Ariat Boots

It's boot season! I bought these Ariats a couple of years ago, and they're really comfortable. I wish fall was a little longer, though, because winter is coming fast, and then we'll have to wear snow boots!

Native Bees

When we attended the Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Garden in October, we learned about native bees. You can provide a habitat for them without doing full-blown beekeeping. All they need is a house like these ones and some blooming plants with lots of pollen. Learn more here.

Persuasion

I just finished reading Jane Austen's Persuasion for my class. I really love the book. It was even better the second time around. Have you seen the latest BBC production? It's the version that we'll be watching in my class. Yea!

Friday Featured Art: Hugh Thomson

Don't you love this cover art for Pride and Prejudice by Hugh Thomson? It's from the 1890s, and it's fantastic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful holiday! Here are some pretty place cards from Martha.

The Key of A

When we went to the Best of Missouri Market this year, we found a vendor called The Key of A. Most of their jewelry and accessories were made from old typewriter keys. Check out these great cufflinks made from Midwest Transit railway tokens.

Eddington Cake Stand

Here's a beautiful cake stand that I saw in the British edition of Country Living. It's from John Lewis.

Cross-Stitch Family Portrait

Did you see this fun project from Martha? The pattern includes 19 different pictures, so you can customize a cross-stitch to resemble your family. Fun!

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Dutch Door Press

I featured Dutch Door Press three years ago, but it's time to talk about them again. Their Etsy shop now has prints featuring state birds and flowers. They are so beautiful. I like the North Carolina one with a cardinal and dogwood. And, of course, the Utah version is fantastic. I really enjoy symbols of my pioneer heritage.

Thursday Text: Ode to Autumn

Here's a poem for the season: Ode to Autumn by John Keats.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Home Made Cookie Stamp

Here's something cute that I saw in the pages of the British edition of Country Living Magazine. It's a cookie stamp that says HOME MADE. Isn't that a great idea? It comes from Velvet Brown.

High Apple Pie

Did you know that there really is such a thing as "high apple pie?" We saw some fantastic pies at the Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Garden in October. I think this is what we saw - the Levee High Apple Pie from The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery. Yum!

Country Living UK

I picked up a copy of the British edition of Country Living Magazine at Barnes & Noble. It is fabulous (but kind of expensive). One thing that was really exciting was the Christmas Fair that they will be holding this week in Glasgow. We did not find Glasgow that exciting/fun/wonderful when we were there, but I would definitely go back for this.

Friday Featured Art: Street in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

The Kimbell Art Museum has a Van Gogh on display from a private collection. It's called Street in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. I really love the color. It's a fascinating piece.

Thursday Tunes: Handel's Water Music

We went to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last Saturday and heard Handel's "Water Music." It was very nice. Listen below.

Martha Stewart Crafts Paint Line

Have you seen the new paint products from Martha Stewart Crafts? I found them at my local Michaels. There is a whole fabulous line of acrylic paints and stencils from Plaid. I'm excited to try them out!

Felicity Hall

I found out about Felicity Hall through How About Orange. She creates modern needlepoint designs that are so beautiful. You can purchase a kit to make a pillow or wall hanging. There are even a couple of free patterns on her web site. Lovely.

Friday Featured Art: Near Sydenham Hill

We visited the Kimbell Art Museum when we were in Fort Worth last weekend. It's a small collection, but it's pretty fabulous. I liked this painting by Pissarro: "Near Sydenham Hill," painted in England and given to his wife for their wedding.

Thursday Tunes: Ashes & Fire

Here's yet another new $10 album that I want to buy from Amazon: "Ashes & Fire" by Ryan Adams. It sounds like it's one of his more country-sounding albums. Should be good.

Corner Bakery Cafe

When we were in Fort Worth, I ate breakfast at the Corner Bakery Cafe. Have you been there? For two mornings in a row I ate their new honey banana oatmeal. It was heavenly. And it probably could be made at home pretty easily...

Silhouette

Silhouette making was yet another creative project from my Jane Austen class. Here's one that I made with a traditional bun and frilly shirt. I also did one with my hair down - I'm thinking this could be a fun family project.