The Time Has Come

The time has come to travel here.  To spend a splendid 8 days at....

Our beach: Tierra Del Mar on the Oregon Coast next to Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City.

To relax in our favorite place.

We will need two this year as more family is coming.

To do this: Play on the beach, chase the waves, watch the sea animals, eat at little cafes, look around in wonderful shops, relax, have fun, and.......

hopefully DH will catch another of these.  Why else go to the Oregon Coast this time of year?

Wishing you all a fun filled weekend and week.  

Tuesday Display Chain~A New Appreciation

I was very excited to see that Misi is hosting the Tuesday Display Chain again this Fall.  I have so  much fun with them and get to visit with many new and old blogging friends.  It's a good chance for me to stretch my creativity.  If you want to join, go on over to her blog and sign in.  

This weeks theme is "A New Appreciation".  I get to post a picture of a display in the way that I interpret this.  

There are many new appreciations that come with the season.  But how do you build a display around the thankfulness for cooler weather, or the fact that you don't have to water your garden anymore?  (It was getting a bit tiring)!!  

But, as I looked around at the decor in some of my displays, I began to appreciate the free gifts that Mother Nature offers me to put in my home this time of year.

Earlier in September, I picked some berries from a tree in the park and strung them.  Then I gathered up some of my dried sunflower heads and hung them in a row. Pine cones are always easy to find.  If you go hiking up on the Mnts. East of here you may find Putka Pods to dry.  They look like little tiny cute pumpkins.  I found mine at Michael's though.  

I really wanted to make some cinnamon smelling bowl fillers for my entryway.  I found a few small pine cones, shucked the corn that I grew, and gathered some dried berries.  Then I made a concoction of cinnamon oil and soaked them in it.  A trip in the oven dried it all up good.  

We have three tall grass plants outside our side window.  I thought that some of the taller stems would look lovely inside for the season.  A few snips later they became a part of my home decor.

Welcome to my entry way.  I hope that you find some fall pleasure here.  I know that I do.  

Thanks for visiting my little piece of the world.  I appreciate all your wonderful comments and the friendship you have to offer.  Have a great day. 

Sometimes You Just Need An Altoid

Holy cuteness.  Is that a phrase?  Because that is all I could say when I saw these things.  My mother and I set to work to make one for each of my girls.  They are all hand stitched with the exception of the blankets and pillows.  The idea came from Pinterest, of course.  

They have created hours of fun for my girls and quietness for me.  A great thing to put in your purse at church and for a longer car ride.

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Don't forget to go to Amy's and sign up for the Ornie swap.  I missed out on this last year and was so sorry when I began to see all these posts of the neat ornies everyone was receiving to decorate their trees with.  I won't miss it this year:) 

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Today I have a date with the grocery store.  It should be smashing fun!!!  

See you all soon and have a great day.

Why My Blog Has This Name

I have been having so much fun reading every one's stories about their blog name that I have decided I will take my turn in Karen's little challenge.  So, come sit down.  I'll tell you all about it.  I apologize for the length. It's nearly impossible for me to tell a story without writing a novel.  You can stare at my pumpkin cookies too.  Which are, by the way, sooooo yummy.  

We moved to this valley 5 years ago and I had a whole new house to decorate.  I had never heard of primitive anything before.  While discovering our new town, I found a small shop on the corner of Addison and Locust.  I stopped in and had my first sweet taste of primitive.  Of course I fell in love instantly, but had no idea how to incorporate all this new stuff into my home.  After ordering Country Sampler I started to get an idea.  Then the shop closed as fast as I discovered it and my prim possibilities went with it.  As the years went by, the magazines became stacked up on the table next to my bed.  Many nights  I would flip through them and dream. 

Life went on and another baby came.  I have always felt my self worth attached to a tag that said "someone who has to be successful and noticed for it".  As a stay at home mom, no one notices you and your success isn't measured much by world standards.  I needed to prove to myself that I could do something that I felt was hard.  It was something I had to do for myself.  I got the crazy idea to start a blog and see if I could make something out of it.   

Long story short, I decided on a primitive blog with the hopes of discovering new information and sharing it with others on home decor and styles.  (Ha ha ha.  Little did I know that there was a whole brooding community filled with so many talented and wonderful ladies that, who would instead, share their talents and knowledge and friendship with me.)  I threw myself at others with fury and set out to meet people.  I had no idea the amazing friendships that could develop through blogging.  It was quite a wonderful accident that I stumbled upon all of you:) It has really made a difference in my life.  

Now, as you probably have guessed, the name of the shop that was my first inspiration and that gave my eyes their first feast of prim was called 

"Front Porch Primitives".  

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The Stacy Nash pattern will be passed to

 Congrats Christine.  
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Wishing you all the best and most wonderful fall weekend.  

Fall Is Here And The Kids Are Gone

Fall's First Breath

The golden hue of the sun is playing on the dried grasses and the perfectly round bales of hay today.

It's distant and muted.  Giving the picture a matte finish.

A trick, just for the fun of Mother Nature.  Tomorrow we will see.

A chilly night's sleep goes unnoticed.  The damp, cool morning does not.

The cool wetness gives way to the warmth.  Leaving behind a tapestry of scents: ripening fields, aging leaves, smoky hints.

The air clings and hangs closer.  Pulling, softly tugging.  "I am coming, I am coming".  

Anxious feelings imprinted from childhood.  Excitement of the change fill us up as night falls faster.

It's a surety.

Fall is creeping in.  Seething around the folded corners of the slowly dying leaves and slipping through the ragged edges of the cut grain.

Soon, the crisp will follow.  Blanketing the world and transforming it once again.  Giving it a glorious new name. 

Autumn.

~Stephani~

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Ann from A Hole in the Basket Primitives was having a pattern pass along.  I was the lucky recipient.  It's a Stacy Nash design and was so much fun to stitch.  I have it hanging in my front entryway. Thanks again Ann.

Now that I am done with it, I want to pass it along again to someone who will promise to use it.

Just comment letting me know that you would like it and I will pick a name on Friday.  

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Taking August for the girls was a very good thing.  But, so many times I wanted to run to the computer to share what was going on. 

I won't try to play catch up with you but will share just a few.

We have had some very big fires close to home.  It's amazing to see the fury of Nature.  

 Our neighbor is a fisher and crabber in Alaska.  He was visiting his family for a couple of weeks and brought this by our house for dinner. The girls thought it was amazing.  It sat in a steel bowl in our refridgerator over night.  They watched it move and breath and spit water in and out.

 Every 4 or 5 years the Blue Angles come and give us a show at the  airport.  We live just North of it where the show flies.  We get them right over our house.  So we stand on our lawn chairs and watch.  They are so loud and shake the ground as they go by.

 Don't ever let the Kirby salesman in your door.  Three hours later you will be willing to spend the money just to get him to leave.

 We have had some spectacular shots of the moon.  We also have had some amazing lightning storms.

 We go to the County Fair every year where the girls get to ride rides, eat as much as they want, and have fun looking at the animals and exhibits.  Oldest threw up "again" because she ate too much.  How many fried Nutter Butters, donuts, candy fish, icecream, popcorn, and soda can you eat before you do?  Oh, ya.  Put it all on top of a Happy Meal too.

School started today. The kids are all gone.  I have all three going for the first time.  It is very quiet here and I am left with all my own thoughts.  It's scary.  Ususally I am always helping, or fixing, or talking, or breaking up an argument or two.  Now.....nothing.  Complete silence.

What will I ever do?

Have a great week.