Halloween Inspiration

Earlier this month I was remembering a post I saw a few years ago by papercrafter Michelle Wooderson from http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/. She gathered up all of her related supplies (stamps, paper, embellishments) for a holiday and put them together to be her inspiration station. I was in the mood to do this for Halloween, partly to see just what the heck I had collected over the years and then to actually use it! It was kind of fun to see it all in one spot and I did end up making a few things.

Here are some tags that I made:

and a little shadow box:

All made for no particular reason, just for the fun of crafting after being inspired by my stash. What inspires you? I would love to hear!

My Fall So Far

We are having a pretty nice fall here in Indiana. The temps had stayed warm until this week and now it is chilly and breezy.  But with a bright blue sky, green grass, and the leaves changing colors, I want to spend as much time outside as I can.

We have not had a killing frost, so we are still harvesting produce from the garden - tomatoes, beans, and peppers. The herbs are doing great with new crops of dill and cilantro ready to pick. And the chickens are enjoying their freedom of free ranging during the afternoons. I plan on doing some outside chores this weekend; taking some plants to the greenhouse, cutting back perennials, and maybe planting some bulbs.

I haven't done any gardening for almost a month because I have been sick with MONO! Can you believe it? I didn't think people my age could get it, but they can and I did:) So I have had a very sore throat and I'm so tired that I have to nap every afternoon. Then I got a cold on top of that. What a mess! But I think I'm getting better and a little exercise will be good for me.

I want to thank everyone who reads my blog and leaves such lovely comments. They mean so much to me! Have a great weekend!

My Weekend

 

 

What a great weekend we had. The weather was perfect! While my husband did the mowing and other yard projects, I did some housework and fall decorating, inside and out. I also did some weeding which is not a chore on a sunny, cool day. And to my son's delight, I made an apple pie (which is gone already :).  Rick and I each had good books, so we took many breaks sitting on the deck reading.

I just finished that pumpkin quilt. It is from an old APQ magazine, though I changed it up a bit. I also made  that little cross stitch ornament this week. I thought the bumpy trim was a perfect way to finish it.

Have a great week!

Sweet Autumn

Even though it can be somewhat weedy, I can't help but love sweet autumn clematis. Starting from ground level, it climbs up a fence or trellis during the spring and summer and then explodes in bloom in September. The yard is filled with it's sweet fragrance and pretty flowers. It does reseed easily and I find it growing all over the place.I just keep ripping it out where I don't want it and adding where I do!

 

I wish you all could smell this!

And here is another sweet thing!

Scappy Nine Patch

I have been trying to use up all the scraps that I had cut into 2 1/2 inch squares. I had so many of them, so I decided to make this scrappy nine patch to use up as many as possible. And I did it! I used them all. It is about a twin sized quilt, great for snuggling under on the sofa during the winter. I really enjoy the hand quilting part of the process, and that is what I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. (I do have other projects to work on for a change of pace.)  When this is done I'm thinking of a big log cabin quilt to be my winter project. Can't wait to shop for the fabrics:)

 

A couple of weeks ago we watched Tad for the day and he helped me make a chocolate cake. We had so much fun and of course he liked licking the spatula. I have pictures of my own boys doing this same thing. Wouldn't it make a great scrapbook page to show Tad and his daddy at the same age with their faces all messy?

Meet "Pat"

 Do you remember Pat from Saturday Night Live? Well, that's what we had been calling this chicken until a few weeks ago, when he/she became a definite Patrick. We haven't had a rooster in our orders of chicks for many years, so we were actually surprised to get one this time. Not that we will keep him. He's too loud and upsets the hens. But I kind of get a kick out of his crowing - at least for a little while:)

Here are the hens in their enclosed yard. We have some things for them to climb on and my husband digs up the yard occasionally so they can pick at the worms, etc. We let them free-range during the day most of the year. But we can't let them right now; they'd eat all the produce! We give them the peelings, rinds and leaves from the garden and they are very happy chickens. Today, we got the first egg from this year's pullets. Tiny little brown eggs. So now we have white, blue, and brown ones. Love our home grown eggs!

Pickled Peppers

To my husband surprise and happiness I made him some pickled pepperoncini peppers. We love to make Italian beef sandwiches and you need these to make them. Sometimes they are hard to find in the stores (or I forget to buy them.) And they are not so hot that you have to dress in a hazmet suit to work with them!

We have about five butterfly bushes around our little pond besides several others around the yard. Lately, at any give time, there are 5 or 6 swallowtail butterflies on them. And they are huge this year! They are also hard to photograph. They flap their wings like they are frantic to get all that nectar. There are others that I don't know the names of, like that blue one above. So pretty!

This has been the most perfect garden year here in Indiana. The weather has been mild, with rain right when we need it. I heard on the news that crop production will be the best in 25 years. This is a view of our veggie garden border. It is lush and full of flowers, insects and hummingbirds. What a beautiful time of year!