Sunday Afternoon & A Little Art... ~ a little furin the paint

Good Sunday evening, all!

I have been a baaad blogger this past week ~ but I've been busy! I just don't multi-task very well, it seems, the older I get. ;^)

What I've been doing all week is getting a big batch of O'Kringles ready for River Ridge Winery's Yule Log Cabin...

It's the most magical place...through the deep woods on a wind-y, seemingly one-car-width lane (although there's always room, I've found, should you meet someone!)...

...there are little encouraging signs along the way telling you that yes, you are indeed on the right path...

All of a sudden there is a clearing and there, at last, is The Cabin...(now there is also a Barn, and a little Halloween/Fall house in between...)

You can get lost there ~ really.

In a good way.

So many Christmas trees, so many different themes, it's just amazing.

My favorite, though, was an Old World one with traditional ornaments, a lot of which were

the "reflector" type glass ones that I was so fascinated with when I was little.

I didn't have time to stay and look very long when I delivered the O'Kringles, but I will definitely

return, and take pictures to post here...as long as it's okay with Joanie, the owner.

If you are anywhere in the Southeast Missouri area, the Winery, as well as the Cabin, are most certainly worth the trip!

Here is a new O'Kringle fellow...I found a use for the short, chunky heirloom okra!

He did get eyes before he left here...

This is the really fun thing that happened this week, though...

~

Remember Leo, last fall, as Calendar Boy in my friend Wendy DeWitt's (aka Golders) 2012 Art for Critters calendar? We were all so excited!

(Click here for that post)

We knew that she was including my bunnies, Max and Ruby, in her 2013 calendar, as well as my daughter Katie's Ragdoll boy, Kensington, but we had not seen the artwork until the calendar was released last week...

Isn't this fantastic (below)?

I have been a big fan of Halloween (cute Halloween...) for as long as I can remember,

being born two minutes before midnight, October 30th.

So, I was extra pleased that Golders chose October for the bunnies...

I love it.

♥

And I have the perfect frame!

~

Artwork above, copyright Wendy DeWitt, 2012.

Below is the beautiful calendar, with Katie's Kensington as cover boy!

I love his comics-page hat...

♥

See ya in the funny-papers, Kens!

Click on the link below, for more info!

(Thank you again, Wendy, for including us!)

by GoldersforA4C

I went out this afternoon to see if there was anything left in the garden that was photo-worthy...

At first glance, everything looked pretty shabby...

although a few of the flowers and herbs are rebounding due to the recent rain and cooler temperatures.

However, there were still a few pretty little vignettes; you just have to look a bit closer~

Above, I've had a little orphan tree (that was in the soil with my Grandma's Clove Current bush that we moved last fall) in a pot for almost a year now. I really need to plant it.

The leaves were already turning, and I liked how it looked next to the summery Cosmos...

Summer into fall...

All of a sudden.

Just like "It's always darkest just before dawn", it seems it's always hottest right before the relief of Autumn...

One day, the oppressive heat is just gone.

Thankfully.

I'm sure we'll still have hot days, but fall is definitely in the air...