. I enjoy serving sloppy casserole meals on old trenchers discarded by greasy spoon diners.
I have Grandma's fine china way up high in a cupboard. A lovely old set of Haviland. Now and then I find a matching piece. I used to serve special people, on a special occasions special meals on these treasures. But then I had children and I stopped that. Melamine was good enough for those little ankle biters. I didn't have to worry about dings, chips, cracks or little bare feet getting sliced open by an errant sliver of china or glass.


I am not saying that this is Larry's fault.

Occasionally I find an exceptionally lovely plate or saucer and I bring it home. I like to think about the sumptuous feasts served upon them, what polite dinner conversation would have been parlayed. Please note that this is important to me because for far too many years as a single mother I would hear "Josh is letting spaghetti noodles hang from his nose again, Mom".
Where am I going with this, you ask? You should know by now that I ramble. My mind is always doing that!

I am not saying that this is Larry's fault either.

I didn't mean to get attached to a crazed plate which cost a mere 49 cents at the local thrift. It wasn't worth more than that, truly. It was old enough to have the gilt almost nearly rubbed off. There was a hairline crack, so faint only a collector's eye would have discarded it. I would eat delicious chicken salad sandwiches, with chips and a dill slice on the side from it. Even a humble P B & J sammich tasted better when served on this dish. It was my favorite 49 cent plate.
Larry used to work as a short order cook years ago. He has an appreciation for the thick diner discards I serve him suppers on. His face absolutely glows with fond recollections of slinging hash. He does the dishes now that the kids are grown and gone. We don't have an automatic dishwasher. Who needed one when I had children? They knew Mom would inspect their handiwork - but Luscious? well, who would need to supervise him? He of the slick diner floors and heavy hammy hands?



I have a "dish garden" out back, a graveyard of bone china so to speak. People think I am clever. But Larry knows better. He KNOWS better.

Yesterday evening after he washed, I went in the kitchen to dry and put away. My beloved plate was in the drainer. I was as oblivious as Larry until I found the offending chard in my palm.

Now that was Larry's fault.

He buried it out back amongst the hen and chicks,morning glories and late blooming cosmos. And that is why Grandma's Haviland is hidden.

But don't tell Larry.

Nothing Fancy Wreath

Thought I would share with you a plain and simple wreath that takes nothing more than what you may have in your garden.

First you need to gather some elements: grapevine wreath, sweet herbs, string, anything else you like - I had wrapped some virginia creeper, honeysuckle vine and wisteria vines into wreaths a while back and hung them on the fence to dry and wait for me to get back with them.




I used some sweet annie and artemesia





and I also added some dried okra


I fashioned the sweet annie and the artemesia in opposite sides of the wreath and tied in place. Then I clipped a piece off of a sanservia plant, tucked that in with the okra and oh yes, I also grabbed some more grapevine ivy and tied it all up together.
This is functional; great for outdoors and I will put some ribbon around it another time. Ta Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Smells good and is prim n pretty!

HAPPY DAY !!!!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day . . . oh well, I could sing along with Mr. Rogers all day; I always liked that man. But today! Well TODAY is my wonderful baby girl, precious Sarah - it is her FIRST ANNIVERSARY of wedded bliss. I am sitting here laughing at myself because each time I typed out wedded it came out weeded. Perhaps the first year is a weeding out. LOL. The song you are listening to was the song that played after they were pronounced and started to walk out to the guests. It was PARTY TIME. I tell you, this family enjoys to part-a-y! And this was a great reason!!

Sarah is the first of my three children to marry. Her wedding was a very marvelous, very informal affair. It was set outside with close to 100 folks watching, laughing, crying and just being there for Sarah and Jason. After their "I Do's" were said and they were pronounced man and wife, they released butterflies in remembrance of their family members who have passed away and were watching from above. Now that was a special moment!


This past year has seen them both learning how to live together, work together, eat food that was prepared without recipe cards or complete ingredients, having their first Christmas together, all the "firsts" that happen.



I love my son in law, he is my third son. Jason is a quiet man, much like my Luscious Larry . . . and he does have a tendency to want to make Sarah happy. Which makes everyone here on the Hill happy. He is the ying to her yang. He is quiet, she is bubbly. I wish so many many many many more happy years that God will bless them with.

More Simple Joys

Do you remember the song from Mary Poppins "feed The Birds?" I have that song in my head sometimes when I am replenishing my feeders. I also think of that pigeon lady from Home Alone 2 who stands still and allows the birds to flock all around her while she feeds them. I had my husband make a stand outside our computer room window that we have added several bid feeders to. We can also view it from our living room, while sitting down to read or view the television. Actually, the birds put on a better show than network or cable could think of at times! It is quite relaxing to watch the various birds come and fill themselves up, glorious goldfinches, titmouse, indigo buntings, cardinals, chickadees, rose breasted grosbeak ~ oh the variety I would have never noticed in my own yard were it not for the feeders!!

The other day while I went outside to breathe deeply the scent of impending fall, I went out to the back garden. Now looking totally overgrown and neglected, I spied a few squash that somehow had eluded Larry's eagle eyes. Toughened by age and not really good enough to cook, Once gathered, planning to shuck them on the compost pile, I thought of something I haven't done in a while.

I cut holes in them, circles large enough for a bird to land on - I scooped out the pulp, saving the seed as my Granny taught me for next year. Once cleaned out, I threaded ribbon through them, filled them with seed and brought them to the feeder.

What a delight it has been for me to observe the birds sitting on the cross arms of the feeder, checking out their new entree.



I particularly like to watch the ground birds the robins, who have mostly flown further south now, or the doves, with their sweet cooing sounds, gobble up the seed that has fallen to the earth. The big crows and starlings are too large to fit the feeders, my squash feeders or the store bought feeders. They also scour the ground for seed.

I have also used in the past bell peppers as feeders, grapefruit, oranges - anything that can be scooped out and leave room for the seed. Another great idea for a bird feeder is to gather a big sunflower head and hang it for the birds to feast on!

As the weather gets cooler and the birds have a harder time finding berries, I often take pine cones and pour some honey on them and roll them about seed for a coating, as well as a dollop of peanut butter and seed. Yummy treats for our feathered friends.
You see, it doesn't take much to amuse me or entertain me. i choose to find beauty and joy in simple things.

"Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them." (Matthew 6:26)

Silent Auction is a Win Win

The Silent Auction for Ava Grace has concluded. The invoices has been sent, payments are arriving, everyone seems thrilled with the results. We were able to raise more than

$8,000.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to take this time to thank everyone involved with this wonderful undertaking. And I would also like to mention that monetary donations can still be made at:
Ava Grace Donations

Email this address and you will be directed as to where to send the checks or money orders. You may also
go directly to your paypal account and use the same address.

Thank you my friends!




Alphabet Studio
Angel and The Crow
Atticbabys
BB Junction
Bird in The Hand Primitives
Bone Head Studios
Carol Haberly
Carole's Country Store
Catiean & Co
Cathy Nash
Chickadee Primitives
Christine LeFever
CLC Dolls
Clothnclay
Country Stitches
Countryfolk Keepsakes
CrabbyGabby Dolls
Crickets in The Corn
Deerfield Farmhouse
Deja Dolls
Diane Allison-Stroud
Dogpatch Primitives
Faerie Dust Dreams
Fiddlycat
Freedom Valley Farm
Frostings and Sparkles
Garb-oodles
Greeneyez2
Glory Bee Primitives
Gritty Arts Studios
Honeysuckle Lane
Humble Origins
Iva's Creations
JoJoCrow Primitives
Jus B'cuz Primitives
Kim's Beaded Creations
KM Primitives
Krimson Bee
Lil Creek Fixins
Little Ol' Me
Lion & Lamb Studio
Lovetheprimlook
Momma's Goodies
Monahan Papers
Mustard Seed Originals
Nannys Cottage
New England Primitives
North Dixie Designs
Old Glory Woolen Co
On A Wing and Prayer
Pea Picker's Primitives
Pear Tree Primitives
PieCake Primitives
Prim and Proper Folks
Prim Creek
Prims by Kim
Raven's Haven
Rolling River Prims
Rosey Posey Confections
Salt Fork Ridge
Scaredy Kat Folkheart
Sepia Art Studio
Soft in the Head
Sylvia Anderson
Symple Tymes
Tendere Arts Studio
TFC Folk Art
The Blackberry Briar
The Magpie Nest
The Vintage Rooster
Vermont Harvest Bears and Primitives
Vintage Primitives
Vintage Whimsy and Folk Art Originals
Whispers of Inspiration

Simple Joys

This is my favorite time of year. The temps are cooling down, colors start to get vibrant . . . I just had to share with you this image above from one of my shrubs. I am not sure what the proper botanical name is - I dug it up out of the woods in the back forty - we always call it a Strawberry Plant. At this time of year, this shrub gets FULL of fuzzy looking - almost chenille looking red buttons. Overnight, they POP open to reveal the deep red berries that all the birds find irresistible! I don't know how I missed seeing this until today. Taking a break to stretch my legs, I wandered around the yard and first found a neat birdnest in the hedging in my front yard. I snapped a pic here:




I wondered how many baby birds hatched there this past season? How many nests will they come back and create?

I also wanted to share with you something that I have neglected for a few days. You know how crazed I have been with the auction for Ava Grace? I will post more about that later this week as I am still knee deep in emails. I just needed to take a break for myself for a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of this day. Okay, here's what else I have to share.

I participated in two wonderful swaps recently. Two that have made my days so much sweeter!

The first one came from Christine Rohloff! Hi Christine!!!! Christine and I were swap bud in a dolly quilt. I sent mine off and I received hers. Here it is!



I know you cannot read her LOVELY writing on it, so I will let you know here that it says:

Dear Friend,
accept this quilt
for friendships sake
for happy times
of old and late
Remember Me

The colors are perfect for me - Chris and I share a lot of the same interests, one of them obviously being quilting. Thanks Christine for making me a most memorable swap. I could never forget you!

Now, for the second swap. Well, this was entirely different and even as much fun!
I joined in a blog swap for vintage story books.




We were supposed to find one or more neat old books with our swap partner in mind and then create a bookmark for them to slip in the book. My partner was Cathy Nash - an extremely talented gal - you can go here to see what I mean!

Cathy sent me THREE delicious books; one that was HANDWRITTEN and illustrated by the young author! I don't know how she could bear to part with that find. She also made two bookmarks that she deftly used her artistic skills on (I have one pictured because the other is in a book I am reading at work). She captured the persona of my beloved bassett hound, Duke, on one of the bookmarks. As if that wasn't enough, Cathy also enclosed a lovely paper angel ornament that she made.




Ahh, it is the simplest things that bring me joy! Thank you for sharing them with me!

Food for Thought

You know, I hate to post a forward as I am doing now, but I couldn't help reading this and thinking of Ava Grace and every other child/person who is judged by their appearance. Thank you for visiting here today; I am auction sitting . . .

There was a blind girl who hated her self because she was blind.
She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her.
She told her boyfriend, " If I could only see the world, I will marry you."

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her ,"Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?'
The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left her in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes.
Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life Is a Gift

Today before you say an unkind word -
Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.

Today before you complain about life -
Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children -
Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep -
Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive -
Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job -
Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

Two Days Left!

Hey Friends,
There are only TWO DAYS left for the silent auction for Ava Grace! Please click over there and BID, BID, BID!!!!



So many wonderful and caring women have created and donated their labor of love
for this beautiful little child. Won't you come and bid or give a donation?

Women In Art

Hi everyone;
someone emailed me this link and I HAD to share this with you!!!!

Unique Personality Test

I got this in an email from a great pal this morning. I was still have my first cup of Mother's Milk, uh, I mean coffee and took it. The answers were fairly profound. I am not superstitious about the emails that come in and say you will get good luck by sending this out to x amount of folks and as a rule, I don't fwd them . . . still, I enjoyed this one and decided to share it as a flight of fancy for you. It actually nailed me pretty darn good as in where my values are.

Go here: http://memoriter.net/flash/test.html

Some other favorites from the auction

I can't list ALL my pictures here . . . wish that I could. Here are a few more of the lovelies that speak volumes to me.

By Mica of Gar-boodles

Countryfolk Keepsakes

Scaredy Kat Kreations

Click here to see these and many more!

Each item is so well made with lots of love, helping to defray the costs of the many surgeries needed by Ava Grace!

The Silent Auction is Speaking LOUD and CLEAR

Friends,
The silent auction for Ava Grace started today and the bids are coming in fast and furious. Please treat yourself to some of the goodies there. Click on Ava Grace's sweet smiling face and she will take you there!
God richly bless all of you!!

I have felt like a little guinea pig on a wheel in a cage trying to keep up with all the bids. Of course, I have had some help, but still, it is mind boggling! Thank you ALL for contributing and bidding! But it ain't over til the fat lady sings. I sing on Saturday night, Sept 22 after 9 pm. Plenty of time to go and look at some of the wonderful offerings - great gifts, decorations and oh my, for such a lovely little girl, our Ava Grace!

Be sure to stop by and take a peek: www.http://avagraceangelsunaware.com

Here are a few wonderful things to entice you:

From Cindy Ciampa of CLC Dolls. This lady has tremendous talent!



this is from nancy Gerber of Atticbabys. Her work is also phenomenal!


Megan of Magpiefeathers created this wee baby bear!



I can't pick a favorite! With over 80 items, it is sure hard to choose! I will pop in and share more this week - if I can keep up with the bidding!
Thanks everyone - help me keep my fingers limber! BID!