Owl’s Pumpkin Patch with a stitch count of 54H x 53W was stitched on WDW Carrot with WDW Mascara. What a fun stitch and an even funnier story on how I did this photo shoot! Picture me traipsing through the big horse pasture. Short me, tall, very tall, weeds or probably prairie grass, looking for the ultimate pumpkin / owl shot. Spotted lovely trees dripping with burgundy berries at the edge of the woods on the pasture side, but they didn’t quite show up. Then, all the way at the very end of the pasture, I spy yarrow. Now I’m not just wandering around with my model and camera. No, that would be too easy. I had my candle stand table, a bag with my camera, picture stand, model, and if that wasn’t enough, picture several of the barn cats following along with me and their tails just sky high in the tall grass. I’m sure it would have made for a really funny video, me walking carefully to push down the waist high grass in front of me and the furry babies just running around with not a care in the world to all the burrs they were collecting on their fur or the pollen hitching a ride on them. After setting up several different shots, sneezing at all the weeds and realizing there weren’t enough tissues in the world for my allergy attack, dodging bugs (bees), and convincing the cats they didn’t need to change my layouts, I was pretty happy with the pics. However, next morning my hubby found that Ninja had left him a beheaded snake next to his desk. I can only surmise that the “little” snake took a ride in my bag and shimmied under the door to go downstairs only to find Ninja who is quite the hunter. I think it’ll be a long time before I get adventurous and wander around the woods or pastures to get model shots.
Quaker Summer Acorns is the final seasonal acorn. With a stitch count of 54H x 35W for each acorn, both were stitched on Lakeside Linens Vintage Bisque using GAST Royal Purple and Rose Garden. Look for Quaker Acorns I and II for the Autumn acorns, Quaker Winter Acorns and Quaker Spring Acorns for all four seasons. I’ve enjoyed these acorns with their limitless finishing ideas – pinkeeps, cubes, ornaments, framed smalls, and needlebooks. I’ve even seen scissor fobs done on very small count fabric, that my eyes can’t see, using the acorns. So much fun and a quick stitch too! And speaking of the acorns, I had a typo on my Quaker Spring Acorns. In my specs of what fabric and threads I used on which acorn, I typed Quaker Swan for Spring when it is a Quaker Peacock. I think at that point I had the Summer swan on my brain and just forgot the sweet peacock. Future covers for this chart are corrected.
It’s been a lovely Fall here so far. Colors are starting to show on the trees, and leaves are tumbling down. I saw my first Junco arrive and almost felt like he was saying hello since he faced me from the deck and bobbed his head. I love those little birds. They arrive October – ish (sometimes as late as November) and stay until about March. They love the woods here and we ground feed them through the Winter. Our finches seemed to be disappearing, the blush bellied woodpeckers are back to eating their meals here, and the blue jays are plentiful. So it’s nice to see the small juncos back signaling that Fall is in full swing and Winter is almost upon us. Sometimes they are called the winter bird because their coloring is dark grey bodies with almost white bellies.
With the cooler temps of Fall my baking is in full swing. I’m going to be making my son’s recipe for Crumb Cake this afternoon and here is the link to the recipe. It is so delicious and even better the next day if it lasts that long. Today I am hoping it lasts until tomorrow as family is coming over for dinner and I thought the crumb cake would be a nice dessert afterwards. His food and wine blog is amazing. Take the time to wander around and try a few recipes. Derek was in the restaurant business for over 16 years and now is in wine distribution. Excellent resource for what wine to pair with your meal. His main dishes are amazing and his sweet tooth is as wicked as mine! Let me know what you try!
Leaving you with a picture of the big pasture and you’ll understand the challenges it posed. Yes, I had to walk past that little path my husband had mowed but you have a pretty good idea of how tall the prairie grass/weeds were! Thank you for stopping by for a visit and enjoy your day!
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Stitching, tea and me 
