Non Fat Halloween Cookies

Let the weekend begin!

YAY! 

So today I feature a few of my Halloween cookies.

I should say sprinkle cookies.

Made from wool and glass beads.

Stuffed and ready to go.

Bats

The cookie part made from a tan fleece.

I enjoyed creating these.

This one was a jack-o-lantern.

I also made candycorn and a skeleton one.

Will have to show those later on.

All packaged and ready to go.

In other news it was so surreal

hearing about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

I did not believe it at first.

She was the only monarch I have ever known.

I believe it was a sign seeing the double rainbow

over Buckingham Palace that day.

She is now back with the love of her life,

and they are both watching over now.

Even though we fought to be our own country

from the British, they now remain our

biggest ally and friend.

I will be taping each and every event I can,

to watch the funeral of HM Elizabeth II 

and the ceremonies

for now King Charles III.

Long live the KING!

Bob had a Cardio appt this week

and his blood pressure remains extremely high.

So high, the doctor is hoping he does not

have anther stroke,

He has upped his medication...

the right level now.

Hopefully this will get it down.

Today and tomorrow I will be working

our gift shop.

I think Tundra will be going with me today.

The gal at Tim Horton's must miss him.

She always wants to give me a plain Timbit

for him, but lately I refuse telling her he is not with me.

Well have to get my craft bag ready...

and Tundra and I will be headed out.

I have Christmas Inventory to check in.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

What will you be doing?

Halloween Cookie Blessings To All!

Janice

September CupboardScape

The first weekend of September is over already.

Bob and I went to lunch yesterday

at one of my favorite restaurants half hour up the river.

I use to frequent this one lots of times

when my office was located in that town.

How I miss that office and my drive along our river.

 

Today my first Autumn display.

Adding in my happy flowers.

Sunflowers.

Unfortunately when I picked this crock up

from the floor I noticed this bad crack.

I believe it happened when the guys

brought in their equipment 

when they insulated our attic a few months ago.

UGH

It was near the entrance to the laundry room,

where you get up into our attic. 

Another favorite crock with more sunflowers.

This sweet pumpkin guy was created

my Marie AKA Old Lady Morgan.

Marie use to vend at an antique show Bob and I

also vended years ago. 

I found this corn stalk wreath at a prim shop

eons ago too.

Same with this broom corn.

More drieds underneath my display.

I am almost finished decorating for Fall now.

As the saying goes.

Fall is my favorite color.

Is it yours?

Currently I am working on penguins

and Christmas trees.

Always have to be ahead of the game for the store.

Christmas orders are now arriving weekly.

Well off to work.

Cannot believe my long weekend is over already.

September Blessings To All!

Janice

Sneak Peek

Hello friends.

Before I show you a sneak peek of the 

Haunted Hotel,

I want to thank everyone for your comments.

Each comment made me realize

I cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Just need to please me first.

I pretend to be 

"Wonder Woman"

which I am no way near.

Yet I plod on.

Working full time,

Taking care of Bob while he gets better.

Take care of the stores.

These two customers just got to me at a weak point.

I did ask God for strength.

He brought a major thunderstorm

Monday night which took out our power.

It was a good thing.

I unplugged from the world for a whole day.

We took a drive with Tundra and just got away

for a bit...well I drove.

It was good for the soul.

 

Now onward to the first sneak peek pics.

This jolly fellow will greet you as you arrive.

With is trusty bulldog pal, he is resting

whilst you peruse the hotel.

Our resident butler will serve you up

some toadstools on his silver tray.

Come get them while they last.

Bob made the concierge bar before his stroke.

It does have shelves in the back

so you could put this on your patio

or bar area for you own Halloween party.

Looking back out into our main room.

This ghostly lady stands behind the dresser.

Red velvet curtains drape each side of the room.

A lost soul screams 

"HELP"

More on this lost souls backdrop later.

Before our afternoon drive,

I decided to get out my crochet hook

and cotton yarn and whipped up a few of these

Granny Square Bauble ornaments.

I had some plastic clear ornaments that I was

going to do a Halloween project with.

Not enough time, so decided to do this now.

I do remember gramma B crocheting

similar ornaments for her tree.

Instead of a plastic bulb, she used Styrofoam.

She then took some wire and made a loop

and stuck it inside the Styrofoam at the top and 

then added a hanger for her ornament. 

The colors I chose were perfect for my Nordic theme.

They would even look pretty in a wood bowl

 with some greens underneath like I did here.

Lately crocheting has been my release.

I can sit and watch tv while doing

 it after we east dinner.

At least until it gets dark. 

So far have completed 6 since Tuesday.

Well thanks again dear friends for all of your wisdom.

It really did help reading what you had to say!

Hope everyone enjoys their long Holiday weekend.

I will be working the store both days...

and I will have fun doing it!

Sneak Peek Blessings To All!

Janice

Late To The Party

 Well late to the garden party.

Most folks have been showing their gardens

this year and I am late doing mine.

Well I dont have much of a garden,

but here goes.

These Bluebeard shrubs were the ones 

we planted this Spring.

They bloom from late Spring until frost.

I love them!

My butterfly bush did not grow as big this year.

We did not have much rain this year and

it was hard for me to find time to water everything.

THe weeds managed to still grow though.

I planted these sky blue morning glory seeds

in the Spring as well.

They have grown like a weed, but no flowers yet.

Hmmm...hoping there will be flowers before frost.

Those who know me know I love bunnies!

The zinnias were so vibrant this year.

Loved them!

Well speaking of being late to the garden party,

it reminded me of the actual garden parties

I use to go with my mom and aunt in her

small town.

The garden club ladies hosted this yearly.

We enjoyed herbal teas, and petit sandwiches.

Some of the ladies even dressed like those

from the 1800's.

They also had ice cream socials 

when the strawberries were in season.

Wish I could have really went to a garden party

or an ice cream social back then.

I have been in a funk for a bit.

It is so hard running a small business.

You put your heart and soul into it,

and even then that is not good enough.

I had a lady come in and accuse me of

practicing witchcraft.

She was mad that I had for sale some 

Ouija boards.

When trying to explain these were not real,

just a Halloween decoration,

she huffed and puffed out of the store.

I myself am afraid of the real ones.

Bob brought one home one time and I made

him keep it in the van. 

Had another lady come yesterday

that was upset I did not have the jigsaw puzzle

she wanted anymore

We carry US made White Mountain puzzles.

When I tried to explain that the company

only sells so many puzzles and then

they retire them for new ones...

her response was well why did you not purchase more?

My response was, I purchase what I can,

and I just dont know what everyone wants.

[wanted to say that I am not a mind reader]

[wanted to say well you should have bought it before]

I came home telling Bob I dont want the gift shop anymore.

I know that was just me being in a funk,

yet it is so hard to plan 12 months in advance

for Christmas and 6 month for Halloween

as to what folks will want to purchase.

It is not an easy task.

Orders have to be in that early, 

otherwise no merchandise at all.

I came home and did not even want to work

on my crafts last night...which is so not me.

Well have to get back to my real job now.

Still working from home which is a good thing!

Hope you have a great week my friends!

Sorry for unloading on you.

Late To The Party Blessings To All!

Janice

Its Show & Tell Time

Well its time to show off what I scored on

from this years antique trail around

 the Thumb of Michigan.

One day I would like to do the 127 trail

from Michigan to Alabama.

For now I will continue to do our own local one. 

I know both Robin and Yaya will be fighting over this one.

A vintage witch noisemaker.

The owner of this particular picture

wanted to know why I wanted it before purchasing it.

I told him when I first looked at it,

it reminded me of young love.

The price was $15, but because of my answer

he gave it to me for free.

I offered to still pay him, however he would not take

any money from me.

I will treasure forever the kindness if him.

Loved this heart cookie tin.

When I spotted this milk stool,

 I knew it also had to come home with me.

I made a stop at one of my favorite

 antique friends shop.

Wish I had her shop & home.

She lives along Lake Huron.

Her shop is next to her old restored farmhouse.

If you think my house should be in a magazine,

hers definitely should be.

Primitive lovers would love it!

Any hoot, this millenary hat holder

came from an actual millenary store from the 

early 1900's.

Oh how I wish I could have lived back in those times.  

Instead of adding a hat,

I purchased another bonnet for my collection.

It is an early blue check one

even though this pic does not show 

the color very well.

My favorite purchase was this antique

pine sugar chest.

It was a steal.

The top opens up for storage....

which already holds all of my buttons.

This is the room I am cleaning back up.

Need to have it back in order before

my mom comes here in a few weeks.

Have a marvelous week!

Show & Tell Blessings To All!

Janice

The Squirrels Be a Hoarding

Happy Sunday my friends!

I hope this post finds you safe and well.

We live in an area with lots of oak trees.

With that being said I have been noticing

all of the squirrels scurrying about

hiding their black walnuts and acorns

for their wintertime food.

Tree squirrels are the one animal that do not

hibernate in Winter. 

While Bob was in the hospital,

I took my crochet hook and Sugar & Cream yarn

with me daily and crocheted acorns.

At night I crocheted pumpkins.

I loved how they turned out.

Multi colored fall ones.

Brown ones.

Cream ones.

I bagged these up in the three colors.

All but one bag have already sold.

If they had a green color that was close

to an acorn color, I would have made those too.

However the greens were too light or dark.

I know that I could have used a different yarn,

but I do like the heaviness of this particular brand.

In other news,

Bob and I drove 4 1/2 hours North to 

Alpena, MI for his daughters wedding Saturday.

Since Bob cannot drive long distances yet,

I drove there yesterday and back today.

It rained both ways.

Alpena is a small community located

along the shore of Lake Huron.

The wedding was supposed to take place outdoors,

which did not happen.

We waited about a half hour hoping the rain

would subside...which did not.

We did leave the reception right after dinner

as Bob was tired. 

He still tires in the afternoon.

His daughter understood and was just

 glad we made the trip.

On the way home we did see flocks of turkeys.

Even saw a hen with 2 baby poults (turkeys)

Also saw many deer.

Although we were in bear country, did not see one.

Rain and fog was my first hour driving home.

Just so glad nothing happened since I was

unfamiliar with this route.

Well off to clean my spare bedroom.

It is a chaotic mess with stuff everywhere

from my Halloween creations.

Need to put everything back on order now. LOL

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Acorn Blessings To All!

Janice

 

August CupboardScape

 

As Summer winds down,

am adding in more Autumn in my home.

Hello friends!

Today's Cupboardscape was an inspiration

from nature herself.

We have been travelling through the marsh

lately to go to and from Bob's doctor appts.

The swans are still here.

Some even still have babies,

which is odd for this time of year.

Each week I can see the colors changing.

From green to red.

Mixed in with some golds.

The Timothy grass is in full bloom.

Some of the Mute Swans leave and

head South for the Winter.

Those that stay now are fed by folks

along the river, which is not a good practice. 

Our Trumpeter Swans do leave.  

However because we have so many Mute Swans

now, our Trumpeters have moved North.

It is a rare treat when I do see them in the river

in the Springtime.

These swans are native, the mutes are not.

In other news,

we had a scare with Bob again.

Apparently his blood pressure dosage

he was prescribed after his stroke 

was increased way too much.

He was once again having headaches,

getting dizzy and just lethargic.

Come to find out after contacting the doctor,

someone prescribed too much. 

He now has the correct dosage and is doing

good again.

He still has peripheral vision issues in his left eye.

Also still has some short term memory loss.

The doctor said it could take 3 to 6 months

for his brain to heal.

Am putting away the Patriotic decor,

and adding in some Autumn.

Working on Christmas items for the store now.

My Christmas theme this year is a

"Nordic Christmas"

All of the wholesale companies are leaning

toward this design style, so I decided to incorporate

it into the store.

Just hoping all of my inventory comes in.

We open for Christmas the second weekend

of October.

I already crocheted some fun Nordic hats.

I also crocheted peppermint candle mats.

Currently working on some Nordic elves.

Well off to work.

August Blessings To All!

Janice