About that tree..............

.....Yeah....ummm......I never did go get the artificial tree from the attic.  I have a very nice, prim tree, a very BIG german twig tree but I just wasn't feeling the "fake" tree this year. 

So, there it was, two days before Christmas Eve and I had no tree.  It was bitterly cold that morning, I was contemplating my tree dilemna as I dressed to go across the road to the barn to feed the stray kitties.  This is a whole other story!  Do you know, we feed these strays, twice a day.  They are currently residing in the very bottom of our small barn.  We heat milk for them and bring them their food.  Kinda like room service!
ANYHOW, I thought since I was going out, in the snow and wind to feed them, that I would look in the field for a tree.....a small tree, since I didn't know where the Mr. was keeping the saw.  So, I grabbed a steak knife, Yes, a steak knife, and headed out.  I fed the cats, and them tromped thru the field thru the wind and snow until I found a little grove of the most pathetic trees you could ever see!  BINGO!  I couldn't decide, I eyed them all from every direction, finally deciding on one with a trunk I thought I could take down with a steak knife!  LOL  I "sawed" and "gnawed the trunk from every direction but I think it was frozen.  Got down on my knees in the snow and "sawed" away.  I'd saw some, then pull the tree some and then saw more on another side.  Finally there was enough that I could pull the tree over and snap the trunk.  I dragged my tree to the house, carrying it up the driveway easily because it was so light as there just wasn't much to it.  I was almost to the house and my daughter-in-law opened her back door at just that moment, took a look at my tree, and exclaimed, "What are you doing with "that thing"????

I tried to hide the steak knife but she saw it...........(I've been the brunt of many a joke over the past week)
Anyhow, I told her she would see, it would be great.  Major eye-roll here.  I got it in the house and then devised a way to make it stand, in water, inside my giant crock all without a tree stand.  I'm not even going to go into that because you all would think I've lost my mind at this point but, I did get it to stand! 
Poor thing, it didn't get decorated until Christmas Eve day, I had to let it thaw.........and it was subject during this time to ALOT of ridicule.

However, I did decorate it.  I did not use any of my normal tree decorations except for the lights.  I then added dried orange slices, and these plastic icicle ornaments from the 1950's that I've never used until now.  I then strung two bags of cranberries and added these to the tree.  It needed something more.  So that night I made these big gingerbread cookies and when they were cooled, I strung them on red cording and hung them as well. 

I love my tree.  I hate to take it down but it does need to go now. 
This is the best picture I could get of it, my camera really is not cooperating with me lately but  you get the idea!!

Might have to do this next year as well.....maybe string some popcorn then too.

A winner and one more giveaway.....

...Donna - Countcrafts!
Congrats, you won!

Not to worry, if you didn't win, I'm going to draw five winners on New Years Eve for one free pattern.  If you have already gotten in on the first drawing, you are still in.  If you haven't, you have until New Years Eve, 7 p.m. EST to do so.  Rules are same as the original drawing.  Best of luck to all!

A BIG new giveaway and Merry Christmas to all!

Our family Christmas party was a huge success.  There was wayyyy too much food but who's complaining!  The little grand daughters sang a nice round of Christmas carols for us, dressed in their Christmas finery!  So cute and serious they were.

This week is filled with baking, cooking and cleaning in preparation for the big holiday weekend.  In you busy lives, my wish is that you would stop and think about the true meaning of Christmas, the ultimate gift that God could give us, our Savior Jesus Christ!!!!!

In the spirit of the season, I want to do my own giving, and so I'm having giveaway-last one of this year.
I'm calling this one, The Twelve Months of Christmas.  For the coming year, one lucky winner will recieve one free pattern each month of their chosing!  Any pattern at all!

In order to get in on this one, you will need to be on my email list, or be a follower of my blog, or post this giveaway on your blog, or just simply comment on this post.  You will get your name added to the contest for each of these.  That gives you alot of chances to win!
So, good luck to all, I will draw the winners name next Monday, Dec. 27 at 7 p.m.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Party time!

Tomorrow evening, our family will have their Christmas Party.  Me and my family, my sis's and their hubs and kids and spouses and grandkids and our Mom, we are such a large group now that we needed to rent a place in town to hold our party!
So today and tomorrow is being spent wrapping gifts (NO MORE PLEASE!), cooking and baking.
There's a rumor that Santa Claus is going to make an appearance as well!  The kiddies don't know it yet!
Have  wonderful weekend everyone!!!!

Open mouth, insert foot.....

.....so just "maybe" I should have listened to the Mr.  I haven't decorated this tree yet, I've only hung a few strands of lights on it.  It's dropping needles like mad......
Yup, I know, the artificial tree wouldn't make a mess.

So now I'm afraid to light the tree because it's kinda dry and I don't want a fire....and I'm tired already of the mess.
Crazy.

Probably it's the stove making it dry out..... at least that's what I think.  It's been so cold out that we've had that thing burning non-stop!  But I figured it would be okay because I put this tree in the dining room.  Oh well.

So I mentioned to the Mr. that I should maybe toss this one out back and pull down one of the *gulp* fake trees.  He thinks I'm nuts, he said just deal with it.
Tomorrow, after he leaves for work, I'm going up into the attic *shudder* and fetch myself one of those fake trees and then give this bad boy the ol' heave-ho.

Too bad.....it was starting to grow on me.

....More Christmas tree drama....

Tonight I went out.  Shopping.  Did I mention my shopping was done weeks ago?  That's the trouble with finishing early, your brain doesn't know it's done and it keeps wanting to shop.  It's like I'm an addict, a Christmas shopping addict.

So anyhow, we went out and left the tree home alone....with the cats.  Now if you have cats, you know the equation, Christmas tree+cats=disaster.
NOT THIS TIME.  My cats don't even want any part of this tree.  Heehee!  There's the confirmation, this is one bad tree.

But of course, you do know they are waiting until there is something ON that tree to make their move......

I "casually mentioned" to the Mr. tonight that I would need his help tomorrow with my tree.  "What's wrong with the artificial trees you have in the attic?"

Again with the artificial trees.  You'd think he'd give it a rest.  This tree is here to stay...well at least for the holidays.

I don't want to put it in a tree stand, nor do I want any of my Christmas ornaments.  We're goin' real simple this year.

To be continued................................

One VERY ugly Christmas tree.......

I finally got my Christmas tree.
If you can call it that...
I have not done any decorating yet, none.  Not sure what I'm waiting for.
I've been on the hunt for a "charlie-brownish" type Christmas tree.  Everytime I ask for one, I get weird looks, to which I add, "you know, a sparse kinda tree?"  No one is selling them, they all want to sell me a big, fat, bushy tree.  "Look here, this nice tree is only $40.00"........
Did I mention, I usually put up several *gulp* artificial trees?

Not this time, nosiree bob.  I want a real, charlie-brownish, sparse tree.

I was getting desparate, scanning the woods as we went down the roads.  I was even planning to trek out thru the snow into our own woods to find one.  (yeah, right, insert *eyeroll* here!)

So, yesterday me and my daughter-in-law and my grandson, aka Spiderman, hopped in the car and drove up the hill to my neighbors house.  He grows and sells Chrismas trees.  As we drove in, we were surrounded by beautiful trees, you know, the fat, bushy type.

So I hop out of the car, slide on the ice in his driveway, and smile stupidly as I ask, "Do you have any sparse-lookin' trees?"

He momentarily stares off into the grove of beautiful trees, still in the ground and says, "I think I do".  BINGO!!!! 
Bells and whistles go off, lights start flashing, "ATTENTION MAUREEN,   You have won the prize!"

Well, okay, it was only in my head. 
So he picks up this "tree" from the ground, just laying there on it's side.  I instantly fall in love.  It is sparse.  It is crooked and missing ALOT of branches.  There are even branches, snapped and hanging.  And to top it all off, one side is flat!
"I'll take it!"  I say, much to the dismay of my daughter-in-law.  She thinks I've lost it. 
"How much" I ask.   "Oh", he replies, "I could never charge for THIS tree".....I am persistant, I offer him $20.00.  "No way" he says, "I can't take money for THIS tree".
And so it goes until I finally get him to accept $10.00.
We stuff it into the back of the van and drive down the hill to our homes. 
I lean the tree against the back of my house, flat side against the house!

My hubby soon comes home from work, he is not impressed.  "What's wrong with all the trees you have in the attic" he asks?  "Nothing" I reply, "But LOOK at this one, isn't it great?"  *Major eyeroll here*

Later, after some gentle "prodding" I get him to bring it in for me.  "Where do you want this thing?"  I tell him to put it in the dining room.  He kinda shoves it into the corner against the wall, without a stand.  And there it rests.  Gonna have to get creative with this one. 
Here's some pics of it before he brought it in.  The pics actually make it look okay.

Note the crooked trunk near the top and sparse branches!

Nice and flat on this side!!!!  Don't be jealous!!

It's a girl!

Our third grand child is on it's way, due in the new year.  We just found out this evening that we will soon have another princess in our lives.
That brings the total to two princesses, one prince.....oh, I forgot, HE is spiderman.

God has truly blessed us................................

Snowman...

...Wow.  Two posts in one day.

I just put this guy on ebay.  I really like him but I never keep anything I make.  Really....I don't.  Ask anyone.  I do enjoy looking at them all temporarily but I never become attached to them. 

I'm kinda like a surrogate mom to all things prim! lol  I just enjoy making them for people who cannot make their own!!!

Anyhow, if you think you "need" this snowman, hop on over to ebay!

Snow.

Flurries.
That's what our news keeps saying.  We are getting "flurries", not enough to amount to anything.  Well, maybe not at the T.V. station but we have a good 6" of "flurries" on the ground and it's still "flurrying"...........did I mention I do not like winter?  I'll take it until Christmas, then I want all traces of this white junk gone, GONE.
Yeah right!  lol

Oh, I have my phone back, WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

I've completely lost it!

My phone, that is.  So if you haven't been able to reach me, you'll need to email me now until I find it.
It really stinks getting old!
lol

Christmas Open House, New patterns, etc.

Today began the first day of my Christmas Open House at our lil country shop.  Overnight we had a light dusting of snow so it really set the mood!  While it was sunny outside, it sure was cold, COLD.  But that didn't stop the shoppers from coming out.

We are also having open house next weekend.   This will give me a whole week to make new stock for the shop.  Then I plan to close up for the winter until April. 
It seems every year, the holidays creep up quickly and I never seem to just relax and enjoy them with my family.  This year I plan to do just that!
I will still do my ebay and patterns and might even put out something new when an idea pops into my head.

The patterns are ready.  We have "Standup Kinda Guys" and "Deck the Halls"  They are each $10.50

"Standup Kinda Guys" is the standing santa pattern.  Deck the Halls is the pattern for the snowmen.  I've taken several pics to show you what you can do with this one.  I made standing snowmen as well as a snowman head ornie and even put one in a wreath.  Sold that wreath real quick today!

As always, email to order.  Or if you prefer, the patterns will be on ebay this weekend.  Have a good weekend, stay WARM!

Standing Santa Doll

...my version, anyhow.  I was originally making this guy fat.  A fat santa, standing.  But I wasn't too keen on him so here's the newer, slimmer dude.  Must have gone to Jenny Craig or maybe it's just that he hasn't eaten any cookies yet.
I'm making these for my Christmas Open house at my shop this weekend and decided that I would put out the pattern for him.  I also have a way cute snowman that stands but I won't have his pic until tomorrow.  There are more aspects to the snowman pattern, it'll be a good one for sure.

Anyhow, both patterns will be available for purchase by Wednesday so keep watching for more pics and the pattern releases!

It's a tough life.....

.....I had to spend almost every day here for the past 11 days!  We just had 11 glorious days in Mexico, on the carribbean on a small island called, "Isla Mujeres", the island of women.
We've been vacationing here now for 21 years and have made many friends, more like family at this point.
Bear with me while I try to catch up, if you have been trying to contact me and have not received a reply by the end of today, please email again.  My sister tried her best to handle business for me while I was gone, but there were a few family emergencies......
For now I will share a few photos with you.

The view from our room:

Dark clouds with the sun streaming through.  Even a bad weather day on vacation is better than a good weather day at home!

Doors of Mexico!

Me and my hubby, nice hair, eh?  But who cares?!!

The wind surely had a mind of it's own and on about the third day or so, I gave up mostly trying to do my hair!

A Doll and fixins too!

This sweet girl is on auction on ebay, just decided to let one go.  I've listed her on ebay so if you think you'd like to have her, hop on over to my auctions.  This doll also comes with a bonus.  A nice generous portion of our "Farmers Field Fixins".  Smells sooo good and it comes with a dropper bottle of refresher oil.

We also have the fixins for sale.  One bag of fixins + one dropper bottle of refresher oil for $10.00 + ship.

These are the very ones that are a free bonus with my doll auction. Shoot me an email if you are interested!  They smell of apples, oranges, and sweet spices!  My perfect "recipe"!
Me and Mr. SweetMeadows are getting out of town for a bit, really NEED a rest.  I will be able to check email and all orders will be taken care of by my daughter.  If I'm lucky, she might even answer my phone! lol
I don't suppose she'll want to clean the house though...........*sigh*....but at least I can count on the animals being taken care of.
I hope everyone is having the best of days!

Maureen

This needs to be said......

Please spay or neuter your pets!!!!
 I can't stress this strongly enough.
We purchased our home almost 18 years ago.  It is in a rural setting and we have a small barn.  Well, it has been like a magnet for those wishing to "dump" their cat.  Over the years I can't tell you how many cats have been dropped off in front of the barn.   Like they are supposed to just fend for themselves and somehow make a home and feed themselves.....makes me angry.  I'd like to catch just one of the jerks that does this.
There are four stray cats now living in the barn across the road from my house.  Some jerk dropped off a pregnant mother cat and she had a litter.  My husband crosses the road twice daily with food and milk for them.  We called all of the shelters in the area and they say it's an epidemic.  So, today my sweet hubby drove 45 minutes each way today to get the safe trap so we could collect them one at a time.  The orange tabby was in it within 30 minutes.  My hubby got back in the truck to make the 45 min. each way drive, AGAIN, to drop the cat off to be neutered.  At our expense.  We are going to do all 4 of the cats and allow them to be outside cats, living in the barn across the road, having meals delivered twice a day.
Not bad for being strays, eh?!
But then, we love our animals.  As I type this, one of my inside cats is sleeping on MY bed with the electric blanket on low.......because that's how she likes it!
We now have 3 cats in, 4 cats out.....some chickens and a rabbit.
That's enough for now.
Guess I'd best get sewing dollies faster, we have more mouths to feed!

Cookies Anyone???

I've been working on these for my Christmas Open House at our lil prim shop next month.  I made one, liked it so much, I made 3 more.  Now I am going to offer them in pattern form because I think everyone should have some cookies!

I'll have a better picture when I can get better lighting but I couldn't wait to share!  Click on the picture for a larger view.
I drew up the pattern, got the directions done and I'll pick up my pictures tomorrow.  So, they will be ready to go Monday.   I'll give you the exact brand and color of paint as well as techniques for the shading on the icing.  These babies are 14" long and are quick to make.

I just wish I had come up with this idea before my last show. 

Stayed tuned, I have more patterns in the works!

If you would like to order this pattern, send me an email with your payment preference.  Blog price is $9.50 + shipping.

The Show is over!

It literally is!  We had our last show over the weekend, it was three days long.  The first day I pretty much got wiped out of dolls, I actually only had 5 left by the end of the last day.  We also sold tons of my hubby's wood stuff so there was little to pack.  It was a great show, the weather was fantastic and the crowds were buying for sure!   The pumpkins were a huge hit, I brought ALOT of them and I sold all of them in the first two hours except for one lone one and that one sold later on.
Now for the bad news, I forgot my camera.  I was so mad at myself as our booth looked sooooo good on the setup day.  There's always next time I suppose.

I'm happy to be home and spent a good part of today cleaning my seriously neglected house!
I can't wait to sew again, I have some new ideas that I want to put together AND we have our Christmas Open House weekend at our little shop coming up in November.  Busy, busy, somewhere in the middle of all of this, we will be taking an 11 day vacation!

If you are planning on attending our open house, just email or phone me and I'll give you directions.  Should be a good time as we are already planning to get to work in the next day or two. 
No rest for the weary, eh?!!
lol

Wool, wonderful wool!

I have to tell you about this wool. I have purchased alot of wool for my dollmaking over the years. Some good, some okay, some bad, BAD. I've gotten some wool, just shoved into a bag and a mess to work with. Welllllll, recently I took another chance on some wool and I'm so pleased I want to pass it along to you.


Linda's wool comes to you, all lined up and ready to use. Yeah, that's right, lined up! Each section of wool is lined up and placed atop each other. So nice to just pick up a piece and go. No more pulling, "untangling" and trying to find the "ends" of each section of wool. This is nicely stacked and nicely prim looking and fast shipping too!

She has an artfire shop, click on the url below and check her out yourself. Tell her I sent you!


http://www.artfire.com/users/BackWoodsWonder

Sweet Annie!!!!

If you, like me, love the smell, texture and look of Sweet Annie, then you can never have enough!  Which is why I grow my own.  Sweet Annie is easy to grow and can get very tall.  I harvest mine when the seeds form, the leaves will appear to be replaced with tiny golden balls. 
I've cut a huge bunch this morning, it is now all in containers filled with glycerin and water.
If you choose to air dry your Sweet Annie, it will eventually fade to a brownish color and will be dry and shatter easily....making a nice mess.
By preserving in the glycerin, it retains a green color and a "softness".  And best part is, it still smells wonderful!
I mix 3 parts of water with 1 part of glycerin in a glass container and immerse the freshly cut stems.  Don't overcrowd the stems.  In approx. 1 week, I remove the sweet annie and if there is anymore water in the container, I allow the cut ends to dry.
Purchasing glycerin can be costly if you are not drying ALOT of sweet annie.  However, if you want to give it a whirl, you can purchase a small bottle in Walmart for under $5.00 in the first aid section.
Right now, I have many glass containers of sweet annie scattered around my house, preserving away!!

October 2013 update:

I found this site with info on preserving so check this out as well!!!!!:

http://www.gardenguides.com/100493-preserve-sweet-annie.html

And yet another pattern!

Ever since I made "Dot", I've had repeated requests for her pattern.  Well, now I have the pattern available.
It's a very easy doll to make, and quick too.  Easy doll, easy dress, easy hairstyle.  Who doesn't like quick and easy!??
I've also done this "attached head" differently.  You'll like this new way, it's much neater looking on the back on the doll head.  There's also a pattern for the tiny crow.
Now, the best part , this pattern is just $8.50 + shipping and there's even a pair of buttons included for her  dotty eyes!

Want to order, simply email me or purchase from ebay:    sweetmeadowsfarm@yahoo.com

A mountain of pumpkins

I've got quite the pile of pumpkins here for my show.  They are in pattern form, I'm calling this one "Farmers Field Pumpkins".  There are several styles of pumpkins in this pattern as well as different stem options.  Some of these stems look so real, some of just plain old sticks!

There are little patty-pan pumpkins, I actually grew real pumpkins that look like these.
Then we have a few different sizes of these next pumpkins.  I first designed this style of pumpkin for a past scarecrow pattern and now I have them in sizes.

And then there's my fave ones, they took quite a bit of "wrangling" to get the sections just right.  I have this style in 2 sizes.

 

I have different options for color, fabric, etc. as well as instructions to make those real looking stems, staining too.  Believe it or not, they make up pretty quick!  I like to put some of these with my dolls for sale.  The patty-pans are great for little dolls.
Farmers Field Pumpkins is $10.50 + shipping.

My Lil Prim shop

Well, I tried to take pics of my shop but after a couple the camera died.  Figures, so if I remember to charge it up I'll get more inside.  This is on one side of my shop, this is the view we have that is right across the road from the front of my house which is where the shop is.  We have a very small barn and my husband renovated half of it for my shop while he has his woodshop on the other side.  It is really very pretty here, if only the winters weren't so cold and snowy.

I decorated the front of my shop for fall and around the sign but I don't have pics of the sign.

Got one shot inside, facing the cash register, I'll try to get more when I get a chance or remember to take my camera in with me. 

Currently we are open weekends only  until Christmas.  Then we close until April.

Speaking of Christmas, our Christmas Open House will be November 19 thru 21.  If you plan to be in the northeast area of Pennsylvania, be sure to stop in and say Hi!  Or take a nice drive!

About that Morning Glory fiberfil.....

....I know so many are trying to purchase it without having to remortgage your home!  You can purchase it at the moment from Amazon for $12.99 per 5 lb. box.  AND, if you spend $25.00, shipping is free.  Well 2 boxes will get you free shipping.  BUT, here's even better news, buy 4 boxes and pay for only 3 with free shipping to boot!  Can't beat that deal.  But of course there's always a catch.....shipping is in 3 to 5 weeks.  So, if you can wait that long and just use *gulp* "the other stuff", then it seems to be a nice deal.  Now, I don't know how long this deal will go on so maybe you want to act fast....or not.  HeeHee, I'm just passing along info that might be helpful to someone!

By the way, I use "the other stuffing".  I actually prefer "the other stuffing"!!!!
Have a wonderful Sunday.

This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Fall Tour

God really blessed us this summer in our garden.  We shall eat well this winter, freezer is full, shelves are filled with canned goods.  The weather is still holding up nicely so the bean plants are rebounding as well as the zucchini and yellow squash.  We are still picking okra, escarole, swiss chard, cabbage and tomatoes....TONS of tomatoes ripening now.  

But it's time for pulling in the fall harvest.  I've taken a few pics, I didn't get a pic of the haul of pumpkins but I did get a pic of a GIANT pumpkin that grew outside the garden fence in the weeds.  This thing will have to be moved with a dolly or by several men.  You cannot tell from the pic but it is huge. 

Our sunflowers are absolutely beautiful and in many colors.  They have hidden the garden fence.  You can barely make out the prim garden gate.

This year I planted swan gourds for the first time.  Most are about 2 feet long. 

We also have a nice crop of butternet and spaghetti squash.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Ugh.....Grrrrr.....Bleah!

Yeah...that's how I feel.  My hubby had surgery a week and a half ago and life has been hectic to put it mildly.  Pretty much everything here fell on my shoulders.  I feel buried, unsettled, scatter-brained, and overwhelmed.  Top it all off with a 3-day migraine.

Now, here's something positive to come from this!  My hubby is feeling much better, he has about 2 months of recovery before he goes back to work though.  My migraines seem to have subsided today...WHOOHOO!
AND, I now appreciate my husband sooooo much more as I realize exactly how much he actually does around here!!

So if you've emailed and are awaiting a response, not to worry, I WILL get to you.  If  you are trying to order, I WILL get back to you. 

I have a show in 3 weeks, then it's home to prepare for our Christmas Open House at our lil prim shop here.  So much to do, so little time, eh?!

I made a wheelbarrow FULL of pumpkins, I'll snag a pick for ya shortly!  Hope you are all enjoying the fall weather, I hate to see summer leave but now that it has, I'm in full-on-fall mode.  If we could just skip winter.............................................

Heads are gonna roll........

....seriously.  I've decided to sell some heads.....lol.  Actually, I am going to offer the sewn and stuffed heads, along with enough fabric to complete the body too for my new pattern.  Some folks have trouble with "rounding" the heads so I've done the work for you.  If you bought the new pattern, or are considering purchasing and you are intimidated by the round head, then this is for you!

Should have heads available in the next few days, stay tuned!  I won't be making the bodies, only the heads.

Yippee!

My hubby's surgery went pretty well and he is doing nicely.  Alot of pain though :(
I do thank everyone for the prayers, God is good!

Well, with Mr. SweetMeadows out of commission for awhile, everything falls on me.  I have to do the canning, feed the animals, pick veggies, etc., etc.
That doesn't leave alot of time for sewing but I do have a couple nekkid dollies waiting for clothing.  Hope to finish them soon.

Tonight I canned salsa.  It'll be a nice reminder in the winter of the tomatoes that were so fresh this summer!  Tomorrow I must pick beans and probably can some jalapenos and maybe some pepper relish.  Our shelves are becoming quite full, the freezer already is full.

The two new patterns are ready to go so if you would like to order, simply shoot me an email.  They are $10.50 each and if you buy both, shipping is absolutely free!
Have a great evening!!!

Maureen

Past-tyme Playmates and Meow Mix!

Hmmmm.....you might say!  These are the names for my new patterns.  Since I chose a combination of different names, I will be sending a free pattern to a few people. 
On another note, my husband is having surgery tomorrow so if you have emailed me or do in the next day or so, I might be a little late in answering.  Keep Mr. Sweetmeadows in your prayers tomorrow morning!

I will update here on the available shipping date for the new patterns.  It will depend how tomorrow goes.  Until then, take a peek at the pics and Oh, I almost forgot, I am listing the cats on ebay tonight as well as another cute, chubby raggedy doll.  Just click the link to the right of my blog for ebay.

Monday, Monday, Hip-Hip-Hooray!

I'm not crazy....really.  But I do like Mondays.  Weekends days here are always packed full of chores, outings, etc.  This past weekend we did alot of canning.  ALOT.  This morning I leisurely got up, got it together and now I'm passing my morning in front of the computer....sipping coffee that my dear hubby brought to me.
It just doesn't get much better than that.
He even comes to "top off" my cup when it gets low!  What a guy!

Today I will put the finishing touches on two new patterns, AND choose a name for the doll pattern.  I have so many entries, both here and via email, THANKS everyone!  By early evening they will have their name and tomorrow the printing begins.

Enjoy your day, it's a fine one here in northeast PA!

Name that pattern!

I have a few new patterns almost ready.  However, I don't have a name for one of them so I'm going to have a lil contest here.  I have a pic of the dolls here that are in the pattern.  They are 13" long, fat round heads and oh-so-chubby little short legs!  You'll just wanna squeeeeeeeze them for sure.

If someone can come up with a good name for this pattern in the next 2 days, AND I chose your name, I will send you the first pattern of these dolls for free.

You may post your entries here or email if you like.
Oh, and if you think you need to have one or both of the dolls, I have them listed on ebay right now:  My Ebay, click here!!  Thanks in advance!!

Maureen (who is stumped at the moment)

Just a little bit catty......

Sneak peek, that's all I'm saying!

What I'm doing and show report!

Okay, I guess this pic tells it all! lol  Well, not all.  This week, I've been canning tomato sauce, freezing beans and peaches and baking.  Yup, peach shortcakes and even a peach pie and cinnamon buns.  The garden is surely giving us quite a bounty and we will eat well this winter.  Next week it will be more beans, two kinds, and blueberries too!

There are pumpkins beginning to turn orange out there and swan gourds hanging on the fence.  There are about 3 BIG pumpkins and a bunch of smaller ones.  Winter squashes are under every plant as well.  We've already harvested potatoes and onions and corn, carrots and yellow squash and zucchini.  We are waiting on more tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, okra, cabbage and brussel sprouts.  This week we will be eating fresh swiss chard and fresh escarole.  Can't forget the herbs, we have basil, parsley, oregano and sage as well as cilantro.

Oh, let's not forget the watermelons too!  We have been so blessed this summer and I thank God for providing all of this.

The show was good.  The weather was perfect and I hardly had to pack up any dolls to take home.  They are now proudly displayed in our shop.  I really need to get some pics for you all to see.  Very soon, I promise!  If you are in the area or feel like taking a drive, we are having our Christmas Open House on Nov. 19, 20, and 21.  I'll post more about that at a later date as I don't want to rush summer out the door!!

Off to the show!!!

Well, I'm leaving shortly for the show.  If you are planning to go, be sure and stop by and see me!
It is located in the streets of Lititz, PA.  There are 800+ vendors so it's a great day out and the weather looks to be nice!
It's tomorrow, Aug. 14.

Fall Into Winter...New Pattern!

Whew. One of these days I'll figure out this blog/picture thing. Until then you will have to click on each picture to get the full picture.

This pattern has been in the works for weeks, maybe months. Just worked on it here and there as I had time. It's a HUGE pattern, packed full to take you thru the Fall season, right into Winter. Hence, the name!

The dolls will range in size from 10" to 12" long. Here's a group shot!




First, we have the scarecrows. Two slightly different guys but both equally fun! You can embellish these guys with the little crows, also included in the pattern. Or give them each a pumpking to hold. There are 2 sizes of pumpkins in this pattern.

Next, are the Pilgrims, who doesn't love pilgrims!? These serious looking dollies are pretty easy to make and directions for them as well as their clothing are in this pattern too.

Moving right along, here is the sweetest lil pumpkin dolly. Check out her feet! You will recieve directions to make her as well as her clothing and also instructions for making her sweet eyes and face. Also included in the pattern is the candy corn she is holding.

Moving into Winter now, we have a fat little santa doll. There are instructions for making him and his clothing as well as the candy canes tucked under his arms.

And what is winter without a snowman?! This chubby guy is easy to make, you'll want to make a bunch for your shows!




AND, finally, all of the little ornies pictured are included in this pattern. You can make these up as bowl fillers, add a string for ornies, or tuck one or two into the arms of one of these dollies.

This pattern should keep you busy for a lonnnng time! I've got a box load of these dolls done up for my show.
Didn't I tell you this was a BIG pattern?!
Pattern is $14.00 + shipping and comes with directions for everything shown above as well as a supply lists for the "little things" you need to finish off your dolls and ornies.