Lavender Hot Chocolate

Now that there is no denying the cold that has befallen us, I am open to trying new things in the world of hot chocolate. Because, well... I might just have to make this a few times to perfect it, right? My new obsession is Lavender Hot Chocolate. Mmmmm...

Go here for the recipe...

Dark and Moody

A jewel from the Pinterest file of The French Mouse

I am in a dark and moody... uh... mood today. So this seemed fitting. I once saw a table setting very much like this for... you'll never guess... Christmas. Yes, Christmas. It was done up in a store that I rarely go into, back in the city. A long, dark ebony table set in a very rustic but polished sense... but the plates were crystal and they were set on rabbit furs. It was gorgeous. I have never been able to bring myself to set the table the same way, as my circle of friends would most likely take issue with the furs. I sit on the fence about it because I have several boxes of white rabbit furs that I bought from a shop that was closing down a few years ago that sold native jewelry and used the furs for display. Someday I would like to have a quilt made with them, there are maybe sixty of them. But I still love the idea of using them on the table... I will simply have to invite a bunch of people I don't know over for dinner one Thanksgiving or New Years...

In Limbo

I found all my wool while cleaning and now must roll some of the balls to look like this, as I think it's just gorgeous! From Gatherings.

I am feeling in a bit of a state the last week or so. I was SO between a rock and a hard place (sometimes I wonder if that is my favourite place to be since I seem to find my way back so often) what with two photo shoots for the other blog and then Halloween, which this year was a bit overdone in the sense that the reason I committed to having the soiree was so that my disgusting-hit-by-a-3-male-tornado-disaster... sorry, house... could once again begin to resemble a home. I love the idea of having people visit, but I seriously thought that I could bribe these guys into helping put the house together if I promised a party at the end. And for D it was more like a threat. But neither worked. It ended up being me and my super amazing friend Becca (the sweetmaker from the pink glass shoot) who spent four straight days cleaning. I'm not kidding, it was that bad. We moved in and multiple places in the house were just never sorted properly, so when we needed something from those areas, stuff was moved around and never put away because there didn't seem to be an "away".  Add that to the kid's having bunk beds built into their room the day before and the day of the party... sigh. Yup.

Painted pine cones with the boys.

But it happened. We did it. Becca is my new hero and we pulled it off. The photo shoot photos came back better than I had hoped for, the models don't entirely hate me for being stuck in a graveyard in the pouring rain for over two hours... I have emptied my house of all the excess that was clogging up the living areas... we have our home back... life is lovely.

Luminaria by Kelly Wilkinson, author of Weekend Handmade: Place dried leaves and flowers between sheets of wax paper and iron to fuse the paper. Cut out 4 equal squares and fasten with washi tape (bamboo skewers will hold the edges straight)

And I have no deadlines. This confuses me. It's not that I don't have a TON of stuff that could be getting done, and lots of it is... but the fire isn't there. I miss the fire. But it's all about balance, right? Right? Right. So I think that the trick is that I shall take up some crafting. These ^^^ are the first on my list... especially the one that entails sending the rugrats off to collect the leaves before they are gone. They are still so pretty, but they are barely hanging on to those branches and next week they will be scattered to that frosty wind that has begun to hang about. I don't quite feel right about starting up the old Yule crafts yet, although they are already simmering in that area of my brain that doesn't turn off when I sleep... so some late autumn crafting it is. For this week. Next week it will probably snow. Then we are off again... Christmas crafting...

...also... I have a Wedding Show to organize.

Adore These!

Click image to visit etsy shop...

It's Time For COZY!

... and have I got some cozy goin on right here!

First up, a pair of knit clogs from Ruche (have I mentioned it's my favourite?) which are so darn adorable (and stupidly inexpensive) that I am seriously contemplating spending the money reserved for a certain canceled field trip on them instead. I think I can find a way to justify that. I am not entirely sure that clogs are the most practical shoe for... wait, what am I saying... when has the concept of practicality been my issue?

If you are looking to cozy up more than just your toes, I found this tres nifty wallpaper on Cartolina this morning when I was looking up some info on their most fabulous new iPod app launch... she always has the greatest finds over there... worth a daily looksee. Believe it or not, this is not only cool looking, but it is also woven to feel like knitting and I just think that is the bees knees! I love this stuff for a nursery, but I think it would also look kinda cool juxtaposed with gray stone maybe in the form of a fireplace. Or concrete would work too. It's one of those things that doesn't look so hot on the roll, but once it's up, it's pretty awesome. I am not that into photo mural wallpaper, I am a chintzy flourishy type... but I would adore it in your house!



Strikk out of London has an etsy shop that can send you some adorable home things that perhaps you hadn't thought about... how about vase cozies? No, I hadn't either, but how cute :)



... and they do knitted hangers, which I think would look pretty brilliant in that nursery with the above wallpaper. No?


These crocheted asters from Leninka's shop are simply gorgeous...



Ohhh, so much about autumn I love... the trees are turning, the scarves and gloves are coming out of the closet, and the feel of Thanksgiving in the air already... I must now go out to store up on a hot chocolate stash and some Green & Blacks for my pantry. Happy Autumn!

Like It Was Only Yesterday.

I wish I was doing this right now... 

Today is the first day waking up to the soggy grey ick. How can it be this grey out when it was so spectacularly sunny yesterday? Should we not be allowed by the grace of nature to fall gradually into the darker time of the year? So I am returning us all to last weekend's fall fair in Harrop.

As a city girl turned cosmo-hick I am always saying that I live in the middle of nowhere, but in actual fact, Nelson is quite a happening little town. The REAL middle of nowhere is out past Harrop- real country life. 

I love it. I am all about prize chickens and dressed up zuccini as long as it isn't my responsibility to keep them alive. Don't get me wrong, I adore getting my hands dirty in the garden, I'm just still learning. And bugs freak me out. 

Here are the fruits (and veggies) of somebody else's labour...

Best dressed veggie table...

The card says "I want to be a pumpkin." Any veggie

sporting a hand felted pashmina is a clear winner.

Gorgeous fall blooms.

You can't see them clearly but this plant

 is covered in bees!

Everybody havin' a good time!

Photo credit: Sarah Grieve