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ALMOST TURKEY TIME

Almost Turkey time! MUSICA ~ you have to watch the little dance that goes with this one! So sweet! Then play it again and come read . . . xoxo

Turkey dinner anyone? Yummy! Our “free range” turkeys are very calm, considering the date and all, milling around our backyard. That’s because they know they’re safe, culinarily unattractive with nothing to worry about. Not like these crazy babies that came running to see us a couple of years back when we pulled over to take pictures of them.

Maybe you remember them? So cute! Our wild Island turkeys are not grain fed like these cuties (except of course at our house, where they get bird food), they are mosquito and fly fed, and look pretty much inedible to me. Whenever I see these guys up there ↑ I always think maybe we will have salmon for Thanksgiving! You can’t imagine how sweet they were, and curious about us.

I just finished writing a brand new Willard (this photo is from the last one) . . . I have so many fun surprises for you! A preview of how the new book is coming along and MUCH more! It should start going out next Tuesday, so watch your mail box ~ it usually takes about four days for them all to go. Hope you love it!♥

We have been sleeping so well. And this is why ~ the sheets! They are so cozy and crisp because we’ve gotten into the habit of drying them on the line.’Course that will stop when it starts freezing out there, but it’s been HEAVEN, a noticeable difference, they way they feel and smell, even inspires conversation between Joe and I when we’re on our walk, saying how delicious they are. If you can do it, if it’s not already snowing on you, and there are no rules against clothes drying on your line, try it!

And while I was out there I had to take a picture of the ground. So pretty under the maple tree ~ SO gorgeous despite dastardly worm-bites from killer worms we’ve managed to attract here on the Island. But we are going to get rough with them this year and put some oil on our tree trunks where they lay their eggs to keep them from ever hatching. Still pretty, if a bit gnawed.

I gathered the sheets and took them in, and this was waiting in the window at the back kitchen door.So lucky! ♥♥♥

I had to get the sheets in before it started raining . . . which it did, all day yesterday. It was perfect Willard-writing weather, tires slapping the street outside my window, raindrops pattering on the glass, while I thought about what would be the perfect new Giveaway to celebrate this Willard (a surprise!) ~ it was a delightful rainstorm which inspired us to light the first fire of the season last night.

We’re having people to dinner tonight (which is why this is going to be a short post ~ I have to go cook!) I’ve been looking at some of my dinner-party table settings . . . and starting to think about Thanksgiving, which always makes me think about my grandma.♥

My grandma taught me how to set the table when I was little.

Forks on the left, knife and spoons on the right . . . Handy information I’ve used all my life.

Think I’ll go check my recipe box and see what good old recipes inspire me today. It’s raining again, a perfect day for

Off I go dear ones, out to brave the drizzle and cut the last of the marigolds for the kitchen window . . . what are you up to this weekend? I will be painting! And getting Vanna in shape for the big drawing next week. Yay! Love you, XOXO

Another Gorgeous Day in Paradise

Another gorgeous day in paradise! MUSICA!

Oh, I am working so good now, girls. So excited for the new book. It’s my most favorite thing I’ve ever done and that is truly saying something. You are going to love it. I almost don’t want it to be done. I’ve already started painting for it, yesterday I painted my first little house as a doll house with no walls! That was fun! And I’m laying out the pages, hurrying before you all forget where we left off from The Fairy Tale Girl!

But then, the sun begins to come up, I look outside . . . and oh my . . .

I had to go out the kitchen door . . . because all the leaves were calling me! What was going on in our back yard this morning as the sun got into the tops of the trees was just wonderful!

The sun was lighting the tree tops on fire . . .

Here’s the garden before the sun got to it . . .

Nice and cozy . . . all this beauty right outside the door!

But this is what I meant . . . the sun was hitting the tops of trees, coming through other trees and splotching them with light, like it does on the walls inside the house . . .pretty amazing, don’t you think?

Oh yes, definitely treasure . . .

It’s hard to show the wind in a photo . . . I keep wishing the leaves would stop in mid air and let me photograph them coming down . . . they are flying through the trees today.I can even see them here from my window in the studio because the light catches them and they flicker all the way down.

I almost forgot to tell you . . . I caught one in the woods today! It is not as easy as it sounds, believe me. But I got one, and I made a wish on it and tossed it!

Shhhhh, I would really like it to come true!

Dishtowels on the line are a pretty good second-choice indication of wind . . . . .
They can really get going . . . the wind is cool and fresh and smells good too. *Someone* should start raking up leaves!

Let’s let *Jackie* do it! He won’t mind. He’d do just about anything to get out there!

He heard me say that . . . Really? We’re going out ????

You might remember this photo taken in the spring, only instead of leaves, these branches were filled with white flowers . . . it’s an ornamental pear tree. Trees are year-round giving things. Squirrels love them too.

From our bathroom window on the second floor ↓ the squirrel condo in the linden tree.

Yes, just like Bogie and Bacall!

Sun in the tree tops . . . Autumn gold.

I hope you are getting lots of use from your Autumn book! There are a couple of recipes you may not have tried but I think you would love . . . one of them is Roasted Radicchio on p.50. A most amazing side dish, drizzled with balsamic syrup and so good, and different! Also the Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Sauce and whipped cream on p. 93. I’ve never tasted a better one. Honest. You’ll love it! Also, as a treat, because you deserve it, on your next rainy day, try the Red Chili Onion Rings on page 29! Heaven! And just in case you’d like to make my Grandma’s Stuffing this year . . . here’s how to do it, very simple, but you need to plan ahead a little bit.♥

And then there’s this . . . mmmmmmm. Grilled cheese. Good for breakfast or anytime!

Here’s my darling Girl Kitty. Getting a little ear-scratching. We are having lots of quality time these days . . . I brush her every day to help her with those dastardly hair balls. She loves it and so do I!

While I was walking around the garden taking pictures, I went out back to the street for more splotches of morning sunlight . . . They have taken this old house almost completely down in order to save the parts that are salvageable. It will be gorgeous one day. Seeing it made me think, building a book is a lot like building a house. First you need a foundation, then you add the framing, then the sheathing, the shingles or the clapboards, then the windows and doors, so it’s all enclosed and begins to look like a house. And the whole time you’re tapping your foot and saying Hurry. Then you get the wiring, insulation and plaster, then the cupboards. the linoleum, and the tub . . . and FINALLY you get to the good parts, the paint and wallpaper (don’t quote me on how to build a house) and then, most exciting of all, you get to the part where you get to cut flowers from your garden to fill a little vase to sit on your window sill. ♥ And that’s exactly where I am on the book right now. At the flowers-in-the-vase stage. I’ve made myself a mock-up version of the book so although it’s very clunky, I get to see exactly what it will look like! And you are always on my mind as I choose the perfect photo, the perfect bit of art, the perfect quote and my very best words. And so it goes, until the house is built. Which will be sooner rather than later. I COULD get it to the printer in two months, IF I did nothing else, BUT, I don’t think that’s going to happen, SO, asap will have to do!

In the meantime, Kellee is away on vacation, when she gets home I will have a brand new WILLARD all ready for her to send out . . . I think she said it will go out on the 17th . . . so get ready and sign up your sister and your best friend so they get one too! I have so many exciting things to tell you. Many surprises are coming this way, Girlfriends, for all of us!

Just had to show you this beautiful rainy day we had last week . . . too pretty not to mention.

And this . . .

Moonrise last week over Vineyard Haven Harbor . . . We went down to Owen Park to take this picture. The October Hunter’s Moon always seems like the biggest one here on the Island . . . It was so exciting, waiting, waiting, the light of it came first, and then finally, there it was, peeking over the horizon! Looks like the sun, but it’s really the moon!

And here’s one of my favorite dishes, just love this color and love to see it every year.

And now, one of the many reasons I L♥VE my Blog, a surprise for my dad, a giant hug to say I miss you, Dad! Hope your day is going wonderfully!♥ Kiss Jeanie for me! XOXO

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And you too Girlfriends, the OTHER reason I L♥VE my blog . . . hope your day is going wonderfully too! I will hug the kitties for you! XOXO