~Joyous Fall To You~

~Fall Harvest Gathering~

( My beeswax sheep & turkey along with another pin keep I just finished...I actually have two of these finished....one for the show and one to sell online)

Good afternoon. Tis a cloudy but beautiful fall day here in Vermont....the first official day of Fall. Our colors are really starting to change & the leaves are falling slowly and drifting and swirling on the wind...oh it is just lovely! I'm busy preparing for my first fall show of the season which takes place in Pawlet on Sunday from 10am to 4pm..in Edie Mach's Field next to The Mill Pond. It's a family event with lots of local talent...fun family activities...great food and entertainment. This show was a last minute decision for me (I was asked to do it two weeks ago..and ..me being who I am..can never say no...)...SO..it's yet another thing I added to my to do list but usually when things like this happen....they happen for a reason...and always turns out to be a most positive experience. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.

(view from our front porch..there is still lots of green but things are changing very nicely)

It should be a really fun day as I'm doing the show with my Mom-in-law Ruth....she does oils on canvas of local scenes..they are beautiful!!! I'm excited to peddle my wares as I came up with a really neat (well, I think so anyway) packaging idea for my beeswax items...completely environmentally friendly which is very important to me. I have a new mold that just arrived this morning and is now sitting on my kitchen counter filled to the brim with sweet smelling pumpkin spice beeswax...I can not wait to unmold this one..it's big and the color came out perfect!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On this first official day of Fall I thought I would share with you one of our favorite recipes......just perfect now that apple picking season is here..I made this on Sunday afternoon..and it's gone already..it was actually gone yesterday afternoon :)..it's popular in this house!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
3 pounds tart apples
2 Tbls Pure Vermont Maple Syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tbls flour
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Topping
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup rolled oats
8 tablespoons cold butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preparation:
Peel, core and thinly slice your apples. Place in a buttered casserole dish & toss with the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & flour. Drizzle the maple syrup over the apple mixture.
In another bowl combine flour, sugar and oats. Cut butter into 8 small pieces, and cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly. Stir in the chopped nuts and spread evening over the apple mixture.

. Bake at 375° for 30 to 45 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned and bubbling.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or real whipped cream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I had better get back to work....I've got a small ham in the oven baking for dinner and it smells like it is done......I am making ham & cheese quiche....Enjoy your evening everyone!

~Amazing~

WOW.......what an absolutely incredible, amazing, sexy & soulful voice!!!!

~New Offerings~

Greetings. I'm so sorry this is late today...I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so I'm operating a bit slower than normal. I'm going to just pretend I'm fine and see what happens as I've a busy day ahead an no time whatsoever for being sick!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wanted to share my newest offerings with you. First of all I am very pleased to now be a part of The Primitive Gathering...you can find my work available there on the 15th of each month. On The Primitive Gathering you will find "Mother Midnight's Physick Bottles"..they are filled with freshly brewed Walnut Ink for all your staining needs.

~Mother Midnight's Physick Bottles~

Also on The Primitive Gathering I am offering on of my Merino Sheep..he's a black sheep, stuffed entirely with sawdust and wearing a vintage tweed back blanket.
~Merino-Weathersfiled Sheep~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Early Work Mercantile you will find three new offerings. Firstly, I finally finished my cross stitch sampler (Pattern by Wendy of Pineberry Lane)..it came out lovely and I've paired it with a Blackened Beeswax Snow Folk that I made using a vintage chocolate mold..gracious..that's not easy using the vintage molds!!!!!......but....he came out wonderful and smells divine!
~Early Yuletide Gathering~
~Tis SOLD, Thank you ~

Next is this sweet blackened beeswax lamb, again made with a vintage chocolate mold. She is tucked inside a lovely fabric covered box nestled in dried herbs harvested from my garden.

~Blackened Beeswax Sheep Gathering~

My final Early Work Mercantile Offering is this sweet, sweet Blackened Beeswax Turkey ...also made from a vintage chocolate mold....this guy is my favorite..I LOVE turkeys!!!! Mark & I are looking into raising them come spring..but that's a story for another time/post:)....
~Blackened Beeswax Turkey & Herb Bundle~

Anyway...I just think he's so handsome and he comes with this herb bundle harvested from my garden ...sage, rosemary, thyme..mmm..Oh gosh...those are turkey roasting herbs!!! ssshhh..don't tell him!!!

Last......but certainly not least available on my website is; ~A Stroll On All Hallow's Eve, Althea the crow witch & her faithful companion Hoote~
~Tis SOLD, Thank you ever so much :)~

Aren't they sweet!!! I've made Althea before...but this time around she decided she wanted to be a witch :)! She comes with little Hoote sitting on top of his Birch Bark stump! He's made from Blackened Beeswax ....however, he is made with a silicone mold.

Alright..that's it for now...I'm going to go and see if I can accomplish something..I just heard from my sweet Jenna..she is sick too!!!! I hate when the kids are sick and not home...guess that happens when they grow up and move out of your house :) Send her some get well soon thoughts if you get a chance!

I can not WAIT until later this evening.....I'm going to sit and stitch..I have another cross stitch almost done.it's a turkey! SO CUTE!

Have a lovely day,
Doreen

~Of Beeswax, Stitching & Fall Days~

Gracious.....it is absolutely GORGEOUS out!!! Sunny & warm but with a bit of a gusty cool wind......I've always loved the wind...it stirs the trees and flowers making them appear as if they are dancing or perhaps waving to you. Our trees are changing quickly now and within the next week or so we should have some really good color..we actually need a little rain to make things really start to change. I'm not sure why...but for some reason we have huge and I do mean HUGE flocks of blackbirds this year. I do not recall EVER seeing them like this..it's crazy. We were sitting on the deck Sunday evening and all the sudden an enormous flock lifted up out of the trees...we had no idea they were even there..and my God..they blackened the sky and the noise was amazing....it's funny how quiet they were until they took off....I guess we must have disturbed them...anyway, I'm sure their presence must mean something about our coming Winter...I will have to check the Farmers Almanac and see what they have to say about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pictured above is a little peek at my first cross stitch...It is finally finished and is, at the moment, baking in the oven. I've sat up until after midnight the last two nights stitching...not because I was racing to get it done..but because I have found that I absolutely love sitting up late in the evening and stitching...I actually have had to make myself stop and go to bed. Of course, getting up at 6:00 the next morning is a bit of a chore but what can you do.

Pictured below are a grouping of my Blackened Beeswax Owls.......they are quite popular ...I've been making them nonstop for the past several days...it takes a bit to fill a large order as I only have one mold...but it's actually going much quicker than I originally thought it would.
Arent' they so cute...it's amazing how different they all look....coming from the same mold..they still each have their own personalities...look at that little sweetie in the back on the left..doesn't he look like he's taking a nap? SO CUTE! :)

My house smells amazing right now...I've got a pot of beeswax melting on the stove....scented with pumpkin spice, vanilla creme & cinnamon. The Coffee is brewing and a fresh fall breeze is blowing in the windows.....Heaven!!!

Enjoy your day everyone...It's back to work for me!

~I apologize for the quality of my pictures in this post...I left my camera on Jenna's kitchen counter...ARGH..very frustrating..but thankfully she shipped it out to me and I should have it back in the next couple of days..in the meantime Steph lent me hers...and of course..I'm not familiar with it..so the pictures are horrible....so sorry about that!~

~New Offerings on My Website, Early Work Mercantile & Simply Primitives~

~The Home of Alderman Josiah Graham & His Wife Emily~
Tis Sold, Thank you ever so much~

~Hallowed Hattie~
Tis Sold, Thank you ever so much~

~Blackened Beeswax Owl Atop Vintage Wool Pin keep~

~Blackened Beeswax Owl Pin Keep Tuft & Box~
Tis Sold, Thank you ever so much

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joyous September to you! So sorry for such a short post this morning..but I need to get things packed and shipped this morning before my mom in law comes for a hair cut..then I promised to help my nephews with their 4-H project this afternoon..they need to make posters for the Vermont State Fair...they are in the calf judging ..their theme is Vermont Farming Then & Now..how neat is that..this will be fun!

Have a great day,
Doreen