the farm update
High Button Shoe
new stuff up tonight!
..I know. Some one you have
wondered where I am?
Like most of you, December and
the holidays confront me with days racing by at an alarming rate and I find
it stressful. The cards have been sitting on the harvest table in
uncompleted state for a week now. So much for getting them out in a timely
fashion. But several of them get a lengthy once a year copied for
all newsletter in them to tell correspondences of what we have been up to
this year. So that is written and ready to be copied off and put into
addressed cards. My sister hates these letters, so I don't bother sending
one to her. My thoughts on that is that it is better to get ANY letter,
whether it is a copied one that goes to all, rather than no letter at all.
But I do understand some people don't like 'form' letters. They merely get
signatures!
Winter has arrived to northern
Michigan. As usual, I continue with my thoughts that it could wait until
just prior to Christmas and then back to bare ground again, but Mother
Nature rarely agrees with me and does it her way. So most of the time I am
bundled up in my Arctic packs, and that famous old nasty hat to cover my
ears and forehead from the cold. I did manage to find 2 gloves that actually
matched, so I can at least be respectable when I go to town. I bought long
underwear a few weeks ago to brave the cold with. And find that I am wearing
it in the house too under my jeans and shirts. And I rarely have my old grey
hunting socks off. I mentioned before I miss our wood burning heat, that was
a constant heat. So I have on more clothes than I EVER used to wear.
The house is decorated as much
as it can be. I found it more difficult to find places for the folk art
before giving up entirely on most of it and have used a natural look of
fresh cut pine boughs, tiny white lights, and old metal lanterns, old
candlesticks, my wood bowls, Mrs Seeley's mittens, and mostly old tin ware.
So most of my collections went
back into the boxes and I only have a few pieces of folk art out. AND we did
get a live Christmas tree in. The one I told you about, and yup, we walked
right to it. We got it just days before the snow, so the slippery side slope
was easier to walk on, and the tree didn't have to 'drip' for 3-4 days
before bringing it in. Having given or thrown away practically all my
Christmas tree decorations, I was pleasantly surprised to find a box of old
ornaments I had gotten at auction some time ago, and forgotten about. So the
tree is decorated in old silver, gold and celery green balls that are quite
faded in their age. Plus my nasty old silver tinsel garland I found at
auction years ago. Love that thing!
I always wrap my trees in
grapevine/honeysuckle vine and they look wilder like that. White lights of
course, and lots of them. The tree itself actually is perfect in shape,
which generally mine are not. I prefer few branches, needles are often a
plus, ones with 'holes' in them so you can fill the hole with some
tallowberries or red peppercorns, and usually the 'organized' goes along
with my tree selections...often with eyes rolled to the top of his head, but
this year I surprised him with a tree fit for HIS taste. It actually is
quite lovely.... if you like trees with branches and needles.
I am writing tonight to tell you
we have joined a new website and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
We have dropped Ranting Raven
and Crow Soup. I find I cannot activate my accounts to upload pictures. If I
can't activate, I cannot upload, and my paid account is not recognized. I
have enjoyed that union, but perhaps it is time to move on.
I did want to tell you about
some things Beu put up tonight so you can get first look at them! I planned
to put them on eBay but still have not figured out my problem with
PhotoBucket and pictures....so that probably won't happen.
New things tonight on
http://www.highbuttonshoe.net/newest is
Ansella, a doll/angel reminiscent of the pages of Seasons at Seven Gates
Farm. Pictures simply do NOT do her justice. I may make them again, but not
for this season. Also, an old cast iron tree stand, pewter plates, and OLD
bear. Great Christmas gifts ideas, for someone special OR yourself special!
Mrs Seeley's red mittens are
gone forever. We have about a dozen pair of the white ones left. I opted to
use her red ones overdyed again for my mantle this year. A staple of my year
round decorating for the past 20 years, the old house had them draped on old
jute with greyed clothes pins on that fireplace mantle. I cannot look at
them without thinking of her. I especially want to thank each of you who
bought her mittens. You have told me you think of her when you look at them.
I am trying to get my thoughts together to write about her after the first
of the year. She was always so thrilled when I told her where the mittens
were being shipped. She LOVED being 'famous'.
If you happen to collect
Longaberger baskets, we have 2 retired baskets from 1991 and 1992, in MINT
condition for sale. And in the gallery, under winter thyme we have Morris
and Trevil the snowmen. With this newsletter, you can get either snowman
FOR SALE PRICE OF $30+ SH thru this month. Only those two are available.
Notice also in the antiques icon we have the poison crock and the little
girl in the oval frame ON SALE.
Also we have added more
pictures of the farmhouse to the CD. It now has more than 220 pictures on
it, and the old house CD has over 170. They are $15 post paid each. The
farmhouse has new Christmas photos of this year on it. And that sunshine
that has fascinated me for so many months streams in now at lower angles in
the sky and captures light on things it didn't in the past. I spend TOO much
time sitting with coffee watching its paths thru my rooms. But I find it
most calming and want to enjoy each new day in this farmhouse.
I had to move the rosemary to
another window to accommodate the Christmas tree. Thinking that might be
devastating to a plant just waiting to die off on me, and taking that
opportunity to do so, I am pleasantly surprised to find it has sprouted
another couple inches! Who would have thunk? But of course, the winter is
young. I could still easily kill it off. I have now made it much longer than
I EVER did in previous rosemary! I have had this one for about 18 months. I
do believe it likes the French door spot with the eastern sun, and my old
house with the wood heat was probably too warm. Whatever, the reason, I am
sure it is not my green thumb recently sprouted, so we will just rejoyce
that it is still alive and growing, and not proclaim it TOO loudly.
I want to tell each of you how
very much I appreciate your support of my work, and your love of my
farmhouse. To those of you who write me, I love the developing friendships.
I thank you for your interest in Mrs Seeley and Esther Gaffney, your
interest in life as we live it here on the farm, my life as I find as I age,
who I am becoming.... You are important to me.
I hope you take time in the next
several busy hectic weeks to sit and reflect on what is important to you.
This year has been one of massive change for me (and you all know how
reluctant I am to change!...) but I am embracing it and looking forward to
each day.
In fond regard,
Tilda, the contented
keeper of the rosemary
AND the boxes