And then? It snowed.

I'm a bit behind in posting the video I took of snowtober.

Little did I know when I took this video that there would be many downed limbs in the backyard and that the house would be without power for three days.  Thankfully, the natural gas furnace, water heater and stove all remained working.  I'm so thankful I was not one of the folks who had no heat or hot water.  I'm also thankful the power came back when it did.  Many went without for a week or more.  No thanks.  I can do a lot of "pioneer women" type things.  Surviving in the dark of night is not one of them.

Enjoy our first snowfall in CT!

ETA: just kidding.  I can't get the video to load.  Imagine big thick flakes, 32 degrees on the thermometer.  And all the leaves on the trees were still green.  Snowtober.  I'd rather not meet you again.

Hey Pumpkin!

5 hrs ago, all that was on my fireplace mantel was just a spot to collect things...speakers, birthday cards, photos of my god daughter which are considerably older than she actually is.  Red metallic candles from holiday decorating still hung on the sconces above.  The wreath on the front door was sporting sunflowers, and a tired orange ribbon that I *meant* to replace all summer.

Today was the day to clean up all the riff raff and get out the fall themed decorations.  I've been enjoying the battery operated candle that is set to come on around dusk and flickers in the front window when I pull in the drive, so it was time to pull out the coordinating decorations.  Gone is the wreath with the sad floppy bow.  It it's place a lovely harvest wreath with acorns and an appropriately fluffed leaf themed bow.  I know the mailman and paperboy will approve.

This, however, is my favorite Halloween decoration.

Yep, that pumpkin is from a ceramics place my grandmother frequented when I was a small child.  I can remember putting the candy I got trick or treating inside.  Somehow, I was allowed to keep that pumpkin and the candy in my bedroom.

In case you were wondering, the ghost I've had ten years or less...doesn't look much different than the crafty punkin' does it?  Not ALL 1970 something crafts look dated...now where did I put that macramé book?

And in case you thought I had it ALL together, I found this lurking in the breakfast nook...

Yep.  A snowman.  Maybe he'll just stay there for a couple more months...

Time for something new?

I recently was asked to make some bibs in a smaller size than I normally do.  I have spent time "perfecting" my standard pattern, and really wasn't interested in going back to the drawing board, and doing it all again. To me the bib size is part of my "signature" and I wasn't sure I wanted to change all that.

But the request was from a friend, and I just couldn't say no.  So I made them.

They are so adorable.  And they use up those pesky scraps that are too small for my "usual" projects (or some of them anyway).

So now I'm torn.  Do I take my bibs in a whole new direction and add this smaller, newborn friendly size?  

Hey Monkey!

So I turned a year older this week.

My amazing co-worker, Lauren, made me the bestest birthday cake I've had in a long, long time.

Read all about it here.  Lauren's telling of the making of this cake is the icing on the cake (so to speak).

And she's right.

I loved it.

So....there's this thing called a hurricane

I've never experienced a hurricane before.  Tornado, yes.  Hurricane, no.

It's been all about preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.  I've learned a lot -- like why you fill up your bath tub, and that putting tape over your windows is mostly over rated.  My car's got a tank full of gas, so I can charge my cell phone if the power is out (j/k -- kinda).  We've been filling various jugs with water so we've got something to drink.  I'm doing laundry.  Not because we'll run out of clean clothes, but to be sure there is sufficient fabric for projects.

I'm resisting the urge to cook and bake up anything I can think of.  Today is not the day for filling up the freezer...although I did fill up various containers with water to freeze to help retain the cold in our currently fairly empty freezer in the case of a power outage.

I did, however, bake zucchini bread.

We needed SOMETHING to eat in the dark.

Keeping Cookies

By now I'm sure you've surmised that I love thrifting and vintage and things that remind me of people near and dear to me.

This week's vintage, thrifty find has to do with my grandmother's cookies.

Both my Grandmothers were great bakers. Each had their own style and specialties...not only in what they made but how they were stored and delivered.

This lovely find 

reminds me of sugar cookies. My grandmother would make what seemed like endless sugar cookies decorated to perfection for most holidays. Orange pumpkins with current eyes for Halloween, hearts for Valentines day. For Christmas I remember a cookie cutter she had that outlined a mother and child which my grandmother frosted with a toothpick to get different colors in the outlines. (Note to self...ask what happened to that cookie cutter...). Grandma's tin was larger and deeper, but the top is exactly the same. We still have cookies of some sort stored in her tin every Christmas in Iowa.

My other grandmother stored her cookies in an equally unique tin...a storage/shipping tin for a film reel. They also make great storage for a pie, if deep enough. Haven't found one of those... yet...

A long time ago...

In a land far away...

(ok, not that far, but a few states from here)

I was going to my weekly ceramics class, and made a mirror for my new baby sister who had been born that day.

It was a simple mirror, with a chunky, clunky rattle on it and if I remember correctly my new little sister's initials.

Happy Birthday!  I'm so glad you were born!