For the month of November, anyone who visits my website at Rosemary's Garden and leaves an e-mail, your name will be placed in a drawing to receive this new vintage-inspired Bethany Lowe "Candy Cane Snowman Box." Just click on the "contact" tab at the website for my e-mail address. The drawing will be held on December 1, and I will contact the winner by e-mail. Also, if you are in the North Alabama area, and are interested in attending the Open House on November 14 or 15, please indicate in your e-mail. However, you do not have to be local to enter the drawing. Thanks to all of you who visit and leave comments.
Blessings, Rosemary
"The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on."
---Emily Dickinson
This photograph from Stock Exchange reminded me of the above poem. You know how much I love Autumn, so I'm going to pay tribute as long as I can. I'm planning an open house at my shop/studio on November 14 and 15, so I've been busy preparing for that-- and busying myself with all the things one does for an open house, cleaning, displays, and baking a few goodies.
The cats in the basket are some that I made for fall decorating. They are available for purchase in my Etsy store.
The "Kiss of the Sun" Pincushion is also one of my creations for fall, and I borrowed the name from the poem, "The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth. One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth." It was made from new and vintage fabrics, buttons and millinery ribbon with a little vintage figurine of two birds in autumn colors.
It is available on the www.rosemarysgarden.biz website. As an artist, I just enjoy the colors and fabric of fall, as you can see!
I will be sharing more about the season later; today is Saturday and I will be spending time with my family. Enjoy the fall--those leaves will soon turn and be gone! Capture your moment and seize the day with whatever God has given you to do!
If you have been following my blog, you know that my business has been in a process of development. I believe that we have all been given a garden--a special gift that we need to cultivate and grow--but we have to search within ourselves to find the seeds of that garden. I believe the dormant seeds have to be nurtured and cultivated in order to erupt into tiny seedlings, grow, and finally begin producing fruit. The dream of having a business has been in my heart for many years, but I went to college, got married, pursued a career,raised children, and did everything else. Somewhere in between I got a taste of doing something I love--being creative. It has taken time and experience, but the benefits of nurturing and cultivating my dream have finally begun to spring forth. The Rosemary's Garden website is finally open! Please visit www.rosemarysgarden.biz/.
It seems almost incredulous to be pursuing a business during crazy economic times, but I guess I am one of those people who looks at the manure and says "Where's the pony?" If we have been called to do something, we will face obstacles, but I would rather try to do what I'm called to do than never try at all. Of course sometimes we have to pursue multiple tasks in order to reach our dreams, and I have been doing this for many years and will continue. But at least now, a seedling has sprung forth, and I will continue to cultivate and fertilize my little garden. Please visit the website and tell me what you think. I am so very interested in your comments. Please note that you must log in to blogger or your comments will not show up. You may also go to the contacts page on my website and send me an e-mail.
I hope all of you have had a nice summer. It has been a quick one for me—we took a trip to Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia to visit relatives, work on genealogy, and visit the University of Georgia-- my oldest son is considering attending graduate school there. We love to visit historical places, so we visited the Andrew Johnson home in Greenville, Tennessee, and Jonesbourgh, the oldest town in Tennessee. We also visited a quaint little town in South Carolina—Abbeville, which has been almost untouched by the rest of the world.
This was the hometown of my husband’s grandmother and we visited an old ancestral home-- the beautiful old Queen Anne Victorian. There were some wonderful antique shops along the way and, and of course I could not resist stopping in to look for a few treasures. It was a good summer.
The birthday of our nation is always a time of celebration and patriotism, so I wanted to share a few pictures and thoughts from my little part of the world. Here are a few pictures of display items from my shop--vintage flags and an Americana tray with picture of our forefathers. There is also a picture of a banner that I made using fabric from an estate sale.
Here is a little handmade pincushion created from new and vintage materials. Standing atop the pincushion is a figure of George Washington found at an estate sale. His hand is on a Bible, and an image of the American flag is at his back. He is surrounded by a collection of new and vintage buttons and trims. Behind the figure, I sewed ribbon, tinsel, and wired gold beads to resemble fireworks.
There are many American heroes, and we need to remember them all. But I wanted to share one who was closest to me.
Here is a picture of my Dad, my American hero, who passed away last year. He was one of the bravest men I have ever known. He was a World War II veteran, who served in a medical unit in France during the Normandy invasion. One of his jobs was to pick up the wounded and dead on the beach during the invasion. There is also a picture of his medical unit the day before they shipped out to Omaha Beach on June 10, 1944. He is the tallest in the middle on the back row.
In June 1994 his family accompanied him back to Normandy, France for the 50th Anniversary of D-Day. I am including a picture of my Dad and family standing in front of the Pointe du Hoc, a famous landmark, on Omaha Beach in Normandy. We accompanied a group of other veterans who landed on D-Day in 1944. Many of them talked about how the landing did not go as the military had planned. It was difficult getting off the landing craft because of all the dead American bodies floating in the water. Some of the veterans were paratroopers who jumped into battle at the Saint Mere-Eglise church where a famous paratrooper hung from the church steeple for hours. These men were not fighting on American soil, but they were paying the price for freedom in another part of the world.
Most of us have lived in America without having to worry about freedom because someone else paid the price for us. On July 4, we need to remember those who have and continue to pay the price. I just want to keep my hand on that Bible like George Washington and say "Thank you for true American heroes."
Thank you for visiting and leaving comments. Happy 4th of July to all my friends and visitors!
Hello, I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Easter, and share some of the things I've been doing lately. Here is a spring arrangement I did for my Easter table with pansies and bunny. I will be making a chicken casserole, strawberry pretzel salad, asparagus, carrots, and rolls.
egg whites, confectioner's sugar, and lemon juice. The consistency was good and easy to work with in the decorating bag.
I had hoped to take pictures of a doll to put on my post today, but I can’t seem to finish her. She is a gardening angel, and I will post her as soon as I finish. I am just going to say “Thank you God for spring, and the promise of new life.” My quince is blooming and the hydrangeas are beginning to bud. I hope we have some beautiful ones this year—it was such an awful summer last year with no rain and the painful loss of my father. Actually the last 2 years have been difficult for my family. In 8/06 my son was in a serious car accident, and we spent the last half of that year in therapy and recuperation. Then in 1/07 my father was diagnosed with cancer, so most of 2007 was spent in helping him get through the treatments and finally losing him in September 2007. He was such an inspiration in my life, and I will talk more about him later.
Needless to say, my business plans have progressed slowly. Maybe that was for the best, as it has given me time to see what is really important in life—God, family and relationships I am working on business plans to see what works best—my antique shop is not in a high traffic area—so I am in the process of developing a website. I seem to enjoy the more creative side of business, and would like to focus more on that. But I still have some local customers, so I am working on options for opening or closing the shop.
I hope I am not boring everyone with all my wanderings. If any of you have experiences that would help, please share them with me.
Thought for the day: There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter—Rachel Carson.
Hello everyone,
February 19, 2008
Today was my cleaning day at home, but I wanted to do something creative because that’s what I love to do! I decided to bake breakfast cookies for later since I had some apples that needed to be used. The recipe is from an old Quaker Oats recipe book, but my family affectionately calls them “Apple Cookies.” I have been baking them since my boys were toddlers, and they are now 26 and 27 and still love them! Here are some pictures I made during the cooking process.
Here is the recipe in case you want to try them. I always double the recipe because they disappear so quickly. They are excellent with coffee or for a quick breakfast when your family is in a hurry.
Apple & Cheese Pleasers
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped or grated apple ( I grate the apples because they blend into the batter easier)
¾ cup raisins (optional)
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
I hope that you will be inspired to develop the gift that God has placed in your life, whatever that may be. Love and Blessings, Rosemary
Sunday, February 17, 2008
