Moving time

Well this is a bit late-ok months late. If you are still reading here wondering why oh why Chelsea hasn't posted since October, let me fill you in. I have moved to a new improved blog! Come on over!

halloween time

Halloween is without a doubt my favorite time of year, as I am sure I have said before. I particularly love vintage Halloween items and drawings. There are some great examples on this vintage Halloween Flickr group.
When I saw this fabric, I was inspired to make my little spook into a modern day meets vintage Halloween girl. I used my own pattern, which I make a sell dresses from on my hyena cart. I think it turned out great, and I even made her vintage drink wet doll a matching dress. They look very festive walking down the sidewalk with fall leaves everywhere.
I have already made Ava's actual Halloween costume, which I will debut very soon. It was my first year making her a costume, and it was so much fun. When I put it on her, she gets a agleam in her eyes and I can tell she feels like a Halloween princess!

autumn apples

If there is one food that I love the most during early autumn, it is apples. Apples are so versatile and delicious. After reading a post on the blog Uncommon Grace last night, I was inspired to make baked apples.
They turned out divine, and we have leftovers to go with old fashioned oats Sunday morning.
Here is my recipe, which I have lowered the butter and sugar in to make them more waist friendly:

set oven to 350 degrees

cut two medium juicy apples in half, and remove cores

put in baking dish and fill hollowed cores with one tablespoon brown sugar, one half tablespoon butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon

put in the oven and check after 25 minutes

apples should be soft and core goodies should be melty

serve with vanilla ice cream if desired

enjoy!

fall is in the air

October is one of my favorite months of the year. In Oregon, t is apparent by October that fall is here. Nothing makes me feel quite as satisfied as a sunny, crisp fall day.
I have been baking-a lot. Chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, chicken pot pie, snicker doodles, coffee cake, you name it. This must be my body preparing itself for the impending winter. I’m quite sure that I have enough storage to make it through the cold, but my brain doesn’t seem to know that. So I continue to bake, and probably will do so until I see a shocking jump on the scale, at which point I will feel the urge to join one of those weight support groups. Ha!
Every October, we visit the pumpkin patch. I suppose not everyone has pumpkin patches near them, but they must cart pumpkins in on trucks and stack them somewhere for the kiddos to enjoy.
We get our pumpkin joy at a place called E.Z. Orchards, which has a nice small petting zoo, a corn maze, various plywood painted things with cutouts for your face(i.e pigs and cowgirls), and of course lots of pumpkins. Last year, Ava was barely able to hold a pumpkin, but this year she picked out her very own tiny pumpkins. It was so much fun watching her tromp through the corn maze and pumpkin fields with her blue and red cherry rain-boots on.
Soon I will be hit with the realization the the winter holidays are coming, and winter crafting will commence. Until then, I will continue to prepare for Halloween and stay strong on my baking spree.

It has been seven weeks since I have written here. It started out with a vacation seven weeks ago, and there has been another since then. I find it hard to believe that it has been so long, but the calendar doesn’t lie.
We have done so much during this time that I find it hard to know where to begin. We have traveled from Oregon to California, back to Oregon, and up to Washington. It has been great to travel, but now that fall is settling in I find myself ready.
I found a juried craft fair called Crafty Wonderland, that I have been preparing to enter. I have been sewing and taking photos in preparation for this weekend’s deadline. It isn’t until December, but it will take me that long to build up enough product to sell. If I don’t get accepted, I’ll have plenty to sell in my Etsy Shoppe through the winter!
I just got my huge shipment of Joel Dewberry fabrics. Now I find myself staring at it, not knowing what to make. I’m sure it will come to me, probably in the middle of the night after a pee break. It seems like this is when I get my best ideas, and consequently end up exhausted the next day.
I am ready for the cooler days and nights, long summer days can be so tiring. We harvested about 40lbs of organic tomatoes the other day, and turned them in to spaghetti sauce to can. They never made it to the jars though-I burned six gallons of premium sauce. It made me sick, and still does to think of it.
We have a very nice crop of butternut squash coming on, and are ready to plant our winter crops. There is always a anew cycle of food to be harvested with some garden planning. Today I am going to do some baking for the weekend. On the list is banana bread, cinnamon coffee cake and roasted butternut. I hope you have a relaxing weekend, wherever you are.

country life

Living in a small town surrounded by countryside, we are quite literally one minute away from breathtaking fields of flowers. Sometimes I forget that not everyone lives in a town or even a state that grows what we grow in Oregon.
Yesterday, my family and I went for a drive through the rolling hills to look for carpets of flowers. We found a radiant field of purple flowers (which I can’t remember the name of, but know I’ve grown). On one dirt road loop, the farmers always grow rows of different brightly colored flower crops, which I think is candy for the eyes to see.

After touring the flower fields, we drove up the hill to feed and water one of our friend’s chickens. It was a drive full of fowl! On the way, a family of wild turkeys walked right in front of us. I had my camera in my lap, and was able to snap two shots of them before they scurried off into the brush. I love seeing wild turkeys, it is quite a treat!


When we arrived at our friends farm, which let me tell you I am very jealous of, we walked down to check on the birds. They have a beautiful assortment of Barred Rocks and Rhode Inland Reds, with one very friendly rooster. If you have ever met a mean rooster(and a lot of them are) you will know why I pointed out his lovely disposition. We dug around for hidden eggs, and filled the metal watering cans to the brim. The girls(and boy) were super happy to get fresh water, and even more excited by the plantain that I threw in for them to nosh on.
We drove back down the hill into our small town, and I started thinking about how I would love to have a farm like that someday. I guess I have always wanted that, but now that we own a home, the possibility of an upgrade to more property seems attainable. It is always good to have dreams, and even better when they become realized.

old things

I have always loved old things. The trendy thing to call them now is "vintage". My grandad has had an antique shop in Seattle for longer than I have been alive. I remember trips to visit him at the shop. I would spend hours dusting his treasures, in trade for one special thing that I picked out.

My family has been thrifting for generations. My grandad and mother both had their "trap lines", a route stopping at various junk shops, flea markets, and hole in the wall thrift stores. When I was young, I usually tolerated being guided through these spots, but the flea markets were my favorite.

Today Ava opened a bathroom drawer and peered inside. She found a very old blue glass bead necklace, that my grandad gave me. She put it on her topless torso, and danced around the room. I persuaded her to put on a shirt (stained with strawberry from our garden), and snapped a few shots of her. When I looked at the photos, I realized she was sitting on my favorite vintage chair. It was passed down from my mother, and is probably older than us both.

This got me to thinking about things that I love and cherish in my house that are old. I walked around and saw our old copper planted that hangs to the side of our sink, cheerfully holding some of this years lavender harvest. I looked to the lamp with the silk shade that lights up our living room. My mother had it for years before donating it with our purchase of her cottage.


It's not just things that are in the house either-it is the house itself. Our home was built in 1922, and carries so much history and character with it. At the end of our living room is a wonderful, quaint set or biult in cabinets that house my family's book collection.

I think a love of old things is a precious gift. Some are born with this appreciation, surrounded by it from birth. Others find their own way to the vintage world. Once you have seen the wonder of it, you will never look at new things the same.