"I started photographing my domestic world and writing not just about what I had made,
but why I made it, examining the thoughts that accompany creativity and the act of making."
Jane Brocket from The Gentle Art of Domesticity p. 189 UK edition

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Leaves and Letters and Shawl and Snow

 Welcome!
 I spent most of the last two weeks in this cosy room getting over a cold and working on crocheting my Ruby shawl [it's in the basket on the table at the bottom of the picture]
 This is a fun view of the family room picture window which is reflecting the leaves on one of our maple trees and one of our family cars. On the inside of the window my granddaughters stuck some white paper leaves they made and some of the leaves from outside that I had ironed between sheets of waxed paper.
 One day, Hayley who will be eight in three weeks, drew a picture and decided to send it to Meredith, so she folded it into an envelop and addressed the envelop herself, put a stamp on it and led the trek to our mailbox.
 Molly who is six drew a picture for our "Mailman or Mailgirl" and took it to the mailbox.

 When they came back from the mailbox the girls did a good job raking leaves. Then later their dad came out and helped them add even more to their pile so that they could jump and hide in the leaves!
 I asked them to wave to you :) and wished I had gotten a photo of them the other day when all of them had their sun glasses on and were raking leaves.  Today the driveway is covered with leaves...again!
 Our maple trees are at their peak of color.
And it rained this past weekend so Mt. Hood collected some new snow which I got a photo of Monday after swimming with Teresa at the pool.  This is a zoomed in view from the east side of Highway 26 near the Boring exit, but our pond still has no visible water.  Even though we had some downpours this weekend the storm was not too fierce, however our power was off for over ten hours...mostly while we slept...but long enough to help us realize how grateful we are to have electric and gas power to help us have warmth and light!

Whatever your weather may be I hope you have a happy creative week!

What is new with you?

xx
Gracie :)


21 comments:

  1. Hope you're feeling better now, there's so many germs going around at this time of year. It looks like the girls did a great job raking those leaves, I could do with their help here, my silver birch has just started to drop its leaves and already the driveway is covered.

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  2. Your home looks so inviting and cozy. How fun to play in all of those leaves. We certainly had some high winds the other day and a short period of pounding rain.
    Your Ruby shawl looks luscious. I love the colors. Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful photos.

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  3. You certainly live in a very beautiful part of the world and have a very cosy home. Glad to hear you are over your cold. The ruby shawl looks a real delight, love the colours.

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  4. Hi Gracie, it's all looking like the height of autumn near you! The leaves are really beautiful. I loved seeing all the girls helping out and walking to the mailbox. Your daughter looks good, I hope she is feeling well. There isn't too much new here, just doing what we do. :) I hope you're feeling well and that you are having a good week so far.

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  5. Good Morning Gracie! Your room is looking so cozy and the fall leaves make everything so colorful. I hope you're completely healed from your cold. Since you've been swimming with Teresa you must be better. We have cool weather this morning but it will warm up nicely this afternoon. How sweet of Hayley to write Meredith a letter. I know she will love it.
    Blessings always,
    Betsy

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  6. Sorry to hear you were under the weather but you certainly have a comfy, cozy spot to hang out in. All the leaves are so pretty! I don't mind outdoor chores, like raking leaves. It's the inside cleaning that I have a hard time with. Though I probably wouldn't like scraping snow during winter either. :) Lovely view of the mountain. Have a good week!

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  7. I look forward to you getting your Ruby shawl done and be able to wear it.. every single time I wear mine I get compliments. I'm so glad you're well again, I missed you at swimming and enjoyed having there yesterday so we could chat again. What a sweet thing for your GD to do for Meredith! Another sunny day, huh? Enjoy and see you tomorrow! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  8. Beautiful autumn photos. I am in Canada and it looks about the same around here (minus the mountain); leaves all over the yard and so many more to fall off the trees.

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  9. Hello Gracie I am soory to read you have not been well. Yours is a lovely room to 'recover in' :-) Lots of leaves and gorgeous colours here. I was in Yorkshire at the weekend visiting our eldest son and family. Lovely weather- beautiful blue skies. Home now and need to get on with some cake making. Phoebe's birthday cake, a joint 40th birthday cake for eldest son and d.I.l. and Christmas cakes. Hugs Anne x

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  10. Love that picture of the girls all helping out. Glad you are on the mend. The ruby shawl is growing there in the basket. Can't wait to see that. Love to you Jo x

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  11. What lovely photos!!! Your place looks so cozy and inviting, such a perfect spot to get over a little illness and enjoy a bit of comfort.
    xo

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  12. Hi Gracie - I hope you're feeling better. Your home looks so cozy - a wonderful place to recuperate.
    What a lovely family you have and how sweet of all the girls to rake up for you. Though at this time of year it's a thankless job since they reappear so quickly. Hope you're enjoying this beautiful time of year.

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  13. Yea for the new snow on Mt. Hood and here's hoping for much, much more in the months to come! Love those autumn leaves--after your last post I gathered some and am now pressing them (couldn't find our iron)! Just looking at the lovely red, yellow, brown colors makes me smile:) Cute grandkids and family photos!
    Blessings,
    Aimee

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  14. And Meredith was THRILLED to get that beautiful drawing. I will be sending your darling girl a note very soon. And of course I was thrilled with those leaves too Gracie.
    Hope you are feeling perfect by now.
    Meredith

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  15. What a gorgeous room, the perfect spot to sit and crochet. Sorry you've had a cold, I do hope that you're all better soon. The maples are beautiful, is such a glorious time of year. CJ xx

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  16. Hope you are feeling better, your cosy room looks a good place to recover! The children did such a good job raking up the leaves. We always used to find that it was a never ending job at this time of year! Sarah x

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  17. Love the colors of fall, I sure hope you are feeling better, and yes please, would love to know how you made the bookmarks!

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    1. Leafy Bookmark
      Using a size F crochet hook and [I used medium cotton weight] yarn:
      Leave about a three inch tail,
      Make a slip knot,
      Chain 4
      In the first chain:
      Make 3 triple crochets,
      Make 2 double crochets,
      Chain 1,
      Make 1 triple crochet,
      Chain 1,
      Make 2 double crochets,
      Make 3 triple crochets.
      Grasp the heart shaped leaf,
      Pull on the tail to tighten and shape the leaf.
      Put the hook in a loop on both sides of the cleft of the leaf and make a slip stitch.
      Chain until you have the length desired to allow the leaf to hang over the top of the book and to allow enough yarn to knot a bead on the bottom of the chain and dangle from the bottom of the book. The first two bookmarks I made for spiral books so I did not attach a bead. Instead I tied the bottom of the chain onto the bottom rungs of the spiral.
      Sew in the tail of yarn into the cleft area of the leaf until secure and cut off excess yarn of the tail.

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    2. Thank you so very much for taking the time!! ~Lea

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  18. Just catching up on your blog, lovely to see those Autumn colours and that great trailer full of pumpkins!

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  19. The leaves are all so beautiful! Love the photos of the children raking. My siblings and I had a wonderful time raking and playing in leave piles when were were younger. We have been enjoying a truly beautiful October. It has been comparatively quite warm! Today I think it got up to 60! We've only had a few bad frosts. Facebook decided it was time to make me feel really grateful the other day by showing me one of those "memory posts"-- 2 years ago we had had our first snow already!

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