Wishing You...

An enchanting... bewitching...


totally dazzling Halloween!... xoxo...

Hello Dearies... It's Time for Vintage Inspiration Friday at Debra's "Haunt"......Hee hee hee...

Do come in and set a spell... I'm just finishing up a little "something special" for all the little darlings for All Hallows Eve... let's see... was that eye of newt or eye of potato it called for???... Rats!... I am getting so forgetful... and you caught me without my makeup on or my hair fixed... but nevertheless... do come in... I am joining Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday, and Vintage Halloween today... so, let's see what's vintage, (besides me)...

I have sooo much vintage Halloween, I could do a post a day for days and never run out... it's not so much because I have bought and collected alot, but rather I kept everything from when I was just a little witch... I want to show you some of my vintage Halloween cut~outs... up until about 13 years ago when we sold our little farmhouse and moved to another home, I hung all of these and more in my little paned windows... they have seen many a full moon and tons of trick~or~treaters... most all of these darling cut~outs are from the 1950's through early 1960's... some a little later...

This year, I am putting them all in a cute basket to display rather than hang them in my windows... sort of like how I display Christmas cards when there are too many to set about...

These old images are just too cute!...

Love the bottom of this one... "money or eats"!...


These poor old skeletons are from when I was just a little girl... they have been scotch taped together so many times... I think I can hear their poor old bones creak... (or maybe that was mine???)...

These were called "Scratch Cats"... looks like there must have been a cat fight since last year... one is missing part of his tail!...

Most of these treasures were made by the Beistle Company... right here in the good old USA...

The Beistle Company was founded in 1900 and continues to make Holiday and party favors to this day...

These are my two favorite ones from my childhood... some of my old ones are more faded than others, depending on how much sun came in the windows they were hung in...

Here's a little tip for anyone who wants to collect vintage Halloween... I have learned much through my own experiences over the past many years and also through friends who are reputable dealers... plus, I research everything I collect and own many reference books... the Beistle Company still makes the cute little cut~outs today, however, they are reproductions as you can see in my photo below... the one on the left is a new one, while the one on the right is my treasure from my childhood... sadly, unscrupulous dealers try (and succeed) in selling the reproductions on Ebay as "vintage" and commanding exorbitant prices...

Here they are on the backs... the new one on the left is two~sided, as all the reproduction ones are now, while my original one only has the design on the front, and years worth of tape on the back side from hanging them in my windows...

My old owl on the left and my newer one on the right...

The backs...

There is still some vintage Halloween out there, just waiting to be rescued, but it is becoming harder and harder to come by, and prices have skyrocketed... I buy it when I find it and can afford it... here's a couple more little secrets... if the guy tells you the cute little kids witches costume you're admiring is from the 50's, and the box has a UPC barcode or zipcode on, tell him "hasta la vista, baby" and shop elsewhere!... UPC codes didn't begin until 1974 and zipcodes began in 1963 non~mandatory and became mandatory in 1967... impossible the little witches costume was from the 50's!... this applies to ALL vintage collectibles... don't be fooled...

So for now, here is one of my vintages images I scanned in for YOU to click on and save... my gift just for you... to use as you please... Thanks Debra for hosting another fun party... and Happy Halloween everyone!... xoxo...

Happy Birthday Filly!...

Thursday the 27th is our beautiful niece Phyllis Ann's birthday... I have called her Filly since the day she was born... she lives in London now, and with the time change and all, it is almost tomorrow there... I know how busy you are Filly with a week full of birthday plans, so I am doing this post for you early and leaving it up through your birthday so you will see it for sure!...

Filly is just as beautiful inside and out, kind and caring... loving and always giving, of herself and her time... I am so proud of you sweetie!... Filly and I share so many of the same loves, and I am kind of her "other mother" as my own mama used to say I was to my sister Jill (Filly's mama) when we were little... she is at Broomfield Park behind her flat in London in the photo above... I love that she is wearing a special pendant locket I gave her when she last visited here... inside, she still carries the little note I tucked in it telling her how much I love her... I hope you have a wonderful week hon, and that all your birthday wishes come true!... I miss you and I love you so much... I remember the day you were born... xoxo... We love you, Juju, Jack and Tessy

Delicious Autumn...

"Delicious Autumn!...
My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird
I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive Autumns" ~George Eliot

Today is such an absolutely glorious Autumn day here... the air is crisp and the sky a brilliant blue... the sun is shining so brightly I want this delirious feeling to last forever... I love living in my bucolic little town... no bright lights and big cities for this country girl... come walk with me... this day is too enchanting not to share it with you... the little pumpkins are in my backyard under one of my crabapple trees... all photos are either at my home or on our Nature walk...

"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still,
and watch the leaves turn" ~Elizabeth Lawrence

The photo above is my Royal Crabapple tree in my backyard... soon, the Cedar Waxwings will arrive and feast on the berries... passing them down the line one by one to each bird until one of them finally eats it...

Our daily walk takes us past so many quaint and wonderfully rural places... I love seeing clothes hanging out on a line in the Autumn sun... that is their old silo in the background... and a pile of wood... chopped and ready to place upon the fire to ward off the upcoming Winter's chill...

A favorite friend on our walk sells cornstalks and pumpkins each year...

The trees that line Porter Lane are stunning today!... we laugh as we hear the squirrels chattering to each other... there is a walnut tree on this property and they jump to and fro like little acrobats... they too are relishing this magical Fall day...

I love to kick through the leaves and hear them crunch as I walk... do you?...

Beautiful moss... Nature's treasure...

This beautiful arch of trees is in the canyon five minutes away from my home... it reminds me of a secret entrance into a mystical Autumn woods...

I cannot think of any other way I would want to spend this day...

I hope you enjoyed our walk... and I hope you too will take time to notice all of the beauty that surrounds you each day... some as close as your own back yard... xoxo...

"Every leaf spells bliss to me,
fluttering from the Autumn tree" ~ Emily Bronte

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch...

Ok, I will try to do another post and hope the witches don't snatch it again!... I see from many of you that you are also having problems with blogger... I have had four posts "disappear" in the last several weeks... eerie!... Anyway... not one to give in, I am doing another post and hope it stays here... I took a walk down the lane yesterday to the pumpkin patch that is now at the little stand where I buy flowers and fruits and vegetables all Summer long... it is decorated so cute, I wanted to share it with you all... then at the end of this post, I have posted just a couple of pics from the posts I lost...

A most sincere pumpkin patch, as Linus would say... love the old wooden fence behind them!...

Cute crows and witches everywhere...

Looks like the witch is in...

LOVE this old wheelbarrow full of Jack~be~Little pumpkins... I bought many of them...

Cornstalks are a must for Fall decorating!...

Cute little ghosts lead the way...

Delicious winter squash everywhere too... I also bought many of those... Blue Hubbard and Banana Squash, Acorn and Butternut... Spaghetti Squash, which I make into the most delicious stuffed squash ever!...

Sooo many to choose from!...

I got my cornstalks here several weeks ago when I decorated my front porch... such a fun little place to walk to... I bought a yummy apple to eat on my way home too... I bought a bushel there the other day... (I drove back for my heavy things though!)...

So, here I am as the Prairie Witch for Halloween... I had done an entire post showing many of my vintage "Prairie" items I was using for Halloween... rats, who took my posts???... traded my old black outfit for a newer, "hip" look... my vintage cowgirl boots, a vintage bejeweled Prairie belt buckle, vintage pendant, vintage doilies from my stash on my broom...

No pointy black hat this year, instead I fufu'd up my old straw cowgirl hat with vintage lace and some silk ribbons and a vintage millinery flower... I am now a "Shabby Shriek" witch, tee hee hee!...

The other post I lost (naughty witches to steal my posts!)... was about my daddy's old broom rake I brought home from my sister's house the other day and decorated for Autumn... I had seen one in my Fall issue of Country Gardens magazine and wanted to do one... then I saw several on some of my favorite blogs... so I have been searching and searching for a vintage rake with no luck... then, there was the one that belonged to my daddy, who passed away several years ago... the old rake is so old and worn... I left the old wooden handle on it, just the way it always had been...

I used some faux berries mixed in with some of my beautiful real snowberries since I could not find exactly what I wanted in our yard, and Jack questioned me the other night as to why I was walking around in the dark in my neighbors gardens, all dressed in black, with a pair of pruners and a sack in my hand... dang, you know how those retired cops are... just can't pull anything over on them!...

Some raffia around the handle and Voila!... another treasure from my past full of happy Autumn memories... this old rake gathered many a pile of Autumn leaves in years gone by... now, she can retire on my porch...

Thank you so much for stopping by... I do hope this post is still here when I check later!... maybe the naughty witches don't like me being a nice witch this year???... xoxo...

Blogger Problems...

Not sure what is going on with Blogger, but the last two posts I did have disappeared... it took me a long time to do them the first time and I am just too tired to do them all over again...

Hope you are all having a beautiful Autumn day... xoxo...