Party Dresses

We have party dresses on our minds....

My daughter has a holiday dance and dessert coming up in a few weeks.  We went into Manhattan last weekend to look for a dress...  nothing too expensive mind you.  We found two dresses and bought them both....she will decide between the two and then one will be returned.  One is a beautiful dark green color which is very festive and looks beautiful with her hair.  And you know what?  It cost less than the amount we paid for parking!  Go figure. 

As you can see,  I am still having fun making little gift tags and ornaments.  I really could fuss with these all day...

Tartan

My computer crashed on Sunday afternoon.  I got the dreaded blue screen error message and now I have to re-install my operating system and start over.  Everything that was on my computer will be lost....I am not too good about backing things up, you know?  But thank goodness most of my photos are stored in Picasa!  So in the meantime I am working from my daughter's computer...her's crashed a few weeks back with the same error!  Is the lifespan of a dell computer about 3 years?

I thought I would share with you a little tartan purse I made.  It will be in my shop soon.  I love tartan and it is so in this season....do you remember wearing tartan kilts when you were young?  We used to wear those and they were so pretty!  I have added a vintagy pin in the shape of a snowflake to this little bag...just right for the holidays.

Have a great week!

Madeleines

It was French week at school and parents were asked to send a French dessert.  I didn't want to attempt anything too complicated...but I figured I could handle these. They are sweet little shell shaped cakes and they will disappear quickly!  We made lemon flavored but you could do lots of variations.  The recipe we used was adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris.

3 extra large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract (Ina uses vanilla)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shredded coconut (we did not add this)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Thoroughly grease and flour the madeleine pan.

Beat eggs, sugar and lemon extract on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add butter and mix.  Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.  Stir into the batter with a rubber spatula.

With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed.  Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool.  Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

These do require a special pan with the cute little shell shapes...mine is by Wilton.
Wishing you a great weekend!

Handmade Gift Tags

I thought I'd share with you all my handmade gift tags that I have been working on.  I used cookie cutters to trace shapes on a variety of things...my son's second grade French workbook, cardstock, vintage books (a French children's story and some Shakespeare).  I then added bits of this and that....shells, flowers, burlap, buttons, twine, raffia and a little diamond dust. 

I may just do a Christmas tree with these as ornaments! 

S'more Fall...

We had such a fun Halloween!  We worked our nine year old hard...making him go up and down many, many streets until he begged to stop.  He is the only candy earner in the family now.  Hannah says she is too old to go trick or treating...so Gray has to get candy for the four of us.  It was raining too but he was a trooper and we finally let him stop. Ha ha!  We went out for a late dinner afterwards and watched a little of the World Series at the restaurant.  I did not take one photo!

These pictures are a combination of the grounds of my children's school and our apple picking trip on Sunday.  This pretty horse lives at the school my children attend.  There are two of them actually...a perfectly matched pair. The kids know their names but I cannot remember them!   They are usually eating their breakfast in the morning after drop off.                                                                        This cute little cabin is on the grounds of the school.  They use the cabin  for various activities.  Each September they make soup in a big pot on a open fire in front of the cabin and each child brings an ingredient. They have the soup for lunch the next day.

 

It is still pretty here but I know these days are numbered.  Many of the trees are bare and soon it will be bleak and grey.  We treasure these last golden days...each one.

Farm Gates

It was very exciting recently when we had our "new" farm gates installed.  I had them made two (!) years ago but could not find anyone to put them up.  They sat around...out in the rain, snow, etc. leaning up against the wall out back.  They got a little shabby.  We finally found someone to do the installation and then I touched up the paint this past weekend.  I think another coat of paint is in order but I like how they look... and I think they are calling out for wreaths this holiday season, yes?

We need these gates.  There is something about our place that says to strangers passing by "please just drive on up, get out and pet the ponies...even take some photos".  I am not kidding...it has happened more than once.  Lots of others have driven on up to the house for various reasons...people selling things, lost limos...he did a U turn on our lawn (not kidding), an angry landscaper that said the previous owner owed him money (really?  wait, let me get my checkbook).  Quite a few have just driven up slowly and circled up by the house and then left.  You get the drift...these gates are necessary.  I know they are not fancy...even a little rough...but they give me peace of mind.  I know,...too bad we didn't put them up sooner.  Sometimes we move painfully slow around here.  

Does your teenager always have a wire hanging from her ear too?  Just wondering....

Animals at Firefly Hill

There are lots of animals here at our house...some belong to us and others just pass through and visit.  The deer are a constant presence and they come daily to eat the thousands of acorns that have fallen this year.  That big buck was kind of a surprise though as they usually don't sit out in the open like that.  I think he knew he was safe at our house.  The groundhogs we see daily as they live under the rock pile out back.  That bear, however, was a shock!  I was out in the paddock shooting pictures of the ponies and he came loping through.  I about had a heart attack as he was pretty close to me.  Luckily he never even looked at me and just kept going.  He was quite beautiful.

We love having all these beauties around us and having them pass through...it is always a beautiful sight.