A Fall Friday, New Additions and a French Dip

Finally Fall Colors

I mentioned it before, but our Fall colors have been a little off this year. They're not as brilliant and they're late. The weathermen haven't really been able to explain the reasons 100% certainty. After patiently waiting for those much beloved colors that are the announcement of fall, they have arrived. Muted and a wee bit late, but arrived.

As the sun was coming up this morning (can I get an amen for that? G-man has worked in the pouring rain most of the week), it hit the field in that wonderful way that morning light does. I went across the street with my camera, and........oh yeah, I was in my pajamas. The things I do to get a good shot.

I love the way the light is just barely touching the barn at this point.

Our great Fall view.

A closer shot.

See the way the trees aren't quite in sync this year? Some turning, some turned, some still yet to turn. Very odd, but still beautiful.

For comparison, here's a shot from almost 2 years to the day (10/20/09).

See what I mean?

I am happy to have some Fall color, even if it's not the usual. It would have been really disappointing to have a 'no show'.

Good News

Bates Mercantile Co. is on the front page of etsy as I type, thanks to the lovely treasury making skills of KimberlyAnnMarie (who makes the loveliest sea glass jewelry). If you don't know about etsy, I'd like to shout it from the rooftops- it's the most wonderful online marketplace for handcrafted and vintage things. You'll also find supplies for making things on etsy. Once you visit etsy, you're sure to be back. It's just too much fun and they're is far too much talent to ignore.

Here's a couple of vintage items I'm about to add to Bates Mercantile Co., our etsy shop.

Very chinoiserie.

None the less, Made in the USA by Syracuse.

This pretty bowl was not made in the USA, but rather in Germany.

Such pretty flower detail.

After I get these items into our shop, I will have to squeeze in the regular Friday fly through cleaning routine. I have a thing about starting the weekend with a messy house. It bugs me. Am I the only one?

Then I hope to get to enjoy the outdoors for at least a little while and maybe take the dog for a walk. That is, if I can wake him up from his nap on the lawn.

Roast Beast To French Dip

Wednesday was especially rainy and miserable, so I cooked a roast beef for the man who'd been rained upon all day at work.  It was an Angus top round.

Basic Roast Beef - Medium Rare

350F

20-25 minutes per pound

s,p and garlic

Let rest 5-10 minutes before carving or all the juice will run out of the meat

De-glaze the roasting pan.........basically that means, throw some liquid in (wine, broth,water) to get all the nice roasty bits up from the bottom of the pan. I used a combo of wine and broth. Makes a nice au jus. Basically, just meat juice gravy.

Well, it came out perfectly, but it was a pretty big roast. So last night, with the leftovers (though there are still more), I made French Dip sandwiches.

Fresh Salio Loaf from the market

Mixed Hellman's and some horseradish

Thinly sliced leftover Roast Beef

Put the sliced salio on a cookie sheet, spread the dressing on the bread, topped one side with the roast beef, and topped that side with other slice of bread. Popped in oven at 350 for about 5 minutes just to warm up. Also stuck left over au jus in a bowl and in the oven with the sandwiches.

Serve sandwiches with the au jus for dipping. Hence the name of this sandwich.

Heavenly.

I know I have a long way to go on my food pics. It's just always at night with bad light. I'll keep working on that.

For now, without further ado..........

Freeform Friday

This one's for sister Di.  A Dylan cover, by Old Crow Medicine Show.  If you receive this by email........click here!

Rock me momma anyway ya feel, rock me momma like a wagon wheel......hey, momma rock me...

No big plans for the weekend that I know of, though we may take a run up to the new meat market and if we could squeeze in a trip to Applecrest for cider donuts, apples and cider, it sure would be nice. What's your scoop? Anything special going on in your corner of the world.

Toot-a-loo,

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday......Where'd Saturday go?

Friday Comes Before Saturday

Friday, my sister Dianne called to say we had a surprise visitor.......our cousin Margie had driven up. So Friday night, I left Garman on his own as he was beat from his week, and I was off to Di's.

The door kept opening to another person.........first our sister in law Kelly, then my sister Gloria, and then later on my niece Nicole.

Now, I know I'm fuzzy because I was running to get into the picture but not sure why Kel is. Go figure.  (Sisters G, D & P in the back row, cousin Margie in the front with sil Kel on the right front). Nicole missed the photo shoot.

It was a good night around the table filled with lots of laughs. I just love a surprise guest like that!

Saturday To Do List

At the top of my list yesterday was package up a pretty linen and lace table scarf from Bates Mercantile Co. and get it to the post office for shipping to Australia.  I know the girl who bought it from our shop, is going to love it more in person. It's very pretty. We love our customers and I always try to make packages look special so it's like receiving a gift in the mail.

It doesn't take much effort, and a small personal touch is one of the things that sets etsy shops apart from other retailers.

On the Way Home

I had a couple stops on the way home from the post office, and on one of them I scored a couple new pieces of merchandise for Bates Mercantile Co.

Check out these vintage straws. Well, what I really liked, was the illustrations on the straws, beginning with the eagle on the front.

The back was just as good. The top one kills me.........

"Children will drink more milk through a straw." Really? What a hoot.

I spied these little gems the other day, and had to go back for them. The prettiest little spools of thread ever with hombre coloring.  This is just three of a whole bunch.

Each one, just really great visually in its own right.

Like little works of art.

Pretty, pretty.

Pretty.

I'm not even thinking of them being used for the original purpose, though someone might. I think they'd look great as an accent of color. I might have to keep one for myself.

Rainy Day Sunday

Though we've had peeks of sun this week, we've also had gray and rain. Today is no different. Sun tried for awhile this morning, but no luck. I don't mind though, it's Sunday afterall and sometimes a rainy Sunday is welcome. 

Gar just got back from errands and said "It's lashing out. Did you see the turkeys?".

Apparently they're the only ones who are really out in it. 

Sorry I missed you guys yesterday, the day just got away from me.

Hope you're nice, laid back Sunday wherever you are.

No big plans here today. What we get done, we get done. What we don't we don't. I would like to do some organizing in my office so I can start the week with a clean desk. What about you? Any big Sunday plans?

ta ta for now

You Win Some, You Lose Some

The Winner/s of Hello Notecard Sets

Being the kind of gal I am, and being that there were only two entrants to our giveaway, I'm going to send both Kristen (from By The Book Paper) and Kimberly (a giveaway lovin' momma) 2 sets of our Hello Chevron Note cards.

Congratulations ladies, and thanks for playing. Next time I'll do my best to make entering a little bit easier (thanks to Magda for info on rafflecopter).

So, I will be emailing both of you K & K, to get your mailing addresses.

Again, thanks for being here and for participating in the giveaway.

Keep your eyes open gang, there's more to come!

The Losers

That would be me yesterday, with a capital L. Just one of those days.  First off, on my way to Target to get dog food, I think I hit a chipmunk. Yes, I am one of those people who swerve for even the littlest animals. Couldn't bear to look back, but I don't think he made it. Secondly, I lost a $20 bill at Target.

But here's the good part. I confirmed I lost the $20 bill when I pulled into the sweetest little vintage store French Door Antiques. I know that doesn't sound good, but the loveliest lady, Katherine Pelletier, was working in the store and I mentioned I'd just lost a $20. She got on her cell phone and called Target. Now, they had not seen hide nor hair of it (hopefully someone who really needed it found it), but the point is that meeting nice people is more important than money.Then I realized I actually had met Katherine years before when I worked at the Chamber of Commerce and that we had a mutual friend. Beyond that, French Door Antiques where she was working was really wonderful. More bad news though, I brought my camera with me like I always do in case there is something I want to capture (did I say the store was lovely?), but I had forgot to take the memory card out of the card reader and put it back into camera. AND, though I thought I was recording to clipboard, and I see the pictures on the camera, it will not let me copy them to the card so I can't retrieve them today. Oh boy. The fun continues.

So, dear ladies of French Door Antiques, I do apologize and I will be back in soon to get pictures of your wonderful store that I can actually post. This place really gave me my French Country fix I've been needing this week.

In the meantime, I couldn't leave without these things.

A sweet little rusted wafer tin that still had some of its paper wrapper all around, with a different picture on each side. 

For now, it's going to hold somethings in my pantry.



A pretty little silk and lace hankie holder.

AND, a little victorian die cut image of a ship. Ever so cute.

The best though, the most interesting piece, is something I bought for Gar. I couldn't leave without it. It was labeled periscope. 

After a little research, the best we can tell is that it is the prism end of a tank periscope from WWII.  We both love it. It's now sitting on the mantle. I placed a coin and a feather underneath..........see how they're reflected in the prism? Just too cool.

There was a ton of great stuff at French Door Antiques.........glass, ironstone, lingerie, tea cups, garden accessories, furniture, pottery, dresser sets, pictures, the most awesome perpetual calendar and more.  Honestly, they've been open for a year and I'm not sure why on earth I hadn't stopped in yet. So glad I did.  I will most definitely be back soon and as I said, I'll be better prepared with the memory card actually in the camera.

Sunset Meadows

Yesterday wasn't all bad. When I got home we were greeted on Skype by my godson.....it was his first birthday on friday and he was having a party. Another Dublin family party via skype. Call me Martha, but it's a good thing.

And then, this.............. 

Well, I'm off to clean the basement. I'm actually looking forward to getting things cleaned and organized down there.

Have a great Sunday in your part of the world.  Thanks for listening to my 'silly Saturday' rant and thanks for being here.



Dreaming of France FREE Printable, Preview and a Walk

Bonjour France

I've been inundated with images of french country interiors the last few days. Perhaps someone is trying to tell me something? I'm not sure what it is, but since I have France on my mind, here's a FREE printable note card for you......Letters from France:

It includes some vintage images (one from the Graphics Fairy) and a couple of my own illustrations.

It's designed two cards to an 8.5 x 11 page. Click on image below, save to computer or copy and paste into document. Print and cut down the middle and fold in half. Stick in envelope. Easy as all that.  When is the last time you wrote a note to a loved one and actually mailed it? Getting email just isn't the same.

What's in Store

I'm busy adding merchandise to the store, and here's just a taste. 

A very cool antique piano music roll. Beethoven.

From 1900 no less.



 And some very pretty handiwork.

Someone took their time embroidering this lovely table runner. So sweet.

Stop by Bates Mercantile Co. to see what else we have in store, like the little vintage dish. 

More Fresh Air

Lucan and I got over to the field for a walk last night. It's really a great way to de-stress at the end of the day, get a little exercise, and of course some fresh air.

It started with bubbles of light.

Nose to the grindstone. Nix that. Nose to the grass. 

Love old wood. Any kind. Even this fence post. So much character.

More dandelions. Weeds or not, they're so delicate.

Not giving up the stick. No way. No how.



 A pop of color. Berry style.

A view of the barn, from the far end of the field.

One last look.



Sunset Meadows

By the time we got back across the street, the sunset was changing to this.

A final goodbye to Summer. Though I love Fall, it makes me kind of sad.

Enjoy this Thursday in your little corner of the world and I'll do the same, despite the rain. I have wellies after all.  Thanks for being here.