these are the days

we had some unseasonably beautiful weather the past few days.

perfect for lying in the leaves on a comfy blanket, even if there's a pillow thief.





perfect for loaders to clear leaves. and building garages for those loaders.





and for just soaking up the sun before the cold sets in.



hope your weekend was just as nice.

tea time with sweets.

Mail call!

Hmmm. A Package for me?

Who's it from?



Oh! Of course! I was the proud winner of a very generous giveaway from Miss Torie Jayne! ( Go see her, she has the prettiest photo-filled posts! )

Ooh this looks good already...



Yay! Cookies! From the Fancy Lady!



And more?



Check out this beautiful box! That little tie there.



Pretty cards. And...



More cookies! Each tied with a little pink bow! ( I'm so goofy, I'm almost as excited about the free ribbon as the cookies, haha! )





Mmm. What diet?

If you want some of these for your own, Visit The Fancy Lady's etsy shop. And her website is offering free cupcakes. Really. Go See.

it's done!

For the past two months, this bag has gone everywhere with me. Family visits, appointments, long drives, everywhere.

It started on the very long drive. And now, it's done!

It's the biggest thing I've ever crocheted! My ripple blanket!



Fifty-one beautiful stripes, twenty colours, two months, one great blanket!



That was put immediately on the bed just in time for the cold nights we've been having, mmmmm.



The finished size is fifty-one by seventy-four inches, yeah an odd size, but that's as far as I could reach in the cab of a dump truck. And no one's coming to check my work, right? haha!

Now I need to pick Harry's blanket back up. And then there's that neutral ripple.

And that granny I started.

And the Sunburst grannies....

I guess I have a whole winter worth of work in front of me. But who can really complain about a blanket growing in your lap? I can't wait to finish the next one. But which one will it be?

phew, what a weekend!

Well I sure hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had a blast, it was our first year trick or treating after all, what can top the excitement of running the streets after dark, with a big kid (we got to go with my cousin's family) and a whole bag of free candy to boot?

Harry decided to be an Ant, there's a good shot of his "ant butt", er, metasoma.



I wish I had a better shot of his extra arms and antennae, it was really too cute all together. And what's that in the background? on the seat? Right there?



Amy's Ginger Molasses cookies that are taking the blogosphere by storm, haha! Did I mention these are so freaking good?

William was a bee again because, well because he could care less about dressing up really. Next year will be the big year.



But really Uncle Reg had everyone beat out with his vampire make-up by Becca.



We did keep joking though that he really looked like dead Elvis, haha!

Oh I wish Halloween lasted longer, like Christmas! I'm off to pack away my ghosties and witchy-bits until next year.

And I have something big to share tomorrow! Something I'm thrilled to death to show off, come back and see!

Happy Halloween!

Well we Halloweened it up yesterday making bones, (which I was informed were dinosaur bones) baking Amy's cookies, (Oh my goodness...) Having mummy dogs for dinner and of course, carving pumpkins.

Tonight will be trick or treating (for the first time!) and then scary movies for me and Paul.

Hope you have fun wherever you are and stay safe!

Happy Halloweeeen!

Well, it's a double ear infection, folks. But we've got some nice pink meds and chunkybaby is feeling better already today. Thank God. I was worried we'd miss trick or treating, this will be the boys' first year and they're rather excited!

In happier news, my chocolate spoons are featured over on the crafty crow today, and that really brightened Mama's day!

So now I'm off to squeeze in every last ounce of Halloween goodness before tomorrow night.

paper cups.

Sorry folks, not a whole lot of words today. The Zzz monster's got me by the jammies, lack of sleep from sick babies has caught up to me. Something better tomorrow.....

orange leaves and orange spoons

This is looking down our driveway at sunset. Aaah. I love it.

Okay, remember those yummy chocolate pops I had the other day?

These are what they made me think of:



dipped spoons!

Around here, trick-or-treating is a cold weather event, like caroling. So these will be perfect to put into hot chocolate when we get back in!

They're easy beans to make, like this:

Gather your supplies and line the counter with wax paper.



Melt your chocolate ( I just used dark chips) in your micro, thirty seconds at a time, until they're a nice dippy consistency.



If you just want to have sprinkles on one side, dip away, then sprinkle and lay on your wax sheet to cool and harden. If you want to sprinkle both sides, do the backs first and lay to dry, then fill up the bowl of the spoon and sprinkle that side.



I tied them up like little ghosties,



(I liked these two best, the left looks surprised and the right has a nose!)

They look awful nice just sitting in a jar too.



We had a Halloween party Saturday and gave the tied ones as favors for the kids and put the rest next to the coffee for the adults and they were a big hit!

And easy. Did I mention easy? Kids can help with this one for sure. Just sprinkling for the littler ones, but bigger kids can dip and even tie them into ghosts and draw faces!

And the winner of the Halloween Bunting is Amanda of Late Night Stamper! But I have something Halloween-y in mind to share with everyone, too. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day. (Last minute much, Elizabeth?)

oh crap.

I really wanted to show you a nice shot of my parent's yard at sunset,

and some chocolate-y goodness I concocted over the weekend,

but my camera is in the car.

with my keys.

......

tomorrow then?