The Last Rose of Summer

Last autumn when I was blessed to live with my Grandma for several months, we enjoyed her beautiful rose bushes up through November. They were literally "the last rose of summer." =)

It seemed fitting that my last apron offering to the shop be that of roses.

By the way, everything is 10% off, and eventually I'll be marking down as time goes on before I go to college.

Berry Picking

They are fun memories to relive when I think of all of the wonderful times berry picking when I was a young girl. Where we are now doesn't offer such delightful fields, but right in my own home there is my fabric bin that contains fabrics that I could pick from, and this is what I chose:

"We just told you, Father. We were berry picking!"
"...It's, uh, to early for strawberries."
"Well, it's been so cold lately they've turned blue!"
(a few favorite lines from the film, The Sound of Music)

Well, this apron doesn't feature strawberries or blueberries, but it does feature many raspberry delights: in the fabric, the large button from my stash, and the delicious vintage rick rack. It's up for grabs in the SHOP this morning.

of Cosmos, Books, and Tasha Tudor

The seeds that barely made it turned into shoulder height plants of beautiful Cosmos. Just now they are flowering profusely. Do they make good cut flowers? I'm tempted to try it and put them in a vases for the bedrooms.

This morning I became inspired to look through my stash for something inspiring to make, and towards the top was this lovely Waverly fabric that I made in a Tasha Tudor style apron. It of course has pockets that hold my little antiquarian books. It, the highly-sought-after book is not for sale. Sorry if I had your hopes up!

The apron is, however!

Must run and check on the batch of Tasha Tudor's cornbread muffins (from her recipe book) that I have in the oven. I added some bacon fat to the batter. Here's hoping they'll still taste good!

An Enormous Tote

With preparing to go to college, at least one tote bag is on my list to bring. This afternoon I went through my stash and found the perfect fabrics to make one up for the shop. After all, I'm not the only one going to school!
A sister happily obliged to show it off in pictures. Like it?

Cappuccino Muffins

Last night I brought a batch of these to a ladies Bible study I'm apart of (anyone familiar with Beth Moore?) and they were a great hit! I can't claim it as one that I came up with, as I believe it came from a recipe book of some kind.

Cappuccino Muffins

2 c. all purpose flour
½ c. sugar
½ c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
2 t. instant coffee granules
1 t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. salt
1 egg
1 c. milk
½ c. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Topping
6 T. all-purpose flour
¼ c. brown sugar
½ t. ground cinnamon
¼ c. cold butter

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, coffee granules, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.

For topping, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield 15 muffins.

Yes, I am sewing!

My posts these days have been rather sporadic, but that doesn't mean a lack of sewing on my account. I've been sewing up what seems to be a whole wardrobe for my mother! =) She like jumpers, and it is a fairly easy pattern of buttons in the front bodice and gathered skirts with hidden side pockets. Today I cut out two of those for her, and am hoping to get them both done by tomorrow. Only time will tell.

Over the weekend I was able to get a few tatted bookmarks done which I was happy about. Tatting is time consuming for me, but watching the new "Emma" with Romola Garai certainly helped pass time as I sat away making hundreds of knots! My sisters prefer this version to the other two, and while I agree it does seem to stand out more than the others (perhaps the longer length that makes the story easier to follow?) I must be honest to say that I still like the others ones almost as equally. Give me any Jane Austen movie, you'll get very little complaining on my account.

::sigh:: I wish I had enough yardage to make a Regency dress. They really are fun to make even if I end up selling them all. =)

In Knots

Yesterday while watching the new version of Emma (which I really like!) I pulled out my shuttles and crochet thread and started having fun with knots.

That is, tatting. =) It has been several months now since I've done anything with hand work, and nearly forgot how pleasant it is. I finished a few bookmarks yesterday, and am wanting to finish a few more this weekend to add to my online shop of bookmarks.

A Slice of Cherry Pie

Today I've been reminiscing about my times spent in MI during the autumn season, and making cherry pies in the kitchen with Grandma. It has gotten me in the mood to make a cherry pie, but unfortunately we don't have any frozen cherries around (hint: Get either fresh or frozen. The canned stuff just doesn't cut it!) and so the closest thing that I could come up with is an apron.

Terrible, aren't I? =)
If you're a cherry pie lover, you might be glad to know that it is in the SHOP this afternoon! =)

Going Out of Business

Well, I never imagined this would happen, but God is putting the details together for me to go to college this coming January down south. For nearly half of my life time I have known that the Lord would have me pursue music, specifically in violin. Not for my own reputation, fame, or career, my chief desire in pursuing music is to use it in ministry.

Because January will come sooner than I think it will, at the end of this month this blog will no longer be updated and will become an archive. Many, many thanks for all of you who regularly visit the blog and those who have been gracious to leave comments here and there. It has been wonderful!

I do have a music blog, which I mentioned a few weeks (months?) ago and that will be updated, though perhaps not consistently. If you'd like to read it, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you the link!

Summer Days

This month I've been enjoying the pleasures and delights of summer, and had put sewing on hold for a good week.
Earlier this week I was able to enjoy the first tomato from our garden. This year we have Roma, Celebrity, and Better Boy growing. Normally you would find Super Fantastic and Heirloom varieties in our garden also.

The other day my mother, older sister, and I tasted the delights of Celestial Seasonings tea. We sampled dozens between all of us, both cold and hot, and went on a free tour to see where they make the tea.

We of course took advantage of their tea shop in the adjoining building.

Reading back issues of Victoria magazines is also another favorite pastime on the porch...

...or reading any other book for that matter. Last week I received a book from amazon (and got it for free, thanks to swagbucks!) and read it in less than 24 hours.

Of course, I must not forget to mention the brown paper package tied up with string that arrived on my doorstep this morning, thanks to Lanier's new bookshop. Yay for another antiquarian book!

And on some very hot days, sometimes I wish I could curl up in a chilled sink like Charity so easily does.

How have you been enjoying your summer?

Zucchini Pie

Tonight we made a new recipe. Mom asked what we should make for supper, and I replied, "Let's do something fun!" We pulled out a cookbook, Farmhouse Cooking, given to use by some Mennonites, grabbed some zucchini out of the freezer, and made Zucchini Pie. It is deeeeelicious! Even our picky younger brothers gobbled it within minutes! If you have a large family, or hungry brothers, you'll want to make two of these.

•Zucchini Pie•

3 c. shredded zucchini
1 small onion, diced
1 c. Bisquik
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/4 t. salt
1 tsp. parsley

Mix all but the last ingredient together and pour into greased 9" pie pan. Shake pepper (opt.) and parsley on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. May fry a little bacon and crumble in batter (I poured in about 1/4 c. bacon bits, as we don't have any of the real stuff right now), or dice in a little ham before baking.

Purple Roses

THE ROSE
by Ronsard, 1550.

See, Mignonne, hath not the Rose,
That this morning did unclose
Her purple mantle to the light,
Lost, before the day be dead,
The glory of her raiment red,
Her colour, bright as yours is bright?

Ah, Mignonne, in how few hours,
The petals of her purple flowers
All have faded, fallen, died;
Sad Nature, mother ruinous,
That seest thy fair child perish thus
'Twixt matin song and even tide.

Hear me, my darling, speaking sooth,
Gather the fleet flower of your youth,
Take ye your pleasure at the best;
Be merry ere your beauty flit,
For length of days will tarnish it
Like roses that were loveliest.

But look! In an apron, your purple roses won't fade away for a great length of time!

A Time to Breathe, a Time to Relax

Mother is home. She and my older sister went out east for nearly two weeks, and I while she was gone, I got to fill in the role of "mom" which is partly why I did that series of button-showcasing. With doing meals, laundry, cleaning, errands, appointments, church picnics ... there just wasn't anytime to sew!

Now that she is home, I should have some more time to catch up on some reading (if you love antiquarian books as much as I do, be sure to visit Lanier's new bookshop! Oh to have money to spend on books!!!) and of course, turn my sewing machine back on. Believe it or not, I have nearly a dozen aprons cut out and ready to sew from just about all of my apron patterns so keep your eyes peeled on the shop this month as I seek to fill it up.

Should get back to my garden. For weeks (months?) I've barely been out there, and just this morning I was able to get a good half of it done. Believe me it was no small chore, yet in a way, being out there is relaxation too. Oh yes, there were bugs in there too that I've only seen in Science books from when I was in school, and my garden has always been for the most part bug and creepy-crawly free. ::ahem:: Yes, it was that bad my dears!

The Button Collection: Metals

This is probably my favorite group out of all of them. There is something unique about silver and gold buttons.
I wonder where these buttons would have come from. I'd like to imagine that they came off of an old uniform of some kind.

These rhinestone buttons sparkle and dazzle in the light!