and breathe...

.

Phew!
Remember me?
I've been in such a flurry!
I'm sitting here with my little spiked coffee
(Baileys Irish Cream & coffee)
Taking a moment to enjoy the fact that I'm all caught up with my orders.
Yippee Skippee!

I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season.
Even though I haven't posted lately,
it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of you.
I have.

Are you taking time to enjoy the season?
We can get so caught up with long lists of what we should do next.
Let's try to remember to stop and savor the little miracles
that happen every day.

 Sometimes I have to force myself to stop what I'm doing.
Take a breather and enjoy my surroundings.
It's always well worth it
because life is short.
Don't let it slip by without enjoying the simple things, dear hearts.

Do I sound bossy?
I don't mean to.
I just write these little snippets
because I wish the best for you.


I have another post coming up soon.
See you then, darling dears!

Much love...
xo



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Fringe Holiday Special




.

Now through December 16th
Visit Fringe here.

Happy Holiday Shopping,
dear hearts!

Much love...
xo



.

A hug from me, a.k.a. a Fringe giveaway!

.

Good morning, my dears, and TGIF!

Guess what?
It's Fringe Giveaway time!



This special sky blue El Grande Cowl
could be yours.

Just skip on over to beautiful Caroline's
delightful and delicious blog, Coeur de La,
for the details.
Check it out here.

This is a rare giveaway.
Actually, the first ever for my El Grande Cowl.
If you decide to enter,
I wish you the best of luck!

And don't forget about the 
Fringe coupon code
offered here.
Good through Friday, November 25th.

I tell ya,
things are hoppin' around here,
darling dears!

Wishing you a day filled with
birdsong,
warmth
and meaningful moments...

Much love...
xo



.

A lovely little feature (and a bonus)...


.

Happy Thursday, dear hearts!
I hope your day is filled with smiles.

I was asked to do an interview
for a very sweet person, Sedie.
She has a beautiful blog
and today
my interview is the featured post.

I hope you'll have a moment to visit.
You can read the interview for Yarn Obsession here.

Pssst...
There's an extra special something at the end of the interview.
A coupon code to be used in my shop
on anything.
It's a very rare and limited offer.
The coupon code will be active until midnight PST on November 25th.
So, darling dears,
it's the perfect time to treat yourself
or make a dent in your holiday gift list.
Giving a gift of Fringe is like
giving someone you love a warm hug.

Why the coupon code,
you may ask?
Because I love you.

~

Also,
stay tuned for another exciting
(but different)
special offer.
All will be revealed tomorrow morning.
Yippee!

~

Coming to Fringe tomorrow.
Front Porch Scarf in pine.

I have completely fallen back in love with pine green!
Plan on seeing the results of my new-old love
sprinkled here and there in my shop...

~

Thank you for spending time with me, dear ones.
Much love..
xo



.


.
On the Grasshopper and the Cricket
John Keats (1795-1821)
.
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead
In summer luxury,—he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.
December 30, 1816.





You may not know that I take a 4 mile walk,
usually during the lunch hour,
usually with Ron,
usually 5 days a week.

Yesterday was particularly beautiful.
The sky so crystal clear blue.
The hills green and sprinkled with wildflowers.
The hawks soaring magnificently.
We paused here and there so that I
could capture the day with my phone camera.
I wanted to share the feeling of the day
with you, dear hearts.

By the way,
I have a couple of exciting blog features
coming up in the next couple of days.
Two lovely, beautiful ladies
will soon feature a tidbit or two
{of the Fringe variety}
on their gorgeous blogs.

Stay tuned.
Tomorrow,
the festivities begin!
Yay!

Thank you for visiting,
and
thank you for being you...

Much love!
xo



.

Welcome Fall...

Hello, dear ones!

It's been a little while
since I did my last post.

This Fall,
I seem to be falling behind
in my blog posts.
(Pardon the bad pun!)

I thought I'd share with you
some of my autumnal decorations.
It's a bit of a tradition for me
to use the same little decorations
year after year.

I like to think it reminds me
and my family
of all the wonderful autumns
we have shared in the past.
I do love traditions...


My front door plaque.
It's not grand,
it's rustic and sort of whimsical.
I bought this plaque the first year we moved to our house.
I had become good friends with
the woman who lived two doors down from me
so I bought one for her too.

She has since moved to Arizona,
but she stops by every spring
to say hello.
She tells me that every fall she puts her
matching plaque on her front door,
and she thinks of me each time.
I can't tell you how touched I am by that.

She went through breast cancer and a mastectomy
when she was in her mid 30s.
So to think of her, still here,
now healthy,
hanging that little plaque on her door each fall...
Well, it makes me weepy.
Of course,
I will do the same each year.
Hang it proudly,
think of my dear friend.
It's our little tradition, as friends.



We have two beautiful maples in our front yard.
I may be biased,
but I think ours are the most vibrant in the neighborhood!



This horse bench was a gift from my dad.
It just received a fresh coat of espresso brown paint.
I love it so much.
A simple accent of fall leaves in the form of a garland
grace the top of my beloved bench.
And a few little pumpkins...


I changed up my dining room table display this fall.
I added antlers to the simple, rustic flower arrangements:
Two brown paper bags filled with daisies,
several candles in old candle holders,
and one large vanilla colored candle on a cream pedestal.



As you can see in the background of this shot,
I'm a collector.
As if you didn't know...
*wink*



On the mantle, in the family room.
One large brown paper bag filled with leaves and posies,
and lots of Indian corn (my favorite fall addition).



The colors of the kernels of corn inspire me endlessly.
The autumnal colors all around me are the stuff of dreams.

Do you have traditions with fall decorating?
Maybe you do more of a Halloween theme?
I'd love to hear all about it.

~

Also,
I want to tell you about my new favorite
hot beverage.
Sweet Nichole, of Little Brown Pen, was
the lovely lady who brought it to my attention...



I strongly recommend it.
Available at Target,
run right out and get some, kids!
It's simply heavenly!


~

Before I go,
I want to thank you for being you.
And thank you for stopping by to see me.
Each comment brings happiness to me.

I'll be back soon
with new Fringe pieces to share.

Much love...
xo



.

Pretty pony...

 
..with a bird on it!
It's a little tricky to see,
but there's a bird
on the pony's rump.

{side note}
Have you seen the show Portlandia?
There's a skit -
"Put a bird on it!"

We took lots of horse photos on our Mammoth trip.
This is the first one
I've managed to post.

 {photo by Ron}

~

Here's the Portlandia skit.
It's not that new, 
but maybe you haven't seen it yet.
The boy and I watch it and laugh every time.


A sneak peek, a shop update and other stuff which makes this a really long post...

..

.
Hello, dear friends and TGIF!
I hope your week has been filled with lovely bits.

I have some new pieces in the shop
which I would like to share with you, 
but first,
here's a little sneak peek of a new
color story for the 
Falling Feathers Cowl...
Coming soon to Fringe...

 I love the combination of cinnamon red, plum and chocolate brown.
It's warm and vibrant and a real eye-catcher.

There are a few new pieces
available at Fringe
right now....











I've been busy,
needles, hooks and yarn a-flyin'!

~

Some other things I've been up to this past week?
Well...here's a week in pictures...

Our boy turned 15 last Friday.
*sniff*
He had 2 friends over,
we went Go-Karting,
then to dinner,
then home for cake (cheesecake).
All per his request.

It was a whirlwind evening of 
teenagers,
silliness,
laughter,
and too much sugar.

I started a little project,
for myself.
*gasp*

I had a little cocktail on Thursday.
Grapefruit IZZE and vodka.
Delicious and relaxing.

I snipped some of the last of this round of roses
from our garden
yesterday morning.

It's been mostly overcast for the past
two weeks.
Yesterday afternoon,
the sun peeked through!
Amazing how the sun brings such a lift.

~

There's more to tell you, darling dears,
but I'm going to hold off until next time.

If you lasted through this entire post,
I thank you,
and I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

As always,
thank you for being you.

Much love...
xo



.

Mammoth (cont)...

.

Happy Monday, dear ones!
I hope you had a rejuvenating weekend.
I'd like to start this week off with more
Mammoth memories.

These particular photos evolve around our
super secret fishing spot.
We spend a good part of our
Mammoth vacations
 fishing.

Our spot is simply heavenly.
Photos really don't do it justice,
but hopefully you'll get a sense of
the grandeur of nature through these
amateur photographs of mine...

The view from above our fishing spot.

I like to sit in the grass in this very spot
next to the lake inlet
when I'm not fishing.
Many ideas are born here.


It's a bit of a grueling hike to our spot,
here is the lush setting along the way.

 Magnificent view of the lake
and the mountains,
standing on the meadow.

 Can you believe this water?
It's amazing.

 Late in the afternoon,
the sun makes the lake dance.

 Our boy,
the fisherman,
wearing his tweed cap (of course).
He caught a fish on his very first cast of the day!

A soaring eagle
made our first day of fishing
complete.


Thank you for visiting.
I hope you are off to a fantastic start
to your week!

I'll be back soon with 
new Fringe AW 2011
items to show you.
I've been busy creating...

Much love,
xo


.

/

On 9/11/01
We felt helpless.
Completely devastated.
Numb.

We got out the flag that we reserved
for the usual holidays,
Ron climbed up on the ladder
and put it in it's place above the front porch.

It's never come down.
We've had to replace the flag twice.
This is our third one.
They do get ravaged by
the weather...

As we were ravaged
on that early September morning.
Against a crystal clear,
bright blue sky.

When so many never lived to see the sunset that day.
Never to kiss their loved ones again.
Many performing final,
selfless,
heroic
acts.

Heroes
made their marks.
Such as the man in the red bandana...

.


Today, all day.
Three candles burning,
for three crash sites.






.


.

Routines work...

.

The morning routine.
Breakfast
&
journal writing.

Tell me, dear ones,
do you keep a journal?

If you don't,
I hope you'll think about taking it up.
It's infinitely good for the soul.

Thank you so much for visiting,
and thank you for being you.
xo



.


Cold Comfort...



My latest addition to
Fringe AW 2011.

A tribute to one of my favorite movies
(and book, of course),
Cold Comfort Farm.

“It was winter. 
The grimmest hour of the darkest day of the year. 
The Golden Orb had almost disappeared behind the interlacing fingers of the hawthorn.”
~ Flora, Cold Comfort Farm

urban prairie
vintage feel
shades of glorious green
rustic posy brooch  




{Sometimes when I've finished a piece,
the name just leaps out at me.
This was one of those pieces,
and one of those times.}

More new pieces arriving
(almost) daily.

Stay tuned...

~

Much love!
xo



.  

I have a thing for shacks...

.
...and there are two sweet little shacks
on the way up the mountain to our favorite
fishing spot.

We pass them every year.
And every year,
I fall a little more in love with them.

You'll just drive along this road...
expansive views of mountains,
flatlands,
the occasional waterfall,
and then...


The two little shacks appear.
One larger than the other.
They're just perfect.





Oh, how I wish I could own this bit of land.,
There's even a sweet little stream.
I wouldn't change a thing.

Except perhaps
add a third,
more livable,
little shack
for our visits.

Happy Labor Day, dear ones,
and thank you for stopping in!
I hope you have a beautiful week.

I'll be back this week
  with more new Fringe pieces.

xo



.