Don't Forget!!

Tonight at 9:00 p.m.
is the update on

http://www.ehagemporium.blogspot.com/

come on over to see what spooky stuff awaits you!!

~ALSO~

Sunday eve, on Ebay...
I will be offering 3 unique
OOAK Hallow's EVe inspired dolls,
based on my little characters in my drawings & doodles....

"Goodnight Harvest Moon-man"
"B. L. Zebub"
&
"Hickety-Pickety"
(They've been begging me to bring them to 'life' for quite sometime now...
I finally obliged, and I think they will tickle your funny bone!)

I'll be working in the shop today,
...have lots to do in there!!!
need to clean and get set-up for a private class that I'll be teaching on Tuesday!!

Hope you all have a great, COOLER day!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

New Needle Punch patterns coming soon!

here is a peek
at one of the unfinished models
for my new needlepunch patterns that I'm working on....

this one is called
"Eek & Zeke"

the new patterns combine wool applique and needle punch...
two of my favorite things !!
(the Jack'O in Zeke's belly is wool applique with embroidered features)

and I LOVE the look!!!

the picture above was taken
whilst the punching was still on the frame...
my gripper frame has a star -cut-out on the bottom,
so that I don't need to remove the punching to see it
...I just look through the star to see my progress!

(Peter will be building these frames
for the show here in September

..I love mine and have had so many folks inquire about it)

I should have the models finished by the 2nd week of August,
... right now I don't know how many designs will be released
(but I have a bunch of them sketched up, all Autumn/Hallowe'en designs)

~and~
THANK YOU for the positive emails and comments regarding
mine & Robin's Big News!!!

I cannot wait to get started on this adventure!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Textures and other things....

What is it that we love about textures?

...smooth or worn,

rusted & old...

weathered & loved...

whitewashed and patina'd...

chippy,

coarse
dull
mellowed...

all of the above?

and below?

How very boring our lives would be without textures~
no roughness to appreciate the calm,
...or no bright to be able to bask in a warm glow...

wood metal fabric

feather stone

paint
Look around your home & surroundings...
really see the beauty in the textures
that play such a big, yet unnoticed roll
in our lives...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now for the other news....

Notforgotten Farm and Millstone Mercantile
will be joining hands and hearts here in the shop

to create a wonderful, primitive shopping experience for you!

Robin & I
are hoping to soon whip the shop into shape,
re-arranging, re-doing and re-vamping
to bring you the best of our combined primitive efforts!

think:

Old Tyme Country Store mixed in with a little Folk Art,
add to that unique primitive and make-do furniture,
.... patterns and needlework accessories, classes and open houses....

(sounds like a shop I would want to visit often!)

we will also be expanding the shop hours once the cool weather comes back...

plans are in the works,
as we are both busy getting ready for shows, but
I will keep you posted on the goings-on!!!

I am extremely excited and happy about this venture,
Robin and Lee have turned into very dear & beloved friends,
and we consider them family,...

with that said,
please join us in our excitement by letting us know what you think...
feedback is always a good thing!!

Blessings from the Farm, ~

Lori

...just a "whittle" something...

here is my first-ever,
hand whittled project....

"Zeke"

does he look frightened to you?

he should...

you would too

if you saw me coming at you with a sharp knife!

he's only about 2" across and with his stem is only a scant 3" high.

I have been wanting to try my hand at carving
for a loooong time....
and especially after seeing Tony Costanza's & Vaughn Rawson's
AWESOME

carvings at last year's
Ghoultide Gatherings show...

So I purchased a carving knife, a set of gouges and chisels,
some basswood and a book...
and this is my result!

I will try my hand at a witch (what else?) next, so stay tuned!!

do any of you out there in blog-land whittle?
I 'wood' love to see your pics!

Thunderstorms today...we need the rain, but it's still hot!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Antiques in the Valley Show ~

We had a great time at the show!!

Friday's set-up was fun, but H-O-T.

oh boy was it ever...

my lovely assistant,
Hannah,
was a trouper in Friday's heat...

(Thank You Honeygirl!)

...sold my little table, hooked pieces, lots of hand-dyed wool...
cabbages, quilt, stacked boxes....
and most of my black walnut garlands !

I took all of these pictures shown here on friday,
in beetween setting up and drinking gallons of cold water...
I intended to take pics of more booths,
but absolutely lost my mind on saturday and forgot to do that...

There was a contest for the best booth, and guess what?
I won!

I really still can't believe that,
... with all of the huge booths that were there,
but thanks to you all who voted on my little booth!
we will celebrate by dining at Cracker Barrel this evening,
using the gift certificate that we won!

woohoo...chicken & dumplin's here I come.....

Here is the Old Geezer
...um...I mean
Stud Muffin
(Lee, Robin's hubby)
taking a rest from the heat on friday...
and here it their booth during set up...


Robin & Lee always have the best stuff!!

It was great seeing all of my blog friends too...
it's so nice when you introduce yourselves to me!!!

Today will be spent unpacking the van, and trying to clean the farmhouse...
it will be another hot day ~ so I don't know how much I'll be able to get done...I hate this heat.

Have a relaxing, COOL sunday, my friends.....

Blessings from the Farm,
Lori

Woohoo for Goodwill !!!!!

Went to our local GW yesterday with Hannah...

she headed for the clothing,
I headed for the household-stuff.....

and there...

sitting among the tired,
ca. 1970's 'colonial' furniture,

was this baby.....

a Tin Saddle Lamp!!

woot woot!!!

and it was MINE

for the mere pettance of
$3.99

oh, how I love junking...

this will hang in our upstairs hallway,
after Peter re-wires it...

and I can't wait to see it cast it's mellow glow...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a BIG CONGRATS to our daughter Hannah

for being chosen as
Section Leader (Flutes)
in her high school's marching band...

she is thrilled. and we are SO PROUD!!

(love you pumpkin!!)

working away today,

prolly won't be on here much after today,

BUT
i will take pics at the show and show you all the fun

early next week!!

Keep Cool
(perhaps by visiting your local, well-air-conditioned GOODWILL?)

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Old Fabric...New Quilt !

I have collected old blue calico's for as long as I care to remember....

I hoard it,
I 'save' it...

I fondle it and fold it
into neat little squares
and pile it into baskets
all over the farmhouse....

but, every-so-often,

I get the urge to stitch up a small quilt...

and this is my result!

I'll bring this along to the show on Saturday...
it's the only one!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Temps are suppsed to reach the high 90's again today...

PLEASE

remember to leave out bowls

of fresh, cool water

for our fur-and-feathered friends

...they need us in times like these...

Stay Cool!!!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

p.s.
I like the looks of these new blogger backgrounds...
don't you?
:)

Caughtcha!!!!

aaaHA!

I CAUGHT you!!!!

(perhaps if I sit reeeeallly still, she'll think I'm one of her dolls...)

... while cleaning house the other morning,
I saw black fur on the quilt in my baby basket/cradle
that I use to hold my quilts and dolls....

telltale signs that 'someone' has been
sleeping there.....

BUT

I never seemed to actually find the culprit.

until now....

...here she is,
Black Suzy...

...still groggy from her nap

on my doll's lap...

Suzy is 13 yrs young...

she is my shadow and companion.
she sleeps on my head.

she chirps at me.

she plays fetch.

I love her dearly.

and she loves me back....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another hot day on our menu here in VA today....
I will be out in the (sweat)shop, where I will be painting chairs, making chairpads,
stitching, making tags, scouring wool, and generally getting ready for Saturday's show...

"Summer in the Valley"
(link & more info on my side-bar)

cant wait to see my old friends and meet new at the show...

oh, yeah...

and BUY SOME STUFF...

Hoping your day is filled with those you love and those that love you back!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

little stitches...

...been working on some little hallowe'en quilts...

this one measures approx. 12.5" x 6.5"

all hand pieced and quilted...
and after the little stitches are finished,
I'll distress it and stain it...

I have a huge stash of halloween fabrics to choose from,

so I'll be making choices and putting little puzzle pieces together....

more little quilts to come!

Blessings from the Farm,
Lori

Email issues....

Aol is having some sort of issue with their email,
and I haven't been able to respond (send) mail,
or open all of my received mail...

so if I haven't responded to your emails,
well...that might be why...

hopefully this will be fixed soon!!
~AND~
all orders have been shipped
(in the order they were purchased, placed or paid for)

to be fair to everyone!!

Much thanks for the response to my newest releases...
I would LOVE to see & share pictures here of your finishes!!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Not a Happy Day...or is it?

As most of you who read this blog know,
I have been raising three orphaned Opossums,
Herman, Flo & Petunia...

they are growing into beautiful wild creatures

and I have tried my best not to spoil them rotten
(yeah, right...kissing Opossums isn't exactly not spoiling them...)

I've studied their diet, and have been sure to feed them as properly as they can be fed in captivity...calcium to phosphorous ratio, crude protien content, vegetable percentage, etc...

I read everything I can get my hands on, to educate myself regarding their proper care,
asnd talk with professionals here locally and in my home state of CT...

Needless to say,
even with my devoted, 24 hour a day care and care-giving,
Petunia & Flo are now showing signs of MBD
(Metabolic Bone Disorder),
which I found is a common ailment in people-raised baby Opossums.

Common, perhaps...

Painful, debilitating and even deadly indeed to the babies....

SO

I've contacted our local Wildlife Center in Waynesboro, VA
and let then know about the 'situation'...
I saved their little lives once by bringing them home under my supervision and care when their Momma was hit by a car that fateful rainy eve....

and I have done the best humanly possible for them, but now it's time to take them where they can be treated for the beginning stages of MBD.

When I talked with the center yesterday, they assured me that the last thing they would do was to euthanize them, after exhausting all efforts to save them from this disease...
...which is hopefully only in it's early stages and treatable....

on the other hand, if treatable and reversed, they will be placed in a rehabilitators residence until they can be released into the wild...

(that is, unless of course I haven't smothered them too much with affection and spoiled them...)
IF that's what I did, then they will become Educational Animals and travel to schools and programs to educate children and adults about Wildlife...

(that, my friends, would be the happiest thing that could happen to them, for me....)

SO, with all this being said,
THANK YOU
for putting up with me and my zaniness...

please know that I have a HUGE heart when it comes to animals, all kinds...
even though right now it feel like it's breaking!!

and let's wish Herman, Petunia & Flo
a very healthy, HAPPY & LONG life ahead!!!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

oh my stars and garters !!!!!

get your drool rags out for this issue folks....

I can't believe all of the AUTUMN things in this issue...

I know...some of you out there are 'summer folk'...and that's wonderful...really!

BUT

if it were up to me, my little world would have a sweet short Spring,

Loooong Autumn,

...then Christmas.

that's it.

repeat as necessary!!

anyhoo, if you haven't see the new issue of CS yet...

go get it!

or

haunt your mailbox

and demand that your postal-person

bring it to you promptly...

{{{{Ahhh...I can smell the woodsmoke already...}}}}

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

a hookin' we will go, a hookin' we will go...

The
Blue Ridge Rug Hookers
were at it again today.....

(Pat Cross showing us her humongous 8 foot x 20 inch runner)

we hooked, punched, laughed and got serious...

(beautiful colors of wool yarn in this rug)

we chatted and admired one another's handwork...

we had Show 'n Tell.....

(Jane's handwork below)

we ate lunch and decided that we need to have
a "Hooker's Hallowe'en Party"

complete with green & black food,
...seasonal delights and..
...dare I say it?

COSTUMES????!!!

oh ~
you can bet your
Broomstick
I'll be there with Bells on!!

Felicia and Robin didn't make it today,
and boy...we did miss them...
... because we were feeling SO bad that they couldn't attend,
Jane and I went shopping to alleviate our sorrows...

yepper...
shopped at Cottonwood Quit Shop
in C'ville
(Charlottesville, VA)

I, personally don't need anymore fabric.

....ever.

but,
somehow, fabric shopping is a fix for me!

...and we do feel much better now!!!

(please visit www.midnightfarm.blogspot.com
to see more of our shopping adventure and a WICKED-ly cool rug!!)

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Punch-Drunk

Sharpening up my punch needle....

gathering my threads...

choosing
just
the

right

scissors...

all kinds of designs in my head!!

(hey...that rhymes!!)

working on the new Hallowe'en design models....
in between shipping the newest xstitch patterns

(many thanks for your purchases!)

Hoping to have the np patterns ready to be released end of this month!!!

today I have to buy more manilla envelopes for shipping the patterns,
...finish cleaning up the shop (haha)
and tomorrow I am heading to Charlottesville with Jane & Felicia,
to go hooking with the Blue Ridge Hookers

(although I'll be needle punching)

I'll take some pics to share for thursday's post!

and please visit my girl Robin's blog:
www.millstonemercantile.blogspot.com
she has a wonderful new pattern for np of a toy pull-horse for sale...
plus she'll be coming up with a series of them!!

(tell her I sent ya)

Have a great day filled with creativity & light!!!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

a PERFECT monday afternoon ~

it started with a couple of drips off the bittersweet...

cool, sweet droplets of precious rain!!!

steadily it began to fall,
leaving puddles here-and-there for the chickens to drink from.

where I was sitting on the porch, is now sopping wet...

so I moved to under the porch roof...
where I could still see the rain,
and smell the fresh air but not get soaked while stitching.

there is nothing like the sound of a steady rain on a tin-roof...
it soothes my soul and nerves, and comforts my heart & head.

(no better music in all the world to me!!)

I've even put out some buckets to collect the rain
for the birdbaths and wild-critters...

when I was young,
and there was to be a wonderful hot-summer-downpour,
I would head into the house and don my bathing suit...
I would also grab my humongous straw Mexican Sombrero
and out into the rain I'd head...

Barefoot & splashing in puddles,
I would sploosh and stomp up and down our little dead-end road~
the rain would soak me head-to-toe
and there just was no better feeling in the world than that...

almost like an outdoor shower....
((i don't know what our neighbors thought of me in my Sombrero,
but...if they knew me, then it was...um...normal.))

Welcome, rain!
nourish our gardens and our bodies~
...wash away the dust of days gone by and
refresh us once again!

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Simple Sunday Blessings

Here's Mommy (Esther) & Bobby (her son)
waiting for breakfast this morning....

typically,

breakfast consists of sweet-feed and hay...
occasionally,
an apple or carrot too....

& here are our Hibiscus flowers out front of the farmhouse...
this year's blossoms came in two shades of pink!!

the hummingbirds and bumbler-bees
are enjoying them too, but were too fast for my camera!

working on some little hallow's eve quilts today,

will show them soon...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Small Town USA

We went to our local carnival at Massie's Mill last night...

Our Ruritan Club puts it on every year.

nothing big, nothing special....

arcade games, flashing lights, friendly faces....
Playing dime-toss
(a game of which I am addicted to and have quite the collection
of gaudy melamine plates to show for my skills...)


while we were there, however,
the sky darkened & opened up on us all...
sending folks scurrying under tents and into the Bingo Hall....
sad to say we left early, but may return today, for it's last day.


Living in a small town in Virginia has advantages
that living in a bigger city could never offer,...

our closest neighbor is almost a mile away,
... but we know we can call on him if we need him, and vice-versa.

our bank employs people that actually know us and remeber our names.

we pay our bills at our local co-op
and shop at our outdoor markets for fresh, locally-grown food.

and let's not forget the ever-populated front porches.
as it is hot & sticky here lately, almost everyone sits on their front porches...
gathered together to talk, play games or just relax,
and offer you a friendly wave as you drive past them.

Wishing you a day filled with down-home charm!!!

Blessings from the farm,
Lori

10 NEW releases on Etsy!!!

please visit my etsy shop:

http://www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com/

to see them all!

They will be mailed in order of purchase,
and will start shipping on Monday, July 12th

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

A Faint Memory....

thought I would offer a reminder of what it was like just 5 months ago here in Virginia...

refreshing at times like these, no?

*AAAaahhhhhhhh*

...soon again,...soon again.

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

Too hot to stitch....

So I've been painting instead....

you can find both of these Witch paintings on eBay right now!
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/notforgottenfarmprimitives

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori

an Ancient Walk....

As a child growing up in New England,
our schoolyards, churchyards,
and sometimes playgrounds
....were usually located near the vicinity of an olde graveyard...

it is from these places that I have, and continue to,
reap inspiration for my Folk Art...

my circle of friends & I would spend hours in the quiet, grassy knolls...
between new & decrepit headstones.

we would bring chalk and brown paper-bags
and create rubbings from them,...
proudly hanging them in our bedrooms as 'pop-art'.

...always fascinated by the skill of the stone-carvers' hands
and use of crude tools,

that would create such works of Mourning Art...

...we would read their epitaphs...
the dates, some as early as the late 1600's,
were beyond comprehention
to our still-young minds.

the ages of the Dearly Departed usually were very young,
but occasionally we would stumble
(literally)
upon a stone that told the age
of one-who-had-passed to be in their 60's...

a person who was considered to be a wise-sage in those times,
...and very well-respected.

As I travel back to Connecticut every year,
I now see that some of these tablets have been vandalized
by unscrupulous and uncaring persons,
and have since been moved to a permanent place
near the old graveyards' protective stone walls...

....faces in stone peering out to us,

forever keeping a watchful eye over our youth....

Blessings from the Farm,

Lori