Facebook Fan Winner

The winner of oatmeal, milk & honey soap is Elaine Steinbach!! Thanks to everyone who signed up as a fan on my Facebook page.

50 Fans Giveaway

I have 41 fans on my Facebook page - thank you so much! 50 fans by Halloween and I'll put everyone's name in a drawing for a bar of Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap!! You can find The Rustic Cottage Facebook fan page here or by clicking the badge in the right side bar.

"I'm Thankful For" Giveaway

Cathy at Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much! is having an "I'm Thankful For" giveaway. All you have to do is visit her blog and leave a comment telling her what you're thankful for and your name will be entered to win this lovely bag and pinkeep. The deadline is Saturday, November 7th and the drawing will be on Sunday, November 8th. Hurry on over and leave a comment!

New to Me

Grandma Jerry moved into assisted living last week. She turned 95 on Octrober 4th and has been so blessed to be able to live in her own apartment all this time. I went over two days and helped get her moved into her new apartment. We were fortunate enough to have movers but we still had to pack many things. She is all settled in her new place which is very lovely with large windows and a very cozy feeling. It is a two room apartment with a living room and bedroom. She was able to use all of her furniture except for her dining table, a corner hutch, one chair, and the kitchen things.

I was blessed to receive the Kitchenaid mixer that she bought in 1965. It is like brand new! I am just so thrilled because a Kitchenaid has been on my dream list for many years. I have been baking up a storm. I am ordering a dough hook so that I can use it to mix and knead bread. I stand in the kitchen and just look at the mixer, not believing that I finally have one.

Grandma also gave me her gorgeous dining table. I have never had anything so nice in all the years that I've had my own home. Grandma always took such good care of everything that she had and this is no exception. She sent the custom made pads for the top and tablecloths. But the finish is so pretty that I couldn't cover it. I put a simple runner down the middle and put a vintage platter and a rose covered dish in the center. I bought the dish at a sale about 5 years ago - it looks like Limoge but isn't - and now I have a place to display it. It's now time to spruce up the dining room with curtains, pictures, and make a curtain for Justin's bookshelf so all the junk doesn't show!

Missy, Sammy, and Christien are coming over tomorrow evening for supper - we're celebrating Christien's 11th birthday - our whole family will be able to gather around the table together for the very first time. I truly am a blessed person!!

It's Late

Once again I thought I'd go to bed early. Then I got online to check Facebook and then the blogs that I love to read. Now it's after 1 and I'm still up. I did have a lovely chat on Facebook with a high school friend that I've reconnected with. It was worth it to stay up this late to be able to visit with her. Now I'm off to bed. Sleep tight!

Outlaw Craft

I've been invited to be part of a craft show sponsored by Outlaw Craft which is a group of local SW Washington artists! It's always exciting when you're approached by someone because they have seen your products and like them. The show will be November 28th in Vancouver at the Hazel Dell Grange. I love doing this type of thing - now I need to get busy making soap and lotion bars.

Just A Little More Fall Color

I had to drive to Battle Ground this afternoon to drop something off at the eye doctor. It is a gorgeous sunny day so I put my camera in my purse in hopes of getting some good pictures of the trees. I stopped in the Maple Grove Church parking lot as the red and gold of these trees caught my eye. I took one picture and then the batteries died in my camera! I knew I should have stuck in extra batteries. So here's one last picture to enjoy until the next sunny day.

A Little Fall Color

This is my favorite time of the year. The trees are at their peak right now - absolutely gorgeous! This will probably be the last really good weekend because the rains have started. We had a really hard rain and thunder storm today which took a lot of the leaves off the trees. God is so good to bless us with such beauty to enjoy.

Autumn Memories

When I was a small girl growing up in Illinois we had a very large yard with lots and lots of big trees. In the Fall the yard would be full of fallen leaves. It was a family affair for all of us to help rake leaves. We'd work part of the day raking huge piles of leaves in the yard. Then my sweet daddy would let my sister and I (and any neighborhood kids) play in the leaves. What a time we'd have making tunnels in the piles, running and jumping in them, building forts and having pretend wars.

After we were all done playing Daddy would have to start raking again! But he never complained about it -- he enjoyed seeing us have so much fun. Then, as it would come on late afternoon, the leaves got moved to the ditch by our house to be burned. How much fun that was! Daddy would start the fires and then we'd ride our bikes in the street through the smoke. The smell of burning leaves was wonderful!

There are so few places that will let you burn leaves anymore. Too worried about air pollution or some such thing. Six years ago I made a trip back home in October. It had been many years since I'd been home in the Fall. I was driving through the little town I grew up in and smelled this very familiar scent. Someone was actually burning leaves! I had to drive down the street until I could find where they were burning. The sight and the smell brought back a wonderful flood of childhood memories!

General Mills Pssst

I joined General Mills Pssst a while back to take surveys and test new products. Today I received in the mail a full size box of Progresso Panko Bread Crumbs. I was so excited! I've seen these used by chefs on the Food Network but have not taken the time to buy any to try. I also got 10 coupons for $1.10 off per box. Click the link and join Pssst - it just takes a few minutes and is worth it to get free products to try.