Growers/Crafters Markets have the best food & I love a good book!!!

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Hi everone... Are you having a good week so far? I'm having  a great week. Today I made a sort of unplanned trip to my local growers/crafters market.  I wanted to  buy a couple of hand  pies/tarts...one sweet and one savory. So it was such unexpected fun today, I just had to snap some photos and share them with you all.

Here goes...The last time I was at the growers/crafters market was back in May. I went with some friends.  This particular market is held at the local National Guard Armory. It's fantastic.  I was so surprised by all the variety. This market is small, but mighty..and there was everything there from fruits/veggies, fresh eggs...to handmade toys and cutting boards :) I was really hungry and I saw these hand pies..and they were yummy, yummy.....and yummy!!!

When I looked at the sign, I noticed it read Pennington Farms. Oh I remembered this place. This is the farm that was featured in the July 2008 issue of Country Living magazine. At the time I didn't know they were local. I just loved their baked goods and their story.  Here's a link to the online article. It's worth checking out, the photos are fantastic. So when I realized they're local, I was really happy!!!

The first visit to the market I purchased an apple turnover and an Italian savory hand pie..both are handheld pies..so yummy. Today I purchased a blackberry hand pie and a spinach/Swiss cheese hand pie :) :) Of course, I shared both with my dad. This is my favorite booth for jams, baked goods etc. I asked if I could take a few photos. The very nice lady said "yes".  Here's a few photos of the booth...and you'll see why I love it so much :) :) :) Oh, click here to visit the Pennington Farms website :) :)


Look at all those yummy bottles of fresh preserves and jams!!!


Pennington Farm has lots of hungry fans :)


This is a little bit about the farm. They also have this on their website too :)


Okay...I love stuff like this :)

Here's some of the fresh berries available for purchase. There was quite a bit more this morning...but people kept buying it all up :) :)


Now this is what I'm talking about :) :) :)


These are the little bags that the hand pies and turnovers are lovingly packaged...wow, even the bags are cute.

This is the blackbery hand pie. Yummy, yummy, and did I say yummy!!!!


These were miniature jars of preserves that were $1.25 each..I'm going to reuse these jars for a craft project when the preserves are all eaten up :) :) :)


This was a free postcard...so I took one home. This booth has so much to look at , buy and enjoy :)

My other favorite booth at the growers/crafters market is Full Circle Bison Ranch. I love bison meat because of how it's raised...100% grass fed. It tastes a lot like beef. Click here to visit their website. Now I didn't purchase anything here, because I am on a budget...BUT they are very well known here in Southern Oregon. Their products are sold in quite a few farmers markets and stores.

What caught my interest was the bison hide and the bison fur pelt.  My dad makes leather Bible covers from leather hide..and I saw this..I knew he'd be really interested. So that was my "hook" for getting him to come to the farmer's market with me today :) :) Oh, in addition to their bison meat being 100% grass fed, it is also certified ORGANIC. That's so important.  For me at least, I'm careful about the meat I eat...because whatever the meat animals eat, you eat too. So it's just a personal conviction of mine.

The gentleman at the booth today was a real sweetheart. My dad was asking a LOT of questions, which was his way of saying that he loved the booth, and especially that bison leather hide. It's super soft...softer than cow leather hide.

I don't eat a lot of meat, but when I do, I LOVE bison meat or organic beef. Full Circle Bison Ranch specializes in buffalo meat :) :) :) It's really good.

There's all sorts of bison meat products to purchase there or on-line. Full Circle Bison Ranch will ship to your door :) :)

Here's my dad talking with the nice gentleman in the hat. They're talking bison leather hides. The bison pelt on the right is also really interesting!!!


I wrote this on the back of the Pennington Farms paper bag that kept my hand pies safe till I got home to eat them :) :)   I wanted to thank them for letting me take some photos :) :) I highly recommend both businesses because their product is good, but they were also really nice to me!!! That's important in my book...don't just frequent a business for the product...but also for how they treat you as a customer :) :) :)

Oh, I love to read. Lately I've been reading a lot of historical Christian fiction. I love this genre because its great romance but also clean and uplifting.  One of the author's I love to read is Mary Lu Tyndall. Click here to visit her website or  you can go straight to her blog by clicking here. She's been having a giveaway durings Fridays in July for her book "Surrender the Heart". It's the first book in the  "Surrender to Destiny" series. This book opens up in 1812 right at the onset of the war of 1812 between the USA and Great Britain.  I won a copy. I'll finish reading this book really quickly :) :) :)

I had previously read Mary Lu Tyndall's series "Charles Towne Belles series"..which takes place in the 1750s during Colonial America.  All of her books have romance, adventure, danger and the Gospel is weaved throughout the books. So these are fantastic romances that will leave you feeling uplifted and wanting to read more.

This is me holding a copy of Mary Lu Tyndall's book "Surrender the Heart". This photo was taken today.


Mary Lu even autographed the book. How cool is this? I love it!!!!

My dad and I had a great morning. It's going to be another hot one today, for sure. I didn't know the farmer's market opens at 8:30 a.m. So the next time I go, I'm definitely going to be there when it opens :) :) :)   

I got something good to eat and now I have something romantic and uplifting to read. I hope you all are having a great day today!!!! That's the news from Oregon.  Love and hugs, Heather :)

Purple Flowers, Bumblebees & Yard Sale Treasures...plus crafts..OH MY!!!

If you look really carefully you'll see this fat and fuzzy bumblebee hanging out on this purple flower! You may have to left-click on the image to enlarge it. Then you'll see the bumblebee :) :) :)

Hi everyone...My dad and I had some things to do today that required the car.  So on the way out I spotted these beautiful purple flowers. Now I know this particular area of town quite well and those flowers were new.  They must have literally sprung up in the last month or so.  When you see the following photos you'll understand why I think this was particularly amazing and special...

When I moved back home in January 2006 this photo was nothing but an empty field. It used to be part of a military exercise base back in the 1940s..but don't quote me on that. There used to be an old cinder block shelter here....similar to what you'd see on old military practice fields. In any case, in just four years it's changd a lot. That building you see is a renal care facility. I watched it from the first hole of dirt being dug to now...YOu can also see what a sorry state the unused portions are still in. It looks like there will be more landscaping happening soon. Anyway..it was along the dirt portion running parallel to the sidewalk that I spotted those beautiful purple flowers...Extreme beauty in the midst of dirt...

Now this is what this particular area looks like where I snapped the photo of those beautiful flowers. You can see these white flowers and a little but of the purple flowers on the very far right!!!


Here's a close-up view of the white flowers that were right next to the purple flowers. I don't know how they got there..unless someone randomly scattered a few seeds...but there they are and there is nothing similar nearby.


Here's a close-up view of the purple flowers.

I'm not sure what type of flowers those are. I tried to find a similar photo on the internet. So if you know what they are, please let me know and I'll update this post :) :) :)

Of course, I managed to visit a couple yard sales this weekend.  I found some wonderful treasures which I'll share with you today. Now the tea things, I'll save for Tuesdays...but the rest I'll show you :) :) This will be it for the next month, because I'm out of money. It's tighter than tight in our house now...but that's alright. Now I can concentrate on the decorating, improving etc... Oh, back to the topic..so we stopped at one yard sale today and I found a few cute things....

This was a really cool, classic car that was parked in front of the house holding the yard sale today. The owner let me take a photo!!!

The photo below shows what I found at "today's" yard sale.  Those wicker shaped hearts with the lace and bows were only $0.25 each. That was a total impulse buy. They need some cleaning up and the lace is faded...but I'll figure out a way to fix it. If you have any tips on how I could brighten up the lace let me know. Those hearts can be hung on a wall. The homeowner made those herself!!! The other big find was her 3-ring binder "Aleene's Big Book of Crafts" with cool subject dividers. It had all these really cool craft projects that the same homeowner had carefully pulled out of Aleene's craft magazines and placed into sheet protectors inside this binder. This was only $2. I did look through this FIRST before I bought it. There are some great project ideas in there.

The items sitting "ON" this bench are what I found at the yard sale today. The bench itself and the lacy fabric peaking out were yesterday's finds...

Here's what I found at yesterday's yard sale...

This storage bench was only $5 and it's in excellent condition...just a little dirty. That can be cleaned.  I may paint this storage bench or leave it as is..not sure..but it's going to go next to my bed :) :) That's a great deal and it's REAL wood :) :) :)


Here's a ROUND table cloth with lace edging that I'm actually going to use on my rectangular table...unconventional I know..but it was only $2.


The book was another great find at only $0.25."Natural Beauty at Home - More than 200 easy-to-use recipes for body, bath and hair" by Janice Cox. She lives here in the same area of Oregon as myself!!! This book was from 1994...but the recipes have been used for generations!!


This tea strainger was "Made in England". It's very heavy.  I'm not sure what metal it's made out of...but this was also a mere $0.50. The teacup/coffee cup underneath it...well, you'll have to watch out on Tuesday one of these weeks...I won't say anything about it here :) :)

During the summer it gets really hot in Oregon. So I like to sleep with my window slightly open at night. The window has a screen so I don't have to worry about bugs flying into my room. In any case, I went to bed late last night...and all of a sudden I hear this really loud chatter...like a woodland creature or sprite with a diabolical laugh.

I got up out of bed and went to my window. It turns out it was three RACCOONS. They are very common in this area, especially when it's dark outside. I think it was a mom and two babies...because the mother was HUGE like the size of a small dog and the babies were a little smaller. They were looking for food.

My neighbor tried scaring them away by banging on a plastic bucket. It didn't work.  The two babies just scampered up the tree and the momma just kept on looking for food. Then she went up the tree, too.  Many of my neighbors leave out cat food to feed some of the homeless kitties that roam the apartment complex. Well, the raccoons now know where the kitty food is and they are frequent visitors :) :) If you've ever seen a raccoon walking around on all four paws, it's really funny!!!

This tree is right outside my backporch patio.  This is the tree that those raccoons climbed up late last night..well, technically it was just after midnight.

It's also crafty Saturday and here's what I've been working on this week. Now part of this is a gift for a friend, so I can't show all the photos...but "dear friend" does know what I'm making and what yarn I'm using :) :) This is the book that I am using..it has the pattern for the "ballband dishcloth".  If you want some great knitting patterns and humor rolled into one, this book is for you. You can also check out their website by clicking here!!! I really enjoyed their first knitting book and their sense of humor. They have since published another book, too!!! I think this is worth your money. See if you can borrow it from your library FIRST, so you can get a free preview. Then go buy it...that's what I did :) :) :)

Part of the craft project I"ve been working on this week. I've since complete a few of these...but this is all I'll show you at the moment :) :) :)

QUICK UPDATE (added at 7:24 p.m. PST) I just went to the Lily Sugar 'n Cream yarn website. It's so cute. If you sign in as a member...I believe it's free, because I didn't see a cost..they have a pattern for the exact same dishcloth. It goes by a different name and it's a basic "brick stitch". If you click here you can see the dishcloth and some other patterns.  I just thought this might be an alternative, especially if finances are tight, but you still want to make some beautiful/useful things :) :) :)

Oh I've had some more really neat ladies join my blog this week!!! So here goes...

WELCOME TO: Ashley Nicole of Bramblewood Fashion. Click here to visit her really cute blog. Ashley is a young lady with some outstanding sewing skills. She makes beautiful clothes that are also modest. Check her out. She also loves among other things the Regency Era clothing and Anne of Green Gables...just like me ;) :)

WELCOME TO: Aimee from Aimee on the Mountain Side. Click here to pay her  a visit. She's a native of the Northwest...She takes fantastic photos, loves Victorian homes and she has some fantastic photos of different areas of Oregon. Check it out...!!! Oh, she's also the owner of one super cute fluffy white dog!!

WELCOME TO: Patti of Fill My Cup...With Beauty. Click here to say hello to her. I don't remember now how I found her blog..but it's lovely!!! She has a really neat post up right now with a  link to "The Graphics Fairy". There you can find really nice free, vintage images. Patti posted some really cute pink vintage images for Saturday!!!

That was a long post!!! Thanks for visiting me.  Things are tough with the job market at the moment and I won't be going to any more yard sales for awhile.  My budget is pretty tight anyway, but I always have to make room for a little fun. It's necessary!!! Anyways, just keep my dad and I in your prayers. I'm always happy to pray for all of you, too!!!

Oh, I've noticed that I haven't really written a lot about budgeting lately. I'll have to see what I can do to change that. I'll be changing the subject labels on my posts soon to make it easier to find something.  I don't think I've left anything out today.  In spite of the trying times, I can count myself very blessed!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!! That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather ;)

Heather's Tea Cup Tuesday, Victorian Lace Knitting & Weldon's Practical Needlework

QUICK NOTE: Blogger was deleting my comments yesterday..when I was moderating them. Today, when I click on certain blog posts, I know you've written to me..but now the comments aren't visible under the blog post. So if it takes me awhile to respond to you forgive me...blogger is misbehaving in a major way!!! Please still leave me comments. I love reading them!!!!!



Happy Tuesday everyone.  Here are some Tuesday roses for you :) :) :)

Good afternoon....today's post is a long one..well, LOTS of photos...so sit back and enjoy!!!! I have some blogger friends who post lovely tea things on Tuesday. I haven't joined the group yet. I don't have lots of tea things...BUT what I do have, I love very, very much!!! I love it for it's simple beauty that brings joy to my heart. I love it for the special memories..like sipping chamomile tea from my grandmother's wedding china tea cup...or having her mother's homeade cinnamon rolls on a nice plate!!!  So I thought I'd share some of that with you, plus some other vintage goodies etc.  Here's just a part of my grandmother's wedding china from the early 1940s. It's genuine Wedgwood!!!!  Here is a photo of the tea pot with, creamer, sugar bowl with lid, tea cup and saucer!!!



Here's a close up of the white grapevine on white design that's on everything you see pictured above..I also have dessert plates, salad, plates, dinner plates, bread paltes, soup turine..gravy boat, and a deep dish which I think was for veggies or something..all with this same design with the shell edge!!!


Here's one of the stamps on the bottom of the tea pot.  These are real and I check them online!!! I'll have to do further research to find the actual date of production..


This is another date stamp on the bottom of the saucer.  These all mean something, but I'll have to research it online!!!...I know that my grandmother had replaced some pieces after she was married :) Oh, by the way, this whole set is what I use as everyday dishes. My grandmother did too!!! It's great!!! I decided a few years back that fine china is for single ladies, too. That's also a title of a great little book. I wasn't going to wait...nor do I have to wait till I'm married to enjoy nice things in my home!!! Nope, I'm going to enjoy them now!!!  Then maybe when I get married, my husband (lucky man) will love them too...

Okay, these next few photos are for my friend Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm.  Click on the title to go to her blog or look on my sidebar!!! All of you ladies might be interested in this too.  I found this book at a used bookstore for $9. I loved it because it's got the word "Victorian.." in the title and it's an interesting book with a really neat story and patterns. This book was published 1998 with Interweave Press. However, I believe the book is now out of print.  You can still find copies on Amazon.com...or better yet, try your local used bookstore. It'll probably be less expensive there...and you're supporting a local business at the same time :) :) :)


The book is comprised of patterns from the collection of Blanche Beau.  She never married and shared a house with her widowed sister, her sister's children and their mom!!  It's a really interesting story.  The author of this book was given Blanche's notebook as a gift from the sister of a man who had inherited some of Blanche's things after her death. At the time this book was printed, that notebook was just over 100 years old!!!


Here's a photo of Blanche Beau's notebook. What's really poignant is that her parents came from France. Her mother died when she was still just over a year old. She kept searching for the majority of her life for her mother's grave and was never able to find it. It makes my heart ache..that even in her older years, she was still longing for her mother.  This says "Note Book" in pretty scrolled handwriting on the cover.


Here's one of the pattern's found in Blanche Beau's notebook.  The first photo is the modern updated version with current knitting terms. The next photo is the original notebook with a sample of lace!!! Knitting terms have changed quite a bit from the Victorian era to today :) :) It's all still beautiful things, though!!! I can't get enough of it!!!

Here are a couple more of Blanche Beau's patterns that are featured in the book "Lace from the Attic" These are the updated version of Blanche's lace patterns.  From what I understand, it wasn't uncommon for a woman to keep a notebook of patterns that she liked or knit often. In fact, I'm going to do the same thing..although slightly different!!

Now this is another book, that I picked up at the same used bookstore.  Mary Schiffmann was born in Kobe, Japan on March 12th, 1908. She first learned to knit around 1914. Her and her family would knit garments for the troops. Her parents were missionaries. They returned to the States after WWI in 1919. She passed away on April 28th, 1996.  She was an avid collector of patterns and was only interested in unusual patterns that weren't printed often. That's what this book is comprised of...some her best unusual, beautiful patterns. Everything is useful and beautiful.  This book also has a lot of lace edgings and knitted lace doilies!!




Another great series of books, especially if you like Victorian needlework...is Weldon's Practical Needlework.  Weldon's would publish little booklets comprising about 12 patterns or so...from knitting to beadwork..and in the mid-1880s started publishing a years worth of patterns in a book.  You can purchase these online. I purchased mine at a local knitting shop. Piecework magazine publishes these. Some may now be out of print...but you can find them on Amazon.com. This is an exact reproduction of the original Weldon's Practical Needlework Volume 4.  It's really interesting to note the patterns and terminology used.  Oh, there weren't different pattern sizes. In all cases it was just the simple pattern..and it was up to the knitter to adjust it according to size.

Volume 4 had patterns on knitting, crochet, Mountmellick embroidery, smocking, tatting, decorative needlwork, beadwork and macrame lace.


Any of the Weldon's Practical Needlework volumes would be great gifts...just as true then as it is today!!!


Some of the popular patterns of the day. Now Volume 4 was published around 1889.  I have an actual chart that tells the dates of publication. I found it in another book, but have since misplaced it. When I find it, I'll make sure to update this post. This is a baby's spencer...

...a lady's vest...


..knitted Mulberry leaf square for a quilt...


..an antimacassar..not a word that most people would know today..but the picture says it all...it's like a chair back cozy!!!...


...some beautiful bags for young ladies...

There's my quick little tour.  I've actually knit one of Blanche Beau's lace edging patterns. One of these days I'll actually try reproducing one of the patterns out of my Weldon's Practical Needlework Book Volume 4.  Maybe I'll try the antimacassar? Who knows.

 I really enjoy crafts and handmade things. It reminds me of a gentler age somehow....sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era...but nope, God has me right where He wants me :) :) :)  It really brings joy to my heart to find other kindred spirits out there who enjoy lovely things like tea, handmade things etc.

I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly when I fell in love with things of the past or having a nice tea... I started reading the Anne of Green Gables books when I was 14. My mother's mother loved pink and all things Victorian.  My father's mother...had lots of photos and things from her childhood and that of her parents. She'd always tell me stories...and I just fell in love. I loved the style, the homes, the dishes...everything..everything looks better with something romantic, vintage, country, rustic, Victorian in it!!!  It makes the things of everyday life more regal somehow!!!  Oh, I also am a huge fan of the Anne of Green Gables movies and the tv series Road to Avonlea. I highly recommend watching both.  In any case, anything from the 1950s or earlier....beautiful!!!

That's the news from Oregon. Love and hugs, Heather :)