Conversation Starters

Do you remember these?

Hello Friends and happy weekend! 

When Necco went out of business,

conversation hearts were doomed too.

I have heard another company has

now taken over and will be making these

sugary sweets once again.

New England Confectionary Company

(NECCO)

was the oldest candy producer in the U.S.

starting un the 1840's.

Sold in 2018 to Spangler,

which sold the recipe to another company.

What was left in stores inventory was sold in 2019.

Spangler did start producing NECCO candy again

until last year.

My conversation hearts are non fattening.

No sugar.

Made from plastic canvas and yarn.

Stuffed and sewn together.

Did you eat either Necco candy or

conversation hearts?

Candy Blessings To All!

Janice

A New One

Hello friends!

Another week halfway over.

Recently I was eying a cupboard. 

This is a pine beauty that one of our vendors

of our antique store was selling.

It came home after a few months of deciding on it.

Now my first display on it.

This snowman my dad made.

The pattern on this graniteware cup 

us called snow on the mountain.

Perfect for a Winter display.

Now the rest of this display reminded me of 

gramma B's woodstove in the farmhouse.

She did not have a furnace, so those Winter

months the stove was constantly being used.

She would heat her sad iron on it.

The coffee pot was always full. 

She actually hung a clothesline

almost above it where we would dry

our socks, hats and mittens.

The stove also was means to cook our food.

No indoor plumbing either.

Not until I was a teen did she get

indoor heat and plumbing.

Can you imagine living like that nowadays?

We finally got some snow yesterday.

Only 4 inches, but enough for Tundra 

to romp around in it!

Enough for Bob to get the snow blower out...

he's been itching to do this for awhile now. LOL

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Winter Cabinet Blessings To All!

Janice

Cupid's Love

A little bit of Cupid's love for Valentine's! 

I grunged these in both light and dark.

Cross stitched the word cupids freestyle,

and then straight stitched the heart..  

Only made a few for the store

because I wanted to start on my favorite items.

BUNNIES!

Yep working on bunnies now.

Always ahead.

However this cupid is full of love to give too!

Each a bit different but thats why they are

so darn cute don't you think?

Am hoping all of Spring orders come in soon.

Am getting a bit nervous as I want to change 

our gift store over to Spring right after Valentine's.

Cupids Love Blessings To All!

Janice

January CupboardScape

Hello friends!

Hope this post finds you safe and well. 

I knew right away what this month's

CupboardScape was going to look like

when I pulled out my Winter picture.

Visiting my grandparents farms

in the Winter often found me 

looking out the window at the landscape. 

So with this post I imagined what 

it would look like out the window

of a colonial home.

A pretty Winter landscape out of a window.

With my quilt in lieu of a blue Winter sky.

With a pine tree overhead.

I will end this post with a poem

called Winter Warmth

Piles of snow beneath my boots

Chilly winds blowing everywhere

Snow keeps mounting on the posts

on the windows and on the roads

shovels outside

soups inside

hot and rich

chicken and corn

coming back from all of the work

this is what I look for

the warm chestnuts

the cracking fire

this is my winter warmth.

Author:  Sam

Winter Warmth Blessings To All!

Janice

                    

Au

A Winter Respite

At our gift shop. 

Now that all of the Christmas is packed away,

it seems a bit bare at our store.

I did leave the tall tree up and moved

it to this corner with just the lights on it.

Just a touch for a Winter respite.

A little bit of farmhouse.

Piggies and enamelware.

Oh and cheese boards.

A far cry from Christmas,

but each season brings out its own beauty.

I so love these galvanized houses and church,

that I added to my Winter bath look at home.

(will show in a later post)

A hint of Spring with these fern pots.

Pillows at the bottom.

The Winter fireplace display.

My mom was given a bunch of her sister's

crocheted and knitted throws

that she made so she asked

if I could sell them for her 

after she passed away last February.

We decided that a portion of those sold will

go to the charity of my mom's choice.

This is the first time I had put these out.

I did not take pics of all of them,

however a few have already sold.

More pillows, picture frames and medallions.

Next month Spring will arrive at the store.

Cannot wait!

We opened March 1st of last year,

and 2 weeks after opening had to close due to covid.

Hardly anyone had a chance to peruse our

Spring line then so looking forward to bringing

it back out...with more new items

arriving this month too.

Will set up for Spring after Valentines Day...

which BTW an area of Valentines has been out now.

Winter Respite Blessings To All!

Janice

A Virtual Party

 Hello Friends!

Back on December 26th we had a virtual

baby shower for my nephew and his wife.

They drove up from North Carolina for this 

and stayed with my sister.

I actually did see them in a store parking lot

for a few minutes as I gave them their gift.

One of many.

I will be a great aunt soon.

The first time my sister will be a gramma!

 I gifted them with this baby afghan.

I crocheted it and the pattern was called

A Farmhouse Square.

Now back in the day these were called

Granny Squares.

Guess they have to change the name to appeal

to the younger generation. LOL 

Any hoot..my sister told me the colors

of the baby room, which are gray and white,

so that is why it is this color.

I finished it with a few rows 

of white and a picot stitch.

(not sure why it is not straight here)

The mother to be.

This was a zoom call,

so I took a picture off my computer.

Me being sneaky. He He

You can see others on the zoom call at the top.

The proud parents to be.

Baby is due in February.

I also sent more gifts to their home.

Did not want them to have to drive

back home with a swing and more receiving blankets.

They brought their dog too, so the extra

packages were not needed at this time.

They live in the valley south of the mountains.

You can actually see the mountains 

from their home.

Bob and I have been there twice now.

They usually do not get snow, 

so Holly was very excited 

when we had a white Christmas. 

They had another shower back 

where they live on January 2nd.

This one was a drive by one for her side of the family.

My sister and BIL did drive down 

for a few days to be with them again.

Well off to work...walking to my computer.

Still working from home.

Virtual Party Blessings To All!

Janice

Going To The Skunks

Am late in saying this, but

Happy New Year!

I am back from my short time away,

The last time I worked on this rug

 was last July.

UGH

I managed to finish the skunk now.

Decided to hook a rug in animals

that had a meaning in my life.

Am calling it Animal Crackers.

Will feature a few stories 

with each animal I hook.

My first skunk story was when my sister and I

pulled into our parents driveway.

I was driving.

We had a pretty long driveway, and we had to

park our cars there and go through the front door.

On this particular night,

as I pulled into the driveway,

I thought I saw something on the porch.

We lived in the country, so no street lights.

I backed out a bit, and pulled forward

angling the car lights onto the porch.

Yep, a skunk was there.

At the time this happened, there were no cell phones.

Turning my high beams on did not scare it.

Turning my lights on and off did not scare it.

Honking my horn did not scare it.

Finally my dad wanted to know who was

beeping the horn that many times,

so he turned the porch light on.

Thankfully as he opened the door,

that skunk took off.

We were glad because we wanted to get out of the car,

and get inside.

My second story involves my mom.

My parents built a new house in the mid 80's

in the town they were from originally.

I purchased their old home.

We were helping them move in.

My mom and the kids were in the lead car.

My dad, first husband and I were in 

the moving van right behind my mom.

We were about 10 minutes from their new home.

Broad daylight, we see this skunk coming 

from the side of the road.

We see my mom hit it.

Arriving to their house my mom pulled in the drive.

We pulled in behind her.

Dad got out right away before she decided

to park in the garage.

The car stunk to high heaven.

Mom's car stayed outside for a week.   

Do you have a skunk story you would like to share?

Hopefully it won't take another 6 months 

before completing the next animal.

Skunk Blessings To All!

Janice