Month: October 2013 (page 1 of 3)
It was very brisk outside today. We ran errands and had a cup of coffee. I love when we are off together and can just be in each other’s company. I am so excited that tomorrow is Halloween! We are making chili with butternut squash and a batch of cornbread, we have a whole Halloween line-up of movies to watch and we are baking some Halloween cupcakes to share with our neighbours.
In the spirit of Halloween fun I thought I would share this. I think this has to be one of the funniest Saturday Night Live Holidays skits ever. Enjoy!
I’ve been busy pinning some Halloween tricks, treats and ideas onto my Halloween Pinterest Page so come on over and join me there:
1. Halloween Pumpkin Punch from Honestly Yum
2. Witch Cupcakes from Country Living
3. Spider Cupcakes from Bakerella
4. Oreo Milkshake from My Baking Addiction
5. Hi-Hat Brownies from Dieters Downfall
1. Halloween Candy dishes from Martha Stewart
2. Papier Mache Puppets from Mermag
3. Bubblegum Necklaces from A Pretty Cool Life
4. Halloween Noisemakers from Martha Stewart
5. Candy Corn from The Purl Bee
1. Witches by Phoebe Wahl
2. Charlie Brown Poster Tumblr
3. Star Wars
4. Halloween Entertaining from Country Living
5. Frankenstein and his Bride
We were awoken early this morning by the winds and rain of St. Jude. But, so far, so good today. We have had to tuck a few of our plants away and tie up the olive tree, so it doesn’t keel over in its pot. But we aren’t going to be hit as hard as others have been, but, it doesn’t sound like that at the moment as the wind is howling around the house.
Mr. Michie has coffee brewing, I am about to start working on making us a little breakfast and then we are going to finish making our first apple butter of the season. My mom gave us her recipe and so far so good, it looks just like her’s looks at this stage, so I am really pleased. And the whole house smells like apples, it reminds me of my days working on the farm at the Shed, that heavenly apple scent was infused into everything! It doesn’t get much better than that!
I’ve been thinking a lot about pie at the moment. Part of that is down to a book I have been reading and part of that is a bit of me longing for another road trip.
I had possibly the greatest road trip of my life with my Mom this Summer. We travelled from Indiana to Virginia to see my sister and over the course of our two day road trip we went through the heart of Amish country. That was all down to my Mom and Dad’s insightful planning so we wouldn’t bypass anything and I would have ample opportunity to snap away. My parents are always more than helpful, often slowing down or even turning around the car for me to get a shot I’m after.
Our stop going was in SugarCreek, but coming home we stopped at Walnut Creek. it is set farther back from the highway and has much more of a town feel, as the hotel we stayed in, was within the heart of this quaint place.
We ate dinner at the restaurant that night and each got a slice of pie for dessert. I love pie! I am a pie girl, well I am really any kind of dessert girl. There is something so wholesome about an old-fashioned iced cake or a big slice of pie, stuffed high with filling or mountains of whipped cream on top.
This particular evening I was in a cream pie mood and so, I ate, what I think was the best slice of chocolate cream pie of my life. The crust was flaky and tender, the filling had set up perfectly and the chocolate was just the right amount of sweet and oh, the whipped cream, it was pillowed on so high I could imagine little Renaissance cherubs nestled in its folds.
The weather has changed, Fall is here, tonight we turn back our clocks and evening will creep in earlier. The leaves are turning red, orange and golden hues. I know the leaves are changing in Walnut Creek, I know that soon it will be time for pumpkin pie and steaming hot coffee.
I could be with my Mom today. I could see the leaves change in Ohio. I could ride those backroads with her, past the corn fields and pumpkin patches, past the white clapboard farmhouses with the tidy yards and the telltale black and deep blue clothes hanging from the porch line. Past the cows and pigs and sheep. Past the maple syrup farm and the little dirt road with the old wooden sign leading you to the “sugar camp”, over the hills, being careful of buggies and the Amish who are riding bikes or walking, to this restaurant.
This beacon of happiness that sells pretty much every pie imaginable and we would sit and we would chat and we would laugh and drink sweet tea and eat pie and just be happy to be in each other’s company, because that is what pie is all about!
Well, its that time of year again. It is time for me to start working on my Christmas card. Which sounds just plum crazy when you say it out loud, but once I decide on a design and then shoot the photographs or make the piece, edit it and get it sent off to the printers, it is a process that needs to be started sooner rather than later.
I gave Goose Girl and Foxy a break this year and decided to go a completely different route. One of my favorite artistic mediums to work within is collaging. I was inspired by the lovely Phoebe Wahl and a set of Christmas cards she made (see below). Now, when I collage, I don’t normally make all of my pieces myself, I am inspired by other things and I use those to create the elements of each piece.
With my love of vintage patterns I set to work, finding just the right pieces to put the puzzle together. Finding bits and bobs here and there, in vintage wrapping paper and post cards, I slowly formed a collection. Below are the the first few bits I created. I played around with the potential design, but I have now settled on one and my Christmas Card is really starting to take shape.
Last night, I sat on the couch, thumbing through my October issue of Martha Stewart, while Mr. Michie graded papers. All of the sudden there was a resounding rumble of thunder and the heavens opened.
Mr. Michie went to grab the matches, so we could light a few candles in case the power went out and I opened the door to peer outside.
Mr. Michie came up behind me and asked me, “If the rain was dancing? I love it when it dances on the pavement!”. I love him even more for saying that! And, indeed it was dancing. The air had turned icy and clean smelling and the rain was dancing by the glow of the street lamps.
The beginnings of Butterscotch, a miniature yellow pony.
This is Elsa. She is naturally pink, loves to drink lemonade and likes to get her toenails painted strawberry red. She is the first of a few animals that I plan to work on this week, that will all be bundled up for a very sweet little person.
This was the first of my weekend projects. The wind howled around the house, the rain poured down, causing a mini flood at the end of our street and the lightening lit up the sky like fireworks.
Inside, I stayed cozy and dry and slowly began to cut up the first felt pieces of a project I have started for a little someone. Part of her Christmas gift this year, will be a little menagerie of animals to play with.
Stay tuned, there is more to come!