Full Moon Tonight!

Full moon tonight! It's the first full moon after the beginning of fall, so it's called the Harvest Moon.
It is a big and beautiful moon here in Oregon with a clear sky!

When Jim and I were up at Timberline Lodge in August, I took these pictures of one of their displays.
I thought it would be fun to share this fall for the full moon. This info is from the Camp Fire Girls Handbook. It lists the September moon as the Leaf Falling Moon...I like that!
I hope you were able to see the full moon tonight.

Autumn and Teacup Thursday #74

Harvest Blessings...isn't that a nice saying? I love it. I have been working this week on cleaning our home after the busy summer. We don't have AC and by the end of summer, the house needs a good scrubbing. It's a good time to clean and then decorate! I like the decorating part, but I'm not crazy about the cleaning part anymore. My teacup sharing is going to be short and sweet this week.It's early in the morning and I need some sleep. I'm back to my bible study on Thursday mornings now too.

I found this beautiful cup and saucer not too long ago at an estate sale and have been so excited to share it on Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday. It's handpainted, called Autumn, and is Bavarian. I love acorns and this is just so pretty and perfect for the first week of fall.

Isn't the saucer lovely? Trimmed in gold with a lovely assortment of fall foliage in perfect fall colors.

Such a pretty handle and footed base.
I hope you are enjoying this glorious season of the year! Our weather is so nice and dry. We haven't had any rain for so long......I wonder where my umbrella is hiding? I may need it one of these days.
Happy Fall and Harvest Blessings to you and yours.

A Gift from Jim

I am fascinated by nuthead dolls and have a little collection. Jim found this on his recent trip to Idaho and bought her home to me. I think she's a perfect little nuthead for fall, don't you?
I hope to start cleaning my home and setting up for fall today. It will be a work in progress this week.
Thank you Jimmy...I love her.
PS.....three months from today is Christmas!

Fall!

Earlier this summer I found this great tin box at an estate sale. I was trying to find out what it was used for and I saw one online that was listed as a place to store yarn. That would make sense, as it's air tight and would keep the moths out. It had a few wooden embroidery hoops in it, so who knows what the owner kept safetly inside. It was in a lovely home with lots of wonderful items from the east coast.  I decided to put my treasures from the quilt show in it as I found some nice dyed wool that I'm going to turn into a table topper!

The leaves are beginning to turn in my backyard and falling leaves are now happening. I so love fall and fall projects.

Autumn Sunday

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn"  by   Elizabeth Lawrence

Enjoy this day of rest and this beautiful time of year.  Grab a cuppa and just be still for a bit reflecting
on your many blessings. Tea, coffee or how about some spiced apple cider? Yummy!

First Day of Autumn and The Quilt Show

Happy first day of Autumn! Fall is officially here today and it seems to be a favorite season of so many. I am among that group. I always feel like I come alive again after the long hot summer. The daylight hours of the days are becoming shorter and it's time to go back into our homes. I guess that's one thing I really like. It's still warm and sunny here in Oregon, but the geese are flying over about twice a day now and the season is beginning to change.

Yesterday, I met my friend Lynda at the Expo Center for the annual Portland Quilt Show. I usually go alone, but Lynda is getting into quilting so she was happy to go with me. It's always more fun to share it with a friend. Here she is when we were picking out some wool for a project.

We are both going to make a round pumpkin table topper out of wool with blanket stitching around the pumpkins. Lynda knits but has never done any embroidery work. I keep telling her it's really easy!
Working with wool is quite a popular medium right now. I love working with in on small projects. It's amazing how expensive wool has become. I'm glad I held onto my stash of wool! It's nice to have some on hand to choose from for that special project.

This is one of the booths that we liked...lots of goodies to drool over.

This was an old quilt. The scale is really small, I have never seen this block done is such a tiny size.

This was a garage sale find for someone. She finished it with hand quilting and I just loved all the old fabrics.

What a switch....a very colorful and contemporary quilt! Amazing and something I'll never be able to do.

Lynda and I both liked this rooster quilt. I love the postage stamp work on the entire large boarder. Can you see the black buttons that the maker added to the large red rick rack? Really cute little detail. Nice quilting too.

More contemporary quilts to enjoy. Such work! Such talent!

An award winning quilt...even though this is a very modern quilt, and I really like more traditional quilting, this is stunning. Look at the quilting and the embellishments.

Love the acorn pattern in this quilt. I love acorn anything.

Pie anyone? pretty cute and lots of work in this one too.

These shows are always inspiring. I know I'll never enter a quilt in a show, but these shows do remind me how much I enjoy quilting. I haven't even had my machine out for months...shame on me! Maybe now that the season is changing, there just might be a bit more time for some sewing and quilting.

Dolls in the Attic

When Jim and I came back from the wedding, we stopped at an antique mall in Centralia WA. It's always fun to shop for treasures. I was looking around upstairs and discovered this little display. As everyone knows, I love dolls, so you can imagine my delight. The little display was called THE ATTIC and was just there to enjoy.

Do enjoy! Lots to look at in this little attic scene. None if it was for sale, which was probably a good thing.

Teacup Thursday #73

A busy day spent taking my dad to the doctor and spending time with him. Came home, packed up my Etsy orders and mailed them off and then decided to weed my neglected front flower bed. I worked until dark and then enjoyed a nice hot bath in my wonderful Jacuzzi bathtub. I treated myself to a bath bomb that my SIL Eric had given to me...oh, rose petals and just a lovely soft pink color. It smelled heavenly. Anyway, that made me think of Eric and his family and that led me to his mom Susan. We have been emailing and as I said before, we just clicked. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska and so I am featuring a little demitasse cup and saucer I picked up this spring and a lovely plate. The state flower of Alaska is the forget-me-not, so this is for you Susan!

Both the plate and the cup and saucer are Haviland and I think they were hand painted but I cannot find a signature on either piece.

When I was in high school, our family went to visit my aunt and uncle who lived in Ketchikan, Alaska. It was so beautiful. It was summer so it was very much like Oregon. Jim has always wanted to visit Alaska! Maybe someday we will go on a road trip to visit Susan. Here's a picture of this lovely lady....Susan, I "borrowed" it from your Facebook page-great picture!

I found this little embroidery piece with the pattern on the cute blog today...would be a fun little project.

The days have been so warm here in Oregon and I am ready for fall! It did cool a bit today and the leaves are gently turning color. Maybe fall will sneak in next week!
Thank you Donna and Spenser for hosting Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday....it's been a wonderful adventure and I have met some great ladies who have become good friends. 

Catching Up and Moving On

Still trying to catch up on things after the wedding. Summer is still hanging on with very warm temperatures here in Oregon. I am ready to move on to fall. I woke up early this morning and it's been fun reading all my favorite blogs with a good cup of coffee. I NEED to make something or create something. That bug always seems to bite me at this time of the year!
Our honeymoon couple is on their way to France for the weekend. How exciting. 

The Wedding and Teacup #72

 

Congrats to Gina and Eric Howk....Mr and Mrs Howk....September 8th 2012....Seattle Washington!
This picture was taken by one of the newlywed's friends right after the wedding ceremony and I just love it. What a beautiful wedding. It was so filled with love and the best of everything that just spilled out and over everyone who was there. It was amazing and magical. I'm going to go back over the days and times leading up to this lovely picture in hopes that I can put my thoughts down to help remember this most enchanting event.

Jim and I left for Seattle Thursday morning and checked into the Deca Hotel in the University District of Seattle. Gina's friend Kelsie was staying there, so we all left a bit after 6:00 PM for the rehearsal dinner (without rehearsal) at the Il Fornaio restaurant in downtown Seattle. We had my IPhone set up to get us there but I didn't have my glasses on and we took a wrong exit! YIKES...right at rush hour. We were a little late, but finally arrived for a lovely and fun dinner.

We got a chance to meet Eric's mom Susan and his grandmother Donna. What lovely women who came down from their home in Alaska. We instantly liked them!

We met the kids at the Fremont Abbey on Friday afternoon for the real rehearsal. The weather was just beautiful and the building was perfect for a wedding.

Time to practice, practice and more practice. We all had a fun time and a lot of laughs. Gina's older sister Angie made rehearsal from Portland and Eric's sister Jen made it from Boston!

Big Sister Angie!

Big sister Jen!

An emotional daddy and daughter!

                                    

Granny Donna and Susan being entertained!

Time for a kiss!

                                                    

Angie, Chris and his daughter Ava enjoying a fun time after the rehearsal across the street at a little restaurant. The weather was just perfect and everyone had time to relax and enjoy the afternoon.
Later that evening, Chris took his girls and Jim and I out to a great restaurant by the water. It was so warm and what a treat to eat outside. Funny Chris with his paper mask with Ava all smiles.

Chris ordered me a popcycle cocktail...yummy!

Can you tell we were having such a good time with our girls and all their friends? What a very special time. When we were having dinner, I was telling them all about going to the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. Chris is a real history nut so he was asking me what I could remember as a kid. This is the 50th anniversary of the Fair.

This brings me to my teacup for Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday! A cup and saucer for the Seattle World's fair. What a riot, huh? I found it earlier this summer and had to save it for wedding time.

Jim and I had dinner up in the Space Needle years ago when we were first dating....memories!

So Saturday was the big day. Jim and I took a walk in the University District and had a nice little lunch. When we returned, our friends and family were checking into the Deca. It was getting pretty exciting.
We dressed and the hotel shuttle took us to the Abbey for pictures before the evening wedding. We were all getting excited and a little nervous. Susan and I were trying not to be sobbing mothers to no avail. I didn't take too many of my own pictures as it just didn't seem right. So, I don't have too many to share and will have to wait for the professional pix to come in. I did get a few right before the wedding.
This is my very favorite of my girls....JOY JOY JOY! What a blessing to have daughters.

A sentimental papa Colantino getting some help with his flower from his first born Angie.

Another great looking couple! Chris and Angie along with little Ava all dressed up and ready for the wedding!

                    Mr and Mrs having a moment all to themselves. Sweet couple, so in love.

All too soon the evening came to a close. I was having way too much fun dancing the night away. Such sweet memories to think over and to bring sweet dreams.

It was up bright and early for Jim and me. We hosted a breakfast for our out of town guests. The hotel did a lovely job and they made it all happen with little effort on our part. It was nice to have some quiet time to visit with our friends and family.

Jim and I said our good byes to all and just crashed in our room the rest of the day! Too much fun for the old folks!

My last photo is of our precious newlyweds sitting on the plane waiting to take off for a long honeymoon in Spain! May God keep them safe and bless them as they journey down life's path
together! Please Lord, bless them with some little ones. We love you Gina and Eric. Thank you to all who made their day just wonderful.