Foraging

I was gifted this cactus and had no idea what kind it was.

I guess fall?? But it sure is pretty.

Another trip to the thrift store. 

A bag of DMC thread that I will share with my grand.

A magnifying glass that I think is to small. 

 

The sweet basket was 50 cents not sure what I will use it for.

A wonderful bag of buttons. I plan on changing out some buttons on some of my clothes to give them a more upscale look.

I did a nice long walk and came home to head into the woods to get some cuttings for decorating. Let me tell you my legs are screaming now from how tired they are. Walking on all the acorns is like walking on marbles in the woods.

I filled a couple of my pots before the soil freezes. I also have some left over to make some roping and maybe a wreath. The good news is if I run out I have lots of woods to explore. 

This is the shawl directions. It is by Mia Welander @ regnmia so please if you knit or post this give her credit. I think if you click on it you should be able to read it. 

I have so much to be thankful for the list is long. 

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Tonight I am roasting chicken breasts, potatoes and acorn squash. Yumm

The weather has turned colder and rain is due tonight. We need the rain but the snow can wait. I am a bit busy week ahead, 

yoga tomorrow, a trip to the Dr Tue, (just a yearly check up)

and Wed my women's group Thanksgiving. My most favorite gathering of the year. I am not hosting, we all bring a piece of the grand dinner and then share. It is so fabulous!!! There will be about 12 of us, I am bringing the mashed potatoes and homemade rolls.

Have a wonderful week!

What I Bought

A not a very good picture of my rug. I still have work to do. I need to work on the deer antlers, change the sky color, and figure out the tree. 

What I bought last Sat at the holiday open house.

This santa is a thick paper and is filled with balsam. Crazy I know but I love him.

This stitching kit. We call our grand sweet B so I thought of her. 

And some rusty mini bells. 

Wool thread and a piece of linen.

Oh save me from myself! I bought a rug pattern. I have enough patterns I will never get through them all. But this kept singing to me each time I passed it. 

Today another beautiful day in the 70s. I went for a nice long walk and did a couple of loads of laundry and then made my first pork pie of the season (Tourtiere in the French Canadian world) The pork pie has as many recipes as there are families. Every family has their own spin on it. This is my husband's mother's recipe, I did not grown up eating pork pie. We were English, I ate mincemeat and really good fruit cake at the holidays. 

Ok on to the last of the rugs at the rug show. 

The loon and the fish rugs are my favorites. 

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I finished stitching my christmas tree. I need to cut it out and bind it and fill it with balsam.  

I am still working on my sweater and hooking on my rug PHEW!

And I have not touched the applique quilt. There was a conversation yesterday at my hooking class, we were talking about hobbies. We are all grateful for them and talked about the wonderful friends we have made through our hobbies and the fun we have had. 

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I bought these at Aldi's this week. If you have one near you run don't walk to get a pk of these. I am not huge on store bought cookies but oh these. If you like gingerbread cookies these are the best!Thin and crispy, dip them in your tea perfect!

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I hope you are taking care of you.

HUGS!

13 Years and counting

Halloween out, Turkeys in. My sweet grand made my pilgrim several years ago. As you can see he is wearing glasses like she used to. (She now wears contacts) 

Holiday open house at a place full of stitching and wooly wonders?

Yes count me in. She has a big sign on the door NO pictures inside.

While I can not blame her a lot of the pieces are her own creations. But oh the inspirations!!!! I spent way more than I should have and went on my way. 

On the way home I stopped at the thrift store.

I bought linen napkins to stitch on 4 for 1.00, I got a handmade pottery bowl, I will use it under a plant. Some sweet tatted lace,and the coffee filters I took out of the free box. They were never  opened.

I got this sweet shirt made in Italy and the leggings to go with it.

I also got a tablecloth to use on my porch next summer and a few odds and ends. 14.00 a bargain!

I took a trip to the dump with husband. For those who don't know our dump (recycling center) has a little "store" there are shelves there you can put things others may want. It is free, I got this very large glass canister. I bleached it and scrubbed it and now what to do with it? Maybe christmas balls for a centerpiece? who knows?

I soaked the napkins I got at the thrift in coffee. They now have a parchment paper color. I got wool thread at the holiday open house and now I am stitching. My brain just never stops! I need to do one thing at a time! I will make a little pillow I will fill with Maine Balsam. 

Ok more rugs from the show. These are the flowers ones.

My sweet friend Pam hooked this one based on Celia Thaxter's garden on Appledore Island.

I do have several more to post. Amazing talent!

This is husband mid crunch lol. 

Today marks 13 years since he had a bone marrow transplant.

His wonderful brother was his match. What more can I say it makes me tear up everytime I think about it. It was a long struggle but he is so good and enjoying life.

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I am not sure what is going on with blogger you all came through with no reply emails. All of you! And I tried to follow a couple of your blogs and I got a message to try later (I tried several times)

So I am sorry if I do not get back to you but I read each one. So pleased to see so many comments! Thank you Thank you Thank You.

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There is a stressful week ahead no matter who you vote for or who wins.  In NH we are voting for 2 senators (we only have 4)  and a new Governor. So please take some time for you. Unplug do something you love. I know my daily walks help with the stresses of life. But you do you. In our little town we hand count votes, I have been doing it for years and I am proud I can help. 

Motto for the week Kindness matters.

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(I am working on the pattern for the shawl I hope to post it soon)

Cake???

Last night we took a little ride to the local old cemetery they had a line of pumpkins on the wall. Because this one had a strobe light in it is was hard to get it lit. Spooky fun.

Today I went to a mini rug show a local rug camp was showing.

I will show a few halloween ones and then add more through out the next few posts. 

If you enlarge it you may get the names of the hooker.

The acorns were felted and the tail of the crow is off the rug.

And we know Santa is just around the corner.

I adore this rug!!! They got that birch just right!!!

On another note I finished knitting a shawl that wraps around your waist and ties in the back. It goes into a v in the back so it hides the tie. it is warm and cosy and very old fashioned. 

It was chilly and raw today even though we are going into the high 70s tomorrow for halloween!

 I made a cake! I know This recipe is well used. It takes no eggs or dairy of any kind. It is a recipe from WWII. 

It makes a one layer chocolate cake if you are interested in the recipe I will post it here. This cake is so moist and lovely you really don't need frosting. I had some coconut that needed to be used so I frosted it but usually I put a dusting of powdered sugar on the top. 

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I hope you all have a perfect Halloween! 

Or for those who celebrate  the Irish Samhain. 

Gratitude

I am very grateful for all that I have and my wonderful family.

I made a very small batch of green tomato relish. I only had a small amout of green tomatoes left. I will use a few of the jars in Christmas gifts.

I bought a small bag of candy, who I am kidding we never get anyone here in the woods. So I bought Twix, I don't like them but husband does. 

Husband was feeling well enough to take a stroll through the vintage market,two miles from our house. I didn't get anything it was more stuff made in China than vintage.

But I saw a fellow witch shopping. 

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It is a cool blustery day. A warm up is coming this week though. I made a run to the grocery store, this morning, now we are tucked in watching football and I am knitting. 

Husband is really improving thankfully.

Have a wonderful week!