Autumn In Our Keeping Room

Today's pictures are courtesy

of our keeping room.

***DISCLAIMER***

Long picture post.

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

In other news,

I am appalled, livid and just plain

disheartened to hear that 

Mayorkis a few months ago said that

FEMA was ready for any disaster

that may come.

Only to find out now they ran 

out of money because they spent $1.4B

on illegal immigrants.

If another hurricane comes in they have no funds.

I pay flood insurance because we are so close

to a major river.

So my funds went towards illegals instead of

what it is intended for.

Those folks in N. Carolina

 were only offered $750.

What the hell is that going to pay for?

I pay out over $1000 a year.

The Biden administration has spent

how many billions on Ukraine and now these illegals,

that we cannot help our own citizens.

Its downright disgusting.

Why am I even paying for it myself?

If something would happen...

would I only get $750?

I am sorry, but they do all need to be deported.

Come back in the legal way like all of our ancestors did.

If Kamala gets in, just like her video shows

her singing to down down with deportation,

millions more will be coming in.

Dont believe in her border photo op where she would

not let reporters near her.

Wake up everyone.

Over 20 MILLION Illegals

 are everywhere in the US now.

With more still coming in.

You are not safe.

They are here in my own county,

 with more drugs and fentanyl 

coming through.

More crime than ever.

Every week I read it in my local newspaper.

Its a shame that 

WE THE PEOPLE

have no say in this....but we do.

Think about it when you vote.

Ok enough of my rant.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and OMG,

the entire toilet paper aisle was empty.

Guess folks panicked with the port strike.

Funny thing is, all of our 

toilet paper is made in the USA.

The strike would have affected bananas,

 coffee and tea to name a few...

 and those items were all there.

Well have to go to the store and take inventory

of our candles and make out an order.

Folks have been wanting certain scents,

do need to get my butt moving...

it is going on candle season.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Plus say a prayer for those affected by the hurricane.

I feel so bad for everyone that lost everything...

including their friends and family.

Such a tragedy.

Hurricane season is still not over yet either.

Autumn Blessings To All!

Janice

October CupboardScape

I cannot believe it is October already.

Am super excited about this post.

You will see why at the end.

 

I just love Autumn and Halloween,

 and all that goes into it.

Apple pie, Apple Cider...

APPLE APPLE APPLE

Then there is pumpkin everything!

Pumpkin Rolls, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Iced Capps,

Pumpkin Muffins...well you get my drift.

My favorite time for baking.

My favorite time for burning candles

and the sweet scents of Autumn.

Like Yaya, I love witches.

I bring out all of my drieds.

My decor is much more muted

with just pops of oranges, 

golds and browns in some areas...

even blue and gray this year.

I finally finished block 12 of

Halloween At Hawk Run Hollow.

YAY

This block was entirely stitched.

No open areas anywhere.

I wont lie, but I was getting tired of stitching brown.

Started this piece on October 27, 2023.

I finally finished on September 28, 2024.

Yes almost a full year stitching on this.

Since I wont be getting this baby framed

any time soon,

I thought it would look great being featured

in my October CupboardScape.

I am super proud of myself

for plugging away.

Getting a block completed each month.

Some months I was not into it at all....

like the under water one & the swamp one.

I even changed up the scarecrow one

and changed some of the orange pumpkins

into black and added in a black jack-o-lantern.

Like the Energizer bunny,

 I kept going...and going and going.

It will be framed for next year.

Definitely will be under glass.

Speaking of framing,

I actually go to Hobby Lobby Robin.

The ladies there have been lacing for years.

They are very experienced and I am happy

with my projects thus that I have taken there.

Plus if I am not happy,

they will correct to my liking.

In fact with my last one there was one motif

that was crooked.

Debbie took it out of the frame and adjusted it

while I was watching her until I was pleased,

then put it back in the frame again.

Well that's it for

Halloween At Hawk Run Hollow.

Thank you everyone who followed along with me

on my progress. 

I truly believe it was all of your wonderful

comments which encouraged me to keep

on going month to month.

Otherwise it may have ended up in a closet,

collecting dust....

Hope everyone enjoys their October season.

Let me know what you like about this month.

In other news,

both Bob and I are feeling better.

Thank you for the well wishes.

Please pray for those who lost their lives 

from that devastating Hurricane Helene.

My sister and BIL flew into North Carolina

via Charlotte the afternoon it hit that state.

She was going to her granddaughter's 

birthday party just an hour east of Ashland.

My sister had never been in a hurricane before.

Neither have I for that matter.

She said the winds were scary that night.

Thankfully my nephew lives in the valley.

No flooding. Just lost power for a bit.

Yesterday was my mom's 90th birthday.

Fortunately I was at work when the Verizon

power outage happened and was able

to call her from my work phone.

I was lost without my phone, & thankful I did

not need it on my drive home. 

It finally came back late in the afternoon.

Well speaking of work, Have to get

 ready and drive in. 

Hawk Run Hollow Blessings To All!

Janice

Friday Finish

I finally finished my third sampler

for my heritage wall.

This was the pattern by Blue Ribbon Designs

called Little Quakeresque.

I just added all of my

great grandfathers names & information

amongst the rows of motifs.

My maternal great grandfathers first,

then my paternal ones.

 

I chose this frame because I felt it 

somewhat mimicked

the motifs in the sampler.

Even the framer said this was a great choice.

Here it is up on my Heritage wall.

Then above it I hung the sampler I stitched

with mine and Bob's information.

Two up now. WOOHOO!

The first sampler I stitched is the one on the left.

It will stay here until I decide where to hang it.

The second one from the left is my Valentine stitch,

but I still kept it out because the colors looked pretty.

A little bit of Autumn tucked in...

...here and there.

My tribute rug to Peepers our cat watching over us.

A few dusktime pics.

Am loving my progress thus far.

My next one I am stitching is

 Laura Vorgensen, and it will be a long one.

Little Quakeresque took me 6 months,

and Laura is much bigger.

Much bigger.

Oh well...I knew this was not going to be 

an overnight process.

Will continue to stitch away.

At least I have something to show for now.

In other news,

Bob and I caught a bug from his aunt

who came in from Vegas.

We went and visited her and she gave it

to everyone who saw her.

UGH

Not much else going on.

Just still plugging away on the

last block of 

Halloween At Hawk Run Hollow.

This is a full coverage one...

and when I mean full coverage...

the entire block is stitched.

Will be glad to put this one to bed.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Any plans?

Heritage Blessings To All!

Janice 

September CupboardScape

Today's monthly CupboardScape

is just all about the colors of Autumn.

My favorite colors of the year.

 

In other news,

my two favorite girls came up to see me

on Saturday.

My daughter Michele and granddaughter Mikayla.

I took them to lunch at a restaurant 

along the river that they had never been to before.

I forgot to take a pic of our wonderful view,

but did take these of the food we ate.

I had Walleye.

Michele had a candied jalepeno smash burger.

It was so spicy hot she could not eat it all...

but she said it was good.

Mikala had Walleye Picatta.

All of us had Clam Chowder soup too.

Everything was good,

but no freighters went by...

maybe that why I  did not take pics of the river.

Sunday Bob took a rare day off from the store.

We went to is cousin Jimmy's house to visit with

his aunt who came in from Vegas.

His uncle no longer can travel far.

They live a stones throw from us.

Bob's aunt will be here for a week.

It was nice seeing her.

Bob made his lamb stew again,

 while I baked a blueberry cake.

They had fried chicken from the party store

in town, which is always good...

with baked beans and potato salad,

along with Tabbouleh which is a Lebenese salad.

Bob's cousin made the Tabbouleh.

He is Lebenese as well.

His dad and Bob's father were brothers.

We eat it with Syrian(Pita) bread.

Well have to go get me some breakfast.

Its a work day again for me..so back to the grind.

UGH

Hope everyone has a great week!

September Blessings To All!

Janice

Autumn Mantles

Autumn is fast approaching here.

Let the Fall decor begin.

Today both of my fireplace mantles....

and a look back at others from our gift shop.

Hope you enjoy.

 

In other news,

Tuesday morning was a rare treat for me

driving into work.

Started out my drive at 5:30am and noticed

the bright full moon with a bit of fog while 

getting into my car.

Here is a map of my drive.

If you look to the right, this is the town

just to the South of us

called Algonac.

We live about 1.5 miles North of town

 along  the St Clair River.

The straight line is the marsh I drive through.

The lake I drive around for a bit is Lake St Clair.

Anyways, back to my story. 

The fog disappeared once I got into town

as I was not driving along the river.

However it came back as I approached the marsh.

The moon started getting orange by then.

With the color of the moon and the fog

this reminded me of an old horror movie

when they would show the moon 

in a foggy cemetery.

It was an awesome view.

Driving past the marsh now heading for the lake,

the moon was getting bigger and more orange.

Again reminded me of a big ole Halloween moon.

Turning now to the SW and then due South

the orange moon was directly in front of me

setting down fast.

By the time I got to work the moon had already set.

As you can see I drive in all four directions

on my hour long drove to work and back. 

In other news.

Carla commented that she cannot wait for 

my Halloween decor.

So sorry to disappoint you Carla,

but I did not do my themed Halloween this year.

I thought moving the gift shop I would still 

be able to do them, however our antique store

is a building built in the 1800's with high ceilings.

We added LED lights,

with only one light switch for the front half

of our building. 

Bob could not remove the lights in 

the gift shop part, therefore

I could not add the lights I wanted to.

So no decorating going forward.

If you remember from years past,

 I had to start planning

my next year's theme each Summer before

 because I had to have

 my wholesale orders in for both Halloween

and Christmas by January.

Thus planning was done in advance.

 I did have a them and was already working on it.

By last December we knew we  were selling 

the gift shop so I did not order anything

for this year.

We were not sure if there would be enough space

since the "new gift shop" area is much smaller.

Therefore I did not purchase any Halloween

or Christmas for that matter this year.

Any hoot...if you followed all of that...

my theme was going to be a

Halloween Extravaganza.

I wanted Bob to make some Carnival games

out of wood of course, and I had planned on 

the space to sorta look like being inside a tent.

Here is a look back at the 4 years 

of Halloween mantles

from our gift shop.

We were in business for 4 years.

2020 Gone Batty

2021 Witches & Witchcraft

2022 Haunted Hotel

2023 Mad Scientist

I sure wish I could have done my them this year...

as I sure do miss my shop....

Mantle Blessings To All!

Janice