Happy Hallowe'en...Happy Samhain....

{Fog/mist descending around the outbuildings a few weeks back} 

Halloween is here. 

I almost typed "finally," but caught myself.

The truth is, I never want Halloween to come.

I just want it to always be October.

Perhaps that is why I never actually finish my decorating or preparations for Halloween?

In any event, I wanted to at least pop in to say I hope you are wrapping yourself in the last of autumn...the quiet spirit that seems to descend and envelop the landscape and the rooms we pass through.

I had hoped to share more of my "preparations" for the holiday, but the days slipped through my hands. 

I count it as a good thing this time of year, though, as I know I was hearing the crunch of the leaves beneath me, smelling the mellowing earth fold into itself and watching the moon dance.

I will leave you with a very abbreviated version of some of my (real...unlike the faux-vintage treat boxes in the last post) vintage Halloween treasures.

Most of you know that I generally embrace a primitive/colonial style.

But when it comes to Halloween, I can't help but let vintage in.

I have an October soul and those colors, those graphics, those echoes of simpler times are irresistible. 

One of my main weaknesses: Pulp paper/papier mache Jack-o-Lanterns:

I have battery-operated candles in many of them, so they twinkle at night. 

Two of my favorites:

{Who doesn't love a cat face??}

{My only "two-faced" jack (he has a face on both sides)}

And I have a penchant for vintage noisemakers...

This year I displayed my horns mostly among the jacks but think I'll re-think that next year.

Dye cuts and honeycomb:

Vintage candy tins and boxes (and who doesn't need a case of embalming fluid??): 

Oh...there's more... 

Vintage Halloween books, framed vintage Halloween sheet music, 

pulp paper owls, Gurley candles, and....

I'll leave it at that...and this for now. 

I've only a bit more than 2 hours before October draws its final breath.

They say the veil between this world and the other thins then and, perhaps, it does. 

The shadows here have darkened and the sounds of this old house have quieted as if listening for something I cannot yet hear.

 But each year I gather more ghosts so I think I, too, need to listen.

Wishing you light in the dark corners of the night.

Happy Halloween.

Paper Play

Are there other things I should be doing?

As Mia would say, "Oh yeeesss...."

But....

It's Halloween Week!!!!!!!!

Every now and again I put my needle and thread down (yes, and my hook...except I think I put that down months and months ago and can't remember where 😉) and play at another craft.

Sometimes it's spun cotton, sometimes punching...and, often times, just playing with paper.

There is something very satisfying about making something just out of a simple piece of paper.

 One of my greatest loves is vintage Halloween but anything remotely vintage Halloween comes at a very dear price these days.

And, although I generally don't like "fakes," I couldn't resist making a few of these little treat boxes.

These are made out of heavy cardstock that I aged/distressed to look authentically old. (Both the tops and the bottoms of the boxes are aged.)

This one I made with a cellophaned opening...haven't figured out what I will put in it yet though.

And, when I tired of the boxes, I made this scarecrow pick:

He's on a nice long dowel but I just tucked him in with my vintage hand brooms.

{Scarecrow pick pattern is by Walnut Ridge Primitives}

********

On an unrelated and sad note, I wanted to mention that the hooking community lost an incredible artist the day before yesterday.

Marilyn (a/k/a "Good") Becker passed away.

Marilyn was not only a near and most dear neighbor, but an amazing fine-cut hooker and has had several rugs in Rug Hooking Celebration magazine.  She mastered the technique of mimicking a photograph in wool.

I've shared a few of her pieces over the years. You may remember her "Marry Me Mary" rug which was based on a photograph and memorialized her father's proposal of marriage to her mother.

Look closely and you can see the fur that Marilyn incorporated in her mother's coat.

Marilyn read my blog and whenever we were together would mention it and, if others were present, would tell them about it.

She was a dear soul, and I hope she is reading this on the other side.

 

 

One for the Crow...

...one to die, one to grow.

Just an old gardening rhyme with lots of variations:

"Four seeds in a row, one for the rook, one for the crow, one to die, and one to grow."

"Four seeds in a row, one for the rook, one for the crow, one will wither and one will grow."

"One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow."

"One for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot, one to grow."

"One for the wind and one for the crow, one to die and one to grow."

...and so many more one could write a book of nothing but these rhymes.

Anyway...that has little to do with this post.

The season to sow is long past. Sometimes I feel like I went to sleep sometime in April and woke up and it was the end of October.

 

Somehow there is less than one week until Halloween.

I've not gotten a fraction of the things done that I had hoped to (including blogposts), but I have gotten some of my Halloween up and a few (small) projects crossed off my list. 

Wow...have I veered off topic. 

Back to "One for the Crow"....

In addition to an old and prolific gardening rhyme, it's the name of this design by With Thy Needle & Thread.

I stitched these designs several years ago but was disappointed in the linen I used. It was the called-for 40 ct "Legacy" from Picture this Plus," but my pieces did not look like the model photos. 

I distressed the linen a bit after I completed the stitching, but they still were pale and sickly.  (These photos make them look closer to the models but they aren't really.)

However, after extended stays at both the Isle of Misfits and Castaways and The Isle of the Unfinished, they finally made it into these little pinkeeps.

Two littles off the list....

Now back to my other distractions.

The Sad Tale of Little Jack Trifle

Ahhh.... Poor Little Jack Trifle.

He's a winsome little fellow despite his beleaguered beginnings and melancholy mien.

His story began with Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching when she posted this adorable cucurbit's pattern on her blog. (Melisa graciously offers all her patterns free of charge.)

Since I haven't met many pumpkins a pumpkin I haven't loved, I had to stitch him.

 

So, shortly after his debut, stitch him I did.

I had thought I would make him into a "seasonal" insert for the hanging clock I purchased several years ago. (I posted the St. Patrick's Day insert here and the Christmas one here.)

I did not, however, do my math and he ended up far too small even for the small clock insert.

{Stitched on Osnaburg}

 

If possible, poor Jack's countenance seemed to become even more dejected.

To make his failure as a clock insert candidate even more painful, he ended up in my Basket of Shame on the Isle of the Unfinished...where he languished for several years.

Finally, I could no longer stand his sad little face looking up at me every time I went near the Isle of the Unfinished.

Sooo, I finally picked him up with the intention of finishing him into a little scissors fob.

But his sad, sad, eyes kept imploring me...he did not want to be a fob.... He wanted to be a clock insert.

He truly did. 

So, I assured Little Jack Trifle that I would do what I could and proceeded to build him a little basket of stitches which he could sit upon and which would give him a little more height.

He did not seem to mind that I just "winged" the basket part without a pattern. (I suspect his time in exile on the Isle of the Unfinished made him a bit desperate.)

But Little Jack still looked downcast.

I could not understand how he could be so mirthless as I thought the urn-like basket looked good on under him.

Then I saw it.... The last bottom row on the urn/basket was short one "x" on the left side.

Seriously??

Surely this must be the source of poor Jack's distress but correcting it would mean removing both my initials and the year as well as several other stitches given how I had stitched it.

Gah!

But if Lil' Jack ain't happy, well...you know.

So out they came, in went new stitches and my egregious error was corrected.

But it seemed that Jack's countenance had shifted,

ever so slightly, from sadness to apprehension. And could it be outright fright??

I was more than ready to be done with Mr. Trifle at this point but, given his long-suffering patience, I added a few bats to keep him company.

A bit happier? Not much...but I was done.

I decided to fully final-finish him into an insert before I changed my mind again (or completely lost my mind).

It's a simple and easy finish and one I've done dozens of times.  Simple and easy if one doesn't iron the fusible interfacing on the incorrect side.

Really????

😖

(No photos here as I quickly tried to undo the damage before the bond was completely cooled.)

My demeanor was now every bit as sour as Jack's and, just as I was beginning to think that I had, after all these years, finally met a pumpkin I did not love, I thought I saw a little tear in the corner of Jack's eye. 

I don't know if it was a bit of the interfacing left stuck to his face or simply confirmation that I had, indeed, lost my mind, but I knew I had to finish what I started.

So, albeit a bit worse for the wait and wear, Little Jack Trifle finally got his wish of becoming a clock insert.

He's not as crisp and sharp as he was when he started his life but, then again, neither am I.

And it may be just me, but I think he looks like he is doing his best to look the part of the proud little jack-o-lantern he is.

(Just don't anyone tell him that, in a matter of weeks, he will be replaced by a Christmas tree. 😬)

Along the Roads of Nod

 A few sights along the roads of Nod of late:

This poor turkey vulture, a carrion feeder during life, has now become carrion itself.

Some still believe that the sight of turkey vultures is an omen of impending death.

In the U.S., it is illegal to take, kill, or possess turkey vultures, their eggs, and any body parts - including their feathers.

Violations are punishable by fines of up to $100,000 for individuals ($200,000 for organizations) and/or up to one year in prison.

Sight 2:

I have no words for this, but it isn't everyday one sees a car burning on the side of the road - at least not in Nod.  (Thankfully, no one was injured.)

Sight 3:

{Bobcat, a/k/a lynx, a/k/a wildcat, a/k/a I'm-glad-it-wasn't-the-cougar??}

And then there's this:

Yesterday my mailbox was perfectly fine.

Today it obviously isn't.

Seriously??

...Anyway, Happy October my friends.

Let the shenanigans and spooking begin in earnest.

333 Years Ago....

 333 years ago today

...Mary Easty and 7 others were hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

Mary was my grandmother, 7 times removed.

This was the largest number of hangings during the witchcraft panic but, thankfully, it was also the last.

One contemporary recorded some chilling details of this particular day - including how the cart carrying the condemned to Proctor's ledge on Gallow's Hill became mired in the mud on the way to the ledge.

The accusers (i.e., the "afflicted") cried out that it was "the devil himself" who hindered its progress.

The writer also noted that, when Mary Easty stood upon the ladder of the gallows and faced the crowd prior her hanging, her words were "as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present."

Happy autumnal equinox my friends.

Marshmallows, Mermaids and Moonlight

 

{When your cappuccino matches your mug....}

 

I took a quick trip up to the lake over the holiday weekend to sort a few things and soak in a few last rays of the summer sun.

The weather was distractingly amazing.

{Heron on the sandbar} 

Unfortunately, I know I cannot store enough of that energy for the winter ahead.

We have already had frost and there are frost warnings in effect for tonight again.

Back home, I am trying to "sort a few things" as well, but with little-to-no success.  

Many of you, I know, are "sorting" in your own ways - downsizing, purging, minimalizing - as I well should be.

The "need" becomes more apparent with each day that passes, and, at times, the motivation increases as well, but I'm not quite there yet.

If you hadn't figured it out by now, things come slowly to me.

And, most often, I do what I should not do and put myself more than a few steps back.

I have too many collections and I have mostly done well at not adding to them. But every now and again I give in to a weakness.

I can't tell you when I last added to my marshmallow tin collection - other than last week when I added this one.

Nope...I don't like marshmallows particularly - but I do love these old funky tins.

This one will likely end up in the back row - once I wrangle the ladder inside.

(You're right - one probably won't see it back there - but I'm about the only "one" who even knows there's a collection of marshmallow tins up there.)

But back to sorting!

For me that involves tying up loose ends and taking care of things that have lingered about too long.

Like my mermaids. 

I stitched these many years ago - when we first purchased the lake house I believe. (There's not a reason I can conceive of why I would choose to stitch mermaids if I did not have a home near water. And, no - that was NOT the reason we purchased the lake house.)

Anyway - they are finally framed.

First up - The Mermaid of Salem Bay (pattern by The Primitive Hare).

This is stitched on 30 ct "Pirate Linen" also by The Primitive Hare (2 over 2 with a gazillion quarter/half/three-quarter stitches and backstitching and beading). 

I had a meltdown when I ran out of the overdyed floss called "Mountain Mist" and could find none remotely close to what I had started her with as the dye lots had changed dramatically.

Marly (Samplers and Santas) came through with many skeins of not only Mountain Mist, but other colors she thought would work.

She was right.

Marly is always right when it comes to color.

I'm not typically a bead person, but the beads made this design.

And what's better than 1 mermaid?

Two, of course.

This is, obviously, another Primitive Hare design.

This one is called Oceanarium and is stitched two over two on 30 ct. "Ancient Stones" linen, also by The Primitive Hare.

Again, lots of quirky stitches, backstitching and beading.

I should have done a video so you could see how the beads twinkle - but I didn't.

If these make it to being hung on a wall, it will be at the lake house.

They don't quite "fit" here in Nod.

And, lastly, moonlight.

Last night was a full "blood" moon - and a total lunar eclipse no less.

While the eclipse wasn't visible to us here in the states, the moon still put on a spectacular show.

 

...and now back to sorting.

😒