Lately, for my craft fix, I've been creating fabric brooches.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58397935/felt-brooch-with-vintage-button

I guess this makes it official,

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58399715/gloriously-fall-vintage-button-felt?ref=v1_other_1

I formally declare it's time to get out the winter coats

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58464632/vintage-button-and-felt-brooch?ref=v1_other_1

Hats

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58760442/vintage-button-and-felt-brooch?ref=v1_other_1

and scarfs.

If you are interested in techniches here's a cornucopic website!

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/08/make-fabric-flower-and-flower-tutorial.html

On the rabbit trail today,

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/crafts/halloween-papier-mache-cat/

 the hook of all hooks ...

for halloween decorations for me, is papier mache and as a public service (wink) I am sharing my unbelievable luck at finding this website

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84FvxLHCnk&feature=related

I think Halloween is so popular because it is a way to vent some uncomfortable feelings in a way that is comfortable. It takes scary stuff and makes it a cartoon or a fantasy for an evening.

I have a whole lot more trouble understanding the truth sometimes, for example in my devotions this am:

Acts:5 ⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ^[a]there. ⁶When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷With shrieks, evil^[b] spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. ⁸So there was great joy in that city.

If I was in that crowd, and heard the many shrieks due to evil spirits leaving bodies and seeing the crippled and the paralyzed walking around dancing and jumping for joy, I think I would be a bit amazed. And I think that should be a costume ...some guy in loose flappy bandages with his crutch lifted high dancing in the street.

And then the tale of Simon the Sorcerer, a guy who just didn't have it quite right...

  ⁹Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." ¹¹They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

I tend to be human and do the same thing...follow something because I think it's neat. I probably would have been tricked too by the magic of this sorcerer and his convincing speech on his greatness.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

Ah, big, obvious difference here I think, of the genuine power of God, and the phony power of the devil... the words are so telling. It says that Simon the sorcerer  himself was astonished by the great signs and miracles he witnessed, so much so that he got baptized with the rest of them.

14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now there is something worthy to celebrate the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

18When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money 19and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." ooooo... not good. The Holy Spirit was gifted to mankind at the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a gift that you have to believe and receive. There is no way that a person can purchase this gift. And I find that that is the way with the devil. There is always a price, a very costly price and with Jesus the price has been paid by his death and resurrection.

20Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Again, a very telling clue is here for us as to the attitude of the human heart... The Apostle peter said,"Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord" here is what happens next:

24Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me." Oh that poor guy. He was so lost in his own self centeredness and need to perform for people to impress them and be the big Kahuna, he missed it again! How often are we like that, we completely miss the point. Peter says, repent and pray to the Lord, and Simon the Magician says..pray for me, he doesn't say OK I'll pray, he says to them -you do the praying.

Peter says he was full of bitterness and captive to sin. That tends to blind a person to the truth. May we walk with the Lord, freed from our bitterness and set free from the bondage that we enslave our selves in, only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

May all your spiritual pursuits this season be seasoned with the Love of God, no matter if you do eat the candy that you got for the trick or treaters or not! Go with God. 

Pumpkin! The Season's Trappings....

Pumpkins are a very rewarding vegetable for me to grow, as they are almost impervious to any pest in my backyard...once the seed has sprouted, it quickly becomes 30 feet of nonstop vigorous green until one day the glorious blossoms appear. Then the wildlife begins.



All summer the bees are drawn.

They are enamoured with those huge intensely pumpkin yellow blossoms and travel blossom to blossom all over my garden.

Bees of all shapes and sizes.

Huge black ones, tiny little ones and substantial furry honey bees all living together peacefully hovering about 8 inches following the path of the vines.

Watching the pumpkin change from deep blackish green to orange is an appreciable thing as well. 

 Delicious colors and textures forming to make the beauty of the fruit.

We planted sugar babies this year they are just big enough for about 3 cups of pumpkin puree, and I think they are just about perfect.

But...why all this waxing poetic about the pumpkin?

Yup you guessed it...Muffins!

This recipe is so simple I had to post it,

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

2.In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

Find it here

But here is the recipe I made last night. It turned out very well and I used fresh pumpkin. Here's how I did it. I microwaved the pumpkin for 3 minutes just as it grew out of the garden stem and all. Then I took the pumpkin and poked a few knife holes in it, I was afraid it would explode, then I microwaved it for three more minutes. Then I cut the stem off. (It is a beauty, and I want to try to use it in a prim stuffed pumpkin project I have in mind). I returned it to the microwave and blasted it for three more minutes.

Then I took it and quartered it and removed the seeds and pulp (I used rubber gloves because it is rather hot by now) and put it in the micro again for the last 5 minutes covered -to steam a little. Then it was ready to peel (so easy to peel now, the peel is a hard shell that flakes off rather than peels off)

Fresh pumpkin is really fibrous so I food processed the pumpkin with the eggs sugar and oil in the recipe and it turned into the most amazing custard like stuff that you can eat with a spoon... the cook has some privileges you know... and then I could mix the batter by hand.

The end result was worth the effort for sure!

Ah, the finer things in life!

From wiki regarding pumpkins and Halloween:

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.

The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. (laughing..says who?) Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

So there ya have it! When you see folks with pumpkins on their porches be thankful that we are still not in the times where we compuslively carved our root vegetables so as to ward off evil spirits that wished to inhabit our bodies for the year!

I'd rather be baking pumpkin bread...

Or eating...

pumpkin sloppy joes

(one to try)

Blessings!

Precious Autumn Sunshine

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

I am always amazed at the stuff I don't know, like for instance who was Nathaniel Hawthorne? Wow, who knew. Interesting that he changed his name to distance himself from his judge relative John Hathorne (note spelling) connected to the Salem Witch trials.

Here's the year, 1692 1693 and of course I am intrigued. here's a great article. You know who else was accused in the witch trials? Captain John Alden of original Mayflower fame. Wow, again I am amazed at the stuff I don't know.

I always keep away from the demonic if I can possibly help it. I do believe in the world unseen. And there are powers and principalities. Thankfully I know that the Bible is my final word to any moral question I might have.

I Thessalonians 5:21, 22 ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.  Some translations say FLEE from evil. I think that's easy when I consider the occultic practice of casting a spell, I would flee the scene, but what about the occultic practice of reading my daily horoscope? Is it just curiosity or a major belief system? Any thing that takes me away from my relationship from God is 'sin'. That is my main job, to draw closer to God on a daily basis.

"Sin?" you say. Yup, here's an amazing article. I say amazing, it is concise and Bible based, a quick read.

What a rabbit trail today! The quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne is such a wonderful reminder for us to practice being mindful of all the wonderful moments that we have each and every day, it really struck a chord in my soul. I LOVE autumn sunshine, it is full of shadows. It is a transition time between life and death here in my yard. It starts with a sprinkle of a few brown leaves... a quick glance up to the still green trees and clear blue cloud dotted sky. If I'm not careful...time will cheat me and before I know it I will be shuffling through the leaf carpet!

May we take purposeful moments today and let autumn cover us and envelope us.

Perfect treasures for this season:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58399715/gloriously-fall-vintage-button-felt

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58397935/felt-brooch-with-vintage-button

And a shameless plug for my soap shop...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58248166/the-ugs-handmade-soap-seconds

Stop by won't you? Super deal on really lovely items!