wuthering, wuthering...

  The wind, thunder, lightening and rain rolled into town the other night, made themselves comfortable, looks like they may stay for a bit. We all seem to have been fighting a bit of something... Who knows what, the cold, rainy season in the nw seems to bring one illness after another. We're trying to stay cozy, enjoy the weekend and eat lots of soup.  There is an indoor window garden of succulents that could use some tlc, dresses & bloomers to be made for the little miss, jam to be made & canned, knits to be finished... and a housewarming/baby welcoming party to go to and of course fresh air nature walks that need to be taken (is anyone else going crazy from the lack of open windows? the heater really dries me out, what can I do to combat that?!). I want to approach all these activities mindfully and with ease.

  I feel so happy and comforted in this online space. So thankful for the lovely blog writers I have "met". There are so many(my current blog reading list has well over 40-I will try and add more to my link list) truly wonderful blogs that I visit. So many lovely little stops along the way that brighten my day and inspire me.
  Now, there are ends to weave in...

let it pour...

  What a rainy, dreary day. I was on the phone too many times with the insurance folks today at our car insurance company. yep, I finally got into a little car scrape... bleh, don't even want to go into it..
  Patterns and pattern paper, yarn and fabric... List making and planning... Holiday gift making factory is going full steam ahead! Will I ever have enough time for all that I want to do? I actually made a timeline today for my "making"...  I took a little break to do some thrifting and am so very happy I did.

  I NEVER find vintage linens in the package. I am so happy I did, even though I promptly ripped it open!

  I love the color combinations (especially the chartreuse-y green) and these are going right on the bed.

  These linen napkins have been washed a zillion times and are perfectly soft and worn. I do love hibiscus flowers. Also, there are 4 of them, so, I have a one for each of us.

  This little coat is the sweetest thing ever. I love the trim, buttons and the best grey velvet button loops.

 

  The leaves take on the most interesting texture once they are covered in a layer of beeswax, kind of like oilcloth.

We tied them up on some red glittered thread and put it up on our seasonal wall.

  It has been a while since I did a project which involved melting wax alone and I used the good pan and well, not it's horribly covered in waxy film all over.... what's a girl to do??

time for gathering...

  We've been out gathering leaves for days and just this afternoon I saw this post over at bluebirdbaby. A great idea and perfect timing! Now we will have something pretty to do with all those piles of special bright and brown leaves. Some of our leaves are the most stunning shade of ruby red, it really just takes my breath away. The colors of nature are just amazing! True magic.

  We were noticing how many wonderful walls there are all over Seattle. My favorites are really old ones that are severely cracked and the covered in moss variety.  There are so many lovely bits and pieces that remain of old Seattle if you open your eyes look.
  Sometimes, when we are out on walks, I look up and concentrate on the trees and living things and it isn't hard to imagine the landscape here before there was a city. How quickly the green would take over and thrive, devour the pavement, wooden structures, concrete... If we were all to disappear. That sounds so gothic! Really, I am not so morbid, just fascinated by Nature, her plants and her powers.

fall, leaves, fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Emily Jane Brontë

  Fall puts me in a mind of poetry. I've been noticing that my daily writing (just one page is my rule, but always at least that one page every single morning...) turns into poetry more often than not.
  The snow moon was amazingly beautiful last night. It was covered in clouds and fog until well after midnight and when I finally got a peek at it, it was too late for pictures. I fell back in bed to moon soaked dreams...

trick or treat, trick or treat, the bitter and the sweet...

  Zombie family Halloween! The first year I actually looked scary enough to make tiny children cry... Seriously! It happened a few times.
  Baby was not feeling the Halloween magic at all and she had to be taken home, so it was just me and my guy for the majority of the evening and it was so good that way.

step into the night and look up at the sky

  This is what squirrels and raccoons do to pumpkins in our yard.  It was pretty crazy! And the kids were bummed. Better that it was animals looking for food than teens run awry. We had a lot of difficulty with our garden this summer-kale and herbs were the only things the wild animals didn't eat/destroy.. There is much foliage and trees in our yard and it's one of the only really good spots in our area for animals to hide it seems...

  I found these sweet little japanese vintage hello kitty shoes and we love them. Even though Lulu seems to think Hello Kitty is a dog (everything is a dog! Giraffes, horses, squirrels)... The off white areas are leather, love these!

  I am looking forward to dressing up and helping the kids get ready. I WILL NOT be using any of the faux blood though, I bought a couple different kinds and we tested them for staining tonight and they all stain bad... Guess Mama will be a ghost... again...
  Hope you all have the most magical and fun Halloween! We will be trick or treating, eating candy like crazy and then maybe a True Blood/Underworld marathon.

brrr... and WOW! Wonderful mail!!

Today was just autumn chill all day long, but yesterday... Yesterday afternoon the sun ended up coming out to dazzle for a bit and what a lovely day for a package it was! My swap partner was the delightful Andrea . I was pretty stunned when I opened the box full of magic. So so much amazing stuff!! Ever so happy that Heather organized this dear vintage swap !

Now! My package was crammed full of the best doilies, super old fabrics- many linen and heavy on the lace, a lovely silk dress, a sweet little saucer...

This sweet little hand-quilted, lace-edged doily was my favorite piece in the bunch. It was handmade by a hospitalized veteran oh so long ago...

and a recipe for gluten free waffles (I am still regretting donating my amazing waffle maker last year when we moved. I was sleep deprived, upset and not thinking clearly when I did that...)!

Sharing a quiet glass of punch with Marisa... I think wednesday evening has ended up being ladies night. A perfect little middle of the week break! And there is a new project afoot. It started as modified mittens but it will be leg warmers for my gal. I need to take a little mitten break. So many mittens... I am working the kinks of out many mittens patterns... more on this later.. But I LOVE the Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn! Crazy soft and perfectly stretchy!!

Tomorrow there is so much to do! Getting ready for the class party and Halloween...Oh so much to do!