It's Halloween Week.........

And the Great Pumpkin will rise up out of
his pumpkin patch
with his bag of toys for all the good
children.

-Charles Schultz,

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Special Days this Week..

October 28: National Chocolate Day: also the Feast Day of St. Jude, patron saint of desperate causes.

October 30: National Candy Corn Day

October 31: Do we need to remind you? It's Hallowe'en! AND my Birthday, (also National Caramel Apple Day).

Blessings to All this Hallowe'en Week,

Barbara

Primitive Stitching.........

"A Haunting We Will Go" by Stacy Nash made into a pillow.




"October 31 Pinkeep" by Stacy Nash. I made this chart because my birthday is October 31.


I love to do counted cross stitch, as if you didn't already know this! Well, I have discovered Primitive Stitching, it's still cross stitch, but the charts are older looking, very simple, and when they are distressed and baked in the oven, they age! This is Wonderful. I really got "hooked" on this when Tanya Anderson of The Sampler Girl, http://thesamplergirl.homestead.com, started a new group for Stacy Nash groupies. Stacy designs primitive charts and they are beautiful, wonderful, and each to stitch. Check her out at www.stacynashprimitives.com. The above two charts are ones I had in my stash and after Tanya started the group, I pulled them out and stitched them up. Today, the postman was good to me and brought the five charts I had ordered from Stacy, herself. Here's what I ordered...Christmas Partridge Pinkeep Pillow Pattern...Homespun Christmas Pinkeep Ornaments...Jack Treat Bag and Pinkeep...The Perfect Pumpkin Pinkeep...Winter Woolens Cupboard Sampler Pattern. I have other charts ordered from Pineberry Lane, The Primitive Needle, Primitivebettys, and Plum Street.

Tanya had a "Hallows Eve" party this past weekend for the SNG, and we had a blast. It was sort of like a slumber party, but much more fun. Tanya had party favors (free charts from Primitivebettys and Tanya herself), pumpkins to decorate, and drawings from designers. Stacy gave each of us one of her charts, and we got to choose which chart. Now wasn't that generous! We talked stitching, horror movies, food (we had to bring food), and we did all this in the comfort of our own homes. Now you can't beat that!

Here is one of the recipes posted by Kim:

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE SPREAD

1 8-OZ package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, or similar)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Serve with cinnamon Graham crackers and/or bagels.

This is yummy.

Blessings to All,
Barbara

Silver Dollar City

Last Thursday I was signed up for a Cooking Class in the new Culinary & Craft School at Silver Dollar City in Branson. We are just under 2 hours from SDC so we visit there often, purchasing season passes each year. My class was scheduled for 11 a.m. and we arrived shortly before 10 a.m. The photo above is what you see as you come around the bend coming west from highway 76, and it is the entrance to the road to SDC. Just Beautiful! We entered the city, I picked up my ticket for the class (also picked up my ticket for the class I am taking on November 6, which will be pies), the class this day was Savory Dishes. I was not too sure how this class would work or just what Savory Dishes would be.....but soon found out. We made our way to the new building, which looks just like someone's home, both on the outside and inside. When I checked in, the young lady at the desk asked if anyone in my party would like to take the class with me, I told her it was just myself and my hubby, and she said "Well, I just have one ticket left, if he would like to take the class", after looking around and discovering there were other guys in the class he said "sure, why not". After standing in line for a short while, we were admitted to the kitchen, which is any woman's dream...BEAUTIFUL. The classroom was set up like one of Emeril's cooking shows. We sat at one of the high tables, by the fireplace, one other lady from Liberty, MO joined us. Each spot had a Midwest Living Magazine, a recipe card for a pumpkin cheesecake, and a recipe for the days Savory Dish, which was to be Harvest Skillet. Now this dish is one you can purchase at different places in SDC and is very yummy. Our culinary master, Debbie Dance Uhrig, was a pure delight, not only in cooking, but keeping us entertained during the hour long class. The recipe turned out to be very simple to make and very tasty. One I can even make at home, when I occasionally cook! The hour simply went by much to fast. Hubby and I both enjoyed the time and the taste treat. After the class, Wayne said he thought he might like to take the pie class also, so we got him signed up for that class with me. So you know where we will be on Thursday, November 6.




Yours truly with one of the many decorations around SDC. The decorations are all just beautiful.



More of the decorations!




This is a tree made entirely from pumpkins! There are two of these located at you walk into the entrace to SDC.



This is the world's largest cornucopia filled with pumpkins.




September 11 - October 25 has been National Harvest Festival at SDC. This photo is just one of the many old time farm equipment which was featured during this festival.




Who knows what these figures are made out of? Any guesses? Well, they are made out of BUTTER, yes......they are carved out of BUTTER!







As we were leaving we stopped to see the draft Mules they had come out of Oklahoma to be on diplay during Harvest Festival. A couple of times during the day they are hooked up to a wagon and enter the city for people to see, pet and ride in the wagon. A wonderful experience for children of all ages.

If you would like a fun, entertaining vacation, I would suggest Silver Dollar City in Branson. Branson, the town itself, has lots to offer for all ages.

COME VISIT SOMETIME.

A Day Away.........

This is the front & back of this cannister.



This is the two sides of the cannister.

Isn't this a beautiful ceramic cannister....and it has SUNFLOWERS on it. This is something I purchased in Eureka Springs, Arkansas yesterday. Wayne and I took a day trip with our local YMCA. This is the first trip that the "Y" has planned and taking, and we were asked to be a part of this trip. There were 43 "Y" members on this trip. We left the "Y" at 9:30 a.m. arrived in Eureka Springs at 11:30 a.m. Lunch was served to us at the Basin Park Hotel, which is in the center of downtown Eureka Springs. Now, this beautiful town sits on the side of a mountain and is VERY HILLY. It is sometimes referred to as "Little Switzerland", and I can certainly understand why, as I have been to Switzerland. After lunch we were on our own for about 2 hours to shop, visit the museums and historic churches. The cannister above was what I purchased at "Back Porch" shop. A very cute two room (very small rooms) with loads of beautiful items stuffed into it.




This is what I purchased at the cross stitch shop...3 Pine Mountain kits and 5 pieces of 16 count Aida fabric.

The photo's below show the inside of the fabric shop we visited. Elizabeth, the owner, opened the shop 36 years ago. All of the stitched designs on display in the shop are ones she stitched herself. You can certainly tell she loves the craft and she is a very lovely, gracious lady. She and her DH are wanting to retire and travel, but finding good help that knows how to cross stitch is not easy. I do believe she has a chart from most every designer. The shop is just full of everything.



The name of the cross stitch shop is "Fleece and Flax". I'm sorry the photo is not very clear, but we had a very cloudy day.










Well, what do you know...here you have me and DH, in the photo below, aboard the Belle of the Ozarks, cruise boat. Which was part of the trip to Eureka Springs. It was a cruise on Beaver Lake. It was very enjoyable, but it was COLD. We saw the Ozark Bluff Dwellers burial ground, a submerged homestead (the owner plants his gardon on his roof), and we cruised around a 200-acre game preserve island. We saw a beautiful bald eagle sitting on a dead tree and finally took off in flight, and he was beautiful in flight, so very elegant with his wing span. We also came upon a Blue Heron, and a deer. The foliage was just beginning to turn. Even though it was cold, this was the highlight of the trip. Oh, we also saw Beaver Dam. You can check some of this out at www.belleoftheozarks.com.





This is the 200-acre game preserve island.




Eureka Springs is a very old town and the city fathers have tried to keep the town authentic. It is said that the Basin Park Hotel and the beautiful Crescent Hotel has ghosts, but I don't think I want to find out! There is much to do and much more to see in Eureka Springs. We also made a stop at the Fudge Shop for some much needed sweets for then and some to bring home. We also needed coffee and doing all the shopping, so we stopped in at the coffee shop for cappuccino's and a yummy, very large peanut butter cookie, which we shared. Wayne also stopped in at the Leather Shop and purchased a new wallet (I'm not suppose to tell, but he washed his other wallet in the washer!) Shhhhhhh, don't tell, or I'll get in trouble!

All-in-All, it was a very enjoyable day and DH didn't have to drive, no parking to worry about, as the bus dropped us off in front of the hotel for lunch, and came back and picked up there. The people traveling with us were very friendly, many of whom we knew, and some we had not seen in a while, so we had some good visits.

I hope I didn't bore to much, but thank you for reading and looking at our day. Please leave a comment, I would love to read what you have to say.

Blessings,
Barbara

Fall decorations, an Autumn swap, and 2 finishes.....

These two photo's are the pumpkin I made this weekend. I took a couple of separate patterns and combined them to make the pumpkin. I think it turned out really cute.




This is the Fall decoration on my dining room table. In a post a while back I showed you the turkey and pumpkin I came across when I was cleaning out closets, that our son had made back in grade school. The other pumpkin is one I made this weekend.




This is the pinkeep Joni made for me for the Autumn Swap, that was held on one of the online groups I belong to. This is so beautiful and certainly reminds me of October. I love it Joni.




This is the entire collection of items Joni sent me for the Autumn Swap. She not only made the pinkeep, but included some limited edition GAST threads, an Autumn decorated notepad, and a wonderful packet of pumpkin patch scented envelope. Thank you ever so much Joni.





This is from the chart, October 31 pin cushion, designed by Stacy Nash. I love this small token to Halloween. Instead of using it for a pin cushion, I put a twine hanger on it and hung it up, as a reminder for my DH, cause my birthday is October 31. The large safety pin and buttons are out of my MIL's button tin.




This is the Autumn Sampler chart, from LHN, I finished about 10 days ago. I showed it when I started on it. I am going to do the other seasons in this series and make them into a quilted banner.

October Is......................

October. I love the month of October. The trees rain down their leaves, the evenings and early mornings are chilly (sometimes just plain cold), apples, apples cider, pumpkins and all the delicious recipes for pumpkin, mums, corn stalks, Halloween and trick-or-treaters, hay rides, chili, beef stew and cornbread, AND my birthday!