Thank You!

Thanks to those of you that stopped by my Etsy shop during my Black Friday ~ Cyber Monday sale. You rock!
On another note.....this is what happens when we try to take a photo for a Christmas card. Those cats that I see on Etsy product listing photos are so well behaved.
Until next time.....

Thanksgiving Goodness

We've been over the river and through the woods. We ate. We drank. We visited. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's been non-stop since Wednesday, when the roofers showed up to begin the roofing job. With holiday music cranked up loud, so as to mask the sound of nail guns and air compressors, I baked, and cooked and prepped for our holiday meal.
Usually we have a very traditional meal, but this year my sister in law suggested we get a deboned turkey stuffed with shrimp from New Orleans. So we did just that. And we made sides to go with that Cajun bird. I made Creole sweet potatoes, Black olive bread, cranberry sauce, sauteed kale with shallots and red jalapenos. Dessert was pecan pie. John made duck stew. Our cousin Susan, who is a vegetarian, brought a hazelnut loaf and gravy.  It was an excellent idea. The dinner was fabulous and the leftovers are just as fab.
Don't look for pictures. I didn't take any. Honestly, I didn't even think about taking photos. My camera stayed home.
I am having a holiday sale in my Etsy shop that I've yet to post about. It goes on until Tuesday night. Everything in my shop is marked down 20%. If you click on the snowflake, it will take you to the shop.
I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll be decking the halls this week, getting ready to slide into Christmas.
Until next time.....

Whoa There November

Wow, is this month flying by or what? Thanksgiving is in a few days. Christmas is just around the corner. And I thought October zipped by! They say that the older you get, the faster time goes. Well, I say that they are right.
Until next time.....

Full Circle

Twenty something years ago, when I started making jewelry, I worked mainly with turquoise. I couldn't get enough of it. So many beautiful shades to be had. Along the way, my interest shifted to working with vintage beads. A couple of months ago, I opened an email from my old gemstone supplier and got lost in the turquoise. I had to buy some. It's been too long since I held a beautiful strand of American turquoise. So, I bought two. One Sleeping Beauty (pictured above) and one Kingman. I listed a couple of necklaces with the Sleeping Beauty and have yet to cut apart the Kingman.
I love those 'full circle' moments in life.
Until next time.....

60 Tons and What Do You Get?

Well, in our case, let's hope it's a dam that is repaired and no longer leaks. Back in '06, when we bought Crystal Lake, we did not know that the dam leaked. John got in touch with the local dam man and found out what we needed to do to try and fix the leak. This fall we called in the big guns. Heavy equipment arrived. The area where the leak is was dug out and repacked with clay. Trees were cut down. The roots are what caused the leak. Loads of soil were dumped on the dam and the far side of the lake. Then the topsoil came. 60 tons to be exact. It took us two trips up to the mountain to move it around, rake it out and seed/straw it.

It was nice to get this job finished. Now all we have to do is wait and see if this repair worked.
Below is a photo from the dam to show the depth of the water now.

And this next picture was taken a few years ago in winter. You can see how low the water is now. See the blue chair on the rock? The water should come right up to the rock and sometimes over it.

I found this horseshoe in one of the loads. Hopefully it brought us luck. Keep your fingers crossed. I wish that we had a dam cam set up so we could watch the progress from here. That or a Bambi Airstream. I'd volunteer to move up there to monitor the situation!

Holiday Baubles

I've been listing holiday themed jewels in my Etsy shop. Some are new. Some are old designs that I brought back. The ones in the collage are new. You can see my Winter/Holiday section by clicking here.
I need to shoot some more pieces today. Or tomorrow. But right now, I need breakfast.
Until next time.....

Farewell Summer Garden

The temperature dipped below freezing on October 30th. The summer garden is officially finished. I did manage to pick the last of the produce that day. I'm very thankful for all of the food that we've harvested and eaten or put up. The fall garden is supplying us with fresh greens, turnips, onions, carrots, beets and pak choi. Soon they will be gone too. Both me and the gardens can then rest.

I laid the peppers, green tomatoes and eggplants out on a towel to dry. Next to them sat the dixie speckled butter peas. With Halloween in the air, how could I resist?

Farewell summer garden. Farewell October. Welcome November.