Christmas Countdown!

My creative Sister-in-law just sent me this

darling Christmas Countdown

"Calendar" that she made.

She said it was late,

but that's ok with me!

My grand babies won't be here to

see it until the 24th anyway!
Thank you, Tracey! It is so cute!

From a mini muffin tin and her crafting

know how and tools, she cut cute little

circles and numbers!

She embellished each with a

bow or beads.

They stay in place with little magnets cut and attached

to the backs and each indentation is

filled with a treat!

Another suggestion was to have a verse behind

each day leading up to Christmas.

The girls and I are going to eat these treats,

but what should I put in it for next Christmas?
Do you have any suggestions for me for next year?

~*~

"Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring forth."

Proverbs 27:1

Gifts

" Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER, WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'" Then Herod secretly called the Magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him report to me, that I too may come and worship Him." And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."

Matthew 2:1-11

~*~

Christmas gifts in the Sewing Room!

Fruitcake!

A different kind of fruitcake recipe in

The Pantry!

"...we should bring forth fruit unto God."

Romans 7:4b

Much Ado About Nothing

Or

Gone to Pot!

~*~

The day started innocently enough~

as usual, I arose at 4:30 am

to fix Gentleman Farmer's breakfast

and pack his lunch for work.

My routine then is to hop back into bed

and turn on the radio to listen

to the news from our little town.

GF sits on the bed next to me

and brushes his teeth while

we listen together.

When the announcer gets to

sports, GF goes to rinse

and I turn off the radio

and grab a book, magazine or Bible

to read.

(Not interested in the sports! Don't

have or know any kids in school,

and The Mariners....)

Hubby returns to kiss me goodbye,

and heads off to work.

So far, so good!

(TMI for you, I'm sure!

Are you still with me?)

~*~

After I did a little reading/study,

I got up and got dressed, tended

the chickens, fed and let out the cats,

and had a little breakfast while

I caught up reading the newest posts

on some blogs.

(Just a little longer!)

~*~

Then I made some home made laundry detergent,

the liquid kind. This took me quite awhile as

the borax and washing soda had been kept

out in the garage, must have gotten just a tad

bit damp and was very clumpy. Had to work

it with a pasty cutter to get most of the

lumps out. I finished making the soap in

a five gallon bucket. It should last me all Winter!

(I am sharing some with my mom and aunt.)

Let me know if you are interested in the recipe.

I will send it to you.

(Hang in there, not long now!)

~*~

Then I headed out to go into town (12 miles away)

to 'Soup and Sound'. This is a Christmas gift

to the community from the United Methodist Church ~

Free Homemade Soup and a Concert,

which has different preformers each of the

Fridays in December before Christmas!

This was their 28th year and I have

attended all but one or two!

For me, this is when the Christmas Season begins!

After a delightful concert and delicious soup,

I did some shopping and then came home.

I finished up my laundry detergent and then

began on this project.

(Finally! Here are some pictures for you to look at!)

This is something I had wanted to make for

a couple of years, but just never remembered

to get the pots.

(Got any ideas?)

You will need five small terra cotta pots

and one terra cotta tray, some craft paint,

bits of trim and fun fur, and some glue.

(I used a glue gun.)

Paint them to look like

toy soldiers

or

nutcrackers!
(Hope you can paint better than me!)

After your pots are painted,
Hot glue them together and
add some hair, a beard
and some braid trim on his hat.
(I just used what I had.)

Is it just me....

or does he look a bit like...

The Burger King?

(Now, aren't you glad you stuck around?!)

~*~

"...apart from Me, you can do nothing."

John 15:5

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Walking with the Gentleman Farmer

in our recent snow

just before Thanksgiving!

We were not the only ones 'walking'!

Below ~ The Winter Wonderland

~*~

"Hast thou entered into the

treasures of the snow?"

Job 38:22

Icebox Butterhorns in

The Pantry!

Little Thanksgiving Blessings!

I am the coordinator for our church's

Secret Sister Program.

Throughout the year

I like to give little gifts to each

lady that is participating since

I don't have a Secret Sister myself.

Since there are many ladies,

these need to be inexpensive gifts.

For Thanksgiving I came up with

these little paper cornucopia's

that hold a wee sampling of the

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix,

and the Cornucopia, when opened,

has the Blessings Mix Recipe printed

inside.

(You can find the Thanksgiving Blessing Mix here.)

I had a roll of brown craft paper which I

cut into 8 1/2" X 11" (standard copy paper size)

pieces. (I wanted to use what I had available.)

Then I ran the paper through my printer

and printed the recipe onto the

cut down craft paper,

printing two recipes per page.

(This was kinda scary ~ I hoped it wouldn't hurt

my printer! But I have printed muslin

pressed onto a piece of butcher's paper

and it worked beautifully, so I gave

it a try. It printed ok, but did make a

racket as the cartridge passed over the

edges of the paper! :~O )

I cut the recipes apart and trimmed

each piece to measure approximately

5 1/2 inches square.

I used my newest paper punch to

decorate three sides of the paper.

Then I rolled the paper into a cone,

having the recipe on the inside.

I made a sticker ( this one says "Give Thanks"
and has a turkey on it)
to hold the cornucopia together.
(These were supposed to be clear
but they look rather like band-aids
to me! I am using them anyway.)

I filled a little square of plastic wrap with
the Blessings Mix and tied it with a
bit of vintage seam binding and
put it into the cone.
(I prefer to use waxed paper generally,
but used plastic wrap today so
the gals could see what they were getting!)


I hope these little Thanksgiving Cornucopia's
'Bless' all the ladies!
~*~
"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good."
Psalm 136:1

Edited Nov. 23: For Linda (and anyone else who may be interested)

I bought this Martha Stewart punch at Michael's.

I'm sure you can find one anywhere scrapbooking

supplies are sold!

Veteran's Day

Honoring all who have served,

and are now serving.

Thank you and be blessed!

~*~

"Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

Maple Leaf Roses

Almost too late, I remembered a tutorial that

my dear friend Sharon shared last year on her blog.

(Sharon is no longer blogging. :~{ )

The leaves on our trees have all fallen off,

and though once beautiful shades of yellow,

orange, rust and lime, they have all mellowed

to a wearied gold.

I quickly put these together and added the

last of the brilliantly colored dogwood leaves

for that splash of Autumn color.

Perhaps you still have a few brightly colored leaves

and can yet try your hand at this delightful

nature craft.

Please let me know if you do ~ I would love to see how yours turned out!



~*~



"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley."

Song of Solomon 2:1

~*~

Joining Susan for Outdoor Wednesday.
And

Joining Roeshel at

The DIY Showoff
for

Want to know what I had for dinner last night?

Recipes in The Pantry!

~*~

"...man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything

that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:3

Followers

I like to visit each of my followers

at your own blog

BUT ~

my dial-up Internet is so fickle!

Some days I can get to one or two,

and other days I cannot even get on

my own!

So, like my friend, Linda,

over at Prairie Flower Farm,

I will welcome you all from here

(especially you new followers!)

and tell you I am thrilled you have

added me to your list.

I just wanted you to know!

Be Blessed!

~*~

"Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life."

Psalm 23:6

Little Boy Blue

The latest from

The Sewing Room!

~*~

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD;

the fruit of the womb is a reward."

Psalm 127:3

Harley

Harley is ten years old this week!

Not sure of the exact date as he was a rescue kitten,

but he was born the last week of October.

My handsome guy!

^..^

Harley loves to hunt mice ~

He brings me one nearly every day! :~0

He also loves to eat (he weighs 20 lbs!)

and he loves catnip!

So I made him a Catnip Mouse

using organic catnip grown here at home.

Happy Birthday Harley!

Reaching...

Smelling...

Killing!...


Happy!


(A few mice are scampering over to
Lady Farmers Market!)
^..^
"A joyful heart is good medicine"
Proverbs 17:22

"A Hunting We Will Go, A Hunting We Will Go..."

The 'BIG' weekend has arrived!

Gentleman Farmer travels every year

with his 'huntin' buddy', Clyde,

to a favorite (shhhhh! secret!)

hunting spot that my dad

showed him, many years ago,

on the 'other side' of the state!

It takes weeks of thinking

and planning

and making BIG messes

ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE!!!

But, I tolerate it, :~}

because it doesn't last too long,

he will only be gone 4 days

(remember this fact ~ explanation at bottom of post.)

this is his one hobby,

and he works so hard all year

that he deserves a little guy time!

~*~

Still, this is what I have to deal with

for a week or so before the trip...

(all over the kitchen counter)

(He requested his favorite cookies for the trip ~

the night before leaving. :~?(Gotta luv him!)

3 dozen just for him!

You can find the recipe here.)

(All over the kitchen/dining room floor)

(All over the living room ~ there is more 'draped' over
chairs and piled in corners!)

And I didn't show you the the bedroom
(a girl has to have a little bit of pride)
or the humongous ice chest full
of a myriad of dining choices!
(Would you care to guess who does the
meal planning and shopping
for this hunting extravaganza?)
He will be eating better up on the mountain
that I will here at home!
(And the poor man can't boil water!)
Again, let me remind you, this is for 4 days!
(I will remain at home ~ cleaning and
putting the place back in order! It will
probably take me 4 days!)
I wonder what Clyde's bringing?

~*~
And then here is what I took for a two
week stay with my daughter in
New York...


Just sayin'!
;~D
~*~
"Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field."
Genesis 25:27

Cat Tales?

In The Sewing Room!

~*~

"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands."

Proverbs 31:13

Meeting Clarice!

I had the great pleasure of meeting

the person behind the blog

Storybook Woods

and the author of her new book~

Wren Bay

the story of making a home ~

Clarice Fox-Hughes.

Her book signing was on Saturday

and I live only an hour or so away

so how could I not attend!

Held in the quaint little Seabold Hall

on beautiful Bainbridge Island.

A beautiful, sunny Autumn day shines down on

Seabold Hall

The handcrafted banner by Clarice

Delightful little vignettes throughout

A table set with dainty samplings

of Clarice's/Wren's recipes!

The charming Clarice herself

signing my copy of Wren Bay!

Clarice is no longer a faceless name

behind a blog title

or an aloof author of a

ho-hum book,

but a sweet, new friend

who just happens to write

from her heart those

things that endear us

to 'the making of a home.'
~*~

"That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home..."

From Titus 2