Autumn, Fast upon Us

Sorry, more on the spice jars. Not like I've actually baked or cooked anything in a couple of weeks other than two pies, but I am very, very excited to get back in there. I told Melissa that I ran out of vanilla extract and cinnamon on the same day, and felt a strange sense of accomplishment, the way I always do when I get to the bottom of any jar or bottle. Spool of thread, bag of flour, can of spray-starch. It always feels good to need more of those things, for some reason. Anyway, I brought all my bottles to New Seasons on Division, a local market. I had them weigh one bottle to get the tare weight, then filled up the rest of them and kept a list of what I was getting. The cashier then rung everything up, grudgingly. No one, absolutely no one there was nice to me while I was doing this. And they have this big sign on the side of the building that says "the friendliest store in town." Right. I didn't care, though. It was worth it. As I said, I saved a ton of money, and in this case that was worth it to me, meanies be damned.

A lot needs to happen today. I have a ton of email to answer. All my orders from the last week or so will finally ship, including the sneaker orders from the post about Calico Balloon, which won't be wrapped as I want them to because I'm not done designing the stickers/can't find the tissue paper/haven't decided on ribbon, etc. The Calico Balloon web site still won't be ready for a while. Everything's taking longer than I thought, but it's okay. My antique booth is going well so far, and I'm excited about that. I'm bringing a ton more stuff over there this week.

I'll also be putting my Stripey Sweater Handbags up on the Posie site this week. I had meant to make more of them (I think there are seven) and also make a whole bunch more stuff for the site, but it's not happening, and fall is fast upon us. It might also be a good time to admit something — I don't like Halloween. I was at Goodwill yesterday and they are fully decorated for the upcoming event, complete with real prosthetic legs hanging from the ceiling. It was so gross.

I'm a total party-pooper about Halloween. The only thing I really like about it is watching or reading The Woman in White, which we always do in October. (Speaking of novels, this is one of my favorites. If you are one of the many fans of The Fingersmith, I think you'll like this one, too [for your own, many, unfathomable reasons, of course — I can, as explained, only guess at these things].) Scary-cat Bridget came trotting into the living room yesterday with a huge dead bird hanging out of her mouth, cartoon-eyed and making that "Look what I killed, Mommy!!!" chirping noise. The blood-curdler I let loose would've felled the Headless Horseman, I tell you. It certainly scared the hell out of the Bee, who turned and raced out the back door (bird banging against her chest) faster than you can say boo and didn't come back for hours. Eeeeyuck. Poor, poor birdy. Naughty Bee!!!

Comments

[cottagebethy]

wanted your opinion...a martha stewart producer saw my blog and wanted me to send a video of my home (i'm guessing since i use a lot of her paints). would you do it? i've done that for oprah before, they came to me so i thought it would be worth my while, but it never panned out. is this stuff a waste of time? how did you get connected with the magazines?

sorry, i didn't know how to email you. :) thanks.

[Angie]

Those naughty cats! My old cat unknowingly dropped a dead mouse in my welly boot. I was in a hurry and thought there was an old sock in there, so wore it anyway... oh yuck!! I wont go on.

[Chris Howard]

Ack!!! A little part of me died when you said you don't like Halloween :( Ah well, I love you anyway A.

[Chris Howard]

I forgot to add, I love the spice jars, but aren't they hard to reach all the way up there? Also, what is that framed goodie on the left hand side of the window?

[Erin Orr]

Your handbags are beautiful. I've never done anything with felted wool before, but you've inspired me to take a trip to the thrift store and attempt something new. Do you just wash wool sweaters in hot water and throw them in the dryer to felt them?

[Tania Ho]

funny, I do love The woman in white (and the rest of wilkie collins' novels that I've read) and fingersmith, but I never thought to make a connection between them. I did finish The night watch a couple of nights ago, and once more Sarah Waters made me stay up reading way past my bedtime.

[Jill]

I don't like Halloween either. I love Autumn - the harvest, the pumpkins, the leaves, the getting-ready-for-winter stuff that we do, but Halloween? No thanks!

[Toni]

your spice jar project is fabulous. i really need to refresh my own too.

your house is so cute, it needs to be in a magazine. and, i'm with ya on halloween. it's a big drag for me too. i'm so glad when it's over. ugh.

[cindy k]

i think i missed something - what the heck is this - "the sneaker orders from the post about Calico Balloon"? was there something we could order? i ya yi (read that like Ricky Ricardo used to say to Lucy - i didn't know how to spell it) - i can't keep up :)!

[Selena]

I love buying spices in bulk. I buy them in a co-op group and they are delivered to our house. If you buy organic you can get organic spices in bulk and throw yourself a spice party. Everyone can bring their own jars, wine to share of course and split the cost of the spices. If you want more details I can give you the website. Oh and the best part is they are are wholesale prices for buying groups. On the Halloween confession...I'm still getting over the shock.

[Beth]

oh eeek with Bee! My at used to leave cricket parts all over the kitchen floor. She would play with them, not eat them. She would sit at one end of the kitchen and swat them clear across the kithcen floor and then repeat the process from the other side. Needless to say, I woke up every other morning with "Cricket parts" all over my floor.. BLECH...

Now I love Halloween, but I do not love the gross out factor. I love kids dressed up in cute little outfits, the candy, the pumpkins.. okay especially the candy because after you send your kids to bed you get to pick through it all! HAHA!!! I do not like scary movies based off of blood and guts.. I just cannot deal with that. I like suspense, but not gore (Give me Charade, Wait Until Dark, etc any day). But I do adore Autumn in all of its glory though. My favorite time of year.

[melissa f.]

we empty our vanilla crazy-fast, like someone is drinking it fast. sam? i'm with you on the halloween, and i know there's a metaphor in there and will spend the rest of my day deconstructing it just for you. :)

[Robin]

Oh thank you for saying that! My husband and I always feel like odd ducks out (nothing new there!) for not going ga-ga over Halloween. We just don't like it, the scary, the gross, the gory. Blech. I adore autumn, it's our favorite time of year. Crisp days, apples, fall leaves, that wonderful light. Autumn=yummy. Halloween=not.
Ah there...that feels better!

[Kristy]

How did I miss things to order?Can't wait to see Calico Balloon!

[hannah]

i am with melissa, just how big is this vanilla bottle of yours? sounds fishy...

[Sarah]

There is a WONDERFUL spice shop that is local to me, but, they do internet orders. They are very, very friendly, the shipping is fast, and the prices are dirt cheap. Here is their website, in case you need refills: http://www.oldtownspices.com/. I simply refuse to give good money to people who are mean and nasty.

[marné]

Ooh, thanks for the reminder about The Woman in White, I forgot how much I liked that book. The Dead Secret is another good Wilkie Collins mystery.

I have to say, I'm not a huge Halloween fan myself. I do like pumpkins, however and am planning a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks, they sell green and white and red pumkins along with the regular orange ones.

Now I want to organize my spices :o)

[Kai]

As a Portland shopper and big fan of New Seasons I was distraught to hear how unfriendly they were to you in your spice mission. You should say something to them in a comment - because what you described doing seems exactly like something that New Seasons would help facilitate - try the Sellwood one they are THE BEST!!
Your spices look lovely.

[mo]

I am so suprised they were not nice at New Seasons. Thats a bummer- the one by our house is full of nice people. I am also the halloween party pooper when it comes to all the gruesome stuff. Carmel apples, pumpkin carving, innocent trick or treating in homemade costumes is great. Headless everything is not.

[Gina]

Girl, give me some of your energy. You make my head spin at all your new adventures.I have ideas but they seem to get only that far. Maybe it's my diet, but I blame it on the kids and clutter..LOL
Thanks for the book recommendation.

[stephanie s]

yep, right there with ya on the halloween thing... i had never thought to take my spice jars with me to the store... i usually bring home small bags of the stuff, find i have over bought then have both the jar and and bag with the same spice littering as least two cupboards.... hmmm

[lauradstudio@sbcglobal.net]

I don't care for Halloween either. Down here, the biggest celebration in our house is for the milder, dry temps. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

[Heather Bailey]

I saw a shelf like yours at a Portland boutique once, but couldn't figure how I'd get it home with me on an airplane. Now I regret not shipping it to myself. You had a store -- any idea who makes those so I could get one for my thread? Oh, and score on the spices!

[Lili]

thank you for the picture of the spice jars. i was sad to see there wasnt one yesterday! too cute.

i hope your week is going well!

[violets]

Oh, I simply can't wait for the stripey sweater bags, more pictures please! I found your blog recently and want to order from your site, I was just waiting to see what fall goodies you had up your sleeve.