wonderful mail!

When the mail lady drove up the driveway I knew we must have a package. When I saw the box and the beautiful way it was addressed my heart skipped a beat, and when I saw who it was from, I was not surprised that that loveliness had come from Mrs Staggs.

I was completely overwhelmed to find this wonderful thank-you gift inside, that I feel completely undeserving of. This gorgeous mixing bowl is filled with a pumpkin-bread candle (which smells delicious!), cookie cutters (including a thanksgiving turkey), a dish towel with a turkey sugar cookie recipe, some perfectly pear tea, some cookie stencils, a wooden spoon, and wooden acorn, with some autumn leaves and a sprig of acorns nestled among the gifts. And a lovely vintage notecard...

I am going to enjoy everything soooooo much! Thank you Mrs Staggs...the world is a much nicer place because of you. I am thankful for every one of you who visit my blog~you're wonderful ladies!

the weekend

It was a girls' weekend here, as the men of the family were off on a hunting trip. Most of Saturday & Sunday were spent at a Halloween Horse Show that my daughter was riding in. Even though it was cold and rainy, it was a good time and her horse, Sparky cooperated much better than he had at the last few shows ~ three first place ribbons, which included a costumed dressage test in Renaissance garb.

We also went out for pizza and hot cocoa, church, and otherwise stayed close to the woodstove and watched some movies.

Sunday evening I continued work on a bag Stephanie wanted for carting books and art supplies to college. She wanted one like I made here, and picked out the cherry fabric for the lining. After several setbacks~broken needle, glue problems, and other issues~I managed to finish it up this morning.

If you've seen Marie Claire Idees the horse will look familiar. It's the template they have in the back used on a tote bag in the magazine. I tried to glue it on using Fabric Tac, and though it's always worked well for me in the past, it did not work here. In the end some fusible webbing did the trick. I hope she likes it.

The sun is shining today and we're up in the 50's, so I'm headed outside to gather eggs and feed the hens, and whatever else needs to be done. Have a good Monday!

corners, felt cat, & a recipe

I am very thankful to Blogger for allowing me to post pictures today...Thursday and Friday I was not so fortunate, oh well. I really feel like I'm running out of interesting corners lately, so this is it. In the sunroom again, where the light is the best on these dark dreary days we've been having lately, one of my cross-pollinated gourds on an urn...

As you see, I have not put a lot of effort into my fall decorating.

This tiny glass greenhouse holds an African Violet I picked up the other day for $1 ~ what a deal!

On the chimney cupboard, a felt cat I made from instructions that were in the October 2000 issue of Country Living. It can be made with an opening in the top to hold treats...

Mine, I just sewed shut to be used as a decoration...

And, I have to share with you the recipe for these dark chocolate chip pumpkin bars, which are so moist and delicious. I did not note where I found the recipe so sadly I can't give credit to whoever it was.

Dark Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares

• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 4 beaten eggs
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. butter
• 2 c. pumpkin filling
• 1 - 2 c. (dark) chocolate chips

Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray, or butter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients. In another bowl cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, beating well; add pumpking filling and mix. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and blend. Add 1 cup chocolate chips & mix together. Spread into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes.

Sometimes when it comes out of the oven I sprinkle another cup of chocolate chips over the top, let them melt and spread like frosting ~ very yummy and extra chocolatey!

WIP tea cozy, quilted potholder & a new hat

It was a pretty quiet weekend here, mostly spent inside due to the rain & cold. I didn't get to post my work in progress for Friday, so here is a peek at the tea cozy. It's moving along slowly as I work on it for awhile and then jump to something else...

...like this cabled hat from S'n B Nation. I liked the one I made for my daughter so much, I ended up knitting one for myself using some yarns I had on hand.

Recently I've been liking the idea of combining knitting with fabric and Copper's Wife's post had me thinking of making potholders. Debbie Bliss Home shows a potholder using a knitted square and a piece of fabric; I changed it a bit and used a patchwork top...

Edited: One thing I forgot to mention is that I did use a layer of cotton batting which the patchwork is quilted to. I know there is a heat resistant product you could use also; not sure of the name of it.

I love using what I have on hand ~ this has some Denyse Schmidt fabric scraps, a piece of a vintage linen napkin, and a square of an old linen calendar. Here you can see the back which I knitted of cream cotton in seed/moss stitch...

I will definitely be making some more of these!

corners of my home~garland, marie clare idees, barkcloth

This week has absolutely flown by. The storm that hit our area last weekend closed schools, work, and left many without power, some still without power as of today. Luckily we did not lose power or suffer any damage at our house, and I have enjoyed having my son and husband home Monday and my daughter home all week.

I got the Halloween banner, that I made Friday, hung up in the foyer. Dianntha had a question about the letters that I wanted to answer. I found the alphabet at Martha Stewart.com, the same one which I used to make an Easter Garland here. For my Halloween garland I printed the letters out on newspaper to get the black and white background. Just be careful if you try it...one of the pieces of newpaper did jam in the printer and I was lucky to have a husband who works with computers!

My husband and I spent a nice afternoon at the bookstore this week and I picked up this magazine for the first time. I loved what I saw and had to have it....it's full of great craft projects that I can't wait to try. I have added a subscription to my Christmas wish list!

We also spent some time at a local antique co-op and I came away with this beautiful barkcloth panel. It's in great shape and there's over 2 yards of fabric which I'll probably use for some bags, although a part of me hates the thought of cutting into it.

Have a fun weekend everyone!

works in progress...

The knitted tea cosy has been put on hold as college daughter would like some fingerless gloves and hats. So far I have one glove finished; this is the pattern from Knitty and the yarn is KnitPicks Andean Silk in cranberry. This is a huge accomplishment for me as I have previously wanted nothing to do with double point needles. I am terribly clumsy and the first time I tried using them was a disaster. However, I was determined to make these gloves and after a shaky start, I didn't do too bad. Tonight I'll get the second one started and hopefully finish them up by Monday...

One hat for her is finished. This is the Basic Cable from S'n B Nation; the yarn is Knit Picks Shine Worsted which is a silky, soft cotton/Modal blend that my daughter loves. I didn't have the circular needles needed for this pattern, so I just used straight needles instead. Thus I had to have a seam but because of the cable and ribbing pattern it is not even noticeable. I think I'm going to make one of these for myself ...

Another work in progress today is a Halloween garland for the foyer. I was inspired by the beautiful Halloween decorations in the Victorian Trading catalog. I found the vintage images here thanks to Clarice who mentioned the site once on her blog...

Today was just full of crafting, sewing, and baking ~ a perfect way to spend a cold, rainy day. I worked on these fabric flowers [from a wonderful Wise Craft tutorial] which are going out with a bag commissioned by a special fellow blogger...

I found this book at the library this week ~ Something Warm from the Oven by Eileen Goudge. The recipes sound wonderful, so I looked up apples in the index and found a recipe for these apple spice cupcakes with caramel frosting. Just the thing for dessert tonight...

I'll let you know how they are...have a great evening!

corners of my home...

For 'corners of my home' today I tried to find some evidence of fall decorating. I must admit I am sadly lacking in that department, especially after seeing the beautiful fall decorating pictured on so many of your blogs. So this morning I ran outside and picked the dahlia you see on my mantlepiece...

...and added it to the tiny white pumpkins I picked up last week at the grocery store. Usually I grow some of these in my garden...this year we only had orange pumpkins though. I am embarrassed to see that my silver candle holders are in desperate need of polishing.

I also added a some dried hydrangea blossoms...

The mantle clock was a wedding gift from an antique dealer friend, and it still runs when I remember to wind it. I love to hear the sound of it slowly chiming each hour...

The ferns have been brought inside for the winter, just in the nick of time. Today the first snowflakes were spotted in our area, and so before dinner I am going to get a nice fire going in the woodstove.

I decided to leave this fern in its cement urn and placed it on this table in the corner. Hopefully the gorilla glue I used to repair a wobbly leg will hold up to the weight...

Now I'm off to work on some more decorating ideas...

Lighthouse, knitting, & apple bread...

The weather has been so beautiful here for this time of year that I have been trying to enjoy it as much as possible, hence my real lack of posts lately. Today I've been hanging out laundry for probably one of the last times, picking pears, painting window boxes & our sign post as well as priming a door, and cleaning out some more flower beds.

Yesterday after church, Mike & I headed to 'Christmas at the Lighthouse'. The view from the top was beautiful! The lighthouse was somewhat decorated for Christmas, and after seeing that we took a walk around the surrounding park...

Another project finished...finally....

I used this Christmas pin to close it at the neck. I think it may have belonged to my grandmother, isn't it cute?

And, I did get my apple bread made on Friday. Two loaves were given away and the third didn't last long enough for pictures, but here is the recipe in case you're interested ~ I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, so if you're making it by hand you will have to modify the kneading instructions somewhat...

Apple Bread

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 pkg. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water (105 - 115 degrees F)
• 7 - 8 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 medium apples, cored, peeled & chopped
• Cinnamon SugarFilling

Combine milk, butter, & sugar in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts & sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixer bowl; add lukewarm milk mixture, 5 cups flour, eggs, & apple. Using dough hook, mix 1 minute; continue adding remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of the bowl. Knead about 2 minutes longer, until dough is smooth & elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover, & let rise in warm place until doubled ~ about 1 hour.

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tblsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients with fork until crumbly.

After dough has doubled, punch down and divide in two. Roll each amount to a 9 x 14 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar Filling and roll dough tightly and shape into a loaf. Place in [2] 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled ~ about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves [You can also make this in 3 ~ 4x8 inch pans, which is what I did.]

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

corners of my home & a purse finished...

In our living room we have a beautiful hutch that was built by my husband's father, a wonderful carpenter. The bottom cupboard section hides all our stereo equipment as well as CDs & cassettes. On top I have loaded it with family pictures, books, and some of my more vintage blue & white china...

A little hard to see in its dark corner is this old camera that belonged to my grandmother. The little blue & white tea cups and the old glasses were tag sale finds....

This lamp is my favorite...it sits on an old maple drop leaf table also in the living room. The base is alabaster, I believe. I made the shade by gluing to the old frame, heavy tag board which I covered with damask fabric, and then added trim and fringe...

Also on the table is this sketch of our dog, Zoe, which was done by my daughter, along with an old iron last once used for making & repairing shoes...

Finally, I have finished the patchwork purse [a great tutorial from creative little daisy], which has sat around waiting for a handle. I had decided I wanted just a simple narrow leather handle, but wasn't able to find narrow pieces of leather at any of our local craft or fabric stores. One day when I was in Tractor Supply with my husband, I came across just what I was looking for...in a package labeled saddle strings! It was just what I wanted and worked great...

I just love it when I find something I need in an unexpected place and at a very good price as well.