Brenda's photo in Saturday Evening Post!

My good friend Brenda had one of her photo's included in a an article in The Saturday Evening Post entitled:

Fall Travel: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2010/09/23/lifestyle/travel/ups-fall-colors.html

Congratulations Brenda....Awesome photo!

Jams, Jellies and Butters---Oh my!

Finally....my jellies , butters, and compotes were labeled and put on the shelf this evening.

Don't they look like little jewels?

Powidla Sliwkowe-Plum Butter with a twist!

Nan and I gathered another huge bag of plums from our little plum tree and with that and the enormous Wolf River apples, courtesy of a friend, I was able to can 9........1/2-pint jars of pure plum and apple butter BLISS!

Powidla Sliwkowe Polish for Plum Butter is made without straining the pulp of the cooked fruit, so you are able to get that beautiful full bodied flavor of the fruit. An added plus is the deep plummy color of the butter with bits of the plum peel incorporated into the mix along with the golden color of the fruit from the Wolf River apples---My own twist on the traditional Plum Butter recipe!

This butter is great on scones, toast, English muffins and to note, traditionally the Powidla Sliwkowe is use as the fillings in Paczki!

The Fisher's Boy

The Fisher’s Boy
by Henry David Thoreau

My life is like a stroll upon the beach,
As near the ocean’s edge as I can go;
My tardy steps its waves sometimes o’erreach,
Sometimes I stay to let them overflow.

My sole employment is, and scrupulous care,
To place my gains beyond the reach of tides, —
Each smoother pebble, and each shell more rare,
Which Ocean kindly to my hand confides.

I have but few companions on the shore:
They scorn the strand who sail upon the sea;
Yet oft I think the ocean they’ve sailed o’er
Is deeper known upon the strand to me.

The middle sea contains no crimson dulse,
Its deeper waves cast up no pearls to view;
Along the shore my hand is on its pulse,
And I converse with many a shipwrecked crew.

Montana 1948

"In addition to my discomfort with the strictures of town (a common and natural reaction for a boy), I had another problem that seemed like mine alone. I never felt as though I understood how town life worked. I thought there was seem secret knowledge about living comfortably and unself-consciously in a community, and I was sure I did not posses that knowledge. When the lessons were taught about how to feel confident and at ease in school, in stores, in cafes, with other children or adults, I must have been absent."

Excerpt from

Montana 1948

Art on the Lake!

September 4, 2010 - Saturday Curtis Michigan's Art on the Lake
Art on the Lake is held on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend

Come join By the Bay Handcrafted Soap and many, many vendors for a day of arts/crafts/music on the Lake!!

See you there....

Enchanted Apple scented soap...

My apple scented soap is now ready!

Crisp and clean scent perfect year round....

3-bars for $10.00 or $4.00 for one bar---just drop me an email!

My own GREY GARDEN

Never too early to begin planning for next summers garden----

Nepeta, Stachys, Pinks, Lavender and grey mounds of Rosemary

The Painted Drum

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.

From The Painted Drum-Louise Erdrich

From a Distance

From a distance the world looks blue and green, and the snow-capped mountains white. From a distance the ocean meets the stream, and the eagle takes to flight. From a distance, there is harmony, and it echoes through the land. It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace, it's the voice of every man. From a distance we all have enough, and no one is in need. And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed. From a distance we are instruments marching in a common band. Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace. They're the songs of every man. God is watching us. God is watching us. God is watching us from a distance. From a distance you look like my friend, even though we are at war. From a distance I just cannot comprehend what all this fighting is for. From a distance there is harmony, and it echoes through the land. And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves, it's the heart of every man. It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves. This is the song of every man. And God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us from a distance. Oh, God is watching us, God is watching. God is watching us from a distance.

Girls from the North Country

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About

Darlings of the Canadian music scene, Dala are poised to bring their harmonies and fresh brand of acoustic pop to the world.

Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine of Dala (the duo’s name was formed by combining the two last letters of each artist’s name) have come a long way in a short time. The two best friends, who met in their high school music class and wrote their first song together in 2002, have since performed at Toronto’s legendary Massey Hall a total of seven times. Darlings of the Canadian music scene, Dala are now poised to bring their fresh brand of acoustic pop music to the world.

Drawing upon influences like The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, Dala write songs that are both catchy and insightful. Amanda’s ethereal soprano voice blends seamlessly with Sheila’s velvety alto, creating the lush harmonies that have become their trademark.

“Dala can sing! What beautiful flights of melody and harmony, reminiscent of the Everly Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Emmylou Harris and associates; though Dala can trade a melody line and leave one wondering who is taking the lead and simply leave one behind when the harmonies kick in.”
- Peterborough Examiner

I stumbled across these wonderfully talented young women singing during a PBC program last night and I was FLOORED!

Check out their blog and listen to Horses....a haunting song about a young man who suffers from a spinal cord injury.

http://dalagirls.com/about/

SUMMER BOUNTY

Just a few snaps taken early this morning----We have been blessed with abundant rain and plentiful sunshine all summer long!

Vintage Double Wedding Ring Lap Quilt

Angela----Here is the little gem from Texas that I mentioned in my post on the forum!

3rd time a charm at Arbor Vitae?

On Saturday we will be attending the Lakeland Art League & Kiwanis Art Fair for the 3rd year in a row.

For TWO years in a row I have taken a Blue Ribbon in the Nature Arts category for our By the Bay Handcrafted Soap! Keep your fingers crossed for this year!

Come join us on Saturday at:

Lakeland Art League & Kiwanis Art Fair
July 10th from 9 am to 3 pm
at Fireman's Park, Arbor Vitae

4th of July Night~Carl Sandburg

Fourth of July Night

The little boat at anchor in black water sat murmuring to the tall black sky A white sky bomb fizzed on a black line. A rocket hissed it's red signature into the west. Now a shower of Chinese fire alphabets, A cry of flower pots broken in flames, A long curve to a purple spray, three violet balloons--- Drips of seaweed tangled in gold, shimmering symbols of mixed numbers, Tremulous arrangements of cream gold folds of a bride's wedding gown--- A few sky bombs spoke their pieces, then velvet dark. The little boat at anchor in black water sat murmuring to the tall black sky. ~Carl Sandburg

Aragon Tapestry

My vintage Aragon piano bench tapestry panel arrived this afternoon and I am itching to get started on it. I ordered a ton of pale muted China Blue tapestry wool from a local needlepoint shop and that will be in next week. Since I don't own a piano I am planning on turning this into a "bolster." Love the soft colors on this!

One Man Show in Iron Mountain

I couldn't attend our soap show in Iron Mountain today---I was rushed via ambulance to our local hospital on Thursday and I am now recuperating and waiting for tests results to come in before I am allowed to go out and about.

Bruce took over the table and all of the sales at the show-God love him!

This is the first time one of us had to do a show alone...He did very well setting up and displaying and made us a bundle in just a few short hours. The weather held and we are looking forward to attending the show together next year.

Thank you Art for All in Iron Mountain for inviting us to attend this years show....we look forward to seeing you next year!

Vintage Purses-

I will be listing these beauties on my etsy site www.longtallsallys.etsy.com very soon!

If you are interested in any of these just let me know...

1. Vintage Belgium Black Beaded Dance Purse. The label reads Hand-made in Belgium. It's a darling little purse 7 X 5 inches and has a handle built in on the back--which would have been used as a dance purse, so you can hold onto your honey and not have to "clutch" your purse! This is a very unique and dear little purse. A must have to go with that little black dress!

$35.00 plus $8.00 shipping

2. Vintage Rose color Needlepoint Handbag. The label reads Christine Custom Bags-Detroit, Michigan. Expert needlework-Gold chain and it snaps securely when closed. The dimensions are 14 X 9-1/2 inches not including the gold-tone chain. Very sweet vintage purse!

$35.00 plus $10.00 shipping

3. Enid Collins "style" Peacock bucket handbag fashioned with beads, sequins, cording stencil and rhinestones-Absolutely breathtaking! Nubby linen type support outside, short handles and a wooden bottom with a spacious open compartment, plus a small zippered pocket inside. Very Nice vintage condition; colors are striking and all of the spangles are there! Dimensions are

11 X 10-1/2 inches not including the purse handles.

$35.00 plus $10.00 shipping

Crossroads

I’ve got nothing on my mind: nothing to remember,
Nothing to forget. and I’ve got nothing to regret,
But I’m all tied up on the inside,
No one knows quite what I’ve got;
And I know that on the outside
What I used to be, I’m not anymore.

You know I’ve heard about people like me,
But I never made the connection.
They walk one road to set them free
And find they’ve gone the wrong direction.

But there’s no need for turning back
`cause all roads lead to where I stand.
And I believe I’ll walk them all
No matter what I may have planned.

Can you remember who I was? can you still feel it?
Can you find my pain? can you heal it?
Then lay your hands upon me now
And cast this darkness from my soul.
You alone can light my way.
You alone can make me whole once again.

We’ve walked both sides of every street
Through all kinds of windy weather.
But that was never our defeat
As long as we could walk together.

So there’s no need for turning back
`cause all roads lead to where we stand.
And I believe we’ll walk them all
No matter what we may have planned.

Crossroads- by Don McLean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6uRg9aslZg

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Is it ever going to stop raining here in the Great North Woods?

Truman took me for a walk along the beach this afternoon-we almost made it home before the skies opened up once again. We dashed home soaked through-Well, Truman needed a bath anyway!

Rain Rain Go Away...

The origin of the lyrics to Rain Rain Go Away are said to date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1553-1603), one of the English Tudor monarchs. During this period of English history there was constant rivalry between Spain and England culminating in the launch of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of many Spanish galleons and was sent to invade England. The Armada was led by Duke of Medina Sedonia and the fleet numbered over 130 ships. The English fleet,under Admiral Lord Howard, totalled 34 small Navy7 vessels and 163 armed merchant ships. But the great Spanish Armada was defeated. Only 65 Spanish galleons and just 10,000 men returned to Spain. The attempt failed,not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which scattered the Armada fleet. Hence the origin of the Rain Rain Go Away nursery rhyme.

Taken from: www.rhymes.org.uk/rain rain go away.htm