a giveaway - Gussy Sews

Okay, this really really inspires me! I've got to sew a bit more.
So... go check out her shop:
http://www.shopgussy.com/
And then enter this $75 giveaway to her shop:
http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2011/10/gussy-sews-75-giveaway.html AND
http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2011/10/10/gussy-sews-diaper-bag-giveaway/
I would like the cotton candy tote the best. Think about what you might want to give or get (tell your husband) for Christmas...these are way better than Vera Bradley, as they are made right here in the USA!

P.S. Although I haven't been sewing, I've been crafting lately...papier mache birds! I can't wait to share once I've finished...I do love our chickens!

will you give these girls a welcome?

2 hens today joined our family today...meet Nutmeg and Clementine!!!

Nutmeg is a Rhode Island Red and seems to have made herself at home already. Clementine is an Ameraucana, and a bit more shy. We hope to be collecting eggs from them, eventually. As for now, they are sweet little pets.

Sick days...

Olivia has been sick the past few days. She ran a fever of 102 and now has fever blisters or cold sores on her lips! It makes it hard for her to eat. She's been using a straw to drink, even used a straw to eat tomato soup... It's really fall here...the trees started changing color here in Ohio. It's also Canadian Thanksgiving today. My sister, Mary, and her husband live in Ottawa, Canada. My other sister and her son, Isaac, came over and we baked cookies. To make this orange frosting, I used just 2 ingredients:

• carrot juice and

• confectioner's sugar

Isn't it a lovely color? Happy fall to you.

FREE card

In promoting my own etsy shop, I decided to give you a free card (it's also a bit of advertising for me):Just click on it to get a big version, right click to save it...then print it out on an 8.5 x 11" paper, fold and color (might be fun for a child, but I also really love using my Prismacolor colored pencils). I use a sepia toned Faber-Castell fine tipped permanent pen, which is made in Germany to draw.

Feel free to print off several for yourself, but please do not try to sell them. Just write a note to a friend the old-fashioned way. Sometimes that's more meaningful than an email, especially if you color it in yourself! And go check out what I have for sale...let your friends know about it and I will gladly accept custom orders. Thanks!

Yarn along...a wedding gift!

I crocheted six coasters to give to Ephraim and Joanna as part of their wedding gift, using up the Noro yarn with other wool and cotton yarns. Want to see more of Ginny's Yarn Along?The trip to Maine was wonderful...and as my daughter Hannah put it: "It feels like we're already home." There were so many sweet and loving people there.

"Dance, O Isaiah, for the Virgin bore a Son,
Emmanuel, He is both God and Man, and Orient is His name,
magnifying him, we call the Virgin blessed.

The Holy Martyrs, who fought the good fight and have received your crown,

entreat ye the Lord to have mercy on our souls.

Glory be to Thee, Christ the God,

Boast of the Apostles, Joy of the Martyrs,

whose preaching is the consubstantial Trinity."

Our trip to New York, Vermont....and Maine.

We have a friend who is getting married this weekend in Maine. First off, we drove from Ohio through Pennsylvania to New York. There, we picked apples, visited my grandparents' grave, watched my cousin row on the Genesee River with 7 other ladies.Edible flowers on that cake!
Currently, we're in Vermont, in a little town called Jamaica, which suffered much damage from Hurricane Irene. It's still lovely, sunny and lots of maple trees...turning different colors, most are still green, some are yellow and reddish and brown.

Yarn along on the feast...

We celebrated the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (Mary) today. Joachim and Anna were very old (70 and 69 years old, respectively) when their daughter, Mary, was born. She was the one to bear Christ our God. So, this is how we begin the "new" church year...living the life of Christ from before his birth to his Resurrection and then ending it with his mother's Dormition.
I really like how the Noro yarn looks against a solid color...so I made these wrist warmers for Olivia. Very nice for the upcoming fall weather. 2 more days of summer left, though.