Apples to Apples

I love these apple themed items! The fabrics are unique, and I just love apple scented candles and such!

Mold, Bleach and a Trip to The ER!

I have been a little bit out of commission lately due to a mishap with cleaning products! I am not one of those people who LOVE cleaning, I do it, but don't really enjoy it one bit!
Rewind to this past Tuesday morning....I thought that this would be a great day! Drop off a package at the post office, go back home and work on some special order kids hats for my shop...Hmmm that mold on the ceiling of the girl's bathroom should really be cleaned today...I know my husband Ray said that he would do it when he had a chance, wearing a gas mask and goggles...but, I am home all day, maybe I should just knock it out. Well, I'm sure I won't really need the goggles or gas mask! Why? Just cause I was pouring straight bleach on a sponge mop, then after a quick wring out I was plopping it onto the ceiling above my head? It was all going without trouble until I was trying to reach the furthest part of the ceiling, when my not careful plop resulted in my yelling in pain and fall/jumping off the step stool to furiously splash water from the sink into my eye. I splashed several times then ran to my computer to see what google said I should do. They said to rinse for 15 minutes straight, but after that , my eye was still stinging very bad and my vision was very blurry, so I called poison control's emergency # and the kind lady told me to get into the shower to let water run continuously on my eye for 15 minutes then call her back. After that impromptu shower, my eye was still stinging so bad, I couldn't keep it open and my friend Rachel took me to the Emergency Room.
Everyone at the hospital was extremely nice, but I learned that possible blindness is not a priority in the ER! It was over two hours before a doctor saw me, and another half hour or so more before irrigating my eye with a saline solution gadget!
I left with a prescription for antibiotic eye drops and my daughter Jenny left with the saline gadget hidden in her purse! ( the nurses told her to sneak it out, since they couldn't use it on another patient, and I could use another irrigation later on!)
So, now three days later, my eye is less blurry, and less uncomfortable. It has been hard to stay long at the computer because it hurts my eyes, and I haven't been able to crochet, drive or be in direct sunlight! But I am sure I will recover fully and be able to get back to my daily stuff!
By the way, it was a King Of Queens episode that got me paranoid about the mold, when Arthur discovers mold in the basement and gets an estimate of $7000.00 to rid the house of it! And, thankfully, the mold in the bathroom did go away, though not worth risking an eyeball for it!

Oh My Deer...

There are some things that ALWAYS release endorphins in my brain...ah, those feel good hormones, I love them! My husband and my family, chocolate, good coffee, window shopping in Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, Indian Food, Thai food, Cool weather, cold weather, fall leaves, mountains, lakes,the smell of wood burning, a fireplace, brown bunnies and DEER!
When I was a little girl, we spent summers at my grandpa's farm in Little Meadows, Pennsylvania which was very beautiful, peaceful and rural. The closest neighbor in one direction was a half mile away, and the closest in the other direction was 2 miles away. I recently searched on Google Maps for the town and found that their was actual satellite pictures! I found my Grandpa's old property and was surprised to see that it was just as desolate as when I was young, the town's current population is less than 300!
When staying there we had a daily ritual of sitting on the front porch after supper and just before dusk, waiting for the deer to come and graze at the end of Grandpa's driveway (about the equivalent of a city block away). And...we were never disappointed, like clockwork they were there each day! It was so serene to watch these beautiful creatures graze sometimes with their fawns, sometimes the Buck was there too. Their running was so powerful yet graceful, and they had such a lovely calm about them. I lived there year round for 3 years and especially enjoyed the view in the fall with vivid reds and yellows as the backdrop! Even now when I happen to see deer in a zoo or petting farm, I feel chills just looking at them. So, that is why I made this post with some feel good etsy stuff! Hope you enjoy them too!

Confessions of a Yarnaholic...

My name is Darlene and I have a problem! I have enough yarn in my back room to crochet a hat or scarf for my entire town! (no not really the whole town, maybe just a 10 block radius!)
I have lots of it leftover from last year's projects, the ones I picked up on clearance throughout summer, the cotton ones I got for summertime stuff, ones recently purchased on clearance on my last trip to Florida to visit my family, chunky ones, wool ones, alpaca and one bamboo! I can't seem to resist when these lovely fibers go on clearance. Yes, I have a problem! I must use whatever I have before getting more unless a special order is involved for my etsy business.
Today, when I pulled out all my yarns I realized that I had bought colors I thought that I didn't have, when in fact they were just buried beneath my sight.
If anyone has ideas on how to store AND see the yarns stored, I would greatly appreciate it!
By the way, I wish I had the shelves in the picture, I think they would solve my problem.

Front Porch Time Again!!

Ah...the weather has made a turn for the better! We already have temperatures in the 70's with nice cool evenings! Time to dust off the porch furniture and get to drinking cozy warm beverages while watching the world go by!
I am one of the first people in our neighborhood to whip out the scarecrows, hay bales and fall mums! I am a little over anxious to welcome fall because of all the years in hot hot Florida! I have posted some pictures of lovely fall decorated porches along with my porch and I hope you feel warm and fuzzy inside just from looking at them!
(you probably already figured mine was the one with scarecrows!)

Thanksgiving is Coming!

I just love Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pie, Turkey, Autumn Leaves... but we can't forget that the Native American Indians were a huge part of this celebration! They sure showed the Pilgrims greater hospitality than the Europeans that came here showed them! Let's give thanks for the culture and contribution that the indigenous tribes of this land have given to us. We should be saddened by the real history of the treatment of the Native Americans. Not many of us could relate to being forced from our homes and land to be relocated in a strange faraway place.