turkey feathers

Tomatoes on High

The "frost was on the pumpkin" this morning, along with freezing fog, and oh boy, we felt the chill.  The Mister and I headed out to our favorite French bakery early, driving under the stars and the light of the moon--and it was 7 am!  The roosters weren't even crowing.  And that's saying something.  Fortunately, Grace brought in the rest of the late harvest from our little backyard garden yesterday--just in the nick of time.  These little ledges on my windowsil are perfect for all the different sizes of tomatoes that we HOPE will ripen up.  If not, well, I guess I'll be revisiting the green tomato pie recipe afterall. 

 

I am delighted to report though, that over the past couple of weeks, the majority of our tomatoes finally did ripen on their own.  Aren't these purdy little jewels?  (There are more cucumbers on the bottom of the basket too.)  And, if you've never grown celery, you most certainly should, it's an easy crop and isn't too finicky about the weather.  But also, because it adds so much flavor to soups and stews--nice to have it at-hand when you need a fresh stalk or two, and just so unbelievably good, nothing compared to commercial types.  Nothing.  I always thought I didn't like celery until I began growing my own.  Who knew?  Well, now we know!

Looking out my kitchen window, beyond the green tomatoes, is this wonderful Sunset Maple that is capturing our attention with its gorgeous colors.  Each day, it seems to morph a little more. 

Unrelated:: I want to give a friendly shout-out to the folks at Feeling Stitchy, and Carina (from Carina's Craft Blog), in particular, for featuring my State Flower Quilt!   Thank You!! xo

 

Framing Tips & Winners!

Egads, I really wish this picture was better; hard to eliminate all the glare and window shine on reflective glass.  But it will have to do.  Being the best of a dozen or so attempts.  Oh, I did try.  Mainly though, I just wanted to show you my Country House Sampler finished and framed and give you some numbers. 

The frame's outside dimension is 12" x 15", with an inside dimension of 9.5" x 12.5", which as you can see, is a nice size for this little needlework.  The design image is approximatley 8 x 10, so it could be framed smaller, or larger, with the addition of matting.  

A few more framing tips:

When framing any needlework, make sure to start with a large enough piece of cloth to accomodate your frame size, plus two more inches all the way around, in order to pull it taught over the backing cardboard. 

If your cloth is heavy, trim your cardboard a bit to allow for the extra bulk, otherwise it may not fit (easily), back into the frame. 

For a nice smooth appearance, I added a thin piece of sheet cotton (batting) cut the same size as the backing.  This pads the needlework and helps to eliminate some of the uneven areas.   

A color chart is included with the pattern, but of course, you may do this in any colors you like; perhaps as a representation of your own house (as I did), or worked in colors to reflect the 'country house' of your dreams.

x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x

OK then, it's time!  Here I am getting this in just under the wire, so without further ado:: three winners have just been chosen using our very own random number generator the "super shuffler bonnet".  (In case you're now wondering what in heaven's name I am talking about here's the scoop on that.)

*Congratulations* to numbers 16, 22, and 5! 

(Go down through the comments to find your numbers.)

Way to go, ladies... I'll be contacting you in two shakes of a lamb's tail.   And thank you to everybody else who stopped by to enter, and for your orders...patterns are on the way!  Woot!

Country House Sampler

Welcome to my 'Country House' sampler--with some of my favorite things.  Think:  Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews singing . . .  

"Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens.  Bright copper kettles, and warm woolen mittens.  Brown paper packages tied up with strings--these are a few of my favorite things.  Cream colored ponies, and crisp apple strudels.  Doorbells and sleigh bells, and schnitzel with noodles.  Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings--these are a few of my favorite things.  Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes.  Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes.  Silver white winters that melt into spring--these are a few of my favorite things.  When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad. . . I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad." 

Those wonderful lyrics are sweet and simple, yet beautiful; they do tend to linger with you long after hearing them and I suppose they also had a bit of influence here. 

This little project actually began last year.  I stitched on it from time to time, in between the state flower quilt blocks.  It was so much fun to design (I just looked around me for inspiration, and of course, that song kept lingering).  Just cute fun stitching.

I finished it, but then got really, really busy with jam and pickles and all that summer harvest goodness, so the project was set aside for a bit.  Now, with the bulk of the bounty fairly well managed, and with autumn settling in and offering up quiet moments of bliss now and then, stitchery is back on my mind. 

And in my hands. 

And on my computer screen, as it turns out, as most of this past week was spent putting the finishing touches on the pattern.  I'm hugging myself for getting it all done. 

The transfer pattern can be purchased on the PatternBee website HERE.

See more pictures here.

For the kick-off, I've got three patterns to give away! 

So, if you are up for some fun stitching just leave a comment.   I'll announce the winners Monday--October 24, 2011 before noon PST so check back then.  You'll have a choice between a traceable PDF or an iron-on transfer.  Please note:  This give-away is open to all, but due to the increasing hassle and cost of international shipping, any winners outside the U.S. will receive a PDF only. 

Update:  Winners have been notified and this give-away has officially ended.  Much thanks to all who participated!

Here today, Gone tomorrow

 
Still adjusting to the shorter days here.  Just can't seem to get as much done before the sun goes down and always find it hard to get started when it is so dark in the morning.  Is that happening to you too?  I need to set priorities and unfortunately the blog gathers cyber dust.  When that happens, please visit the archives--still lots of little gems buried in there I know you'll like finding again, or discovering for the first time, if you are new here.

  
We would also like to thank you guys for the sweet emails, etsy convo's, and comments about Winky Handmade, and appreciate you checking it out.  

Well, this is all I have time for today...just wanted to pop in and wish you all a colorful day!

Sweet Things

Something's cooking at the dollhouse bakery!  The shop girls are bustling around stocking the shelves with sweet goodness.  Etsy is making changes and so have we, in terms of our offerings in the shop.  Dollhouse Sweets is now Winky Handmade, to encompass a broader array of items. 

Here's a sample of what I'm talking about.  Oh, yes, the shop girls have been busy!

And...there are more surprises to come!  We hope you'll stop by and let us know how you like it. xo

   

Jewels of Autumn

 
Leaves are drifting down, and those much anticipated fall colors are slowly starting to appear, along with the wild rosehips that emerge bright red and orange from unexpected places, punctuating these gray, foggy, drippy days.  Oh how lovely they are!

 

All along the backroads, I spy them in fields, intermingled with blackberry bramble and tumbledown fences, or climbing up fir trees like this one.  Not exactly easy pickings, which is why, until recently, I didn't venture far to do anything with them.  But this bush was growing alongside the road to my house.  I've passed it by many times on my walks to and fro up the hill and through the woods. 

 
I decided to pick just a few but ended up with helpers, and a basketfull!  That part was easy enough.  But rosehips have a reputation. For one thing, they are covered with fine prickly hairs that can irritate your skin and make you itch like mad if you aren't careful.  I even read somewhere that the hairs are used to make itching powder.  Itching powder?  That sounds useful.  I wore these rubberized garden gloves to pick and wash them and only had a few twitches of imaginary itching. 

 
In case you don't know...rosehips are the fruit of the rose that emerges after the blossoms drop off, much like any other food plant.  Wild varieties are said to have the best flavor and are less likely to have been sprayed with poison.  (Don't pick and eat any that have been sprayed.) I picked the "dog rose" type with small, tear-drop shaped hips. Rosehips can be used in a variety of ways.  I decided to try two methods of preserving them.

 
Initially, I thought I'd make a jam--but soon realized that was going to require some work because you have to remove the tiny seeds and there's no easy or quick way to do this.  There are many more "itchy hairs" inside the pips as well, making the whole affair a rather tedious, worrisome process.  After about an hour of fiddling and fretting with only a few to show for all the effort, I just chucked them whole into a saucepot, added lemon juice, some sugar mixed with agar, and boiled them for about 20 minutes until the mixture began to thicken.  To strain the jelly, my old-fahioned potato ricer came in handy.  This is actually one of my favorite kitchen tools!  Quite useful for many things. (There is an updated stainless steel version here.) 

 
As for the remaining hips, they went into the foot dehydrator for a few days.  Oh, how easy that was!

 
After all that, we have exactly *one* gorgeous rosy jar of rosehips jelly, and I'm guarding it with my life!  No peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for you, no sireee.  Rather scones and crumpets seem more in order here.   And maybe a fancy gingham paper hat!  Are these darling or what? 

Treasure Hunt

 

 
I was up in British Columbia a while back, and stopped in the charming little town of Fort Langley.  There is a wonderful Vintage Mall there, where these pictures were taken.  What's funny is, when I was going through them today I noticed this BOWTIE quilt.  I saw it, but the pattern didn't register at the time.  It "ties" in well (pun intended), with my last blog post don't ya think?

More nooks and crannies. . . and peeks into the past.

Glass coffee and tea pots!  Something else you don't see anymore. 

  
After that I wandered down the street and came upon another treasure: The Little White House.  It was filled with beautiful French-inspired furnishings, accessories and clothing.  At one end (left), was a teeny-tiny Cafe Salon designed for a leisurely nibble.  Quite enchanting! If you find yourself in the area, you must stop by.