Tradition!

 Hello dear friends!  I pray that you all are well and safe and sound.  Jen, a frequent reader of this blog, lives in Nova Scotia, that was hit pretty hard by hurricane Fiona.  I pray that you are safe, Jen.  And likewise, all my dear readers that took a hit from Ian. 

A little while ago, Jamie said to me, "Mama, you haven't listened to your Little Women soundtrack yet!" You see, listening to that soundtrack is one of the first things that ushers in Autumn for us. Traditions are so important to family life.  Every Autumn, as soon as the first nip in the air is felt, we bring out our orange coffee mugs, tidy up the back room where the woodstove stands, lay in a supply of coffee and tea and get ready to nest.  Especially now days, when so much of the world is in turmoil, keeping traditions and making our homes a refuge is so important.  Wouldn't you agree?  I'd love to read what some of your Autumn traditions are, if you wouldn't mind leaving them in the comments.  Ever since the pandemic, the outside world has become so unwelcoming, places we used to love to visit just haven't the same "feel", there seems almost a depressing atmosphere in the outside world. Have you felt it? Maybe because so many people are anxious now days.  That is why creating a nurturing atmosphere in our home has become so important to us.

Handiwork

Well, I finally finished that cardigan that I had been knitting on forever.  I love to watch those "flosstubes" that are on YouTube.  The ones were ladies show their handiwork they've been working on for the past week or month. They are always working on so many projects!  And the money they spend on their hobbies is staggering.  Well, someone has to support designers and craft shops, so cheers to them! Not to mention, donate their expensive yarn stashes to thrift shops.  Thank you very much! But I do not have that kind of income and love the challenge of using up what I already have. That is why little projects, such as scrap quilts, give me so much enjoyment.  Anyway, I'm a strictly one-project-at-a-time crafter. As much as I get bored with one project, I won't move on until it's completed, because I know I will never go back to it, if I don't stick with it.  So, after I finished that dreaded cardigan (never again will I knit a top-down sweater), it was finally time to do something fun. So, I made this table runner:

I used some instructions that I had cut from a magazine way back in 1996!  I used the same pattern, way back here. Now here's the funny thing about it, the author of the article was Jo Morton, and I didn't discover until I had finished it, but the fabric was also from Jo Morton, so it all had come full circle.  BTW, the fabric collection is called Lancaster, which I had purchased a charm pack of on impulse several years ago. I'm fond of anything with the name Lancaster because my Grandpa A's family settled that area in the early 1700s. Anyway, no sooner than I had lain it on the table, Blackie, our cat, decided it was a splendid place to sunbathe, so off it came from the table and has now come to be displayed on the back of the loveseat.

Blackie is such a spoiled cat.  He has pretty good life for a little stray we found living in a groundhog's abandoned dugout underneath the neighbor's shed and eating out of the compost bin. It took us weeks before he would let us approach him and even more before he would trust us enough to touch him.  He's still a bit wild, but look at him now, the lord of the manor! I do not approve of cats on tables, BTW, but he rules the roost.

Other Business

There was an entire slew of things that I keep forgetting to post.  I promised to show Angela the lentils I was writing about for sprouting, but unfortunately, I haven't had any available. But if you'll just Google black lentils, Angela, you'll see what I'm talking about.  They are so much cheaper than those sprouting mixtures.

On a comment left by Julie T, I had mentioned using applesauce in baking.  Did you know that you can substitute half the fat, whether it be butter, shortening or oil, for applesauce when baking?  This was an old trick we learned back in the day when everyone was counting their fat grams consumed. So, say, a cake calls for 1 cup of butter, you can use 1/2 C. butter and 1/2 C. applesauce. With the costs of fats going up (I recently bought some cooking oil and it had doubled since the last time I purchased some) it might be time to bring this old trick back out.  Especially since we have plenty of apples!

Right before I quit blogging the last time, ha!, someone had requested a home tour.  And while I'd like to oblige them, I too am curious how others, especially those I have become to admire, live, I have decided that it wouldn't be a good idea.  You see, our home is a very personal space to us, almost everything inside it either Ran or I have made or has a special meaning to us.  So, any criticism, would be very hurtful, almost akin to criticizing our child, and I still get the hateful comments, so I'm sorry, I hope the glimpses that you catch from time to time will suffice.  

Let's see, I've read that they are predicting a cold winter this year.  You learn many things by studying art, and one of those things is how people dressed before central heating.  One of the things I discovered over the last few years, is wearing a scarf (particularly a woolen one) wrapped around your neck and upper chest area really helps you keep warm. So maybe it's time to bring all those infinity scarves that have fallen out of fashion back into your wardrobe?

I'm sure there's more that I have forgotten, but maybe I'll remember next time.  But I wouldn't count on it! And perhaps next time I will be true to my blog's name and share more thrift tips.  Is there anything in particular that you would like to know?  So, keep safe, and keep your spirits up!

Hugs

Jane