Look at the view from my windows!

This is what I saw yesterday late afternoon after an all-day overcast and lowering clouds type day.  And I was so elated cause I've been watching and hoping for beautiful fall colors this year because conditions seemed so perfect but nothing much seemed to be happening.  The green was getting less intense and the little trees in the bank parking lot lost most of their leaves (as usual) but no really great color.  And I swear, I really think the day before yesterday it was not this gorgeous. Of course, I think the setting sun finally breaking through helped make the colors really pop.  (p.s. - and I'm right - I just left the computer to go get something from the living room, looked out the window on a bright sunny day and the hills look kind of boring...)

 So, here is October in "almost heaven" West Virginia.

 Is this WOW, or what???

And that beautifully colored hillside in the background was just kind of dead looking green the last time I looked. :)

And since I'm already here, might as well post this picture of the outside of the library roombox, finally finished and all the mess of making it put away!!  No more cardtable in my bedroom.  I still have to do things like fill the bookcases and get the books to stay put, probably also actually glue the bookcases to the back wall, but I can do that kind of work without much mess or fuss.

I really love this paper.  And I figure with such a very serious and kind of elegant library, the paper reflects January's "inner child" or maybe just the fact that she is, after all, my baby. :)

And while I'm at it, I'll post pictures of the little progress I've made on my 40-count Chinese rug...

Here's what it looked like on June 11, 2011 ( last time I had worked on it!):

And here's what it looks like as of today (I started up on it again around October 5 I think):

I know it doesn't look like much, but it is slowwww going

And this is what it will/would look like if I ever finish it:

If I get that far, I think I may try and fiddle with the two big gold half medallions on the long sides - put a little orange and white into them somehow.  But overall, I think it's a very unusual pattern.  I've seen patterns that are newer that are much more intricate and "oriental" looking but this is based on the Chinese Ninghsia rugs (that spelling may be wrong) and I really like it - so bright and busy!

I finished another project!

This is another white wire wicker-look dollhouse miniature.  It came with a "naked" seat and I was going to use some leftover strips of the patchwork quilt I had just finished to cover it but that didn't work out.  So I did it this way.  Covered it with some pretty, sun-room type fabric and button tufted it with teeny tiny dark green buttons.

Then started the saga of the pillows.  A couple of times in the not too distant past I had tried pillows and either threw them out or just wasn't very happy with them.  So I decided I would use cross stitch fabric, stitch a little posy on them, sew it to a backing of cross stitch fabric and fringe the edges.  No turning right side out, etc.  Well, the posy idea fell by the wayside real quick.  So I decided "okay, a trellis" which is what you see here.  Got it all done (after experimenting with trying to actually weave it on the fabric which didn't work at all), and started stitching it together (that's the dark green around the trellis).  Had decided to stuff it with polyester fill and was finished with the first side when I suddenly realized I was on my way to sewing the whole thing together with no stuffing!  Managed to rectify that and continued stitching it together which was way harder than I had thought it would be.  Got it all done and was disappointed with how small it looked and how flat.  So that's when I decided to make pillows out of the seat fabric.

And eureka!!  After trying to make the first one and having the same awful time as I had the last time or two I tried, I was thinking and thinking and for some reason suddenly remembered what it is you're supposed to do and what I used to do, apparently back in the dim past.  So I got to work again, didn't encounter any real problems, stuffed them with micro beads which is a popular method with mini pillows cause then they're squishy, and there it is.  And the little cross stitch one looks fine with a nice bigger puffy one behind it.

Now, I think I'll make more pillows just to get the right method firmly planted in my mind!

 The End!

My bad, my bad ... (that's such a strange expression!)

Here I've been back home in Huntington for almost three weeks and have not done one new post!  Several excuses for that - I was really dragging when I got home and couldn't seem to get past being dead tired and getting rid of my cold.  It wasn't until probably about a week and a half later that I started to feel somewhat back to normal although still coughing and blowing a fair amount.  And, of course, coming back to Huntington from a trip like that where there's so much to report, one feels that the reports just won't be quite as exciting. :)

I decided when I got home that maybe one reason I felt so bad was because I hadn't been eating real well and maybe needed more protein - I was meat-hungry.  I tend to diagnose and treat myself usually so I went grocery shopping and loaded up with pork tenderloin, chicken, ground chuck for meatballs, etc., and for the next nine nights made myself a nice dinner every night.  And, of course, I also reverted to my normal healthy breakfast and my normal relatively healthy lunches, although I did have lunch with friends several times.  Anyway, by the end of all that I was on my way to recovery and had really enjoyed being back in the kitchen.

There are two new things in Huntington to report on and I've sampled them both. :)  When I left I had been anxiously awaiting the opening of a new wine bar that had originally been scheduled to open in April.  And, before I left, a new "bistro" had opened for business but I hadn't yet tried it.  So, once I was feeling more human, a neighbor and I decided to try the wine bar and what a delight it is.  Just a tiny little place in Heritage Station called "Sip".  They have wine "flights" already planned for you or you can make up your own flight of wines by the 2 ounce glass or just get a glass of wine.  My neighbor and I each made our own flight of 3 individual wines and I certainly enjoyed all of mine.  They also have "small plates" and I had a plate with a small sliced baguette (from our local River and Rail bakery) with a delicious herbed goat cheese and two little dollops of black olive tapenade.  Yummy!  My neighbor ordered the cheese plate which came with nice crackers, three different cheeses, including a fantastic aged Gouda, and two little piles of what looked like maybe pine nuts or something similar with I think some small dried fruits mixed in.  We were both enjoying ourselves so much I forgot to ask her about that.  Anyway, very nice and I'll be going back.  And I just got back from trekking in 100 degree heat to get pictures of these new places - how's that for dedication?!  So, come on in...

and make your selection from an extensive wine list.

The second part of that evening, we went on to the new bistro - Chef Jason's -  (my neighbor had been there twice before) and had dessert only.  I ordered a Grand Marnier chocolate martini - called that because it's served in a small martini glass.  And oh my...I told the waitress that it was a little bit of heaven in a martini glass cause it was.  Absolutely scrumptious!!  I could have eaten another one. :)  My friend ordered a limoncello cake which, presentation-wise, was fairly fantastic - it was a white cake with white icing (they lost me right there...) but sitting on top of it was a puff of pink cotton candy!  But for me, there was no comparison and she agreed that mine was better.  I didn't taste hers cause I'm just not crazy about big, fancy cakes - just give me a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge with chocolate frosting and I'm happy.

The bistro is in with the Third Ninth Deli.  The deli was closed for a couple of months or so while they revamped the interior to make it suitable for both a lunch deli and an evening dining place and they've done a very nice job on it.  I had wondered how it could possibly work for dinner because the times I visited the deli, it was quite noisy - nothing to absorb the noise, I think.  But they've taken care of that and it's really a lovely dining area now.  The menu is very upscale and pricey enough that I won't eat there frequently, but I am eager to try a few of the entrees.  Another friend of mine and I went there after we had been to see "The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel" (a very good movie, by the way) and since we had munched on some popcorn, we ordered just salads and dessert.  My salad was a baked brie that instead of being baked inside the flaky phyllo crust was served on top of a sort of "tray" made with the flaky crust which means the crust stayed very flaky and it was all quite wonderful.  And, of course, for dessert I got the chocolate martini again.  I'm pretty sure that will always be my dessert of choice!  The bistro has a website at http://www.chefjasonsbistro.com/ .

One other place I want to mention is WilliKaye's new-ish shop.  I had visited it back before my trip and didn't think to mention it and then Peggy and I went in when she came down to go to the movie.  It is such a neat place.  The woman who owns it refurbishes some of the pieces of furniture (or maybe all of it?) and does a beautiful job.  And then there are just all sorts of vintage home decor things and other bits and pieces.  So it's really fun to poke around in it.  It's located at 313 Ninth Street and since I normally walk down to Pullman Square on Tenth Street, I tend to forget it's there.   But I very much think it's worth a visit.  She has a website, by the way which I've not visited - www.willikaye.com.

And lest you think all I've done is eat (and such a thought would be justified), I also, at some point, pulled out my cardtable and all the stuff for working on January's roombox and started making little fake books to help fill the bookcases and was happy to be back at it.  I still don't have quite as much as I want for in the bookcases, but am pleased with how it's coming along.  In fact, I decided I would get out all the furnishings I have for it, arrange them in the roombox and see how it was all coming together.  And I was so pleased when I was done with that that I took a picture.  Just in case January doesn't want to see the picture, I've posted it on my miniatures page (see tabs above) along with a little more about it and if you're into miniatures at all, I hope you'll take a minute to go see. 

We're apparently now headed into 7 to 10 days of 100+ degree weather which is kind of daunting to contemplate but thank heavens our condo got the new cooling tower installed!  My granddaughter Sophia is coming for a week-long visit on Monday so she and I are both getting pretty excited about that.  It will be her first trip here by herself and I'm pretty sure it will go well, but am keeping my fingers crossed too.  Would hate to have her decide she just had to go back home...I'll try and post a bit about our visit and a few pictures as the week goes by.