Souvenirs:
in season

For the May 2010 Sale at the farm here, I sold bundles of 'raw books'... old books that my daughter and I removed the binding from (this was hard to do to books I must say)
What was left, was these beautiful old binders, and being that they were red, they inspired me to use them for the "Farm Menu" for our recent dinner party (see here)

Everything was made from scratch... the food and the decorations
the best advice I can give anyone attempting a dinner party "from scratch" is to plan, organize, and make ahead some of the food!

Here's what you'll need: ~ old book covers (front, back, and binding still in tack) ~ a glue stick ~ old sheet music ~ and some bits of old lace and feathers (if desired) ~ some hemp twine for the tie ~ an awl and hammer ~ and of course, the printed image for your cover
First off, take the awl and hammer and make holes in your (now) menu covers

This is the image I used courtesy of The Graphics Fairy (feel free to use any of these print outs for your own use)

for the cover, I just added text and sized it to a 5"x7" to fit my book cover

then took it into my little computer arts program and just erased the deer to get this:

then flipped it, added text and came up with this: (this is the finished inside of the Menu)

With that same scroll design, I flipped it once again, and added text to the inside top:

Paste the papers (cut to fit for the inside so as not to be in front of the hole)

to cover the rather ugly inside of the binding, I adhered old lace with glue
and on the outside of the Menu, a sprig of rosemary and a small pheasant feather (which was also used in the buffet decorations) tied with another piece of vintage black lace

I cut some small strips of old sheet music (a whole page of music also took the place of a "placemat" on the table) under and above the front of the Menu with the glue stick

Of course, now looking at them, I probably wouldn't have used the black lace, but rather the vintage ticking, but the great thing about these, is that you can reuse them time and time again!!

Here's to enjoying your holiday season!
~Have a fantastic weekend~
xo+blessings,

the heat makes us pick super early in the morning and late at night
as soon as they come in, they get washed and kept in the cellar, while we wash and prepare the jars and lids

the next morning, it's time to dice/slice and start the brine

we went a bit "overboard" with planting cucumbers we enjoyed them so much while gazing out at the frozen tundra during the harsh winter

since we went overboard, we are able to share so much with friends and family... and I'm so glad
the garden is doing quite well considering the heat and due to planting so close together in most places, I am able to not weed so much (imagine that)
so I did some more sewing using a striped sheet and appliqued a sailboat on it for our daughter

I didn't perfectly line the stripes up... without a care I made this skirt...
she doesn't mind and neither do I
we had lost power from a terribly windy storm... the weather up here is quite peculiar lately and I almost caved and got an air conditioner almost
but once again, we chose not to it's almost a game now... letting it cool off inside the house and run around and closing the windows at just the right time... funny really... but with heavy drapes and quick feet, we are able to keep this old farmhouse cool enough... but we aren't using the oven, instead the grill and the side burner outdoors which I am hysterically calling my 'outdoor kitchen'... someday... someday!
I am however, taking a break from pickles, and am blending and juicing them galore quite versatile
anyone know of uses for cucumbers? I would love to hear how you use them in and out of the kitchen

xo+pickled blessings,