Cooler days have arrived

Darla and Buddy enjoying a little sunshine

Whoa, I cannot believe last week flew by so fast.  And this week is now well underway.  It seems that's what happens this time of year.  All of a sudden someone hits the gas peddle, and hard!   It either has something to do with my getting older (NAH!) or I like this idea better . . . there is less daylight so the days SEEM to go faster.  Yup, I'm sticking with that one!  

Also around this time of year, the dogs gravitate to the sunny spots in the house.   This photo was taken this weekend.  Can you feel the love?  Buddy is a yellow lab with some hound.  Darla is black lab and wild thing!  They bring us great joy.   Darla loves to be outdoors, no matter what the weather.  She loves her yard and will sit all day and watch for something to come into the yard, or find sticks and chew them up!  Buddy will spend some time outside, but would really rather be inside with his people.  Although different in many ways, they seem to "tolerate" each other.   The two of them in the sun, snuggled up or trying to fit into a space only large enough for one dog will be a common site throughout the fall and winter months.  They are both rescue dogs, Buddy from a rescue league in South Jersey and Darla all the way from North Carolina!   We rescued Darla a month after Buddy, he really needed a companion.  It still amazes us how well they get along.

Make a Pillowcase, Make A Difference

this is a wonderful cause.  We all do so many different things to help people in need.  This is another creative way we can do that.   Quoting straight from the website . . .


Calling all quilters, sewers and crafters! American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join our efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in your community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident.

Here's the webiste http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/

I challenge you to make a Pillowcase and make a difference AND share this link with anyone you know that can do the same. 

Grandmom's Quilts, watercolor

A Quote for a beautiful Sunday Afternoon

 

We are all strings in the concert of His joy. 

Jacob Boehme

ETSY Holiday Bootcamp Pledge

What is she talking about? Well,  I have an Etsy Shop and Etsy has started the Holiday Boot Camp to get the "newbies" and anyone else interested, ready for the holidays.  And the first thing you are suppose to do is take the Holiday Bootcamp Pledge so . . .

I  pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

Oh, my Etsy shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/ConradDesigns

Baking Bread

You may recall in a post a few days ago I mentioned transporting sour dough starter across state lines.  Well, that was not how I described it but that is what I did.  I brought home sour dough starter from Virginia.  And Saturday I baked 3 loaves of bread.   I meant to take pictures of the loaves fresh out of the oven, but we dove into the first loaf so fast that all thoughts of a camera were left in the dark corners of my brain, crowded out by the smell and anticipation of the taste of warm bread.  If I do say so myself (as my Great Grandmother used to say) it was delicious.   Thank you Ann McConnell for the starter and recipe!    I gave one of the remaining 2 loaves to our pastor and his wife, she is from Radford, VA which is pretty much where the starter originated from.   I will, as the recipe says to, pass on a cup to a friend.   And I "fed" the remaining starter so it lives on and I can keep making bread.  Wahoo!

Still need to post a few pictures from vacation.  Will get to that soon.   Have been painting a bowl of tomatoes too.   It's coming along.   I moved on from another painting that was holding me back on painting altogether.  In the meantime I have had another idea about how I could paint the same scene and have more fun with it.  It's time to paint a Christmas Card, or two or three which means I have to start looking through old winter photographs and old Christmas cards for "inspiration".