This little guy is the handle to a creamer and there's a sugar bowl to match. I think he is so cute! He's perched in the kitchen and he makes me smile whenever I pass by. I found him at a flea market in Branson, Missouri. I love putting stuff like this out for fall, it just makes the house seem that much cozier.

I think it is so funny how everything that was popular when I was a kid is popular again. It kinda makes me wonder if I'm gonna break out the macrame one of these days. Yes, I admit it, macrame was probably one of the first "crafty" things I tried when I was about 8 or 9. I can remember like it was yesterday, sitting in front of the front closet door, working on a macrame plant hanger for my mom. (You know, you hung the top over the door and worked your way down). We even had a macrame hanging table. Yep.

November One

Happy November to everyone! I love November...it's almost a perfect month. Halloween is over. Yes, sorry, I'm not a fan of the halloween craze. Thanksgiving is this month, a joy of a holiday if you ask me. All the yummy food and no pressure! It's prep time for Christmas, which I enjoy. You need a little "in the air is the feeling of Christmas" busyness. Not too much, though. And now Daylight Savings Time ends in November. Which to me equals cozy time.

So a bowl of fake fruit (but nice fake fruit) to celebrate this grand month.

And, a beautiful quilt that was on my calendar when I changed it this morning. I "heart" this quilt. Love the big stitches, love the colors, love the fabrics. Love.

Fall Friday

We're really enjoying cool (cold!) weather right now...we've been wearing hats and gloves to walk Shepherd in the evening. This is so great! Usually, in Arkansas, October is back and forth, back and forth, cool day then warm day, cool day then really warm day, cool day then plain ol' hot day! But it's been very cool for about a week straight. It feels so...fallish.

I'm hooking away on the granny squares...up to 18 so far. I'm loosely planning on an afghan of at least 8 squares across by 7 squares down. So I need a minimum of 56 (yes! I can still multiply in my head) and I may go for 9 x 8 squares....we'll see when I get into the 40's!

I'm working on some new scissorkeeps, pincushions and such for my etsy shop. It's been rather neglected for several months now. But I'd like to get a good selection in there for the holiday season. I love this fabric with the teacups..brown, orange, and aqua...serious love. Sorry it's a fuzzy picture, the perfectly overcast fall day does not make for great pictures inside. But it sure is cozy.

Autumn Decoration

We're definitely enjoying some cooler days now around these parts. This week we've had rain, gloriously mild sunshine, wind, and an overcast day. All beautiful days in their own way!

When we got back from the trip, I got out my fall decorations and put them out. I'm not one of those people that decorates for every holiday or even every season, but I do decorate for fall. I just love it...love the colors, the leaves, acorns, pumpkins...everything!

The picture above is a corner of our living room. The taffy is from our trip....candy corn flavor, yum!

Above is a picture of the mushroom needlepoint pillow I found on our vacation. It needs to be reblocked and have a prettier backing put on it, but for now it's happily resting in the rocking chair in the living room.

Road Trip

Whee! We just got back from a great road trip, and came home to a happy dog. We used a pet sitter for the first time, and it worked great. She took care of Shepherd and the house, and we didn't have to put him in a kennel ( I just don't think we could do that anymore, it's just too heartbreaking). He got to stay in his home, on his bed, with his things and his routine. And it certainly made it easier for us to enjoy our trip!

I got a few granny squares made while we were travelling, and read the magazines I'd saved up for a few weeks. The weather was great, we had a few cool days, which were wonderful. I love sweater weather! And managed to bring home plenty of treasure, which I'll give you a peek at later this week.

We were up in Ozark country and it certainly is beautiful. Mountain View and Eureka Springs, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri. Yes, Branson. We love it there. We don't go to many of the "shows", but we always go to Silver Dollar City and historic downtown Branson, and the new Branson Landing is fabulous. We stay at a great B&B in Mountain View called Country Oaks. It is a fabulous place, and the best breakfast in the world!

A Furry Haze

This beautiful creature, here, has lost what I know must be 100 pounds of fur. And it's all over my house. Why does he wait until almost fall to do this? Good thing he's cute.

So, until the fur flies (as in, away) I've been enjoying some blog surfing. And I've discovered (or re-discovered) some wonderful blogs:

http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com/chez_fifi/

http://happylovesrosie.blogspot.com/

http://www.sewsally.blogspot.com/

http://www.mellyandme.typepad.com/

http://oneredrobin.com/

Ah, fall. The crafting desire blooms again!

September

I love September. I love how the light changes and the temperatures cool and the air gets drier. Course, around here, "cool" means 80's. But that's still better than 100's.

September is also our anniversary month. We were married on September 8. And we're usually gearing up for a vacation this month or in October, so there's lots to look forward to.

The picture above is a recently completed washcloth, using my favorite crocheted washcloth pattern. It's just a simple half-double crochet in the back loop, with a scalloped edge. Simple but pretty. Jimmy said the colors looked just like the cup of tea I was drinking. Tea and milk, good stuff.

Happy September!

8 Random Things

I was tagged by Karen at Simply June for the 8 Random Things meme. So here goes....

We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.*Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.*People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.*At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.

1. I'm 100% deaf in my left ear. I lost the hearing in it when I was 14 and got the mumps. It's really hard for me to hear people talking in noisy restaurants and places where there is a lot of background noise. One on one I'm just fine. It comes in handy sometimes, actually.

2. My husband and I have not watched TV for the last 4 years. I mean, we have a television and can watch DVD's and VHS tapes, but we don't have cable, or satellite, or an antenna. It's amazing how much our society revolves around television and "celebrities." There are whole gobs of shows and celebrities we know nothing about, and it's interesting how many people think we're insane because we don't care about that stuff!

3. I do not own a cell phone, nor do I want one.

4. I'm crazy about fall, it's my favorite season. The colors, cooler temperatures, apples, cinnamon, leaves...yum!

5. My husband and I sit down to a hot, cooked breakfast every morning.

6. With hot tea. We are avowed hot tea lovers. Our favorite brand is PG Tips from Great Britain...delightful!

7. I get in painting kicks. I'll paint several rooms in the house over a few months. I'm kinda at the beginning of one now, since I just painted my sewing room closet and new shelves. Now I want to paint the utility room, Jimmy's music room, and the kitchen.

8. My eyesight is terrible, but I'm too cheap to go to an eye doctor and get an exam and get prescription glasses. So I just keep buying stronger and stronger reading glasses at the drugstore. I really need to stop that.

I don't know who to tag since I've seen several folks who've already done this. So, if you haven't done it and would like to, consider this your tag!

Enough Already

Okay, it's been about a month of 100 + temperatures and NO rain. I mean not a drop.

Enough. I'm thoroughly cooked, and so is our yard.

I am sooooo ready for fall to start showing signs of life. So, maybe a gentle nudge in that direction with my blog header will help things along. I hope!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to fall. It always gets my creative juices flowing, so hopefully (if I can get my act together) you'll be seeing some of my recent and upcoming projects appearing here. I'm still working on the charming bags. Naturally, I'm making a fall version. Plus lots of other stuff: I've gotten the knitting and the crocheting back out; finished a quilt; done some painting around the house, and various and sundry other things.

All shall be revealed forthwith. Now, where is that camera?