October Humble Arts

Hello Folksies
Our brand new edition of The Humble Arts will be unveiled tomorrow on October 1.
We would certainly like to have you drop by and find something special to bring home.

My new offering this month is a wonderfully primitive sampler that has been
matted and framed - ready to decorate your home with Angels.

How to Build a Snowman . . .

Last fall I did a really quick and natural tutorial on how to make a wreath. This morning when the birdies were still sleeping, I woke up with an itch to paint something. I decided to share my morning with you. This is an oober simple project. I have used a piece of wood that I actually found! It was with a few others that appeared to be mistakes but worked great for me! Oops, I guess you know now that I like to dumpster dive occasionally.

How to build a snowman:

First find a piece of wood that would hang nicely on your wall. Here's the one that I am re-purposing:

I sanded it smoothly, blew off the dust and proceeded to paint it black
Because I am always in a hurry to finish a project, I used a blow dryer to complete the drying process. Then I used a white colored pencil to draw some eyes like this:

Next step is the fun part. I used an antique white paint and a scruffy brush. I began to pounce around the perimeter in a circle and around the eyes, leaving them black, like this:
Kind of looks like a mask, doesn't it? You can make the eyes in any shape you like, and if you feel like you want more white than I have shown, go for it. I liked this texture for myself. Next two steps are combined because I forgot to take two photos. Told you I was in a hurry!

You want to squirt out some orange for the nose; Take a round brush and make lines down the middle for the nose . . . . and then ~ pounce some of the orange with a bit of the antique white. Pounce on your pad to blend. then make cheeks - it should look something like this:


Next, dip your brush nib into the antique white and make two dots for eyes. You will also need to pour a wee bit more of the black to make the mouth. It should look like this when you have done it:


Next step - we're almost done ~ pour a bit more of the antique white. Using a fine round brush - I don't know what size - whatever fits your hand good - I am not good at knowing what numbers are which with brushes - I paint by the seat of my britches most of the time - Anyhow, I have painted a saying on the sign. You may want to use your white colored pencil to get the spacing right - Here's mine:


Next step is the funnest step of all - Take a toothbrush and dip it in the antique white paint. Using your finger, splay it around for a snowy effect over the snowman and words.

After it's good and dry, seal with a matte sealer, and put a hanger on the back. Voila! easiest project I have done in a while! Enjoy!!

62 Years

I posted this on my folks anniversary a year ago today. They have made it another year.
I couldn't think of anything else to say about being together 62 years or about my folks except, Mommy And Daddy, you are still my heros.








Wow! Married to the same person, day in, day out, good times, bad times, three kids . . . wow!
My folks met in 1945 and married in 1946. The war was over, Daddy just back from Europe. While in the service to his country, he left a gawky teen and returned a man. He landed on the beaches of Normandy and was involved in many of the European Theater including the Battle of the Bulge. When he returned home to the states, he was stationed in New Jersey waiting to go home. Well sir, he met my Mother through one of her old classmates who was home from WWII and that was all it took. My Dad had seen the picture of my mother (above) in his friends billfold. My Daddy used to kid him, I'm going to take that gal away from you. You can figure out that they met and my Dad kept his word!

They eloped, breaking my Grandmother's heart! But Grandma came around to really love my Daddy and was proud to call him her son. That generation seemed to be in a hurry for more than marriage. I think that they were in a hurry to make up for the years lost to the war.

There is something about this particular generation that fascinates us today. They grew up in the depression, rallied around the flag against the Axis of terror, fought the Cold War, and spoiled their children T-totally rotten! Well, I can't say my folks spoiled me; I am a middle child after all! But like the rest of their peers, they envisioned a better life for their children than what they had.
I remember when we got our first TV. wow, I got to watch the Mickey Mouse Club and Sky King and Ramar of the Jungle! See, there I go rambling; this isn't about ME, it is about my folks!

My folks have always had an extraordinary love in my eyes. Daddy has always been the quintessential Southern Gentleman, never forgetting his good manners. He has always given my Mom flowers, candy and jewelry throughout their years together. He still opens the car door for her and pulls out her chair. Whenever a lady enters the room, he stands up. My Mom has spent her life being devoted to this man she choose for her husband. Their backgrounds couldn't have been more different!



My Mom was born and raised in Staten Island, New York,in a house built in the 1780's! She was born into an old family rich in the heritage of this nation.
My Daddy was born and raised in Spray, NC, dirt poor, always hungry, looking for a good time or to get into a scrapping! Can you imagine my Mother's thoughts as she moved into her new residence where there was NO electric, No indoor plumbing, and where she had to go outside and catch her own chicken dinner?! Well, youth will do anything for love . . . then and now!


They survived, their love has flourished, they raised their own family, took care of their own parents as they aged. Their backgrounds may have been so very separate but they were both raised to work hard, their word was their bond, and above all, they honored their parents. They have passed this onto my siblings and myself. I am so thankful to have had these two marvels as my parents. I tell them all the time that even if they weren't my parents I would enjoy their company. I like them as much as I love them.
Happy anniversary, folks. I wish we could all have another 62 years together!

It's Snowing over at The Humble Arts!

Come on over to The Humble Arts and take a peek.
My personal offerings are:
Mr and Mrs. Santa Claws


And a winter time mailbox to hold your goodies

A little of this and a little of that . . .

Hello Folksies
I have been absent quite a bit lately ~ lots of things to do and oh, so little
precious time.
I have finally finished up the last of the apples - some are sliced and in the
freezer for pies and fried apples; the rest has been made up into a heavenly
apple butter. The scent eminating from my kitchen has been scrumptious.



So far August has not been as hot as it normally is. I salute Mother Nature for this. Some of the old heads around here are getting rather boastful of their weather predicting skills. They are feverishly watching the squirrels, the woolly caterpillar, counting acorns, watching the black walnut trees and counting the foggy mornings. All of these and more are said to be predictors of the coming winter weather. This is most fascinating folklore. When I was growing up I was taught signs ~ cows lying in the field was a sign of rain coming, leaves that show their underside is another sign of rain ~ I tell you, we keep an eye on those cows since we are still in a moderate drought. LOL.

My garden has pretty much played out it's summer harvest. We are trying to get the fall crops in and I am not so sure I can do much there this year. I do love my cabbage, broccoli and other greens that are fall crops.

This is a snap of a few of the broccolie growing last year. It was a glorious crop - due to the fact that we kept straw mulch and toted buckets of water to them last year. I am not sure I am up to toting buckets of water out there this year. Sigh. I really would love to get a well sunk and put in a good little irrigation system. Of course, I would like a lot of things and my Daddy has always maintained that if you spit in one hand and wish with the other, look real good at what you have.

A friend pointed out this ebay auction; I read it and felt alternately giggly and sad. Thought I would share it with my little corner of blogland.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250280309940&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015

Hoping that you have a great day, I am back to clean up my kitchen.

The only good thing about August

is autumn is on the way . . .

What a week!

Hello Friends
It has been a hot hot hot week here. Betcha it was the same where you live.
And here it is August 1! I am just so not believing that it is August already!
The above picture show is from the August edition of The Humble Arts We opened it up this morning.
I wanted to post this sooner but that is what I have to chat with you about. But first this commercial break -

We have two new faces at The Humble Arts this month - My Prim Sistas & Sherry's Cabin. You can find a link to their blogs on the right under my HARTS links. Please give their pages on the website a good look. They are very talented and we are all quite enamored with them already. Also, we have another Featured Artist this month - please don't forget to read about Joyce of Everydaysies - she is one of the most talented hand stitchers I have ever met.

Now back to the program.

I have been blocked out of my blog for a few days. Folks could read it, post a comment, but, I couldn't update it as I had hoped to. You see, I had a hold put on my blog because someone reported me for being a spammer. I am still not quite sure what I was s'posed to be spamming folks with. But it has something to do with linkages and this post is already full of them. I had to request that Blogger folks take a personal look at my blog to make sure that I was not breaking any of their rules.
Because of this frustration, I am tempted not to do any more awards. I think I am going to make this my personal rule. I will continue to be delighted with awards - everyone likes to get them. But I will not post the links to the sites on my blog. I will put them either in my column and then write each recipient and have them pick up the award but no more links for a while. Makes me a bit nervous to have some big dogs reading my page, looking for typos, poorly written essays of my day, etc. Kind of like Net Nazis.
Now, to the person who reported me, Shame on You. Life is far too short and sweet for me to hold a grudge. If you don't like what you see here, you can visit somewhere else. It is as simple as a click of the mouse.

Here is a pic of my personal offering at The Humble Arts this month. It was a lot of fun to create!



Blessings to all.

Paying forward

For all my buddies out there who have bestowed this neat award on me, I have to say a belated thank you kindly. It also comes in this variety:
I am going to try to list y'all in the proper way. I always seem to have trouble with blogger getting this right - so here goes.

Donna of Cottage Days, a sister at heart for always
Karin, my special Peanut, of Countryfolk Keepsakes
Betty, my sweet and fun friend of She Sews Pretty
Tammy of Remembering the Good Old Days a fellow Tar Heel and lover of all old prim things!

And I know that there were a few others, I think. My only excuse is picking, canning, being married to Luscious who is enough to distract any sane woman, and mostly because I keep forgetting to do this.

Now I know that it is proper breeding to smile and say thank you. So close your eyes and imagine a possum grinning. That's me. Now open your eyes and thank the good Lord that particular nightmare is over.

Sincerely, I am always tickled when folks read my blog, comment on it and oh, the sweet friendships I have made in the past year. I believe most sincerely that we meet for different reasons at different places, stages and seasons in our lives. It is never by chance, it is by design. We are all somebody's special someone in each day. If you happen to look at the links, you can see who all my special someone's are. I don't list links for popularity or for any other reason than these folks have touched my life with laughter, inspiration, friendship and motivation.

I am supposed to list a few other folks to receive this award. I am going to list them here and hope that you will visit them. They are each one different and a gift to me.

Karen of Farm Girl Ga. Style
We are kindred spirits in our pioneer hearts and love of the Lord

Kady of StoneyHill Cabin
A friend for more seasons than I remember. This will be a clutter for her blog, LOL. sorry Kady. Couldn't resist.

Sandy of Sandy's Space What you see is what you get with her. Honest, simple and just good folks. Hi Sandy! Surprise!

and last but not the least at all is:

Melanie My new friend across the Pond,of Jelly Bean Angel I cannot keep her to myself. I know you shall fall in love with her.

Okay, there you have it.
Please get to know these gals if you haven't already. They have enriched my life and I know everyone can use a sprinkling of happy each day.

Blondie's Blue Ribbon Blueberry Muffins

Are you tired of me talking about my garden yet? It has been so hot the past few days that I have been lazy. I haven't canned much but instead have done the lazy gals job of picking and freezing the blueberries. Freezing blueberries is easy. Just pick, put in a freezer safe ziplock and put in the freezer. I generally freeze mine in the snack size bags. That size seems to hold a smidge over 1 cup of blueberries. Just the right size for most recipes.

I make a lot of different things with the blueberries but what I am most asked for is my Blueberry Muffin recipe.


Blondie's Blue Ribbon Blueberry Muffins

It's true; I won a blue ribbon umpteen years ago at the County Fair with this recipe. It is easy, and yummy!


6 tbsp butter
2/3 c. sugar
1 egg

Beat above until fluffy; then add:


1 tbsp baking powder
1 ¾ c. A/P flour
¾ tsp salt
½ c. milk
1 tsp lemon extract
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries

scoop into greased muffin tins

Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minute

Another Giveaway!

But not me this time - I will be having another one this fall - however ~ ~ ~ ~
a dear and precious sister is having a giveaway on her blog. A great chance to win
a book by Mary Emmerling! Wowza! Go and check out Karen at Farm Girl in Ga This is what you
will be registering to win.




Tell Karen that Blondie sent ya!

Summer Fruits

I am not a lover of summer. Anyone who knows me well knows this. The only thing that makes summer's heat tolerable to me is the garden. I know when I get to heaven, there will be no humidity, no flies, mosquitoes, hot flashes and perspiration. But until then, I will be wringing wet. We recently purchased a small room size a/c unit for the house. That will compliment the other on its last legs window unit. This house was built before anyone considered central air a necessity.
Okay, that vent is out of the way. Let's talk fun stuff - like flowers, fruits and veggies.
I haven't always been able to have a veggie garden. I didn't always want to have one. My granny always said that blood will tell. I reckon its in my DNA because I can think of no other reason besides the great flavor of fresh home grown than it is in my blood. Each year I plan a better garden. Sometimes it turns out that way, other times, it is just fair to mid'lin.

All the produce - the fruits of our labor are coming in. Some are more bountiful than others. This time of year the blueberries shine brightest. Since we are still in a moderate drought, they are not as large as they have normally been. gosh, folks, I am just THRILLED that we have blueberries this year. Last year with NO RAIN for months that was measurable, we didn't even get a pint of blueberries. They resembled wizened shriveled raisins. I was ashamed to leave them for the birds!
But this year ~ Woo Hoo! We're back in business. Luscious and I started picking blueberries Friday night. The branches are so full they are touching the ground. No Joke!


This picture is just of one of the blueberry bushes. There is much joy in being able to share our fruits and veggies with friends and kin. The blackberries I wrote of the other week are still coming in and we have frozen what we want for the next year while giving away all the surplus. We will do the same with the blueberries. I have standing orders for them each year and generally get a friend or two to come help me pick now that the kids are grown and gone.

Last week I went to a friends home and picked plums. I have several pint jars of plum jam put away for the winter. It is sooooo sweet with just a thin film over buttered toast from homemade bread.

Now although I despise of the heat, humidity, vampire mosquitos and those particularly nasty teensy little no-see-um type of varmits, I find it a delicious dichoetemy and rather ironic that I will sweat like a hawg in the kitchen canning, blanching and freezing.
When I was a child, I would sit in the garden and delight myself by eating a tomato right there in the dirt. Lawdy! Nothing finer than a big fat German Johnson all for me! As I grew older and more real work was required of me, I had to not only snap beans, but had to learn how to scald the skin on the tomatoes, and fill the jars without spilling and wasting the precious cargo. I have to admit to that I had a few years of hating this task. I thought my family was odd ~ what was wrong with canned good from the grocers or at least freezers veggies. Isn't that what God created freezers for? Once I was on my own, I discovered the difference. Canned and frozen green beans had no real flavor.
I am thankful each year for my family and their love of this land. How I miss both of my grannies, their wisdom and their culinary skills. I can understand the pride they took in their pantry. When I grow up, I want to be just like them. I couldn't always say that.

She began her life quite innocently as a gourd - I am not very good at taking photos in progress. Most of the time because I am too lazy to wash off my hands to pick up the camera. Working with clay can be messy business. Here are a few shots of her before she was lovely . . .







The last shot is her getting "cured" in my oven. Pay no attention to how dirty it is. LOL. I don't. Actually, after that picture, I was so aghast, that I cleaned it. Yeah, right.


click here to see it on ebay.
She is a winsome, toothsome beauty. She would love to sit on your porch this fall! Be sure and share the link with everyone. I really, really want her to fly outta here!

Happy Birthday America

The Humble Arts preview . . .

The Humble Arts has been posted for the month of July. Come on over and take a peek!

Thanks for the treat, Cookie!

My precious and very dear friend Cookie of Curds and Whey has gifted me with a neat award. Ain't it purtiful? I think it is an awesome thing to be recognized by a others, even when you haven't done anything special. Thanks Cookie for loving me for what and who I am. Just plain old ME!


Rules for this award go something like this: (and if you can't adhere - it's ok... you STILL get the award!)

1)You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and also contribution to the blogging community, not matter what language.
2)Each award has to have the name of the author and link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3)Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4)The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin to this award.

To pass this on to some other wonderful bloggers I would be very lost without - for their content, personality and friendship I am giving my non revocable seal of approval to:

Robin of Bird in Hand Primitives
Betty of She Sews Pretty
Karen of Sew Primitive
Donna of Made in Heaven
Jenna Louise of Quilt Crazy Gal

These folks always leave me wanting more of their gracious talent and energy. I also thank the good Lord each day that they have gifted me with their friendship. So, here you go gals! Come and get it and pay it forward.

What a difference a day makes

I am sure everyone has heard the adage that a watched pot never boils. I'm a pot watcher. Yep. Once spring arrives and little snippets of green begins to peek out everywhere, I am watching them. One of the things I always keep an eye on are my fruit trees and bushes. We have had a rough few seasons, being so very dry. Last year, we had barely an apple, blackberry or blueberry. We actually let the birds and squirrel eat what they could. We took our lumps with no real sweets from our garden, thankful that we were able to share with the little birds that give us so much satisfaction. Even the fat squirrels had a good time on the apple tree. So, when things started to bud out this year, Luscious and I held our breath and promised not to watch. Just take a peek now and then.
It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Once a pot watcher, always a pot watcher.
Imagine my surprise when I went out to the back garden this evening to check for any fresh squash, zucchini and cukes - I saw ripe blackberries!
Just two days ago, this pot watcher observed and made digital confirmation of this:

One solitary ripe blackberry. I didn't even coo or whisper sweet things to Luscious. He has a bit of high blood and it isn't good to get him worked up too suddenly. Makes his head spin. (And I thought it was me that was making his head spin! oh, that's another story . . .) You see, his passion is blackberries. When he was a young boy, he and his sisters would skip school and pick buckets of wild blackberries. They knew that they would get a whuppin'. They made a pack not to tell their Ma. Problem is, being blackberry lovers, they ate most of the bucket. And they forgot to wash the evidence of the juice from their faces. I am certain they had seeds in their teeth as well.
Momma Lorraine, well, she didn't believe in sparing the rod, but she just couldn't bring herself to whup them because Luscious pleaded their case stating how they were hungry for her cobbler. What a sweet talker. Yep, he still can sweet talk and he still loves his blackberries. Look what he picked tonight:



I take a picture of his hands full of blackberries every year. I think we are going to have a nice crop of them. He picked enough for a decent cobbler.

I am now trying not to watch the blueberries. Or the apples. I watched the strawberries - the deer are better at that than I am.

Good Monday Morning!

I betcha you thought I forgot about posting the name of a blogging winner! Kinda, sorta, but not really. We finally got some good rain late last night. I never miss a chance to dance in the rain and then what is better than sleeping with the rain coming down?
So, a wee bit late in posting this but here goes:

The winners are:

Tina of The Artful Life
&
Cora of Nelia's Place

Ladies, I will be sending you an email or leave a message on your blogs.

Thanks to everyone for participating with me. I will have one more giveaway next week. Keep your eyes open and send all your friends to register.

Now for another shameless plug. I have a few new auctions up on ebay. A very primitive black dolly and another hopelessly homely witchy. Both are uniquely made by me and I can say that I had a boatload of fun creating them.
Go and check them out here.
I am also creating one more witch that is really going to be a doozy. She is being created using clay over a gourd and a cloth body. A really different Vintage Primitives Gourd Head Folk® Original!

I normally would reserve this for a BCC Forward but thought I might actually reach more
women this way for this cause. I did receive this as a forward actually. If you have a blog, please consider posting this. At the very least forward it.
Thanks!!!

From a nurse:
I'll never forget the look in my
patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the
drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to
keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would,
but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat
with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care
of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was
saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than
the quiet 'Thank You' they muttered. A mastectomy is when a w oman 's
breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If
you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a
lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to
make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance
to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is
very important. Please take the time and do it! Please send this to
everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices
and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

If you're receiving this, it's because I
think you will take the 30 seconds to vote on this issue and send it on
to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance
companies to cove r a minimum 48 -hour hospital stay for patients
undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through'
Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after
surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from
anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on
their Web page with a petition drive to show support. Last year over
half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the
web site below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip
code.

click here

Tasha Tudor

I read yesterday that Tasha Tudor has passed away. She lived a long and fulfilling life, leaving this world a gentle reminder that less is enough. I always admired her from the time I was a small child, enjoying the illustrations she created. As an adult, I was encouraged to live more simply. She was an icon to the world of those who enjoyed the primitive folk art, decorating and life style.
May the Lord embrace her with a welcoming, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
To read her memory page set up by her family, click on this link:
Tasha Tudor

Good Evening!
It has been a wonderful day here in my little corner of the world. The sun was shining, the humidity was lower than usual . . .
Family get together to celebrate Father’s Day at my folks house. Food was plentiful and the company was fine. I knew ahead of time that my sister in law was bringing macaroni salad – so, I knew what I wouldn’t be putting on my plate. I smiled inwardly watching the huge bowl of it being eaten by everyone but me. It did look tempting . . . haven’t you always heard that looks can be deceiving?
I had my Daddy pull a few names from the giveaway list.
They are :
Karen of Just Plain and Simply Me
&
Amy of Abundant Curiosities
Congratulations ladies! Check your emails!!