Pumpkin Carving

OK, so I wouldn't exactly call it "carving"...more pumpkin "drilling." My arm got tired drilling so many holes so George had to finish it off.

Happy Halloween!

Moon Photos

When we went to put our pumpkin outside I noticed the moon looked great through the branches of the trees. It was also super windy and warm.

The exposure on these photos was like 20 seconds and the clouds were moving so it gave an eerie effect.

Happy Halloween

I found these little beauties at World Market. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. They totally remind me of Mexican Day of the Dead skeletons and I thought the gold tooth was a nice touch.

I had them in the kitchen for a while before we put them up and they kind of creeped me out. But I love them on the porch. They will look super spooky for Halloween...I can't wait!

Striped Pillows

I made these striped pillows a couple weeks ago. I love love love the fabric. It is a Ralph Lauren fabric from Calico Corners. Next spring I am going to reupholster the settee these pillows are sitting on. I am either going to do a nice grey blue or butter color. I am not super crazy about the choices from Sunbrella so I am putting the decision off until spring.

Halloween Cookies

My friend Mary makes the best halloween cookies. They have cream cheese icing and are irresistable. I think I ate about 5 or 6 that night.

The photo below made me laugh because it is kind of a sad little happy face.

Kitty on Candlewicking

I got this wonderful tablecloth at the flea market. It has candlewicking all over it. What is candlewicking you might ask? It is a form of whitework embroidery that gets its name because originally women used the cotton twist yarn used in candle making. Also, knots were often used because they could be felt as much as seen under poor lighting conditions such as candlelight or fire.

I totally love the white on white. It is subtle, but beautiful. I liked it so much I just got 5 books on candlewicking from the library. I may have to try this.

My grey tabby Sunshine decided she loved the beautiful textured candlewicking too when I laid it out to dry on a bed. I couldn't shew her off of it because she looked too cute.

Here she is annoyed at me for waking her from her nap. Silly girl!

Milk Bottle Vase and Vintage Tablecloth

This milk bottle is another Springfield Antique show purchase. I really like the texture on the glass. It says it is from Ridale Jersey Farm, Oneonta, NY.

I thought these flowers from our CSA looked great with this vintage tablecloth (also from Springfield).

Antique Pulley

OK. I have to admit I am now buying totally miscellaneous objects from the flea market that I do not have any plans for...but I just couldn't resist this awesome pulley!

George and I had talked about buying a pulley to put a bird feeder on, but now that we actually have the pulley, I am not so sure. I think it might just be easier to hang the bird feeder directly off the porch. For now, the pulley might just have to live on this weird piece of metal protruding from the bricks. That way I can see it all the time.

Here is a close up. I am such a sucker for pieces that have both metal and wood...especially beautiful worn wood with cracks in it!

Pumpkin Love

I am super excited this is the one year anniversary of my blog so I thought it was time to change my blog header.

I bought pumpkins at the Springfield Flea Market and I fell in love with this one. I saw it earlier in the day and I couldn't get it out my head. When we went back I was nervous that it would be gone, but there it was in all its pumpkin glory. I love the way the color goes from orange at the base to yellow and green at the top. Beautiful!

I also loved the way these pale beauties go together. It makes my heart go pitter pat...true pumpkin love!

Cafe Curtains

The weekend before last I went to the Springfield Antique Show and I loved it! I went with my Dad and my friend Mary. You should have seen us when we pulled out of there...we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. The truck was full to the brim with 4 tables, 2 chairs, 3 millstones, vintage tablecloths, sheets, vases, pulleys and glasses, numerous pumpkins and mums, and three very tired shoppers squeezed into the cab. What a day!

The photo above shows the sheets that I made into cafe curtains for the bedroom. When I bought them I thought they were tablecloths, but they turned out to only have the trim at one end...so I decided they were sheets. It made me feel less guilty about cutting them up to make curtains.

It was harder than I thought it would be because I had to use my seam ripper to get the bottom trim off the edge of the sheets. I also had to rip seams out three times! Aaaaargh! I don't believe in ripping seams unless I really have to. I think I was tired. By now I know that things are never as easy as they might first appear, but in the end I am very happy with them.

Cinnamon Squash Rolls

George has really outdone himself this time. These rolls were delicious! And they use up the butternut squash we get from the CSA. It couldn't get any better than that.

The recipe was adapted from a Family Circle Pumpkin Bun recipe that you can see here. George halved the recipe (it makes 12 if you halve it) and substituted squash for pumpkin. He also added nutmeg and a handful of oats (that George- always trying to make it more healthy!).

Probably the tastiest way you will ever eat squash!

Stone Wall and Plants

When we added the screen porch to the house we had to get rid of half the flower bed below it. So Tim Hodge (the mason who made the stone columns) just built us a beautiful wall to hold up the remaining flower bed.

This left me an empty flower bed which was quickly remedied at the Natorp's sale this past Friday. Seven dollar perennials and three dollar mums... I was like a kid in a candy store!

BTW...those lime green beauties are heuchera.

Porch Curtains

Getting curtains for the porch was more of a project than I had anticipated. Originally I thought I would buy Sunbrella curtains for the porch. But when I figured out that I needed 12 panels and they were $80/panel I decided to rethink that idea.

So I bought 83'' sailcloth panels from Target. I washed 2 of them as a test and they shrank about 6'' and were then too short. They looked ridiculous...like my porch was wearing floods!

So then I returned those and ordered 96'' panels from JCPenney and figured I would hem them. But then I realized those panels were only 41'' wide and they might shrink too much in width.

So I returned those and ended up buying the 96'' panels from Target that were an inch wider. I washed and dried them but they were still too long. So I ended up hemming 4 of the 12 panels to about an inch above the ground.

I was very pleased with myself until I woke up the next day and they were all dragging the ground because they had swollen with the dew. I was so mad! But my mom suggested washing them again. And lo and behold...they shrank the perfect amount! So I hemmed the rest and am now done with it!

So if you actually made it to the end of this story, I'm not sure what the moral is. Perhaps that sometimes the problem is the solution.

(Please visit NessyPress.com if you are interested in viewing my botanical linocut fine art prints!)

Porch Pillows

I have had the fabric to make these pillows for months now and I finally found time to make them. At first I was going to make the whole pillow out of the rose fabric, but then I had the idea of just using a stripe of it and I think I like it much better.

I used the instructions on Cottage Magpie as a general guide. The instructions were great. Now I think I want to make some "hot dog" pillows to go next to the arm rests. Ooh, the possibilities!

Vintage Flower Tray

I was super excited to find two of these flower trays at the Burlington flea market. They are perfect for catching fallen petals from flower arrangements.

If you look closely you can see the surface is scratched and worn. It is so wabi sabi and I love it! I am now addicted to vintage flower trays!

Orange Vase

I just had to post a photo of this cute little vase. I got it at Jungle Jim's a couple years ago and I love the smooth feel of it. There were more pieces that matched it, but when I went back for more they were gone. C'est la vie.

Guest Room Ceiling Color

When we bought our house 6 years ago I remember thinking the first thing I would do is to paint the guest room ceiling. The bright yellow is just not me. The only reason it has existed this long is because my mom gave me those cute pillow cases from when we were kids and they have a great 60's pattern with yellow in it.

But it is finally time to change it and I have photoshopped several choices. Please let me know what you think.

Pale Blue
Pale Green
White

Japanese Anemone

I was so excited the last issue of Martha Stewart helped me identify a flower I have had in my yard for years and never knew what it was -- Japanese Anemone. They had a nice story on it. It is a shade perennial that has beautiful, soft, pale flowers and blooms in late summer and fall. The foliage is also interesting and is dark green. I tried to transplant some to my front yard but they failed. If anyone out there knows some tips let me know!

New Illustrations!

I just uploaded a 8 new illustrations to my website. You can see them by clicking here.

I did these for Voyageur Press for a book about snow, but they ended up not using them. I have been meaning to post them for a while now and I finally did it. I am thinking about making them into cards and selling them on Etsy. Enjoy!

Okra Overload!

Last weekend we got okra from our CSA (Hazelfield Farms). I have to admit, it is not my favorite vegetable to eat, but boy is it breathakingly beautiful! The linear ridges and slender curve, the pale green color, the fine hair, and its cute green cap all make Okra irresistable. Why have I never noticed it before!

I had a great time arranging okra. I had so many photos it was hard to narrow it down. Below are some of my favorites. I think you can click on them to see them bigger.

Screen Porch

Below are some photos of our screen porch project. It is finished and we are super excited!

The first photo shows the back of our house before we got this crazy idea.

This is a wonky sketch I did to show the builder and the architect what I was thinking.

And this is the finished porch!

Our architect was Eric Hagenaur and our builder was J.D. Sandipher. Thanks to them, and numerous others, we now have a screened porch.

Of course I have been getting all worked up about decorating ideas. In fact, I am working on a little something that will be blogged about soon. I am so excited about it that I can hardly sit still. In fact, I am going to Hobby Lobby right now to pick up some supplies. Adios chicos!