Are you getting ready???????

For that spookiest of holidays?
I must admit that I've been thinking about it a lot because it's my favorite! But our days have been in the low 80's and sunny.
At night I'm loving the crispness of the air and I can't wait for the full blown days of sweaters and coats!
Today I made a huge pot of spaghetti and meatballs, my go-to Autumn meal. I never follow a recipe so it turns out a little different each time, but I can tell you that cooking it all day makes a huge difference.....can't wait to dig into it.
I've also been walking a lot every morning and taking in everything.....the birds, the sun, the turning leaves.
Tomorrow my dd is off school so she'll get to come with me.
She had the most fabulous time at her outdoor camp and we were so happy to see her face!
I can't wait to go get some pumpkins and start digging out my Halloween and Fall decorations...I don't dare buy more but I'm always tempted!
I do hope you're all embracing the Fall season....:).

Gosh darn but it's quiet around here......:(

Why so quiet? Because my little is away at a 3 day Outdoor camp with her class......they left today and won't be back until 3:00 on Wednesday.
So I spent today shipping out some packages and did a bit of shopping.....then I passed a school around 3:00 and saw all the parents picking up their kiddos.....waaahhhhh!
It's all good though because she loves nothing more than an adventure and couldn't wait to get packed to go!
Then I met a friend at the P.O. and she was sending off a care package to one of her sons who just went off to college!
She said, "Don't blink, she'll be gone that fast!"
The thought of that makes me so very sad and I don't know how anyone gets through that loneliness of missing their child when they move out.
This picture of her is on her 12th birthday and she was beaming because she's a HUGE power rangers fan....! And I think it's great and encourage her to love whatever it is she loves and not try to fit in with everyone else.
We're all unique! And she's a gem...tomorrow I get my hair done (thank goodness, I'm tired of scaring people!) and I swear I'll try to keep myself busy.....she'll be home soon, right?
Dh and I may even go out to dinner tonight, just the two of us.
What a concept!

A happy day at the flea.........

Vintage happy new year plates

Prettiest playing cards ever

Halloween's coming

Tattered recipe book with tons of recipes tucked inside

Swoon worthy antique Peterson's 

Lots of pressed flowers inside....someone treasured this beauty!
Most of these will be listed soon in my shop!

A perfect day for sailing............

We have a dear friend who owns a sailboat....
in fact he's the special friend who we called on to help us put together our Adoption Book when we were ready to adopt Katherine.....he's a whiz with a computer and photos, etc.
He helped us so much and he owns a sailboat....today was the perfect weather day for sailing....82 degrees, no clouds, and so very perfect for a sail.....so we brought the sandwiches and the wine and Eric provided the sailboat.
My dd got to sail the boat for awhile, then it was my turn.
So much fun, he's a great friend!
What a great feeling with the wind catching the sails and the blue sky and blue water.....we were enjoying it while we can.Summer will be over soon....take advantage of all she has to offer while you can!
What did you do today?

I'm excited for this..........

This is a magazine that I don't buy that often. Mostly because of the cost. Don't get me wrong, if I could walk into my local bookstore and purchase it for the new $13.95 price I would.
But as it is I have to order it online and the shipping puts it near $20.

A bit steep for me. But look at this cover. This issue is about dress forms and corsets. I couldn't resist!

Yesterday was filled with joy....our dear daughter turned 12. Unbelievable to me....it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital.
She's almost as tall as I am now and growing into such a delightful little person.....and we are so very proud of her!
I also continue to work (what seems like all the time) on my Etsy shop.....the thrift stores haven't been too great lately but that's the way it goes. Sometimes you just hit a dry spell and have to go to plan B....

I hope you are all enjoying blessings each day.
These are the best of days!

Light as a feather......a "featherweight" that is!

So two nights ago we were at home, it was about 7:00, and UPS came to our door with a package.....she's here!!!!!
Now mind you, I had asked my Aunt to send the machine to my dh's office in the event we weren't home. But it worked out fine.
Dh was on a conference call so he was busy, and my dd saw the man in brown come up to our house and I thought, "Hmmmm, that looks about the size that a featherweight might be."
My sweet Aunt sent it with the case, foot pedal, gobs of attachements and bobbins, oil can, motor grease, you name it, she sent it!

I must admit I was shocked at how small this machine is! And light.....a mere 9lbs. Want to move her.....? Just pick her up she's so light. Here's a photo where I tried to capture the difference between the size of my 99K and my featherweight.....

They're both smaller machines, but the FW is about  2" shorter and doesn't sit up on a base like the 99K has to.
I've not had a chance to use her yet but I can't wait.
My Aunt told me that she has stitched untold number of quilt squares on her. I can't wait to use her and I think tomorrow may be the perfect day because my dh is taking my dd up to a football game and I'll have the day to myself.
Here's hoping you all have a lovely weekend!

A funny thing happened on the way to the Fair.....

I know, I know, you're going what does this machine possible have to do with a Fair? Let me 'splain.....as you know I am awaiting my beloved featherweight machine from my aunt......nope, still not here...:(

So the other morning I was perusing Craigslist (don't you just love the word perusing?) Anyway, I saw this ad for a "Portable Singer sewing machine in Salem....not far from us at all.
I got so excited thinking it's a FW.....and for only $50. So I emailed the nice gentleman about the machine. I had to wait all day last Friday until he called me when he got home from work because I had also given him my phone #....I didn't want this baby to go to anyone else!

So since we wanted to go to the State Fair anyway (which coincidentally happened to be in Salem) we just did a quick jog over to this nice gentleman's home so i could take a peek.

Now at this point you're probably wondering why I felt the need to purchase yet another sewing machine (or you couldn't care less and you've already stopped reading!)
The thing is I just wanted a machine that I could leave up all the time without having to clean off a cabinet of all it's "stuff", open the cabinet in an awkward walkway, and then have to close it all up when I'm finished because it's in the way. It's probably hard to tell from these photos but this machine is only 13" long....it's a 3/4 machine and even though I thought I was purchasing a featherweight for $50 (hey, it could happen!) this is actually a model 99K and mine was made in Kilwobie, Scotland in 1953.
And quite frankly, I think this machine is perfect for me! It sews like a dream and I've already cleaned her up and oiled the entire machine and this baby was clean! It belonged to this man's mother who passed 1 1/2 years ago and it doesn't look like she used it much at all.

So now I can quit lusting after a FW, even though I know my Aunt will come through when she's good and ready to send it.....at least I have a machine that looks so similiar to a FW that it completely fooled me!!
In other news, my little started back to school today and my house has been so very quiet.....if you don't count my dogs snores!!
Have a great rest of your week!!