Raggedy Anne Truama

Kristin and I had a really buncha lotta fun this weekend, first going to Barnhouse, then hitting the other sales between there and home. I got my Finnish cardamom bread and my marionberry and raspberry coffee cakes done late Friday night, to take up to Joe & Jermonne (Barn House), then needed to get some things done on my computer, with my printer, before we went. I was so frustrated, my computer couldn't recognize the printer, etc, we worked on it untill late, then Kristin ended up taking the work home to her own computer. After re-starting mine (????why didn't I think of that earlier) it finally worked. So, we ended up with 2 hours of sleep that night, because I needed to get the bread and cakes there by 7 am.
After we got there, I could finally relax. I wish I could say I got tons of pics from Barn House, but there were so many people everywhere, it was crazy trying to just SEE it, let alone photograph it. As usual, though, lots of neat stuff. They went all out with everything, including literally, a brunch!
Although I didn't get photos, check out their blog, soon I'm sure the photos will be there.

We hit a few other sales down the road, and when we got to "Out on a Limb", this is where my Raggedy Anne story came back to "haunt" me. When I was about 9, I wanted a Raggedy Anne doll soooooo bad. I begged for her. Christmas came, and yep, I got her! Heaven!! Christmas Day, on the news, a story came up about the most dangerous toys of that Christmas season. Do you know, they said Raggedy Anne was one of the most dangerous toys?? Can you imagine? They said it was because she was flamable! Well, I wasn't sure what flamable was, but I thought it meant she might just randomly "catch on fire"! The guilt I suffered, because my parents didn't hear this news story, they didn't know she could blow up and that she was dangerous, and I wouldn't tell. I wanted her too much! I remember going to bed that night, afraid for her life. I was selfless enough not to care about my own life, wouldn't you say? Well, I had many, many wonderful times playing with her. I took her everwhere. Yes, I still had the nagging guilt about the "secret" that she could catch on fire, but other than that, we went on with life.
One day, I took her to "work" with me. Yes, I did do child labor, seriously! When I got off the schoolbus, my parents were waiting for us (my sister and I) to go screen rock. You see, dad owns a rock pit, he would use his loader to scoop the rock, haul it to a shoot that dropped the rock onto a conveyor, that sprayed water on it, and cleaned and screened it. My dad would sell the rock, which was how he earned a living. My sister and I had the job of taking sticks and poking the rock, to make sure it went down the shoot. On days when other children played, we were working the mines LOL!
So, I took Raggedy Anne to work with me, you see, and when I got my break, we went off running and jumping over mud puddles. Imagine my horror when I dropped my precious Annie in the mud puddle! I tried as hard as I could to clean her up, my mom did wash her, but from that day on, she has had a "birthmark" on her face. Not real dark, but a reminder none-the-less, of the experiences she and I shared.
Well, the reason this all came back to me two days ago at "Out on a Limb", was these two Raggedy Anne dolls. Kristin spotted them first, and she LAUGHED, saying it looked like the same thing happened to these dolls. You know, I still have this doll, she still has her faint birthmark, and I have since confessed to my mama that she was flameable. I also now realize what flameable means and I feel good that she lives here still and she isn't going to blow up or start on fire.

A Bit of Baking....For Barnhouse Season Finale!!

Well, today will be a busy day for me with baking, doing a few things I really should have, could have, in retrospect would have.....But luckily for me, when I bake it's always best to do it as late as possible! I'm pretty honored and excited to get to be a "baker for Barnhouse", thanks so much to Joe and Jermonne, and of course Natalie, my friend! Kristin and I are excited to go to this last event of the year, which is always sooooo full of wonderful treasures. I just find it really inspiring to see how they put their heads together and come up with all the great ideas that were stuck inside each of their brains, waiting to come out!
I've been working on projects Natalie taught Chantel and I to do with soldering art, what fun that is! I've been frantically looking for a piece of wool in my huge and growing stash of wool for rug hooking. Randy says, why in the world would you start a project w/o making sure you had enough of that color????? Well.....when I do hooking, I usually am grabbing stuff, in a hurry, to take with me somewhere to work on while I'm waiting or visiting, etc. I just can hardly believe the skirt I had felted has been cut into that many strips that there is no longer a piece of it in existence!
Yesterday, Kristin and I did some errands for upcoming "Vintage Winter Gathering at the Church" Nov. 21st & 22nd. She's a pretty detailed thinker, I'm often the one that thinks something is a great idea, then she makes us do it. It's a little ways off, but we want it to be special. We're pretty excited that Natalie , The Vintage Sparrow, is going to be there, which also means we're going to get to see her even more! So, although we're excited to get to the Barn House, weighing on our minds is November 21st and 22nd at the old church.
Well, better get to baking, or I'll be one embarrassed, empty-handed guest at Barn House!

Beautiful Vintage Baby Shower at the Church

Well, I know it's two posts in one day, but I couldn't resist showing the baby shower my daughter put on for a friend. She did such a great job and the church looked so pretty with the sun shining through the windows on her vintage baby dresses.




































This is the little church we are having our first ever "Vintage Winter Gathering at the Church", which will be held November 21st AND November 22nd! Watch for more details!!

Longbeach Cranberry Harvest

We (Kristin and I) took all the boys and Talia to see the Longbeach cranberries being harvested. That is very interesting and all those fresh cranberries were so pretty. It was a beautiful day at the beach and we what a good time we had! Sometimes it's nice to just take a field trip! And look at all the wonderful primitive cranberry equipment! I want a cranberry scoop fork thingy! Did you see the cute frog we found?

40 Gallons of Fresh Cider

We must have had at least 50 people show up for our cider party. Actually another friend brought his press, too, so it went a little faster than in years before. Tons of food, great fellowship, and how wonderful that the weather actually cooperated for us! It drizzled occasionally, but no wind storm like they were predicting. We got 40 gallons, no included however many gallons we actually drank, so that was the bonus. I love doing this, opening up my home for friends. We came in later and ate again, got out our instruments, there were only 2 guitars, and autoharp, and a banjo, but we had a lot of fun. Everyone was relaxed and happy, and Randy and I love it when people say our home is comfortable. It's pretty humble, but it's a home, it's fun to enjoy company in it!

Cider Update

I thought I'd share the email going around to our church and friends, I thought it was sweet, and also.....it's getting me a little more excited for the company.

Hello all

With the weather reports going crazy, I checked with my friendly retired weather man (Dad) at Randy's Request. The weather won't be sunny, and there will be some rain but Randy has set up a couple of Gazebo's and staked em down good and tight and has "battened down the hatches"....between that and the covered area's it should be ok for staying out of the Rain. He has also informed me there will be a warm fire inside and plenty of room sit around the fire and sing. So, with that, I hope you all brave the weather and come join the fun at the Trass Residence tomorrow. With all the things going on over the next couple of weeks it would be to late for the apples to reschedule anyway. Pray for a break in the weather for some good fellowship and fun. God is good and faithful.....If you know someone who is not on the email chain and might be wondering if its still on, please give them a call and let them know or forward them this email. I will update the Web page if there are any changes.....

Getting ready for company

Whew! It's a whirlwind around here, and here I am taking a break. My husband is on the phone right now trying to figure out if we are really supposed to get a high-wind storm tomorrow, since we invited our whole church, and many other friends to our home for an "Apple cider pressing/potluck/music party". We told everyone weeks ago to plan on this, gather your apples, and your jugs, bring your lawn chairs and your musical instruments........ Then the weatherman has to try and foul it all up. We do have 3 good-sized gazebos we were putting up, but...high winds??? I am just finished steaming some grape juice from the 10 boxes of grapes Kristin and I picked in Banks 2 days ago. I have bowls of tomatoes and other veggies to get made into salsa, and here I am trying to get my house cleaned, too, b/c we're having a party! I get a little nervous b/f everyone gets here, our house really isn't fancy or anything, which, hey, that works, since it's probably going to be a huge mess after it's over! I'll try and get some pics and share how it goes this weekend. Well, better get back to work!