a Post-Storm, Shipping UPDATE ~

I am SO happy to know that so many of my friends/followers/customers ~

have NOT beenm affected by the devastating 'SANDY' storm ~

we experienced high winds, some flooding, and in higher elevations, almost 2 feet of snow....
SOoooo

I wanted to say, that orders that were placed between the end of last week and today ~

will ship TOMORROW (November 1st)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
please let me thank you IN ADVANCE for your patience, & KINDNESS throughout this time of recuperation...

 

I value each & every one of you~

 

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

 

A Merry Hallow's Eve to You!

 

~ Merry Samhain ~

 

~ Happy Hallowe'en ~

 

~ Blessed October ~

 

 

 

Wishing you all safe travels!!!!

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

Surviving the Storm ~

Safe & Sound here at the farm ~

no loss of power, no trees down.

 

not so lucky for others, especially for our family members in Connecticut.

Keeping you all in my thoughs while we recover.

 

while being hunkered down, I decided to dye up a batch of 30ct Olde Farmhouse Linen ~

because I will be offering the Christmas/Winter patterns available in kit form, and because I just sold out of what I had of it in my Etsy shop ~

 

I really stained it good & grubby and I LOVE the look...

the 'spots' and faded areas, the wrinkles and creases
helo to make it look like it was found in an attic somewhere...

I will be offering some in my Etsy shop in a few minutes...
please let me know what you think?

and, I've received quite a few emails regarding the beautiful green & red sampler in my current header up there....isn't it SO pretty?

no, it isn't mine or in my personal collection ~
I found the picture online somewhere and it is an actual antique...

some of you have asked if I will be 'reproducing' it and I'm happy to say that I will be

designing one similar to it in similar colors, as you can see by the DMC floss below:

Had to show you a picture of my little cast-iron hand/statue ~
'she' helps me with my stitching by holding a tiny little hoop, good old scissors
and a velvet strawberry made by Stacy Nash

how cute....

the picture below shows a framed wedding photograph that I've had for years...
25 yrs, to be exact...

I love the look of old photos ~




but, this photograph is not old ~
it is a photograph of Peter and I, taken on our honeymoon 25 yrs ago!!




we honeymooned at Mounty Airy Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of PA ~
{{which was all the rage back in 1987...}}


we were out for a drive and happened upon a photography studio named

"Lucky Ned Pepper's Picture Parlor"

where for a small fee one could be dressed in period clothing
and have your picture taken in sepia-tones ~

 

we thought this was thee coolest thing ever, and I'm so glad we did this...
don't we look fabulous??
look at that expression on Peter's face!!!
I, on the other hand, look ghostly...

but

that suits me just fine ;)




 

 

well friends, must get back to my stitching...

hoping you all have a creative & SAFE day wherever you are ~

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

S. Claus & a Cheesy Pincushion ~

Miss Flea finished up the model for S. Claus ~
...and I am in the process of 'playing' with this cheese box.

have to figure both out a bit more ~

****

 notice that S. Claus has a pair of scissors in his mittened hand?
(i thought you would )

*****

 I love Flea's finish, but don't love mine,
 ~ so I will take it all apart and start over again....

the general concept of a huge pincushion in a box is good,
and as you can see by my sloppy stitching
&
crooked placement of motifs
that I was in a hurry to 'see' it somewhat finished...

what will S. Claus become??? any suggestions?

 in the meantime, I'll get to work on the finish of S. Claus.

not really sure what it will be, perhaps I'll put it in one of my handpainted frames,...
we'll see :)
 

*

with hurricane Sandy looming, I have the woodstove going ~
we are all safe & snug in this little farmhouse,

and all of my outside friends are safe & warm as well.

 

Hoping you are all safe & sound where you are!

 

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...
Lori

just another obsession ~

 

 

So after yesterday's visit to Mizz Pat,

Joan, Flea & I ventured down the road to 

"Cottonwood" quilt shop in Charlottesville, Virginia ~

it really id thee best place to find my favorite repro fabrics & such ~

 

I stocked up on fat 1/4's and fat 1/2's of fabric in my favorite color palette ~

blues, browns, creams, reds, cheddars...
in cotton and flannels ~



I brought my stash home and directly set them in this old wooden carrier ~
see the brown and red velvets?

only good things can come from these !

 

 



beautiful to my eyes ~

I'll set them in my view for a couple days, so they can inspire me ~
all of those colors, designs & textures...

 



then I'll turn them into wonderful things for the upcoming Christmas/Winter season...

I'm even planning on having an online event!!
(more on that to come)

 

((that black box, below, came from the Simple Goods show, ca. 2009))
...it holds my TV remotes and other needful things




after we left Mizz Pat's cozy-home yesterday, and after we left Cottonwood,

Joan & I (unfortunately) had to drop off Flea....but...
then Joan & I went to a couple MORE shops where I found this O L D cheesebox ~
the blue paint killed me dead, so I had to have it...
THEN I realized it hailed from Virginia ~

THEN I realized it was dated....
"1876"

really????
how could you not be mine??




"STAR of Henry...Bright Pounds, Leatherwood, VA...
oh...my poor Henry....

 I will be making this cheesebox into a large, make-do pinkeep...
I just have to choose the fabrics for it ~

 

a little damage never disourages me ~ I see thee potential in all things!

...such wonderful stenciling in olde blue paint...
i wish our goods came in boxes like they used to.

a damaged corner will never stop me...
this only adds to the charm of the finished 'look' I'm going for ~

I'm sure you'll be pleased as well.

 

 



like age spots or wrinkles, we accept them...
a little character to authentic goods only helps to quicken my heartbeat ~

never heard of Leatherwood, VA ~

 

Flea has given me the model for
"S. Claus"
now I just need to figure out what to do with it...

meaning,...how will I finish it?

a wall pocket? scissor holder?

 

Stay tuned for that tomorrow ~

I'm sure I'll come up with SOMETHING!!!!

 

I want to thank you all for following my blog,

for your dear comments and email's
 You ALL need to know that I LOVE blogging ~ it's on my mind every minute of every day ...

I find SUCH JOY in preparing a post and taking pictures that may interest you,
OR
keep your interest ~

It fills my heart to know that you visit me so often ~

 

Please ~~~~~BE SAFE in the upcoming HURRICANE SANDY ~
we have bottled our well-water, charged our cells phones & laptops...bought more candles and batteries that we will 'prolly EVER need ~
my thoughts on this??? she says with a grin:

that WALMART created this storm, only to "UP" their sales before the election or holidays..
((really, i DO know better, but the ALARMIST Newscasters & programs have gone waaaay beyond their normal coverage this time ~ dont'cha think???)))

 

oh my stars....don't get me started!!!!

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

The Healing Power of Friends ~

ok...so we all know that the past few days have not been happy for me...and I do THANK YOU ALL for your comments and emails regarding my poor, sweet Henry....

I am trying desperately to put the tragedy behind me and move on.

and

with the help of Friends ~ I slowly am.

So...today, we were invited to visit a Dear friend of mine...she opened her home to me, Joan & Flea...
(oh she had no idea what she was in for...)

but

we knew exactly what we would find on her end!!!
I will not share her name with you till the end of this post ~
soooo...
see if you can guess who it was that we visited...

here's a hint...she has more wool than anyone deserves to have...hahaha....

(just kidding...she USES her wool, unlike folks like myself that just  "collects" it...)

 

um, yeah,,,this room is full of wool ~

"She"  is a most-popular Author of 2 widely popular books on Primitive Rug Hooking ~

and has taught NUMEROUS classes on the subject ~




really??? this stash is all for ONE person????
 

 we had no idea she suffers from such a sickness...

(well, ok....we did 'cause we do too....just not to THIS extent!)

we teased 'her' that we could strip nekked and roll around in this room...sick? you betcha!...

Here's another hint....she loves cats as much as thee rest of us...

 Here is Mizz Clancy ~
a beautiful, FRIENDLY Tuxedo-kitty that lives in this maginificent home,...
any idea yet who it is???

Mizz Clancy knows SHE owns all of this wool...
'nuff said.

"THIS PERSON" owns more books than I...or Joan...or Flea...

OR I ~ JOAN & FLEA put together....

oh and I must say that all of her books are grouped by category...
quilting, fraktur, cross stitch, wool applique...



a seriously organized bookshelf...BUT
 with touches of whimsy & fun!!

{{have you guessed who's home this is yet???}}

ok, here's more to help you...


THIS room is just one room where she creates HUGE hooked masterpieces...
(and humbly, I must admit as I am swollen with pride, that she hooks MY designs!!)



"HER" interpretation of my 'Spring Messenger"

oh, here's ANOTHER of her sewing rooms....
yeah, she has a 'couple'....
...each one is perfectly appointed with her favorite collectibles and handwork.

 

 



her seing table with work-in-progress...

ok...if you haven't guessed yert, here's a candid pic of her (and Mizz Flea)




More of her handwork...a humongous hooked rug

(like she hooks SMALL rugs....NOT)

 

LOVE this one ~ and all of them ~




a wall of wool....HOOKED, that is...

oh ~ the talented hands that have created these!




another BIG rug...

really???

have you guessed WHO yet?

her talented Hubby created ALl of the wonderful woodwork in their home...

transom light windows, built-in fireplace surrounds,,,a KITCHEN-To-DIE-For!!




Simply & Subtly appointed home...
with NOTHING the homeowners do not collect or love...

quiet, colonial, & folky...

BE STILL MY HEART ~





not only has she TAUGHT rug hooking for years, ...
she enjoys taking classes from Folk Artists that she admires...

(I'm fortunate that she likes my designs & collects my work as well....)

she baked us pumpkin-muffins and fed us well...she brewed us fresh pumpkin-spice coffee too
(I'll be up till at least 4:45 AM because of this, so call me.... hahaha)

so here they are...
the Girls that Fill my Heart ~!
(L-R) Mizz PAT CROSS, Mizz Joan & Mizz Flea...

 

((with Mizz Clancy in the middle...
no, she wasn't pooping...my camera 'caught' her just as she was setting on one of Pat's rugs!)))





 

Oh Mizz Pat ~ THANK YOU for many years of Friendship...
and for allowing three crazy, caffiene-induced women into your home...



 

YOU are a beautiful, wonderfully creative soul that I have thee pleasure to call
F R I E N D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
((thanks for putting up with me!!))

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

Sad Day at Notforgotten Farm ~

 I woke yesterday morning to find that my beloved, 14 year old, blind Indian Runner Duck, Henry
had been snatched from his coop by some woodland animal...

to say that I am upset is an understatement.
Peter & Hannah brought home two tiny little yellow fluffers one Mother's day long ago for me ~
little Henry & little Joonie

Henry & Joonie weren't even able to play in water yet, as their feathers hadn't developed their waterproof coating...everyday, my then 4 yr old Hannah would ask me
"can they swim today Mommy?"
finally the day came for them to swim and from that day forward,
Henry & Joonie were a delight to watch and love.

sadly, Joonie passed a couple of years ago, but Henry....my old boy Henry was so devoted to her
that he turned most of his affection towards me (and the feeling was mutual)
Slowly, Henry aged ~ as each year passed I could see that he would stumble, and his eyes were fogging over....he was going blind.

everyday i would hand feed him freshly dug worms to make sure his little belly stayed full ~
and he was so used to my voice and knew his name so well that when I called to him,
he always replied...
 

my sweet gentle Henry & dove friend this past summer...

 here is the hole in the chicken wire where he was taken from in the middle of the night....
no sign of him except for a few feathers...

I am heartbroken.

 I so wanted Henry to live out his life here with me, and i had prepared myself everyday
to perhaps find him to have passed on ~ but this ~ not finding him has torn out my heart...

everyone here seems a bit sad today....
there seems to be a bit of a somber feeling to the barnyard ~

poor Buddy,...

even the roosters were quiet this morning ~

unusually quiet morning

 and poor Lazy & Buddy ~ I think they tried to scare off whatever it was...
I believe it was a tag-team of Fox...
one fox entertains the dogs on one side of the property,
whilst another fox moves in for the kill ~
I've seen it happen one other time.
I don't blame them one bit for what's happened...they are Good Boys and take the best care of us here.

Lazy...watching the woods.

I even walked all over the property & through much of our woods yesterday,
looking for a sign of poor Henry ~ but found none.
so he is gone and hopefully with his Beloved Joonie again in a beautiful, big sparkling pond all to themselves....
We will miss him terribly ~

Thank you for loving me Henry, and for allowing me to love you.

even Toby is sad.

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori

Tinsel Towne christmas card keeper finish!

finished up this awesome little box last night ~
...I am so pleased with how it finished up!

 

can't wait to get my first christmas card to keep in here :)

I wanted to keep it less "Christmas-y" and more
"Winter-y" so it could stay out all season long ~

but I had to add the jingler-bells for fun ~
((they are simply pinned on so they can be removed...))

jingle all the way!

 I thought at first I would cover the box with fabric,
but that turned out to be a challenge because of the lip on the bottom of the box,
so I base painted it black then comb-painted it in a muted sage color paint...

*

I painted the inside of the box black too,
then added old yellowed book papers to the bottom & inside of the lid ~
I'll likely toss in a handful of whole cloves,
some dried tangerine peels and a couple of dried pine needles ~
together they smell like Christmas to me.....




*

 and I wanted to dress it up just a little more, but still simply,
so I tied a length of crinkle-ribbon 'round the sides ~
looks like a pretty little package waiting under the tree!!

waiting to be filled with Holiday Joy ~

 and you can see that tarnished silver pipe-cleaner I told you about,...
really helps make the finish so old looking!!

tarnished silver ~ love!!!

 

 and as you can tell by the look on his face, Iggy approves of my project...
although he was quite smitten with the pre-tarnished pipe-cleaners and
'borrowed' a couple of them for his playtime fun!!

Hi Ig!

So there you have it ~ 2 of 4 new projects to fill your winter days-to-come...
as soon as the models are stitched for the next two, I will be putting togather kits for all 4 new designs and should have them released by November 1st ~

 

Hoping you all enjoy this beautiful Autumn day!!!

 

Blessings from Notforgotten Farm...

Lori