~ Been a Minute ~

Hey there hi there ~
and a very happy first day of Autumn to us all....

 

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

~ if you have been a long-time follower, you know that I'm an autumn girl.
If you're new here, now you know!

my soul is filled with vines and berries, turkey feathers and mushrooms...
my veins liken to those found on ancient oak leaves,
and I crave walks in the cool, deep woods and weathered fields this time of year.
my ears are tuned to the owls' hoot and the scents of fall 

fill my lungs with an earthy-spice like no other.

 

 ...you can love your springs and summers ~
i'll humbly take the remains of those seasons and slip into a sweater and my old boots

and crunch my way along paths of crispy leaves and stinging frost.

gathering chosen treasures while harvesting sassafras roots
to make syrups for cold-weather coughs and colds...

...the foliage of our sassafras this year is gorgeous.

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

if you're a follower of mine on FB or IG
then surely you have read about the design in the photos below...

'Farmhouse Sweet Farmhouse'

..i'm charting it now.

((( like, right now... I actually stopped for a moment to give my eyes a break
and thought I would post here since I haven't since September 2nd. )))

since designing it and stitching it
(many moons ago, 2003)
and never having charted it, it is a bit of work
~ due to the staining I did to it when I finished stitching it...

thread colors are now hard to make out with older eyes,
plus the staining has darkened even more with age.
and even the bright white aida cloth that I stitched it on has mellowed into a yellow-ish hue.

I'm happy to be sharing this with my followers and friends.
the time just seemed right for it to be shared with those who have requested a pattern for it long ago,
and I love knowing that a fragment of my homespun memories of this old farm
will also warm your homes...

I'm hoping to have it charted and uploaded into the Etsy shop this evening
{fingers and eyeballs crossed}
if not tonight ~ tomorrow for sure.

enjoy your first day of autumn 2024.
walk in the woods, parks, fields or wherever you can outside.

breathe in this new season and exhale the stale past....
🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

 

Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ hooking for sanity ~

 

 Hello there ~

my helpers are here in the office with me this morning:
Ladybug & Grizzly.

 {look at lady's tongue lol}
Lady will be heading back home soon to see her mom {Hannah}
and brother, Willie ~
who again, is holding his own like the tiny trooper he has always been!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
the pull of the wool has been hitting me hard lately~
I guess the 'ber' months have always been good hooking months for me,
so since it's September......

I started this santa rug a few years ago...
and really do need to finish it now.
{ya think?}
problem is, I can't find the rest of the black background wool that I was using.
oh well., I'll use another....

this one is being worked on sporadically between other projects,

but I can see the finish line since outlining all of my motifs ~
not long before I'll be binding it...

I decided to create a hooking spot in the studio, that will be semi-permanent.
{it will 'disappear' during events & classes}
but I am thoroughly enjoying keeping the wool dust out of my old farmhouse!

those tied bundle that you see on my worktable are from
Diane at Wool-n-Wares on Ebay...
I carry them here in the shop and let me tell you they are PERFECT for anyone wanting to begin a stash or add to your stash-building repertoire
here is her shop link:
https://www.ebay.com/str/woolnwares

~my happy place ~

I wanted to thank all of you for your last comments on my previous post
regarding care-giving, & elder-care and nursing homes.
It's sad to know how many are effected, but knowing we're not alone helps.
 

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Hello September ~

 

Hello Friends & Folk ~

...and happy September to us all....

August has been a tough month for us and our family...

Beginning with the oppressive heat, drought and then too much rain & humidity,
our gardens were stunted, then decimated  by wildlife looking for food.
So we threw in the gardening towel, so-to-speak, and let Mother Nature do her thing...

AND SHE DID.
our shop garden, herb garden & vegetable garden are all a tangled mess of morning glory vine,
{beautiful in every color imaginable} and 'weeds' that we have never even seen or heard of before like 'spanish needle' {which of course my herb-crazy hubby now makes teas from}
...So Be It. we are embracing the wild-look!!!
{until some of it dies back and then we will weed, careful to collect seeds long the way.

On another note,
many of you who follow me on social media read previously of a trip to CT last week...
It never happened, we never went. We postponed the trip.
Hannah's dog Willie {see previous posting} became severely ill
and we could not leave him and head to CT
until we knew exactly what was going on with him, and how to help him...
Many emergency vet visits later, Willie was diagnosed with not having ANY platelets in his blood...
we seriously almost lost him ~ but thanks to good caring doctors and lots of love,
Willie is bouncing back again...{he is our little miracle dog!}

and, right before we were ready to leave for CT, on the 23rd of August {we were to leave on the 25th}
My sister in CT called to say that our mom {who is the main reason for going up to CT}
had a very bad fall from her wheelchair and broke her nose and leg!
We are not happy AT ALL with the fact that she was unsupervised and this has happened...

---> you can bet your buttons we are talking with our Ombudsman,
legal council and Masonicare of Wallingford, to get to the bottom of this
{which NEVER should have happened.}
Our Senior Health Care facilities are lacking in EVERY WAY nowadays, and people who are not in the position of having a family member in senior-care, just don't realize the heartache,
sorrow and downright horrors of these places.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Ok, onward...
my basket below, is filled with Tulsi {holy basil} and boy does it smell heavenly!
tulsi is a well-known herb used for anxiety and stress...
{helps wound healing, aids in digestion, may help with eye problems....}
I have recently weaned off of Zoloft, after being on it for over 20 years due to anxiety & stress issues
and am SO thankful I did!
🌿 Tulsi has been a godsend to me, in both tincture and tea forms. 🌿

I will hang this tulsi to dry, and some will be made into tinctures for our apothecary.
{many thanks to a dear friend for the knowledge of and sharing of tulsi!}

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I'm working on finished goods for our upcoming Halloween Open House, and thought I would make a few little doll-quilts {in my wonkiest-style 'cuz I'm not a quilter LOL}
I did come up with this small heart though, and thought it was quite cute...

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I also played with some spun-cotton, and made a harvest of 'poison' pumpkins...
they turned out ok, but I have miles & miles to go...

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I found this pic on my phone of two small hooked wool pincushions that I made a few years back...
I used mainly leftover scrap wool worms from other projects ~

I love them and think I'll make more for the open house too.

So there you have it...my news from Wobegone {Notforgotten} Farm

❤ ❤ ❤

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori