A short tour...

Today was almost a perfect fall day. On our sheep run this afternoon, the corgi kids and I spotted an entire yellowed tree. The emerald green cornfields are fading to beige now too. Oh yeah, it's coming...summer is on its way out.

Decided to show you my favorite room in our 720 square foot cottage. It's the craft/guest room, right off our front door. The room is tiny...TiNy! Possibly 9x7 feet. This will give you a 360 view.

The narrow dresser was my payment in lieu of $$ for our booth space in last week's disastrous festival. I love it, more storage too! I saved the top drawer for company to use, the rest are filled with scrappin' junk!





The quilt on the wall, was my second attempt at quilting. I made it in 1988.
Thank heavens you can't see it close up!


You may remember that Jim built this storage wall unit for me several Christmas' ago. It's perfect for my stash, and he really listened to how I wanted it. April, my crafty daughter, sighs and drools when she visits, and asks that it come to her when her mama kicks the bucket. Is that rude or what?


The little green desk with side shelves was a terrific find several years ago. One buck at a yard sale. Thank heavens I have a large car trunk and bungees at the ready!



No craft room is complete without a corgi mascot. Jake keeps my feet warm while I snip and glue. It's nice to have the company.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign....

Do you remember that song? If you are over 55, then no doubt that you do.
"Do this, don't do that, can't you read the signs?"

Leaves are changing colors. The apple fruit is beginning to get a blush. Caterpillars, are woolly, dark, and crossing country roads. School starts tomorrow here. There were hardly any kids at the library today, wasting their last day of freedom InSiDe. Holly, at Bannerhaus, formerly Penniwig, has been saying that Autumn has been knocking at the door, and it's true.

Hollyhock gals...your seeds were mailed out today. Expect a lumpy package! The mailman was scratching his head as he weighed them this morning, hee hee!

Herb Fest on Saturday was a nightmare. It rained when we set up and tore down. It rained inbetween. We were soaked, froze, and got wet again. Sales were slow and spotty. Ugh, whatta day. A hot mug of soup and a super hot shower almost made it all go away!
Hope all are doing well. It's almost September! I'm ready to kiss summer goodbye...who's with me?

Everybody wins!!

I've been harvesting hollyhock seeds this evening. Murder on arthritic thumbs and fingers is all I'm gonna say about it! There's plenty, in a variety of colors. Wine (nearly black), magenta, yellow with peach centers, lavender rimmed in white, and pink. It's a real hodgepodge in my little garden basket!

The corgi kids are lazy bums. They rolled in the grass and sniffed, and ate grass, and watched hummers, and sat at the gates to see the street action, while their mama did yard work. They're exhausted, and they are most likely holding out for biskeys. Phooey on 'em.
I've made an executive decision...not getting that experience often....
Anyone who commented...there are ten of you bloggie sista's out there...and you know who you are....can follow these instructions if you'd like to claim your seeds and generic directions on the care/planting of these here seeds.

Email me at retrosue@gmail.com, give me your addy, and a packet full of bumpy seeds will arrive post haste to thee from me!
I'm not a stalker, or weird.....OK, OK, Jim thinks I'm weird, AND OK, a little scary, (just because I pointed a few pointy objects at him)...but really, it'll be fine......snicker, snicker.....




The shapes of these birdhouses are exactly like the ones I've been embellishing and painting for Herb Fest this Saturday. Will take photos of our booth. Josh has his cinnamon hummingbirds made. His apartment must smell divine. My fingers, tonight, are covered in modge podge...oh these last minute projects. A job SO gets in the way here, with our little crafty projects!

Anyhoo....send me your addy, and little packages will come your way.
Darn corgis.....oh, wouldn't you like to come back as a short, pudgy, high maintenance, noisy little much loved corgi? Sheesh....but, I'm the only one here who can reach the biskey jar!! So much power.........

3~3~3 Thinking in threes....

Hollyhocks...the skyscraper, higher than a cat's back, heady flower that can enhance your domicile by waving its stately blooms on a current of air.



Ok, because I've begun gathering seeds...and because I'm the third and youngest in my childhood family...and Jim's third wife....and if something happens to him,(snicker) I would replace him with a third corgi.....I want to give away three packages of home grown hollyhock seeds.

Leave a comment about some kind of nonsense...such as....using three little words to describe this blog. Flattering or not, I don't care. The two corgi kids will select the winners in three days.
I'll get back to y'all!

Three Bucks!

Last weekend was the town's first annual town-wide yard sale.
It was a real hit, and lordy-lordy, there was plenty to choose from.
My sweet deals totaled fourteen dollars. They included a jar full of cookie cutters which are headed to NC for lil' Emmy Lulu and her mommy to use; several nice primitive type pictures (one with sheep which I adore as you may remember); a stretched doily in a small old window frame, a virtually new Vera Bradley handbag and matching wallet (50cents), a turquoise cross pendant and earrings...perfect for my friend Mel who does HerbFest with me, and a darling little wicker chair.





The wicker chair was three bucks. It had a loose rocker arm which I glued, and had been painted several colors, all nicked off, but mostly was a faded white. The cushion that came with it though was in terrific shape.

Think butterscotch....that's the color I spray painted it. Warm, not too orangey. The cushion was covered with a quilt that was stacked in a pile on top of the clothes dryer. Today, it was all put together and placed in our living room. It's smaller in size and is a better fit than the chair previously there.

Don't you just love it when you find a little something to zing up a room, and it costs next to nothing? What kind of items have you found this summer and made your own with a few changes?

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August is flying by....

The garden never lies, and out there in our flower beds, the look of Fall has begun.
I picked a basketful of italian tomatoes from the straw bale patch today and cooked them down to make a veggie lentil soup. Wonderful stuff, full of garlic...oops Jim will be home late tonight...what was I thinkin'? He hee.



It's almost Herb Fest time, in two more weeks, and the group who shared a booth last
year are going for it again. Everything is supposed to slant towards a garden theme.




I've been busy painting up little birdhouses. Not sure if I'll do cards this year or not. Here's a sample of what has been done so far. Three dollars each is what I had in mind for these. Josh made hummingbird cinnamon ornies to hang in cars last year, and plans to make them a few days before the event to keep the scent strong.
He sold them all. You never know what he's making in his little craft corner in his bedroom. It's like the Keebler cookie factory in there!





Josh and Jen had a supper date at Bob Evans in the next town East, a nice mid-way point to meet. Jen's parents brought her, so it was nice to meet them, and we all took pics of our 'special couple' and swapped phone numbers.



School registration is next week. Classes begin again the following week. Summer took flight and Autumn is waiting in the wings to take over.
Wishing you all well, and hope you enjoy these starry nights, lit by fireflies and the restful, sleepy sound of voices in the dark.