A Little Autumn Project

October has come and gone in a flash. A lot of my decorations are still sitting on the porch waiting to be used. Guess I need to put them back in the bin for storage.

I bought a quilting magazine several weeks ago that has a lot of cute and simple projects in it.

I was determined to make one of the autumn projects. There is a really cute runner but I didn't think I'd get it completed since Christmas is right around the corner - yikes! I decided to make one of the round placemats and use it as a little table mat. I think it's the perfect size for a little color in the center of the table. Although I must confess, I made this to give to somebody and won't be keeping it. I'm going to attempt to get another one of these completed this week.

I think it looks pretty cute.


I've gotten the barn almost winterized and the little rooster pin as well. This pay day I'll buy wheat straw to pile up inside to help keep it a little warmer than it would be otherwise. The little goat family have their winter coats on now and are all quite fuzzy.


Because most of my hens are pretty old and don't lay many eggs these days, I bought two laying hens from some friends.

Here is Ginger - a gold laced wyandotte.

And Golden Girl - an Americauna


I don't know how Big Rooster is still alive. He still has a huge hole in him but acts normal in every way.


My monster tractor has been serviced and used for the last time. We had our first freeze Saturday night so all the annuals are mushy now. I'm in no hurry to clean up the yard and gardens as I lost interest in them late August when I couldn't keep things alive, or from being eaten by deer or voles. So discouraging.

Last weekend my older daughter, husband and little girl came down for a nice visit. All the younger folks went to the NC State Fair on Saturday while I ran errands and cooked and baked. Sunday we all went to the Zoo and had a good time seeing the animals in their nice habitats. Of course the batteries in my camera died right after we got there so I don't have many pictures to share. Thank goodness we arrived at the perfect moment to see this wonderful creature getting a brush down. His name is Artie and he's about 20 years old. I was in heaven being this close to an elephant.


...till I can make time to blog again - stay warm!

Wordless Wednesday (a little early)

Pete Pictures & My Crow Wall Hanging

Happy Fall Ya'All! It's quite nippy here this morning and it feels great to me, even if it does make my joints ache a little.

Yesterday I attended a big adoption event in town sponsored by PetSense. They opened a store in my little podunk town about a year ago and are making a big effort to make a difference around here for the animals. I couldn't take Pete because he hasn't had his vet check yet but I spent some time visiting the other rescues that were there. There are so many animals in need and I'm glad that some of them get help. I fell in love with a sweet 5 month old white girl pup of some kind. She was terrified and sat right by her foster mom's feet just shivering the entire time. I was told that she was found running down a busy street by herself. I just love talking to rescue folks!

I've let Pete out of the laundry room a few evenings this week and he's done great. He still has a little bit of the skunk smell on him so he still mostly stays in the laundry room. Here are a couple of pictures of him when I did let him in my bedroom though. He was quite happy to be with the rest of us and made himself right at home.





Late last summer I started a crow wall hanging from a pattern I had purchased at a quilt show the year before. I got a lot done but had to put it away to make Christmast presents. I was determined to finish the wall hanging in time to use it for this fall - it was one of the goals I listed in January.

I'm happy to say that I've completed the hanging and am pleased with the way it turned out. The details don't show in the pictures, but I used a silver metallic thread to topstitch the crows with. The black fabric is a beautiful print I purchased at Jinny Beyer's studio a couple of years ago when my sister and I visited there.



It's so nice to actually complete something! Now I'm working on Christmas gifts so won't be sharing any of those pictures for quite some time.

It's time for me to make some cookies for my neighbor who brought his horse down last weekend for my granddaughters to ride. I'll post some of those pictures next time. I had thrown a tiny surprise party for Alissa, who turned 9 years old. Her little 2 year old cousin came down from the D.C. area and it was a super weekend!

Have a nice week, everybody.