Wednesday, November 30, 2011

FAB New Dresses Hitting Our Etsy Store!

I'm so excited!! This week we've got some really FABULOUS "new" vintage dresses coming into our Etsy store!

Everything from Adolph Shuman for Lilli Ann


To 1950s Kay Windsor Original Novelty Print Dress


To a dress Joan of Mad Men would die for


To the holiday spirit (complete with sparkles!)


And everything else in between!


They are listed at GREAT prices, so happy shopping!

World's Sexiest Couple?

I think soooooo...

(This would be why we don't have more pictures of ourselves together)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Binky

Here's my latest birdie hat from the Ebay auction! I was the only person who even bid on it, so I won it for the starting price (yay!).

Peek-A-Boo!

Like a true goof, I have named the hat ("Binky" - just because.). It has what I call a parrot beak, so I am assuming it's a mock parrot.

I was very pleased to discover that the hat was not in as bad of shape as the pictures on Ebay led me to believe! The only thing I will have to do is put a few more stitches into the "tilt headband" to make it a bit stiffer and therefore able to more securely stay attached to my head!

Happy Day!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Winter Storm Watch

Well, we're battening down the hatches here, as the saying goes, in preparation for what is supposed to be the first significant snow storm of the season. Lately, it's been fairly mild and occasionally rainy, but nothing too terrible as far as extremes. Late this morning, the wind began picking up with a chilly bite and the storm front started moving in. You could see it in the way the clouds came over the western mountain - sort of a long, thick band stretching out as far as the eye could see on either side...We had just run out of firewood, so I started up our hydraulic log splitter (one of the best investments we have ever made!) and began splitting madrone logs. The one silver lining in having to cut down all of those hazardous trees on our property over the years is that we have a pretty significant store of firewood, especially pine and madrone. The downside is that most of it is in the wood lot and needs to be cut down into moveable chunks and hauled up and over to the house. Thankfully, we already have a winter's worth of madrone logs (in assorted sizes - from colossal to tiny branches) behind the house, so I didn't have to walk too far. That being said, hauling large logs out of the firewood pile and over to the log splitter, then splitting and stacking, is still a great deal of physical labor for one little person! However, it's a million times easier than doing it by hand with an ax, which is how I USED to get our firewood every winter.

So now there is at least a 4-day supply of wood stacked next to the back door, the fire is crackling merrily in the hearth, the kittens are sleeping on the hearthstone, and I have a glass of wine waiting for me after evening farm chores.

Let it snow!

Snatch This Beauty Up ASAP!

Just listed this in our Etsy store:

Here Comes Another One

I want to take you back 6 months ago to my birthday last May. That was the day that I wandered into a little antique store in Jacksonville and fell in love with two very different hats. One, an "Original by Ranel" chapeau with adorable pheasant birdie, ultimately came home with me that day. The other, an adorable tilt hat by "Erna," remained at the store to await a different fate...or so I thought.

Fast forward to last week: I happened to stop into the little antiques store again, and who should greet me at the counter but that precious little tilt hat. I decided then and there that I had to have it. Afterall, it had sat in that store for six months, patiently waiting. It was time for my little tilt to come home.

This tilt hat is a very interesting style - one that you don't often see. In true tilt style, there is a solid patch of fabric in back to hold the hat to the head (as well as the more traditional felt band) while it tilts forward.

The truly unique aspect of this hat is that the crown, which slouches forward in a very charming fashion, is actually slightly (and purposely) off-center of the brim!

Very interesting, and rakish! Finally, the hat is decorated with a curled ostrich feather on one side, and a veil in front.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

20% Off Thanksgiving Sale in our Etsy Store!

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday (and around our farm at least, it truly IS a holiday of thanks and bountiful giving from Mother Earth), we are offering 20% off of any item in our Etsy store (not including shipping charges). Enter the coupon code TURKEYDAY20 at checkout to take advantage of this special offer. The coupon code is good from now until November 28th, 2011!

Monday, November 14, 2011

A Deep Breath...

Well, Turkey Bon Voyage Day has come and gone. Many, many thanks to our four fabulous helpers! We could NOT have done this without you (especially not all 13!) - and I hope that you enjoy the bounty of your hard work! The weights were a great deal under what I was hoping for, but still respectable. I am also happy that we were able to save quite a few lovely feathers for hat decorating!

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and that I can finally breathe again. I dread this day every year, though I feel that it is absolutely necessary. In my mind, to be a carnivore, you MUST know what goes into raising, slaughtering, and processing what you eat. And if you must eat meat, either humanely raise it yourself, or buy locally from someone else who does.

And now I can look forward to Ryan's 9-day vacation next week, a happy and very blessed Thanksgiving, and what I hope will be one of the happiest Yules in many, many years.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Kale Soup Recipe

This is a modified version of a similar recipe off of Bon Appetit's website. It's an excellent way to use up all of that spare fall kale going nuts in your garden!

INGREDIENTS:

One medium colander filled with freshly-picked kale leaves
1.5 lbs heirloom potatoes (chopped into 1 inch cubes - you do not need to peel them!)
2 sausages -in their casing - of your choice (chorizo, lamb, etc.)
3 Egyptian onions, chopped
1 clove Elephant Garlic, diced
1 clove heirloom garlic, crushed
2 dried Miscuchu (or other hot heirloom) peppers, crumbled
Water

DIRECTIONS:

Thoroughly wash kale leaves, then roughly cut into strips. Put these in a medium stock pot. Chop heirloom potatoes into 1" cubes (but don't peel - only peel if you are using store bought potatoes, which have a far tougher and less palatable skin), and add these to pot. Cut sausage into small sections and add to pot. Add chopped Elephant Garlic clove and crushed heirloom garlic clove to pot. Crumble 2 dried heirloom peppers into pot. Fill pot with enough water to generously cover all ingredients (you are going to reduce the amount of water by half before you're through!). Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours. When everything is thoroughly cooked, and the water has reduced by ~half, remove from heat. Ladle soup into bowls. Take day-old homemade sourdough bread and crumble a generous amount over each bowl. Serve hot and enjoy!


This is an excellent recipe to enjoy next to a roaring fire on a cool Fall evening!!

Monday, November 07, 2011

New Etsy Listing

Been making some sales in my Etsy store lately (yay!), which means extra hat & holiday money. I need to make a trip to the post office soon to mail off the latest items, but I'm saving that errand til Wednesday (as I have to go to town for my dentist appointment - boo! - anyway).

I have started going through my personal collection of vintage accessories, and am slowly listing some of them in the Etsy store.

The latest set of listings includes this lovely pair of 1940s/1950s brown leather gloves lined with soft rabbit fur.

They are well-loved and well-worn, so please read the description carefully. However, they have many years of use left, and they will certainly keep you warm this winter!

It's That Time Again...

My simultaneously most-hated and most-favorite time of the year. I dread the process, but the end result is always worth it.

*sigh*

Many thanks for the great helpers and familial support every year. We could not do it without you!!!

And now, I have three words for you:

Turkey Liver Pate.

Friday, November 04, 2011

Proof That Six People CAN Be Social!

But only with a great deal of advanced planning...

To celebrate Halloween/Samhain, we had a small gathering of friends over at our place. There was lots of great food

and of course fabulous wine (served by a hot bartender)!

My sole attempt at carving a Jack-o-lantern. This is one of our own homegrown pumpkins!

Here I am in my Halloweeny vintage finery!