Snuggle Bunnies

Remember the big fabric bunny rabbits in dresses that were big a few years ago? Last summer, when I bought some stuff from a man who was closing his antiques store, one of those bunnies was sitting in a chair I wanted. The man said I could buy the chair, but the bunny was part of the deal.

I decided to hang onto her until this spring and put her out on the floor at Easter. She is in good shape, underneath the dust.

Dust. Bunny.

DUST BUNNY! 

Bwahahaha!

Anyway.

I took her dress and bloomers off of her to wash them and set her down in a chair in our basement.

When I went downstairs later in the evening, here is what I found.........

It was a very cold winter's night, and Billy saw an opportunity to snuggle up with a new friend!

Come on, say it with me now.

"Awwww..."

BRRRR!!!

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!

That's my baby in the photo. (Funny how those babies grow up!) This was taken a couple weeks ago in the well below 0 temps of the Polar Vortex. (In my day, we just called it a cold snap).

Kevin and his dad were out feeding the cattle. They had just about all the cold they could stand when George noticed how much ice had built up in Kevin's beard. Ok - there might be time for a quick picture before frostbite sets in!

We had a few warmer days after that, even a couple in the (GASP!!!) 50's!

But of course, in January those thaws don't last long. We're back to the below 0 temps, though not as far below 0. However, it looks like this snap will last longer. 

And this explains why my shop hours in January and February are very sporadic. I use to keep the shop open all winter. And I was miserable.

That old building is hard to heat. There were days I was sure my feet were going to freeze off. I'd keep turning the heat up higher. I was still cold. The gas company liked me though - I was paying them lots and lots of money!

If I was making lots of sales, I wouldn't have minded the cold. But the truth of the matter is that when the cold set in, and the snow was flying, customers became a rare and endangered species. 

Many days, I'd be lucky to see more than a couple people come thru the door. And many times, they wouldn't be buying. 

So, I got colder, and the gas company got richer.

Good for them, not so much for me.

And then there was the time I totaled our car trying to get to the store. Not good. Not good at all.

So........I started closing for the most part in January and February. I work in my craft studio in my basement, right next to a toasty warm woodstove. I'm happy, and I'm sure the gas company will survive without me.

Many weeks, I do open the store a day or two if the weather is more favorable. I make that announcement on my facebook page.

Right now, I'm working on Valentine's Day crafts. Will I be open for Valentine's Day? Who knows. It seems like we usually get a pretty big snowstorm right around that time. But that doesn't matter. I'm making the Valentines crafts more love related than holiday related. This works perfectly, because wedding season will be coming up soon, and I'm building up my inventory for weddings. And besides, isn't love ALWAYS in season?

I'll try to post some pictures in the next day or two of some of the projects I'm working on. I better go get busy!

And on those days when your teeth are chattering...........

HA!

Toy Food made from Felt

I want to show off what our daughter Jessica made for her niece for Christmas...

Felt food! 

How cool is that?

A sandwich complete with 2 pieces of bread,

 a hamburger, lettuce, Swiss & American cheese, a tomato, and 2 pickles.

A piece of pizza.

A fried egg.

3 beans.

An orange slice.

A strawberry.

A tea bag.

And for dessert?

A brownie, and 2 different types of cookies.

That sandwich looks good enough to eat!

For the finishing touch, she packaged it in a personalized bag.

Aunt Jess put lots of time and love into this gift, and I'm 

sure Abigail will have many hours of fun with it.

Very impressive Jessica!

We bought out a Crafter

We bought out a crafter.

Five simple words that don't begin to describe the work involved!

We have been busy. Very, very busy.

I wish I had taken pictures, but it was one of those moments when you don't even think of that. There is too much to do.

The crafter had 4 rooms of a house stuffed full. I lost count of the number of truck & car & trailer loads we took out of there.

We stuffed boxes here. We stuffed boxes there.
For a few weeks, we could hardly walk in the back rooms.

And most of it wasn't even in the back rooms. Most went upstairs to the apartments above the store that we use for storage.

Let's just say I had my fingers crossed that the firemen didn't come do a surprise inspection!

The back rooms are totally somewhat under control again.
The upstairs? I haven't even touched it yet.

The blog had to wait. Pretty much everything had to wait.
I did finally break down and run the vacuum & clean the bathrooms at home.

And, even though I threatened not to decorate for Christmas at home, I did.
And I'm glad I did.

As for the store, I have lots and lots of new inventory. And even more supplies.
I feel like I'm smack dab in the middle of a treasure hunt, because I haven't even seen what's in many of the boxes yet.

Busy times, but fun too!

Pumpkin Pie

I had a request for my mom's Pumpkin Pie recipe, so here it is:

PUMPKIN PIE

Beat together in large bowl:

3 cups pumpkin (large can)
2 cups brown sugar
5 eggs
2 cups evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Pour in 2 pie shells. (9 inch)
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn heat down to 325 degrees.
Continue baking until set, about 35 - 40 minutes.

Check for doneness my inserting knife just off center. If it comes out clean, the pie is done.

You can use frozen pie crusts. Or, we prefer our own:

PIE CRUST

Stir together:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

Cut in:
3/4 cup shortening (we use the butter flavor shortening)

Sprinkle with:
5 - 6 Tbsp. cold water, adding 1 Tbsp. at a time
Stir the water in with a fork, until the dough sticks together enough to be rolled out.

Roll out dough on a floured surface, put in two 9 inch pie plates.

After the pie is baked, cool on wire racks. Then keep in fridge. The pie is much better cold!

Enjoy!

(I do!)

Lobster trap

 

Do you know what this is? It's a lobster trap that we picked up at an auction.

Not real common in landlocked WV.

A little boy in the shop one day called it a "bad people trap".

Ha!

 

  

Snowman dishes

I picked these dishes up at a thrift store last summer, and tucked them away in my stash for future projects. The future is now so to speak! It's that time of year when anything & everything becomes a base for a snowman. A little paint. A little time. A whole new look.

I'm not sure what the dishes would have been used for originally. Baking? Serving?

I've been watch some cooking shows while I paint.
Shows like Chopped.
And Restaurant Impossible.
And Cutthroat Kitchen.

And the more I watch these shows, the more I realize how little I know about cooking!

I consider myself a pretty good cook.

Cook. Not chef.

Ahhh. Maybe that's the difference.

Let's just say I don't think I'll be competing on any of these shows anytime soon.