a hint of Autumn?...

for the past couple of days,
I've been detecting a slight change in the air~

our Blcak Walnut trees are laden heavily with humongous nuts,
and their leaves are beginning to turn yellow and gently drop....

the ground near the barn is covered with green and brown
walnuts, ready to be made into a stain for my folk art~

even some of the pine trees have turned colors ~
will we have an early Autumn??

I look to Nature for slight suggestions...the squirrels are busier it seems,
and the sheeps' fleece is extremely thick already...

yet, in my vegetable garden,
rows of tomatoes, bent from the weight of their fruit, remind me still
that there is enough of Summer left to enjoy...

...their little cheeks are blushing with ripeness
and almost ready for canning~

the smell of tomato plants is one that lingers in my memory all year long.
reminding me that, the hard work put into something will reap many benefits...

sow something...
or

sew something...

either way, it will nourish your soul...
and connect your hands to your heart.

*Blessed be, my sweet Friends*

~Lori~

Oh My!!!

Oh how I LOVE LOVE early graphic quilts!!!
they sure make my heart sing!!!

...but when I find one in my favorite colors,
like black and white, or
cheddar and green....

well, then, my heart sings, dances and giggles!
oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!

just look at this beauty that came to live with me today...
absolutely stunning in it's simplicity
yet so detailed with design that it boggles my brain and
makes my eyes go all funny!

it hangs on the line right now, airing out from what were probably years of being indoors...
musty smelling and almost damp to the touch...
she's out there swaying in the breeze and soaking up the positive energy of the sun.
I shan't leave her there long, though, for she will begin to fade quickly I'm sure!

She will grace the tabletop of my booth at the Ghoultide Gathering show...
adding her primitive 'BOO' to all who see her.
then she will reside with me in the farmhouse...
tucked neatly atop a favorite cupboard,
lending me a little glimpse of Hallow's Eve all year long!!!

ahhh...old quilts warm my soul in many ways!
Blessed be friends,
Lori

Perfect Country Weekend!!

where does one go for the perfect primitive needful for our home?
to a good old Cabin Sale!
This is my friend Donna Smith and her husband Don's beeeeautiful cabin
in Afton Virginia...

...that's where i was yesterday,
demonstrating and selling some of my rugs & punchneedle pieces...

her little cabin is just perfect for her antiques and primitive sales,
and she asked a few good country friends to join in on the fun!


dolls and textiles from Hen House Primitives,

Mike Marshall's handmade furniture...

Cabin in the Woods (from North Carolina) beautiful booth

country wares...

clever displays!

I had a great time there with friends,
I even learned to play the Mountain Dulcimer, and now I have to buy one for myself!!!

you can see more of Donna's offerings on her website:

www.picturetrail.com/southernstarantiques

Today will be spent going through my house...
I have again, as in the past, somehow cluttered it all up again with little knick-knacks and tchotchkes that I really don't need, so I'll be boxing them up for a yard sale...

after being in Donna's cabin, and seeing that clean, refined and uncluttered look, I have to get my little farmhouse back to that...
a breath of fresh air!!

Do any of you find yourselves doing the same thing?
or am i just wonky?

Blessed be, Country Friends!!

~Lori~

TGIF !!!!!

ahhhh....friday morning...6:30 am

....the farmhouse is so quiet & still...
(except for Suzy, my black kitty,
who is my constant shadow and wants her breakfast & bellyrub!)

She follows me around, yawning and mewing at me!

I like to take my cup of tea and walk in the yard early like this...
...so very peaceful!

our butterfly bushes and hibiscus are in full bloom,
providing nectar and shade for the little hummingbird moths
and other silent, winged friends....

I enjoy my home, the tranquility of it and the respite it offers family & friends.

I've finished my little walk, grounded and centered myself for the day ahead, and am now beginning the day working here in the shop~
I've samplers to stitch, laundry to hang and weeding in the front garden.

life is good...
...make it so.

I wanted to let you know also, that Kris, at
www.spruceridgestudios.com
has released more new rug hooking patterns that have been adapted from my artwork...
please have a visit, click on the 'patterns' link,
look for Notforgotten Farm
and enjoy all that she has to offer of my designs!!

Have a *sparkling* day, Friends...filled with every little thing you love!
Blessed be,
Lori

Hannahs' coming Home!

after 2 weeks at Disney in Fla., my little girl is coming home!

this is the first time ever that she's been away from home so long, without Mom & Dad!
(i know, she's 14, but she's still my babygirl!)

I can't wait to hear all about her trip, see her photos and hear her laughter
upon reliving her trip~
I know it will be a hoot !

I'll post pics here for you to see, once she 'ok's' them! ha!

Welcome Home Hannah!!!
xoxoxoxox

Love, Mom & Dad

And the WINNER is.....

Mandy of Fiddlestixstudios!!!!

Congratulations Mandy! ~
You are the lucky winner of
Twitch
my adorable little pinkeeping Squirrel!!!

My thanks to all of you that have posted, with your concerns of my family,
and for following my blogs!

Mandy, I'll be sending you an email shortly!

*Blessed be, sweet Friends*
~Lori~

Photo Phinishes...

Please phorgive the phonetic spelling, pholks....
I'm just in a silly mood!

thought I'd share with you these three photos of my latest
Halloween Cross Stitch designs
all finished up!

...sometimes I go months before actually putting the 'finishing touches' to a completed design
(I know all you stitcher's and/or designers out there can relate! c'mon, admit it!)

Here's The Goodwitch Sampler:

...made into a pillow, rag stuffed, I backed it with a piece of
orange/black plaid wool
& added two-toned tassels
with rusty pins and jingler bells to the corners...


Here is Skeleton Keys:

yep, another pillow!...this one is backed with cotton flannel in
brown/black/beige/mustard, rag stuffed...
now, mind you, I'm no seamstress...but I thought I'd try my hand at a ruffled
edging on this one...came out ALL wonky, so I trimmed the ruffles off with pinking shears and I LOVE the short, scrappy look it has now! ha!

and here is Hallow's Nigh, my favorite...

I simply sashed the edges with two different cotton prints,
and backed it with a piece of osnaburg...
Little pins & jingler bells on the corners of this one too!
(the poem is an original poem by me!)

So, there ya have it pholks, glad I finally phinished these!
let me know how you like them, and hey, thanks phor putting up with my zonkiness!!

Blessed be!

Lori

Poppy's coming home!

Talked to Mom this monring, they're ready to discharge Poppy today!
YAY!
they're giving him some new meds to keep his platelette count up, so that should help with the pooling of blood under his skin...

Many thanks for your thoughts & prayers for our family...
it's been a rough couple of months!

Blessed be!

~Lori~

Update on Poppy~

Talked with Mom this morning,...
she said they're receiving conflicting reports from Poppy's Dr.'s...

One Dr. said that he should be ready to be discharged today (friday), another says no, his blood platelettes are still too low in number to release him...

why is it that we have to put ourselves into the hands of people
that can't even get it together for the sake of our health and lives?

Dr.'s are SO consumed with filling their prescription quotas,
meeting their ever-increasing malpractice insurance rates and

dealing with the parasitic insurance companies, that they hardly have time to actually care for their patients...

give me a good-old-fashioned country doctor anyday...

I remember, as a child, going to Dr. Noonan's office with Mom~
his office was always in his own home, and smelled of vitamins and rubbing alcohol...his wife was his nurse and receptionist, and he always had a stack of Highlights for Kids magazines in his waiting room...
I loved visiting with them, they were kind, gentle
and I knew that they were their to take care of us....

we were there to pick up Mom's 'tonic'...
a big brown glass bottle with a paper label that had some foriegn

(to me, anyway)

writing on it telling her how much of this tonic to take daily.

One Big Tablespoonful....
oh I envied Mom that she could take that magic potion!!

I remember it smelled like iodine and had a color like whiskey
(that was probably it's main ingredient! ha!)
I begged Mom to let me taste it once...
wow was I ever suprised....

it tasted like the tarnish on a silver-spoon!
(and I never bothered her for it again...ugh.)

Mom swore by this liquid energy in a bottle...

she was never sick, had no headaches, no maladies that I can remember...

When the 70's and 80's rolled around, Dr.'s no longer prescribed such things...
pills were now the norm, and private Dr.s' offices closed up
to make way for Emergency Health Care Centers
and big, shiny sterile and downright scary buildings...

~now I don't even want to GO to the doctors...
the waiting rooms are chock full of people with who-knows-what and

a walk down memory lane....

It just seemed simpler then,...
a doctor knew what you had and treated you for it.
...and you could pay him with a huge chocolate cake with cocoa icing
or some fresh veggies from your garden...

Hope you come home soon Poppy!!
xoxoxox

Blessed be, friends~

Lori

A Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

isn't he cute??

his name is Twitch...

and he needs a good home!!!!

Twitch is made from 3 different types of German Mohair...
on his tail, back & belly.

he has little tufted ears and wire hands to hold his prized acorn
(made from wool and muslin)
he loves to sit upon his pincushion and help you stitch,
although he has a tendancy to steal your pins
(he likes shiny-things)...

So, if you can find room in your little sewing corner,
and wouldn't mind sharing your pins and needles,

Twitch would love to come live with you!

to be eligible to adopt him, all you have to do is leave me a comment here on this post~
in one week (7/21) I'll pick the lucky folk's name from my hat !!!!

Best of luck Twitch!

Best of luck Folks!!!!

*Blessed be*

Lori

p.s. please keep my mom and family in your thoughts, my stepfather has been hospitalized
with internal bleeding: he is on cumadin (sp?), has prostate cancer and the dr's think he may have leukemia~he just turned 80.
he's a retired police officer and very active in the Masonic Lodge.

I love you Poppy, get better soon!

a view from my garden.....

Brown-Eyed Susans

Pink Coneflower

Yarrow

Creeping Mint

Succulents

Lambs' Ear

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

every morning I take a stroll through my herb gardens...
and every morning i am pleasantly suprised
to find subtle yet striking changes that have happened overnight.

...what was a tender bud yesterday, has blossomed into a beautiful flowerhead,
or what was once verdant and green, has now shriveled and is

yielding to make room for yet more new growth...

...so is life.

we sometimes can't see the subtle changes happening, but they're there, nonetheless.
family members and friends change for better or worse,...
babies are born, others in our lives...die.

accepting change is something that makes us unique as an intelligent species...
being able to adapt to changing circumstances in our lives
enrich us and make us whole.

make us passionate.

make us fallable.

make us human.

if changes did not occur, the whole 'garden' that we are planted in
would become stagnant, and eventually die...

embrace change, relish it and don't concern yourself with how it will affect you.
keep positive and things will turn out ok.

they always do...

wishing for you the joys of positive change in your lives!!!

**BLESSED BE**

Lori

New Cross Stitch Pattern Release!

"Lancaster County Alphabet Sampler"

model shown stitched on 18ct. severely stained aida cloth

stitch count: 180w x 126h

finished size (on 18ct aida = 10" x 7")

model stitched by my Mom, Elda Elizabeth Geiste Smith
thanks Mom!!!

xoxoxox

Available for purchase now, 8.00 per paper pattern
email me at not4got@aol.com

will also be available on ebay later this evening!

Blessed be, sweet Friends!
Lori

Good to be HOME!!!!

Hi Friends~

Hannah & I arrived home monday evening...
tired and raod-weary from the long drive to CT.

She is leaving on Saturday for Disney in Fla. for two weeks...
(Peter & I will enjoy a little time together here at the farm...aaaahhhh)

Wanted to say that all orders that were placed while I was away,
will be shipped out today and tomorrow...

all orders and purchases that were made before I left have been shipped!
woohoo!!!

I have some pictures that I want to post here and on my Midnight Farm blog,
and will try to do that maybeeeee this evening.

glad to be home, now it's back to work for me...
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go!!!!

~Blessed be~

Lori

~homesick~

isn't it funny how we yearn for vacations...

a little time away from the hustle-bustle of our everydays?

we prepare weeks in advance for a little time away,
shopping for new clothes for the trip, incidentals, packing, mapping our routes.


finally the day comes to leave home...

gas up the car, pack the cooler, bring plenty of water, snacks, road maps and directions.

when our destination is reached, we hurry to unpack and 'get settled',
then it's off to here and there, visiting this and that and him & her.

...then slowly, surely, thoughts of our own bed and comforts creep back into our minds...
the familiar sounds of my farmhouse are sorely missed as I sit here at my Mother's computer in Connecticut...


Sirens have kept us awake for two nights now, and mornings are startled awake by the churning sounds of car engines being started by neighbors waaaay too close...

I miss our regular morning revery of roosters, and the Baaaa-ing of our sheep.
being lulled awake by the little velvet paw of my sweet cat Suzy, who usually wants her breakfast by 6:30 a.m. ~ and of course, the commotion of husband/daughter getting ready to start their own days...

today is thursday.
i'm packing, mapping our route to head up to Guilford, CT for another 4 days of
'vacation' with the 'other' side of our family...

then we'll pack again, gas up the car, map our routes and get directions...

we'll head back to our beloved farmhouse on monday july 6th...

there's no place like home.

Blessed be, sweet Friends,

~Lori~