the long way home ...

i do think i am quite blessed to be living in the northwest ...

oh sure there are days when i could use a little less "liquid sunshine", but the climate is temperate and the geography ... ah ... now that is what makes living here a blessing ...

yesterday, a friend took me on a tour mere minutes from home ...

i thought i'd share a few photos with you ... something to make the day a bit less drearier and a bit more cheerier ...

have a happy weekend ...

and every once in a while, take the long road home ...



i did it ...

a few years back, i found a wonderful milk stool at an antique shop in the skagit valley ... it was even painted the most perfect clean white possible ... (i'm thinking perhaps this milk stool had not seen too many barns in its day) ...

for a few years, that lovely stool sat waiting quietly in the corner for the day that she would have a new seat cover ... she waited and she waited ...

and she waited ...

now i'm fairly new to crochet work and i've tried crocheting in the round a few times but each time i did the end result was a floppy flippy piece of fiber that looked more like a beach hat than anything that would lie flat ...

so yesterday's challenge to myself was to crochet my stool a lovely cover ... a lovely flat cover ...

so with trusty hook in hand and two "how to" crochet manuals on my lap, i got to the task ...

it grew and it grew ...

until finally, finally this afternoon, i completed my first flat seat cover ...

and i'm thinking perhaps it was worth the wait ...





"fall back" ...

i'm not ready for it yet ... the chilly mornings ... and dare i say the dark mornings ... dark dark mornings ... and we have not even had our "fall back" moment yet ... leaves are dropping around me ... it's a misty morning ... missing my instant gas fireplace just a wee bit ...

mondays mean house work for me ... put the house back together after a usually fun albeit busy weekend ... restock the pantry ... and so on and so forth ...

i'm always so happy when friday arrives ... and equally happy to see monday mornings when everyone heads back to school and work ...

so floors have been swept ...

cushions fluffed and back in place ...

washing machine churning away ...

don't ever let anyone tell you that "stay at home" mothers don't work ... i've yet to meet that strange elusive creature called the non-working mother ...

my goals for today:  catch up on the happy valley fair registrants and sit down with my trusty crochet hook and finally, once and for all and with great perseverance, learn to crochet someting in the round that actually will lay flat ... i've got a lovely old milk stool, painted just the perfect white, demanding a crochet seat cover ...

so with my trusty dog by my side ...

i'm off to work ...

wishing you a lovely crafty week ...

and, with any luck, tomorrow i shall have a photo of a newly covered milk stool ...



walk, thrift, craft, read, garden ...

walk, thrift, craft, read, garden ...

and not necessarily in that order ...

but, definitely under the category of "these are a few of my favorite things" ...

after a quick stop to post a heartfelt package ...

i dropped by my bank to resolve yet another card issue ...

not a complete loss though as my journey took me by value village ... very serendipidous i thought ... and most considerate of my bank to be situated quite handily to our local thrift store ...

besides the racks and racks of gaudy halloween costumes, there are treasures to be had ...

and have them i did ... two lovely lambswool sweaters found their way into my cart ...

can't wait to felt them and get to work ...

keep an eye out for new wares showing up daily in the etsy shop ...

and, in the meantime, thanks for dropping by ... always a pleasure to see you ...

and hope the sun is shining where you are ...

it's a perfectly perfect day here in the northwest ...

with fall comes much crafting ...

'tis truly that season again ...

the season that begins with the letter "c" ...

dare i say it out loud ...

no not THAT season ...

i mean the crafting season of course ...

time to throw open the studio doors ...

oil the sewing machine ... (speaking some kind words to her often helps as well ... she can be a bit cantankerous at times) ... but then who am i to speak ... or write as the case may be ...

so we are decking the halls with scissors and yarn, scraps of fabric and buttons, doilies and vintage cloth ...

ready for whatever the crafty gods might send my way ...

there are some old items with new features ...

gauntlets with lovely crochet edging ...

and some new items ...

so happy fall everyone ...

it's my favorite time of year ... a busy time in the studio and at home ... lots of wonderful veggies popping up in the garden and the rains haven't found us ... yet ...

happy crafting ... is there any other kind ...