My Weekend Trip

This past weekend took me on a trip to North Carolina. My youngest lives and works in Charlotte. He just bought his first home...a townhome. For months now he has been asking me if I would come and help him decorate when he moves. So....this was moving week and I joined in the fun!

Here is a picture of Andy in front of his new home. He is so proud and so happy. At 24, he is quite independent. We had a great time shopping and cooking and even took a little time to take in a movie.

It is hard to have your kids be far away like this, but I have peace knowing that he is doing well and is so happy.

Happy Pink Saturday

Welcome to another Pink Saturday.

In keeping with my pink apron theme, I thought I would try something a little different.

This pink cutie is a pint-sized apron for a little artist!

It has 24 tiny crayon sized pockets filled with a brand new set of washable crayons.

It is sewn from the most delicate pink gingham and calico.

Pink ball fringe is the icing on the cake!

You can order this apron as well as many others on my Touch of the Past website.

For more Pink Saturday blogs,

visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for a complete list of participants.

There sure are a lot of us who just love pink!

Hope your weekend is a wonderful one!

Happy Fall to you all!!

Fall Colors

Summer has faded into Autumn.

There now is a chill in the air.

Mums have replaced lilies, and leaves

are turning.

Don't you just love the rich colors of Fall mums?

Pink Saturday at Bee Haven Acres

Pink Saturday is here again!!!

I hope it has been a great week for you all.

(Those of you who are still dealing with Hurricane Ike issues....

we will keep you close in our hearts.) For this Saturday's Pink apron, I thought I would use a piece of 1950's vintage cabbage rose fabric. It is the softest cotton you can imagine. This apron is my own pattern. I started making pleats, experimentally, and ended up with this little gal! I think she's kind of cute, actually. From here she will travel to my online store and hopefully make her way to a new loving home!!

If you would like to see more pink Saturday entries....

check out How Sweet the Sound for a complete list.

Thanks Beverly for organizing this fun project!

A Perfect Newfie Day!

For the next 3 days, we are at our farm. This is pretty much how our weeks go for now. 3 or 4 days a week are spent in the country tending to farm chores and the rest in what I call the "Flat lands"... in town, living in our Condo. This is pretty much how we have spent the past 6 years. As luck would have it, though, we will soon be selling the Condo in the flat lands and heading for the country full time. Of course there is a bit of a construction issue that has to be finished before we can make that move. So for now....we commute back and forth.

It's funny, but the dogs always seem to intuit when we are going to head for one place or the other. This morning they awoke with enthusiasm...sure that we were going to head off on a fun adventure. Their excitement peaked as they watched me pack food and clothes into the car and load them up.

Upon arriving at the farm, the girls and I set off to survey the animals and check out the gardens. We carried a market basket with the intention of picking apples...enough to bake a pie. Maddie, our newfie, loves these walks and today was no exception. On the way back to the house we stopped in the orchard. After picking enough apples for a pie, I decided to grab one for a quick snack. Do you know how hard it is to ignore a hungry newfie? Impossible, so I knelt down and shared my apple with Maddie.....Mmmmm good to the last bite!
Click Here to watch Video!

One satisfied Newfie!

A Perfect Day

I am in the second half of my life...that is if I live, like my Nana, to be 100 (which I am planning to do...God willing) Some days it seems as though the first half went by so very quickly. So much so that I hope to slow down time in these next few years. Perhaps one of the best ways is to take a little time at the end of the day to reflect back on the day.

Today was an ordinary day...ordinary, but wonderful. The bluest sky, a cool breeze, and a hint of Fall greeted me as I stepped out with the dogs for their much loved morning walk. We are so fortunate to live very close to a great nature trail. It winds for miles around us and is greatly utilized by dog- walkers, joggers, and bikers of all ages. I especially love the area in this picture. Although this picture does not do it justice, this area of the trail reminds me of a forest cathedral. The trees on both sides of the trail meet in the middle, high over my head, and the music of the birds in those treetops is as melodic as a choir. This is one of the few things that I will miss when we make our upcoming full-time move to the farm.

This patch of mushrooms was along the trail and caught my fancy. I imagined a whole troop of fairies perched on the tops of these toadstool umbrellas.

After the necessary housework and grocery shopping I settled in to do a little sewing. Although all of our patriotic holidays are over for the year, I thought I would start a little quilt to celebrate our flag. When it is finished I will tuck it away for next summer. I finished two patches today and made a mental picture of what the rest will look like....more to come.

Yes, it was a rather ordinary day, but I accomplished all that I set out to and took a little time to appreciate all that was around me in the process. And really....what more can we ask for? I hope your day was equally wonderful. And I hope you have still retained enough of the child within to see fairies on your toadstools, too!

Autumn Quilt

Autumn is my favorite time of year. There is nothing better than a walk through fallen leaves on a crisp afternoon! In honor of the beginning of Autumn, I decided to use some fabric that I found at a quilt show this summer and put it together to make an Autumn lap quilt. I can hardly wait to curl up on the couch in front of a fire with a good book and this quilt over my legs! Mmmmmm....and a warm cup of tea. This quilt was simple and only took me two days start to finish (it helped that Hubs went to Pittsburgh on Saturday for a baseball game....gave me lots of time to work on this!)

Pink Saturday

Is it hard to believe it's Saturday already?

And Pink Saturday too!!

I just had to sew another Pink Saturday apron

(with vintage touches) to share with you.

And....I made a matching "Pie-Taker" that can

accommodate a pie or casserole.

It is quilted and has a removable board between the layers

for insulation.

This cheery, "Cherry Rose" apron and pie tote is available for sale

in my "Touch of the Past" apron shop at http://www.apronmaven.blogspot.com/

for more Pink Saturday posts see Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

And Have a lovely Pink Saturday!

(Thoughts and prayers go out to our friends in Texas who are dealing with Hurricane Ike.)

Quilted Pie/Casserole Taker

This morning's project is one that has been on the back burner for a while. Weeks ago a friend showed me a vintage pie taker. It was similar in design but had wooden handles worked into the top closure. The vintage design was not quilted either. I took a few measurements, cut some fabric and got busy. Here is the result....

It has a wooden insert between the bottom layers that provides support and insulation. Spills? No worry....just remove the board and toss in the washing machine.

This is not my favorite fabric...but it works for a pie-taker. I think I will try another one in pastels....a little shabby-chic pie taker. Perhaps one to match tomorrow's Pink Saturday Apron! Back to the sewing room.........

Special Order for Heather

Here is friendship pillow number two....a special order for Heather....quilted and embellished.

This type of pillow can be made with any picture....imagine a special baby or childhood picture made into a quilted keepsake.

Busy Week

So here it is Thursday already. The week has just flown by. Unfortunately, I have not darkened the doorway of my sewing room yet. Perhaps today I will have a bit of time to finish another apron and work on a Friendship pillow special order. I have been busy, though. Yesterday I finished rendering beeswax and pouring this year's candles.

Our honey harvest produced a cardboard carton full of honey combs which I melted in a double boiler, filtered through cheese cloth twice and poured into a mold. It is a messy process requiring cookware dedicated to only this. (Otherwise clean-up would take longer than the rest of the process.)

The end result is these adorable beehive candles that burn long and clean.

I have also been trying to get our bottle honey ready for sale. Labels are finally in place and the finished product looks like this.

And finally, I have been trying to get the remaining tomato harvest canned and put up for this coming winter. I have many quart jars of tomatoes and 14 jars of organic (Putanesca) spaghetti sauce...which is our favorite!

What's that I hear? Oh my, it is my sewing room calling my name. First a load of eggs to deliver and then.....maybe I might get to heed the call!

Pink Saturday at Bee Haven Acres!

This is my first Pink Saturday posting. So in honor of the event I made a

"Pink Saturday Apron" . It is for sale on my Touch of the Past website.I am joining a bunch of my girlfriends in this fun blogging project. Every Saturday they all make Pink the subject of their posting. The idea for this community event comes from Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. You can visit her blog to see a list of all the participants.

Have a great weekend and a truly blessed Pink Saturday!!

And The Winner Is.....

Drumroll, ladies.....oh I can just feel the excitement in the air....along with September's chill! Thank you....all of you....for visiting my blog and sharing your September passion. It was so much fun to read your comments - it seems we all have the love for September in common.

Okay, okay.....the moment we have waited for. I had Hubs pick a random number that I had pre-assigned to each of you. He blindly chose number 12 before walking out the door to work this morning. So......number 12 is Marian, the Princess of Pink! You can visit her blog to look at all of her creations. Marian is from the Netherlands. How exciting is this! One of my aprons will be traveling!

Marian, email me with your address and the apron of your choice and I will pack her up and take her to the Post Office....and she will be on her way to you!

Happy September to you all. I hope your month is filled with all of the things you love. To those of you who are celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month.....Cheers! To the rest of you...may your month bring lots of changing leaves, cool crisp nights, football games, apple cider, flocking birds, sweaters and sweatshirts, etc. etc. etc......

Apron Give-Away

It's Back to School time again. To celebrate the beginning of school, falling leaves and sweater weather....I have decided to hold another blog giveaway. This time I ask that you leave me a comment with what it is you love about September. I will enter your name in a drawing for the apron of your choice from my "Touch of the Past" website. The winner of the drawing will be announced here on this blog on Friday morning, September 5th.