Scarecrow Festival

With the lovely chill of Autumn in the air, there is a rush to get all the things done that make the most of this fleeting, gorgeous season. So, with kids in tow, we headed to Thanksgiving Point to the Scarecrow Festival.  Needless to say, there were ample scarecrows, games, a train ride & even a racetrack for the kids to ride little race cars. We were so lucky to have a gorgeous, warm, sunny day & we loved the chance to be outside with the kids.

Ethan especially loved the bounce-houses & tunnels. Even though we lost sight of Ethan several times, it wasn't hard to locate his screaming, squeal of delight as he tumbled through the tunnels & slides. Aubrey even found her own baby-sized bounce house, in which we could hardly get her out of - Ethan and Aubrey must be related...

One of the funniest parts of the day was when Ethan's friend the Pirate shot candy out of a cannon - which flew 20 feet into the air and down onto the kids below. When the cannon BOOMED, Aubrey was quite startled and emphatically said: "No NO Pirate!!" It was awesome.

So, we had a wonderful day - we loved the pumpkin patch with the GIANT pumpkin! We look forward to next year.

My Chef

I have married the most amazing chef in the world! I don't know what it is about self-made fine food, from Sushi, Creme Brulee, and basically anything else culinary that he can get his hands on Austin gravitates to it and masters it all! I give him A+++ for taste, presentation & the best category - talent!! 

For Austin, I guess cooking is like fishing - any excuse is good enough. So, roll up your sleeves, Austin because I offer a standing invitation for everyone to come to dinner!

Palumba Days

I finally confess visually why I have been a reclusive office-hermit. After weeks of planning, ordering and supply waiting, there came the wonderfully-dreaded month of non-stop, full-production sewing to finish a rather large order I was blessed to receive this summer. Being mostly a small, one-at-a-time maker of felt play food, this avalanche order of felt toys was a make-or-break offer for me.

The pictures are terrible, I confess, but standing on tip-toe on our highest chair, trying to frame this in was a challenge, so please forgive the photography. It also doesn't look as impressive when viewed with half of the items bagged up - I was under a shipping deadline & refused to unpack the 11 piece Breakfast set, the 18 piece Turkey set, & the 28 piece Pizzas, just to get a mere photo, but believe me - it was awesome!

So, with deadline looming and never having tackled an order this large, I was sweating bullets to get this 1300 individual-piece order done in the month that I had. I won't even mention that I still had my family, house, Church activities and an increasingly-busy Etsy shop to run all at the same time.  So, to my friends and family - this is the reason you saw so little of me this last month and a half!

It was a wonderful experience, a great lesson in time management, and precision planning. Most special thank you's to the endless patience and support from my wonderful husband and children (I "neglect" you no longer, my luvs!)

So, after 18 yards of wool felt, 25 spools of thread, 2 scissor sharpenings, and more hours at my desk than I would like to confess - and even less sleep, I am finally finished - earning a well deserved break from felt food... oh, wait - strike that - the Holiday season is approaching... NO BREAKS! Work, work, work Becca!

The Great Crash of 2009

It finally happened. After months of limping along with my faithful iMac G4 - which is considerably old, the great crash came & took with it all my vital info, documents, & meticulous records (thank goodness for paper backups). Needless to say, I was devastated & more than a bit miffed that my computer had the audacity to crash completely without notifying me of its intentions in time to back up my hard drive. Oh well, I guess that is the way things go. So after 2 days of shopping, I am back online with a Ferarri of a Mac, humming quietly away as I lovingly tap the keys... Funny how you don't know what you are missing until you try something new - in this case, it was like my old iMac was a 1950s jalopy & I have just been given the aforementioned sports car.  Aaah, the wind in my hair!