major computer problems

Just to let you know that I'm having lots of problems with this computer, I'll try to blog from part 2 of the trip. I will be back home next Mon. and will catch up on the blog then,

Visiting family!

Well I'm gone from the beautiful Pacific NW for awhile to visit family. Our first stop is at the home of our son, daughter-in-law,and adorable Grandson. We are so used to our wonderful cool weather, that we're both HOT! I know I'm spoiled when the 80,s with a bit of humidity does me in. However, it's all worth it as you will see from my pictures!!!

Here is Caleb, the great Ninja warrior!

He wants to show Grandma and Grandpa how strong he is-able to lift his chair!!!

We have a visiting tradition, first day, a stop at Starbucks, a toy of his choice, and out to lunch. I think he's eating Grandpa's treat as well as his!

The toy of choice.

The SBA joins the fun!

Daddy made a super desert , see the cookie crumbs.

I wanted to add day 2, a trip to the Botanical Garden to see a Safari Shoe and explore the scarecrow trail, but guess what???! I'm too tired!
Thanks for joining me!

Halloween Town

Several years ago-probably 15 at least- my sister and I found these little Halloween houses in a Christmas shop well after Christmas. We each bought one and that was the beginning of my collection. The houses and accessories belong to a series called "Creepy Hollow." They stopped making the series probably 5 years ago. I have many of the oldest houses. In fact, most of my collection are the older houses. It's quite a project to set it up each year , but the SBA considers it quite an engineering project!! He is a huge help, He hides all the electric cords under the moss. Each year we try to improve the looks and this year we found sheet moss at Michael's. It was much better than the big clumps of moss we used in the past.

This is a view from the left end. Notice the cemetery up on the hill.

This is a view of the whole village-well almost!

Here's the right side. Notice the little witch with the pumpkin.

This is how it looks at night with all the lights on.

It is built on a piece of plywood on top of an old dry sink.

Of course, after being a teacher for 30 years,I had to have the "Little Dead School House."

Fun details

This is the witches' house called "Witches Cove."

Again, I love the details.

This is Drearydale Manor.

Check your broom here!

Now that's a garden!
Thanks for taking a look at this blog, I do appreciate it very much!

Halloween Revelry all finished!

Not much going on here, just a quiet week-end. The SBA didn't feel well due to the pneumonia shot he got on Fri.-even had a fever last night! At least I got Halloween Revelry all finished. It will be framed when we get to our families home. I'm not sure how many more Halloween stitches I'll do for my Grandson-what if he is not the Halloween lover that his Grandma is??!! We'll just have to see. I am looking forward to shopping at a few of the cross stitch shops that I'll be visiting on this trip. Many of you have heard me whine about the lack of shops in the Seattle area!! Absolutely none on my side of Puget sound! I know there will be at lest 3 that I'll be visiting.

Ready for stretching and framing. Sorry the colors aren't quite right.

Love those cats! Looks like they are having fun!

The chart had such great detail. I love those little owls down in the corners and the orange and black border. The color is really off on this one.

Hope everyone has a great first week in my favorite month, October!

A couple more Halloween treasurers

First, I want to thank some of the folks who have made such kind comments. I really appreciate the time you take to view my blog. As I said before, I don't have a lot of vintage Halloween but I do love the few things that I have. Today, I decided to show a few more of my treasurers. The first is a brass chestnut warmer. I saw this in Nashville a few years ago at one of the shows that ran adjacent to the big Heart of Country show. (I think this is no longer the case).I took one look and knew it was meant for me!!!!! I had to remain very calm while the SBA negotiated a price. I don't know where it was made or how old it is. There is a number on the back but we have never been able to fine anything out about it.

The dealer we bought this from said his wife got it out every Halloween. In our house, it hangs by the fireplace all year!!

A close up of the wonderful witch. She does remind me of the Daniel Lowe witch but I can't be sure.

This is another treasure that we looked for for a few years. My good friend was on a trip and she saw it in an antique shop. After a phone call and a bit of paper work, she was on her way to Washington.

Love the cats and brooms. This photo color isn't the best. The plate is a very rich cobalt blue.

Daniel Lowe was in business in the Boston area in the late 1800's. He was a jeweler I believe. We have two spoons of his that I'll show you at a later post. Sorry for the blurry photo.

Thanks for joining me and I hope everyone has a great week-end!

Pumpkins and cross stitch!

Well, I'm back to the Halloween theme today. We did have another great day here in the Pacific NW! However, on Thurs. afternoon, I volunteer at a nearby school so no fun walks on the beach today!

Remember this sign came from a previous post?

Well, here they are!!!!! We met our daughter for coffee on Wed. am to be greeted by this wonderful pile of pumpkins!

A pumpkin Mountain!


This is Albert, our daughter's dog. He's checking out the pumpkins. We love him, he thinks of us as Grandma and Grandpa!!

I did this cross stitch last year. It is on 32ct antique linen. The threads I used were in a special package designed for the Jenny Bean Halloween sampler. This sampler is by Shakespeare's Peddler. It was fun to do. I did change the black color to Onyx. I did the sampler on 32ct. linen and the directions called for 40ct. so the package did not have enough of the blackish color. I liked onyx better than the bluish -black that was called for.

The colors had fun names like: witch's wart, sarcophagus, zombie flesh, nightmare,coffin lid,dried blood,swamp water,and parched bones!

The in initials on the gravestones(my own addition) belong to my two revolutionary war patriots.(Yes, I do belong to the DAR).

Well, Oct. is just around the corner so I hope this helps you to get in the mood! Thanks for looking.

A Walk on the Beach

I had planned to blog more about Halloween today , but after a walk on the beach, I changed my mind. This was a beautiful day in the Pacific NW. It was sunny and between 65 and 70 degrees. The sky was such a bright blue! We decided to go for a walk on the beach. I blogged about the lighthouse a month or so ago. This beach is the same one that has the lighthouse. It's about 45 minutes from our house. There were very few people on the beach. For a long while we only saw a man and his dog. As you can see in the photos, there is a high cliff along the beach. This keeps houses and cabins away. It's an amazing beach to just walk along.

Notice the high cliffs.

You can walk very far down this beach especially at low tide.

It looks like the kids had a fun week-end building houses out of the drift wood.

We love to collect sea glass. In fact we have bags of it. This is a very pretty pale blue.

A pretty green!

And a fairly rare blue!

There are tons of drift wood along this beach.

The SBA(super blog assistant) agreed to pose so you could see the size of the drift wood.

He's about 5 foot 11 inches.

As we were walking , he looked up and spied this large eagle. We see them fairly often out here, but it is still a thrill. Notice the blue of the sky!

Well, I'll have more Halloween tomorrow. Thanks for taking this walk with me!

Cross Stitch and Antiques!

More Halloween stuff! I have to tell you that we moved to the NW in Sept. We were renting at first so I had my Halloween stuff packed separately-even in an apartment I had to have my Halloween things!! The mover said he had moved this much Christmas stuff but never this much Halloween stuff. That means I still have much to share! This is another cross stitch by The Primitive Needle. I did it a few years ago but we just framed it. The pictures really don't show the color very well . I did it pretty much as suggested in the pattern(if I'm remembering correctly). We framed it in an antique frame. It looks great by the desk.

Love all the symbols. I'm trying to find out what they mean.

Love the little pumpkin border!

Just a few close ups.

I don't have as many antique Halloween things as I would like. However, I do love the ones I have. This is an old mold I found at an antique show in Indianapolis, In. It says Van Enden Co. NY and also says Made in Germany. Van Enden must have imported the mold. I'm guessing it was for candy.

I LOVE those witches. I have never tried to mold in this but have thought about it. Maybe some little soaps.

I got this on ebay a few years ago. It was a great buy as I had tried to find witch molds at shows and they were always very expensive. It says Made in Germany and Weygand New York.

My good friend Doreen found this chalk witch in a shop in CA. It looks like it might have been made in a mold very similar to mine. I know that folk artists like to buy the molds and use them to make copies that they can decorate. I wish I could read the name of the artist, but it was too blurry.
Thanks again for reading my blog! More Halloween coming soon!