Leaf Peepers

We were in the UP last weekend, prepping for the winter. Large quantities of wood were cut, split, and stacked. The new sliding door was sealed, and the source of the water leak was repaired. We were just a smidge too late for peak colors, so you get last year's pictures instead. Complete with pre-braces and pre-pink-haired Lola.

Hanneke

Patching It Up

We traveled down state on Saturday to celebrate Halloween and my birthday with Ryan’s brother and his family. Their neighborhood blocks off a few streets every year to ensure safe nighttime trick or treating for kids. Roaming the streets in the dark does All Hallows Eve more justice than walking around in broad daylight, don’t you think?

On the way back up, we stopped at the pumpkin patch in Allenton where we petted and admired alpaca’s, goats, emus, and turkeys, and picked out a nice big pumpkin to carve.

Catching Up: Craft Fair

Our small town holds an annual Fall Festival every first Saturday in October. The whole town is decked out with fabulous fall displays and there is music, food, hayrides, pony rides, and an ever growing arts & crafts fair. This year Dutch Girl Originals participated in the craft fair for the first time ever.

Of course, as soon as I signed up for the fair, I was offered a job. I briefly contemplated cancelling, but I really didn’t want to. I decided to go for a smaller booth instead. So I worked my butt off at night getting ready for the fair while working a regular job during the day. It was a little stressful but I am so glad I did.

The first sale of the day went to Lola. She had worked hard on making drawings and cuttings and sold them on the side. I did okay for a first timer. My big seller were the owl pillows. It quickly became obvious people were not yet ready to start thinking about Christmas. A glance at the ornaments was the best I got.

The wonderful garland display did not attract as much attention as I had hoped. Ryan built it by mounting two thin poplar trees cut from my parents-in-law’s yard, not for this purpose though, in Christmas tree stands. I strung the garlands in between the posts but they didn’t show up very well against the park back drop. A white wall would have been better.

It was cold though. So cold. We kept it dry for most of the day but did see a little bit of snow (!) come down, smudging every single one of my tags. I should have listened to Ryan who suggested laminating them. Every now and then my mother-in-law would walk down, my booth was just down the road, to allow me to warm up inside.

Despite the cold, I had a blast. I am already looking forward to next year. Now I need to get my Etsy shop ready for the holidays. After I finish Lola’s Halloween costume, that is. A crafter’s work is never done.

Fabulous Fall

Woman At Work

So I have been a bit of a slacker lately but only on the blogs, I promise. In fact, I have been hard at work for the past two months. It started with various projects for my husband’s employer that I was usually able to do from home. Slowly it progressed to a near full time job. And since the first of this month I happily commute to the UP every day. I do a little marketing, a little project management, and whatever else comes my way. It’s fun. Lola is back in day care and lovin’ it.

Of course, something’s gotta give, and that’s the blogs. I participated in my very first craft fair and was reasonably successful at it. (It was cold that day, though. It even snowed a little bit.) I try to keep a clean house and am reasonably successful at that, too. We purchased a dishwasher to assist with household tasks. It sits in our garage, patiently waiting to be installed. We want to tile the kitchen floor first. Makes sense, doesn’t it? And so I wait patiently as well.

Summer is officially over. It is full on fall here. I have seen some gorgeous colors come by on my commute but the rain and wind of the last few days have blown most leaves off their branches. We spent a couple of lovely weekends camping up in the UP on the Keweenaw Peninsula. We putzed around looking for property to realize our B&B dream on. We tried one on for size and squatted on the land for a night. Nice spot with a perfect view of Mount Bohemia.

Lola is back in school, a true kindergartner. She is learning to read and write. It’s fun hearing her sound out letters and watching her write them. She can almost count to a hundred now. No more skipping the number seventeen, and getting confused at twenty. Just like that, it clicked. She has been getting into a little bit of trouble every now and then, mostly for talking too much. But she genuinely seems to be enjoying school. She had enrolled in dance again and goes to girl scouts every other Monday.

That’s pretty much it, I think. You’re all caught up. I will try to upload some pictures this weekend to accompany the aforementioned events. But I am also working on Lola’s Halloween costume (she will be a mermaid this year), sewing a custom order for a client, and getting my Etsy shop ready for the upcoming holidays. So I can’t make any promises.

Winter Prep

I read on a fellow Wisconsinite's blog this morning that it snowed last night in her neck of the woods. [Gulp] Snow! I am not quite ready for it. I may be in full Thanksgiving preparation mode and Christmas is only 50 something days away, but I like the sunny fall weather we're having. I want it to stick around for awhile.

Reading about her snowfall sent me into a little cleaning frenzy. The bird feeders have been cleaned and filled. The last of the window screens have been taken down and brought in. The outside faucet has been shut off and drained, and the garden hose is safely stored inside the garage. Lola's wading pool has also been stored away. And as soon as I bring in the last of my garden herbs (I just don't know where to put them right now), the outside is done.

And since it was such a lovely day, and I was busy cleaning anyway, I washed most of the windows as well. Martha would be very proud, I'm sure.

Rise & Shine

Autumn Colors

My drive to work grows more colorful and beautiful every day. I am trying to instill an appreciation for nature's glory in Lola but haven't been very successful so far. Perhaps my readers are more receptive...

Fiery Red

Nature's Quilt

Things To Do On A Saturday

It is a beautiful sunny morning today and I am thinking of things to do. Last week we went to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma for Zoo Boo, a Halloween Party for animals. It was great fun, even if the weather was deplorable. (I know I said I like the sound of the rain and I do. Inside. It's not quite the same when you're walking outside.) There were lots of animals, of course, and face painting, too!



On the way home we stopped at the pumpkin patch for the third consecutive week. This time it was just to pick up some delicious sweetcorn and fresh apple cider. The week before Ryan, Lola, and I had properly visited the Schilter Family Farm together. Ryan had not yet had the pleasure of spending a sunny afternoon with hundreds of children, and I cannot get enough of pumpkins. Lola loves pumpkins too, and all the other fun kids' activities. This time there was a pony ride!


After picking up the corn and cider we took the scenic route to Boston Harbor to buy some fresh salmon. It was a beautiful drive. The Puget Sound is such a gorgeous area!

I think Lola and I are going to run some errands first, perhaps taking the long way home again, and then we'll go look for some chestnuts. While our pumpkin cookies are baking in the oven, we will turn our chestnuts into a variety of creatures with the help of toothpicks and string. It's a pity there are no oak trees around these parts. Acorns would be wonderful to play with, too.

I Love Fall

The rainy season has begun. This morning I woke up to raindrops bouncing off the metal roof. For the next eight months, this sound will be our alarm. That, and Lola. I don't mind it, to be honest. Not yet, anyway. The vibrant colors outside are beautiful, with or without sunshine. There are pumpkins everywhere I look. It's warm and cozy in the barn. We have three wonderful holidays to look forward to.

It's lovely to be inside again and curl up in front of the fireplace. To read a book. To bake pies and make soups. And I truly love listening to the patter of raindrops on the roof!

Autumn Joy

When I brought Lola to daycare on this sun filled yet bitter cold morning, I noticed a dense fog over Black Lake just down the road from Carla's house. The combination of sunshine, changing colors and mystical fog was too good to pass up. I decided to take the long way home, past the lake and through a beautiful and forested part of Olympia.

The fog quickly subsided but the ride was wonderful nonetheless. Olympia is so beautiful this time of year. Washington is called the Evergreen State because it is covered in tall pine trees. It really is green here year round. During the fall however, it becomes apparent just how many deciduous trees there are as well. A few more sunny days like today alternated with freezing cold nights and every possible shade of yellow, orange, and red will pop from the green.

We're in luck, the weather report has nothing but sunshine for the rest of the week. Oh, how I love autumn!

For The Love Of Pumpkins

Carla, Dylan, Lola, and I went to the Nisqually Pumpkin Patch today. A petting zoo, a cow train, a hay ride, a corn maze, a straw fort, and of course thousands of pumpkins to choose from; it has to be my favorite way to spend a sunny fall day.