Crafts, Flowers, and Wine! What could be better!

Today I am joining Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.

ONE

I have been going through boxes in the basement. 

Making piles.  

Donate/Trash/Keep. 

And in doing so,  I have been finding all kinds of memories, including these owls.  I will probably find all kinds of stuff to show you as time goes on.  The room is big and the basement is FULL!

I remember cutting this pattern out of wool, making kits, for the Winter Woolen Workshop or Ornament Extravaganza.   Many of you know, we no longer have these events as our Granny Bee, Beth, passed away over a year ago.  However, I think of her this time of year because

1) she loved winter, and

2) our group was always gearing up for the holiday season at this time of year. 

These owls were going to be kits to sell at one of the above mentioned events.  I miss these events like crazy.  Tonight is First Friday in our town and I miss going to it and hanging out in Beth's studio.    So, I decided to finish the owls myself.  Maybe I'll make a fall bunting, or just put them in a basket.  Either way, they are bringing back memories of good times with good friends.

(I'll post pics when I finish them)

TWO

 The following pictures show you the rugs, bags, table runner that I wove this summer.  I don't think I ever did a post on the cabin at the fairgrounds this year, or last.  We have a pioneer village at our county fair and our spinning group (as in spinning wool/cotton etc. into yarn) has a log cabin in the village.  We have three weaving looms set up in that cabin, and we demonstrate spinning and weaving during the fair.  When the fair is over, if there is any warp left on the looms, then we take turns each year weaving the end of the warp.  This year I felt privileged to weave the warp. Are you all confused at this point?  Oh well then...just look at the pics!!!

 The warp is the thread that runs up and down (red stripes in below picture) and the weft is what you weave back and forth. 

 See how differently the projects look by using a different weft with the same warp.

 These are not finished.  The ends need tied on all of these rugs.   I will show them to you again, after I finish them.

 This is a table runner made on an entirely different loom.

 Long rug for in front of our couch, but on these hardwood floors it slides all over the place!

THREE

 EEK!  Our garage has been invaded this year and this was a gift from my sweet little dog the other night!

 This mouse was a great reminder to get entrance reducers on my beehives.  See the entrance to the hive below. 

In the winter months, I do not want mice, yellow jackets, wasps, and who knows what other critters getting into my hives.  So I reduce the entrance.  The bees can easily still come and go, but they can protect this opening a lot easier than they can the bigger opening above.  And mice cannot fit into this opening.

FOUR

 I love flowers in our house. 

 They make me happy. 

My Shug threw a bunch of zinnia seeds over in an area by the pond and they are looking fabulous!

 I love using herbs for greenery (filler) for the flowers.

 So, when I entertained my Wine group neighbors....I had flowers on the tables, I made some yummy muffins (recipe was on facebook) and I mixed some candy corn and nuts in a jar.  Easy Peasy!

 One of them brought this bottle of wine!

 Look closely, it is covered in chocolate!

 It had an outer cellophane bag, over the chocolate.  It also had an inner cellophane bag over the bottle.  The chocolate was between the two layers of cellophane.

 You just pull on the cellophane to get the chocolate off of the bottle.  How cool is that?  And the chocolate was yummy.

FIVE

Now is the time to buy some Hyacinth bulbs.  You can plant them in your yard now for a spring bloom.

 

 Or, do what I do. I put them in a paper bag and put them in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. (not the freezer)

  

In about six weeks, the bulbs think they have gone through winter, and if you bring them out and put them in a hyacinth vase, they will bloom!  It's a lovely way to have a spring pick me up in the winter months.  And their scent....is heavenly.  One of my faves.

So, go buy your hyacinth bulbs and put them in a brown paper bag in the fridge.  I'll walk you through the next step in a few weeks.

Cindy Bee

PS.  Visit Amy's blog to see what others are up to.  Click here!