A farmer's life for me...

Had a gorgeous weekend! It feels more like summer than fall here in Michigan (and how often do I ever get to say that?) We took the boys to the Oak Haven Farm, and had a wonderful time.  One of the best places! Free admission and parking, and a ton of free things to do! They went through a kid sized corn maze, fed the goats, and played in piles of hay... Johnny made a "hay angel" and needless to say, they needed some serious bath time when we got home :) There was even a waterwheel and little pond with ducks :) The kiddie corn maze was their favorite.  We bought some caramel apples and much needed water (all that running through mazes, you know) and took advantage of the great weather.

I took some great pictures of my ridiculously handsome boys... this is Johnny:

 And here is my Mikey:

There is this little "house" set up to look like an old front porch.  I am pretty sure it is for display only and not meant to be an attraction to be walked on... but before I grabbed my little trespassers off the porch, I took a great picture...

Every time I go to a farm or orchard, I have dreams of being a farmer... I know it is a ton of work, but I long for quiet country roads and fresh berries waiting to be picked. I live in a subdivision in a house like pretty much every house on the street, next to a busy road... I am a country girl who grew up in an old farmhouse, where dad had a huge garden and mom canned vegetables and made her own juice from the grapes dad grew behind the walnut trees in back. I miss those days.  My mom has since packed her canning supplies in a box labeled "DO NOT OPEN EVER AGAIN" and has it stored in her basement (canning is work, I know), but I have that romantic nostalgia of summer days, carrying freshly canned goods to the pantry. Maybe she would let me have her canning supplies... Now I just need to find me a little farmhouse to live in :)

a clean, well-lighted place...

I don't know about you, but I never fail to be amazed at how helpless I feel when the power goes out. I tend to swear more and get obsessed with odors. It's true. Stumbling around in the dark, trying to find the candles and matches, I stub my toes and swear like a sailor, and suddenly notice every smell. Obviously because I am deprived of visual stimulation, my other senses compensate. And not in a good way.

The cat litter box suddenly is unbearable (even though I just scooped the damn thing) and the odor of last night's rotisserie chicken dinner haunts my kitchen (even though I did the damn dishes last night).

See what a potty mouth I become when deprived of electricity?

But you, you clever thing, are wondering how on earth am I blogging about my blind and smelly ordeal if I am electrically challenged?

I am at McDonald's, basking in their lights and sounds. Coffee never tasted so good :)

I needed to indulge. Try getting two five-year-olds ready for school in complete darkness. Mikey kept sneaking around behind me, then shouting "HappyBirthday! MakeAWish!" and then blowing out the previously glowing candles. Thankfully I had laid out clothes the night before (which I rarely do so I am shocked at my ESP) so I didn't have to dig for clothes in the dark.

Now that the sun is up, I should go home and clean my perpetually messy craft room. I had planned a day of ironing new fabric and sewing new aprons (I will be at Porter's Orchard this weekend for a little festival) but since I apparently need electricity to iron and sew, I guess I will clean and organize. Maybe Mother Nature is trying to tell me something...

Oooh, but before I do that, I will do a little more playing. I went to the Country Living website this morning after being inspired by the pictures at Moxie Fab, and found the most fun thing ever! It is called, "Be the Appraiser" where you have to try to guess what antiques are worth, and once you do you get to read about the antique in question, and learn its origin... so I am a total nerd, okay? I'm cool with that... Antiques Roadshow is one of my all-time favorite shows, so I get to play I'm on that show. I'm not very good at it, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun :)

Hope you have a bright, light-filled day!

Aprons, shoes, and liberation!

Are you ready to do the happy dance with me? Are you sure? Ok then - stand up, kick off those shoes, and do a little dance because yours truly has Internet at home again! Yay me! Don't get me wrong - heading to the library with two five-year-old boys in tow is horrifying superfun when trying to check one's email (let alone do something like work on a blog) when all they want to do is play hide-and-seek among the stacks, "help" the librarians by running behind the circulation desk, and rearranging all the books on the carts... what usually happens is we pick out some books, I chase them around the video collection, and I gaze wistfully at the computers, wondering what is happening in BlogLand. 

On the rare occasions I sneak (Snuck? Sneaked? Snookened?) out of the house alone by bribing my husband to watch the kiddos explaining I need to get some work done so I don't go insane, I would head to the library, solo, to plop in front of the computer. But there is a time limit, and I don't get to be in my jammies, and they don't allow drinks in the lab...

I don't know about you, but blogging and wasting time on the computer isn't the same if you can't have your comfies on and a snack and drink nearby. So. Happy and liberated, I am in my comfies, drinking a big ole fat cup of coffee, so happy to be talking to you again! Speaking of snacks...

This "cake" is a confection of paper and ribbon. Each "slice" is a box, perfect for gifties and such. Plus it is just plain cute.

My sporadic posts of late have hinted at my activities at the Farmers' Market. I honestly adore working the market. The other vendors are so sweet, the market goers are so nice and friendly, and there is just this sense of camaraderie and fresh yummy goodness in the air. My newest obsession is aprons, and it is so intriguing to talk to my new market friends about fabric and cooking, quilting and traditions...  I have been also making some cards and other little pretties to sell.  Among them are these little shoes. I had seen these little paper shoes from a template by Ellen Hutson. I tweaked and played, changed and altered, and here are a few of my versions of this little shoe.

Here is "Dolly" all dressed up in this vintage inspired apron.  It has a little quote printed on the pocket, and the skirt just kills me! I love mixing fabric...

I keep playing with apron patterns and styles.  The more I sew, the more I learn, and I have made a few patterns of my own. Talking to other women at the market has been so helpful - getting their input on lengths,and pocket preferences, and color combos...

I have about 6 different apron styles that I am currently working with. I need to start some "fall" color influenced aprons. School is starting soon (gasp!) and soon apple picking and pumpkin carving will be the activities of choice. I am picturing oatmeal colored aprons, with skirts of scarlet and muted greens and deep pumpkin orange...

See how chatty I am? I have missed you dearly, honestly and completely! Now I am going to refill my cup and get some reading done :) I am dying to know what the rest of you have been up to!

Have a lovely day,

Once Upon an Apron... and Banana Bread

In my latest obsession with apron making, I combined my love for old quilts, vintage finds, and paper piecing...

When I scrapbook, I adore making little vignettes; houses on rolling hills, elaborate trees on lush landscapes... you get the idea. I also love the look of primitive samplers and quilts. I had made this sampler a few months ago


(and sold it to a dear and darling customer!) and have been itching to make another. Until then, however, I decided to try to make a little landscape art. But this time, I used all fabric, and instead of paper, my canvas was an apron.


I used some fabulous fabric I got at an estate sale. I think it is floursacking - it is so thick and supple! A combination of new fabrics and vintage lace were the rest of my materials, and a tiny little old button was the perfect doorknob :) After much deliberation, I decided to list it on Etsy. I thought about keeping it, but now that it is up for sale, it gives me an excuse to make another!

As for the banana bread...

This weekend, I had the grand idea to make some banana bread. The recipe is my Great Grandma Tessie's recipe, for "Fruit Loaf", and whenever I make it, I usually double it. Well, I had quite a few bananas, and whenever I do make this yummy bread, my dear friend Kelly begs for some - with chocolate chips, of course :) So what do I do? In my ambition, I multiplied the recipe by six. Twelve cups of flour, six cups of bananas, a dozen eggs...

My mixing bowl overfloweth....

It all turned out in the end (my arms got quite the workout. Mixing that much batter is way more taxing than a rowing machine, my friend) and I even had enough for six loaves and six muffins :)

Kelly will be happy :)

Springing Forward...

I feel as if I have been in hibernation - and in some regards, I have. I have missed Blogland! My plate seemed to get so full that I had to crawl into my cave and catch up. Nothing horrible or earth shattering - just one little thing piled up upon another little thing, until my plate became a heaping platter and I had to take a break. Of course, now that I feel like I have caught my breath, I lose an hour to daylight savings time. Blasted Spring Forward, anyway. I miss that hour! I feel like I am cheated of that sixty minutes not just today, but for at least two weeks... my body and soul fight this change like no other...

But I am back! During my hiatus, I fixed my wonky stove, discovered how fun cooking can actually be, and have been teaching myself to sew with fabric and not just stitch on paper! I also painted my kitchen.

I have been a busy girl.

It is funny how one thing leads to another. I ordered the part to fix my stove, and when it came, I wanted it fixed right then and there. Instead of waiting for the hub to get home, I pulled the stove out (how does it get so dirty back there? And that plug? HUGE!), found some tools, and fixed it myself. After cleaning behind the stove, I realized how much I hated the white walls in my kitchen, and how dingy they looked. So I loaded the twins in the van, went to the hardware store, and bought pretty robin's-egg-faded-blue paint and brushes.

I painted until 1am.

Now that I had a nice clean kitchen and a functional stove, I looked around and decided I hated how grubby my kitchen chairs looked...

The next thing I know, I am hauling out the sewing machine and stitching chair covers. I had these really cool old coin bags, and I thought they would make nifty "shabby chic" covers if I split the seams, stitched on some ties... and then decided a tablecloth would be nice. Something with a bit of blue...

Because my kitchen was now so pretty, I decided I should spend more time there, so I started digging out my old recipe collections. Nerd that I am, I have been collecting recipes since I was about twelve years old. Notice I said collected them. Never really used them until now.

I have been cooking up a storm!

And when I was cooking, I found myself wiping my hands on my shirt (I can never find a towel when I need it) and pretty much destroying my clothes. What I needed, I said to myself, was an apron.

I didn't own an apron.So I decided to make one. And have found a new passion that has now consumed me. Apron making! I have so many fabulous fabrics and vintage linens, I have been making aprons all week! I have a few listed on Etsy, and have a few started that I hope to finish this week... Ah, the joy of a new obsession... and it all started because of my wonky stove.

Catching Up... and a wonky stove

Where does time go? I know it flies when you are having fun, but I think it goes at warp speed when you are behind in tasks...

Getting ready for Christmas, making teacher gifts, celebrating the holiday, last minute orders to complete, having the kids and a husband home for two weeks... Now I am ready for a vacation!

I promise to have some pretties to show soon :) I made some cutie holiday gifts for Christmas, and they were so well received that I am thinking of making some Valentine inspired versions soon... so keep an eye out :)

At the Pixie Cottage, the current contest has been extended, so you have an extra week to make a "Button It" creation! If I ever get my blasted camera working properly, I will show you what I came up with. It is still acting wonky (my new favorite word) so I may just have to break down and get a new one. Of course, my stove is also acting wonky. I was attempting to make dinner yesterday, and when pre-heating the oven, I thought I accidentally turned on the interior light. I flipped the switch. Light still on, and growing brighter.

Hmmmm...

Opening the oven door, I see there is a spark of light, growing into a bright flame, traveling down the coily thing in the bottom of the stove. Sparking and red hot, it looked like a movie version of the dynamite stick where the fuse is about to blow.

"A shooting star! Look, Mama! There is a shooting star in the oven!" a little voice yells behind me.

"Get back Johnny!"

I grabbed a cup of water and tossed it onto the flame, which only seemed to incense it. I slammed the door shut, pushed Johnny behind me while I watched in horror as the red hot flame grew in intensity, sparked and finally fizzled.

And snapped the coily thing.

So I think the oven is broken.

Hey, does this mean I don't have to cook anymore?