~ Happy Halloween/Samhain ~

Past Halloween

~ We had Batman & Spiderman drop by last Halloween ~

~ This Precious Little Hen also showed up ~

~ Watch out Johnny Depp , you have Competition ~


~ One tired Little M&M ~


~ Gotta Love M&M's ~


Today is the last day of giveaways over at Mrs. B's , you can click here to check it out

~ http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/ ~

The Giveaways for today are ...............

A Jack o' Lantern Gourd Basket , filled with lots of goodies donated by Octoberfarms ........

Jack o' Lantern Soap
Skull Keychain
3 Barley Sugar Lollipops
Vermont Maple Syrup
Maine Blueberry Jam
6 Halloween Placecard Holders



Creepy Cute Crochet Book ........
From Quirk Books


A primitive Pumpkin Tea Towel ........ by
Tea Towel Creek



Peeking Sal Organic Tote ........
It's a Beautiful Bag by FunkyGreenMachine.com



" Honoring Finality " ........
a pendant created by Aunia Kahn




~ Happy Halloween/Samhain ~

JoyceAnn

~ In Memory Of My Dad ~

3-25-42 / 10-30-06

~ Fallen Warrior ~

A Warrior Has Fallen ................

He guided us through this life ...........

Taught us about nature....animals , trees , fishing , and water.

Taught us to be prepared..........

Use what we have , save and be ready.

Taught us so much about life , not through words , but actions.

Your actions were Strong and Sincere.......

A Warrior Has Fallen

JoyceAnn ~ 2006

~ October Blog Party ~

On Oct 22nd ~ We enjoyed potato soup for lunch and sat outside watching the leaves fall later , it was a very peaceful day.

On Oct 23rd ~ Enjoyed the " Indian Summer " weather , it was a gorgeous day. I added a few more decorations and started planning my Samhain altar. Pictured above is a vintage chalkware witch I found a few years ago at a thrift store and my salt lamp sitting next to her. My batteries are very weak and taking awful pics , so I altered it to a black & white photo , it looks better that way.



On Oct 24th ~ I hosted the " Haunted Blog Tour " for Mrs. B's " 31 Days of Halloween ". I also popped some of the popcorn we grew this year , it taste good , but seems a little tough. I think the drought conditions probably caused the toughness.

On Oct 25th ~ I'm not a big fan of horror movies , but I watched Stephen King's " Desperation " and made it through the whole movie. I think I was "Desperate " to do something for the " October Blog Party " (LOL).




On Oct. 26 th ~ Harvested the last of the jalapeno and bell peppers from the garden. Blogged about " Falling Leaves " , found a few more leaf art projects I want to try. Made a Soul Collage card , it ended up being about " Harvest Time ".

On Oct. 27th ~ Little Froggy and I went on a nature walk , we collected leaves , squirrel chewed pine cones , a feather and 2 rocks. The " Scaredy Cat " soap that I won in a giveaway arrived today , it's cute as can be , love the kitty arched on top on the jack-o-lantern.

On Oct 28th ~ Made blood splattered candle holders , found the idea on Mrs. B's website , they look pretty gruesome , that's for sure. I'll take a pic as soon I get new batteries , didn't get to town last weekend as planned and the batteries are totally dead.

There's some wonderful giveaways going on at Mrs. B's today , you might want to blop over there and check them out (http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/).

~ Beautiful Orange & Black Beaded Earrings by Native Dawn ~

~ 8 x 10 Digital Art Print by Angelique Art ~

~ Up-cycled Magnets by Picard Creative ~

~ Happy October Blog Party ~

JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Thankful for the Pepper Harvest ~ * ~

Yesterday was a busy day , I gathered all the peppers off the vines. The bell peppers weren't as bountiful or as beautiful as last year , but at least we have a few to put away for the winter. The jalapenos did better than last year , although quite a few have cracked skins , need to find out what causes that. My guess would be not enough rain , but I plan to do research on the problem. I'll be pickling the jalapenos and freezing most of the bell peppers.

I also harvested a huge bag of the mixed greens , I'll be cooking those today. The leaf lettuce is also ready to start picking , so we'll be eating salads this week too. I'm not sure if the broccoli , cabbage and collards are going to produce anything , they're growing , but very slow and the cold weather is almost upon us , so we'll just have to wait and see.

I made this Soul Collage yesterday , haven't analyzed it yet , but it ended up being about " Harvest ". I think it expresses happiness about being finished with the harvest season , although I'm thankful for all we've been blessed with , glad it's coming to a end for awhile.

I still have roots to harvest sometime this week. I'll be digging dandelion , echinacea and yellow dock roots , to make tinctures. I also need to make more pine oil , so need to gather pine needles and I thought I was through with the harvest season (LOL).

I also had to clean the chicken coop , the girls are still laying well , getting 3 , 4 or 5 eggs a day. The keets have really grown , they're in chicken coop with the hens. I'll probably keep them in the there until Spring. We've had 4 of the adult guinea killed on the highway in the last month , they started wandering again after the females quit nesting , so we're down to 3 from the original gang. There are 20 keets , but we have 10 sold to a friend , so we'll have 13 guinea , maybe 11 if 2 go home with Curious J.

Well , that's what is going on around our homestead , hope everyone else is having a good week .

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Falling Leaves ~

The leaves are falling down like rain around here , I sooo ...... enjoy watching them float down , but it's fun to gather up a few for crafts too. I've posted about a couple of projects that the grands and I have made from leaves in the last couple of weeks. This morning I happened upon a website called Make and Takes ~ Click here to check-out somemore crafty ideas using leaves ~ http://www.makeandtakes.com/leaf-rubbings ~. Be sure to read the comments , the readers have some wonderful ideas too. I plan to try a couple of these techniques with the grands , making a rubbing with a black crayon and painting over it sounds cool and using a leaf as a stamp , easy peasy.

I love creating with nature's elements , just adding to nature's perfection , makes for great art. Let me know if you try any of these projects , I would love to see your leaf art , btw ~ they're not just for kids , time to let your inner child have some fun too.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Autumn Sunday Blessing ~

~ May your Day be Blessed with Beautiful Thoughts ~

JoyceAnn

Welcome to All of Mrs. B's " Haunted Blog Tour " Readers : )

Hope you'll grab a cuppa your favorite brew , find a comfy broom , kick off your boots/shoes and have a look around. I've been participating in the Domestic Witch's " October Blog Party " , this means I've been doing something each day of October to celebrate the Fall season.

I found Mrs. B's " 31 Days of Halloween " through the blog party , so I've been entering the giveaways , checking out the Haunted Blog Tours and enjoying the Guest Bloggers. I've really enjoyed all the seasonal fun and great ideas that have been shared , hope you have too. I love comments , so leave me a comment and I'll blop over to check-out your blog.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ October Blog Party Update ~

On Oct 15th ~ I won a bar of " Scaredy Cat " soap over at " Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween " and captured this pic of " Baby Boo " , he's just to cute !


On Oct 16th ~ I did some blopping ( blog hopping ) , visited most of the blogs listed for the " October Blog Party ". Enjoyed reading about every one's activities.

On Oct 17th ~ Blogged about black cat folklore and told a story about my black cat " Buddy ". Later Little Froggy and I went for a walk , we collected leaves and talked about the different colors .

On Oct 18th ~ Spent time working on the " Harvest Time " fairy house I'm creating. Sorry for these awful pictures , I need new batteries , hope to get some this weekend. Anyway , this little fairy has been busy with the Fall harvest , she's gathered a basket of pine cones , some sumac berries and a pumpkin.

On Oct 19th ~ Watched a movie called " Made of Honor " , it's a wonderful romantic comedy . The couple meets because of a Halloween party , a very funny scene at the beginning grabs your attention. Watch it if you get a chance , I think you'll enjoy it.

On Oct 20th ~ I blogged about a Halloween giveaway for some primitive Christmas items. I also finished this set of woodland fairies that I created from squirrel chewed pine cones and other natural elements. Hope to post better pics soon.

On Oct 21st ~ Eyes of Halloween ~ Just a fun computer drawing/doodle !

I haven't did most of the things I had planned for this month , there's been alot of bumps in the road. I've been sick this week , so a movie and computer time made for most of my activities , hope to accomplish more next week. But , I'm having fun with the little things I've been doing and I've managed to do something each day * ~ *

~ Happy October Blog Party ~

JoyceAnn

Sometimes You Just Wanna Doodle ........

~ October Giveaway @ The Rusty Thimble ~

If you like primitive art , check-out this wonderful giveaway over at " The Rusty Thimble " ~ http://therustythimble.blogspot.com/2009/09/october-giveaway.html ~. The giveaway is for a Annie doll , a bird , a Santa and 3 little stocking ornies. The winner will be chosen on Halloween , so hurry on over and get in on this great giveaway.

~ Primitive Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ May your Day be Blessed with Simplicity ~

JoyceAnn

~ Scaredy Cat Soap & Black Cat Folklore ~

I've been participating in Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween over at http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/~ , there are some great giveaways going on. Thursday , I won a bar of Scaredy Cat soap , the soap is perfect for the season. If you're interested in purchasing a bar of this soap , you can check-out her Gypsy Eye Studio shop on Etsy ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5696240 .

Yesterday I was visiting some of the blogs that are participating in the " October Blog Party ". Chasing the Moon had a wonderful post about black cat folk lore and superstition's , you can click here to read her post ~ http://treaya.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-blog-party-day-10.html ~I really enjoyed reading it and found the answer to something strange that happened a few years ago. We had a yard sale one Saturday and a Hispanic man came to the yard sale , he was looking around when he spotted my black cat. I don't think he spoke much English , although he did nod and say hi. I noticed him watching my black cat and trying to get close to him , all of a sudden he swooped down and picked him up. He stayed bent down on the walkway , put my black cat Buddy up to his face and started rubbing his tail across his eye. My Mom and I were sitting there watching him closely , I wasn't sure what he was going to do next , but he put the cat down , got up and walked around looking again, then he left. I did notice that his eye was red as he was swiping Buddy's tail across it. We laughed about the incident after he left , I told my Mom that maybe it was some kind of Spanish healing folklore. Today as I reading the black cat lore , it mentioned that Appalachian folklore says that if you have a sty on your eyelid , rub a black cat's tail across the sty , it will make it go away. So , now I know the answer to the mystery at my yard sale (LOL). Do you believe in this kind of folklore healing , any stories to share ?

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ October Blog Party Update ~

It's time for an update on the 2nd week of the October Blog Party .........................



October 8th ~ I posted my chili beans & jalapeno cornbread recipes and got the Happy Harvest place mats out , this is a great meal for those chilly October nights. I also spent time saving seeds for next years garden.


October 9th ~ The grand kids and I went outside and watched the leaves fall from the trees , we also attempted do a leaf rubbing when we came inside. That didn't go over so well , they just didn't understand the concept. Little Froggy was more interested in getting his taped leaf off the paper (LOL).


October 10th ~ Little Froggy and I went for a walk and collected some leaves , we made a collage with them. He loved painting the glue on the leaves , so this project turned out well. Saturday night , the boys spent the night and we watched a Little Bear movie called " Little Goblin ".



October 11th ~ We went to the Shakori Hills Fall Festival and enjoyed the day.


October 12th ~ I painted a saying on the pumpkin and added a raffia bow , before hanging it on the front door , also changed my background on my computer to a Fall scene.

October 13th ~ I made Mrs.B's cinnamon pancake mix , we had cinnamon pancakes with homemade applesauce for breakfast. They were delicious , you may want to popover to ~ http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/ ~ and check-out her recipes , especially the cinnamon pancake mix.


October 14th ~ I had all 3 of the younger grand kids yesterday and it was a rainy day , so we didn't do much. They did color in a Sesame Street Hello Halloween coloring book , guess that counts. Last night I was reading some blogs and found this post on how to make a corn husk wreath , I want to try to make one of these , maybe next week. You can check it out here ~ http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2009/10/14/how-to-make-a-corn-husk-wreath/ ~.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Shakori Hills Fall Grassroots Festival ~

Hubby & I headed out to my favorite Fall Festival yesterday , it's the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival that celebrates art , dance , environmental awareness , music , social issues and so much more. You can check it out here ( http://www.shakorihills.org/?section=407&PHPSESSID=96003f7d452cba40bba4ce27988f401c ). We had a great time , the weather was wonderful , it had that great fall nip in the air. I took pics , but I really need to get new batteries for my camera. Anyway hope you enjoy some scenes from a wonderfully eclectic festival.

The first band we saw is one of my favorites , Keith Secola

and the Wild Band of Indians. They were great as usual , we enjoyed a huge round dance , it was wonderful.

This is not a great photo , but I wanted to share this huge hoop art , it had c.d 's hanging in the center catching the sun rays , very eye catching.

There was some rock sculpting going on.

This was a neat project , Painting Parasols for Peace , they've been displayed in Washington D.C. and other places.

There was alot of drumming going on, sorry about the poor picture quality.

More Drumming around the fire .................

There were wood carvings , loved the awesome witch , definitely a sign of the season.

There was music by the Coffee Barn , a place for musicians to show off their talents.

More music by the Coffee Barn ..................

I love this beautiful mixed media art piece that was hanging by the Coffee Barn.

Poi dancing .........

Cane Creek Cloggers .............

Samuel Jones singing the blues ..........

The Gourds .................... a wonderful honky tonk style band.

Mountain Heart .......... a great bluegrass band .

A fun trolley giving rides from and to the parking lot , we didn't ride it , but it was fun to watch everyone else riding.

We had a blast , hope you all had a fun weekend !!

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn