WOW, what a busy month it's been!  Husband was away working, then several truck repairs, two road trips, daughter had stitches in her finger.....whew!  I am SO ready to settle back in at the farm and get back to my regularly scheduled life!

This is the top of White Pass on the morning of October 14th.  My oldest daugher & I transported 28 show rabbits from our western side of Washington to the eastern side - over a mountain pass and into apple country!

 I, of course, had to stop on the other side and gather acorns!  I ADORE oak trees, leaves, squirrels.....Didn't see a squirrel, but gathered some fabulous HUGE acorns I can use in my craft projects!  Daughter was very decent about scrabbling around on the side of the highway with for nuts.

 My mountain.  I've always lived where this mountain was in view so I feel a part ownership in it, of course.
Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft .  Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.  
Not only that.....it's beautiful!

 A two day trip and back home we were.  For a week.  Then off to the Seaside went my husband and I in celebration of our 34th anniversary (which is actually not for a couple more weeks...)  This was the view from our room at the Oceanview Best Western.  We had planned to stay for 3 nights, but only made it for two before we had seen everything and since we can't sit still for long, we headed back to the farm! 

 We shopped our way through thrift and antique shops while we were gone and I LOVED this sign in one of them!

 The proprietor of the shop made all this faux food herself and it was stunning and very real looking.  We had to tip the soup bowl to make sure it wasn't really soup!!

 In between truck repairs and my daughter slicing her finger with a rotary cutter (ouch) and needing stitches, I worked on primitives again.  I think the selling season for Fall stuff is pretty much passed and now I'm making stuff for the winter and Christmas seasons.  Here's a frosty snowman......

 ....and a frosty snow girl.....

 A drawer full of jolly, happy, souls.....and an ice fishing snowman!

 I'm tired and sort of stressed from such a busy few weeks so I'm taking a bit of vacation from my, well, vacations and working on my art stuff which I find to be very soothing. 

This week I'm going back to my actual life, so I think I'll make bread, get my husband to butcher some rabbits so they can be canned and maybe I'll get to the pie cherries in the freezer and make pie filling.  We're going to need the freezer space in another month or so when we butcher a beef.

Our church service today was excellent and gave me some much needed encouragement and confirmation.  I'm glad to be home!

 Until next time............

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming—O glorious day!   

Thanks for ordinary everyday stuff!

 God painted this on the top of the car in the night.  I don't know if it took Him all night (I doubt it) but I'm gonna guess that if I tried to paint this, it would take forever.  I like that He shows His amazing-ness over and over in big and small ways to me!  I often need reminding.....

I'm so thankful that God sent His only son to die for ME!

 I wandered outside this morning during chore time and admired all the FABULOUS FALL STUFF out there.  If it weren't so cold and wet outside, I'd just stay outside as long as Fall lasts, just to enjoy every leaf, every bit of color!

I'm so thankful for the beauty that is Fall.

 My Adirondack chair was a present from my incredible offspring!  They KNEW I have always wanted one and they managed to get it home and HIDE IT until they presented it to lil ole totally surprised me!

I'm SO thankful for my kids.

 This is my beloved chore wagon!  Have you ever tried to carry a gallon of milk any great distance?  Add a stainless pail or two, a milk filter and.....you have to set it all down and REST before you get to the house!  But NOT if you own a chore wagon!

I'm so thankful for my beloved husband who bought me this chore wagon!

 This is my home.  Doesn't it look inviting and homey and old-fashioned?  Aren't my trees adorable??  Can you see my espaliered apple tree? 

I'm so thankful to live OUT IN THE STICKS in this way cool house (do people say that anymore?)!!!

 This is Paxton.  Isn't her coat shiny?  It's kind of like a new copper penny.  She's a sweetie.  She's the most 'thinking' goat we've got.  She doesn't panic if something happens, but stops and thinks before she acts.  Wish I could be more like Paxton some days!

Thanks, Paxton, for being a lesson to me.

 I watch this tree in my yard every year as it changes color almost daily.  Then comes the day when the leaves begin to disappear....
So sad, but.....

God has promised that as long as the earth is still here, there will be Winter, then Spring, then Summer and then my beloved Fall will be back and I'll get to watch this tree again!

Genesis 8:22 KJV

King James Version

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease .

 This is Marcail.  She is a funny bunny and she LOVES to play games with Mama (that's me).  Every day I feed & water her, pet her, and then we play this game with her toy.  I put it on her head and praise her profusely.....she'll eventually knock it off and we do it again (bunnies don't get bored with games easily.....I guess I don't either!). 

 This is a pecan pie.  You KNOW I'm thankful for this!  

(Easy!  Put 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup corn syrup, dash salt, 1/3 cup melted butter in a bowl.  Stir, then add 1 cup pecans, 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup coconut.  Toss it in an unbaked single pie crust and bake for 44 1/2 minutes (kidding) or so until a knife inserted comes out clean.  Make a fresh pot of coffee, milk a goat and fill the creamer and you've got a fabulous dessert!!!)

 Well, my wanderings came to an end and my camera ran out of battery, so I had to come in and get on with the mundane things of life (making the bed, vacuuming the living room...) and then on to making more primitives!  Today I'm doing finishing touches on SEVEN primitive rag dolls to sell on Ebay and a basket of primitive pumpkins. 

I'm thankful for Ebay, too.

Life isn't always easy and there's so much to distract us and keep us drained, unhappy, unhealthy.....But if you look around you, I promise that you can always find something to be thankful for - maybe where you least expect it!

Rabbit Show, Apple Pie Filling, Primitives & time for the First Fire!

 Here's what I'm all about today.  I went to a Rabbit Show last weekend and caught a cold!  So, I'm occasionally sitting down, reading one of the GREATEST authors EVER (Stephen Bly), blowing my nose (sorry) and trying to learn to TAT.  It's one of those things not too many people do any more, so I want to do it!  Oh boy, am I struggling and looking totally uncoordinated!!!

 This is hot cider.  Did I mention I have a cold?  I LOVE the way apples have a star in the middle if you cut them crossways!!!!  (This apple is a Liberty - one of the easiest to grow and very faithful to produce!)

 This is the scene of the crime......the rabbit show where cold germs were obviously lurking in the shadows and.......hmmm.  Why did I catch cold and none of the rabbits did?  Lucky buns!

 My good ole Elmira wood cookstove!  I love it!  She heats my house and you can cook on her too ;-)    p.s.  I have an electric range just like everyone else, but if the power goes out I'm ahead of the game!  Besides, everyone who knows ANYTHING knows that food tastes better cooked on a woodstove.

(In case you were worried, we do take all the stuff off the top and away from the sides when burning a fire.....)

 Last week we made apple pie filling out of some of our King apples.

 We're a great team - my mom works on dishes, my two daughters & I made the filling and canned it.  I think we ended up with a little over 50 quarts. 

 Easy as pie!  Or, as my Grandpa used to say...Easy as falling off a log!

 Of course we got hungry, so I made bagels!  Have you ever had fresh, hot, homemade bagels?  They are easy to make and FABULOUSLY delicious.  We split them while they're hot, spread generously with butter & our own honey.  Just add a cup of coffee and you are good to go for hours!

 Cayenne peppers.  They're pretty and they grew so I'm drying them.  I don't actually use cayenne peppers much.......

 In my spare (don't laugh) time, I'm making this quilt.  It's a pattern by Eleanor Burns called Hole in the Wall.  It'll have sashing in between the blocks, but I haven't gotten that far yet!

 Whipping out a few primitives, too.  I've done a few sets of squirrels & acorns......

 One lil rag doll............

 A few more bats..........

Then I bought myself a present on Ebay all the way from Bulgaria!  This is a small tin that used to hold sewing machine attachments.  Do you know what it says?  (A friend of mine at our Quilting group did!)

Answer:  Gritzner  (German sewing machine maker)

'Nuf for now.  Here's an encouraging word:

"Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many."