Unpacking the Kitchen

Wow, it's been fun opening boxes! There are so many, many things that I've gathered over the years, but never had the opportunity to use. Finally, these fun objects are seeing the light of day, and making this first home feel so "lived-in" after only a week.

In the kitchen alone, we have a fun mix of old and new.

The Pyrex set I purchased at a flea market this summer::


The Dansk pots and pans that I've been collecting over the past year. Here's half of the collection being put to good use making soup::

The Rhino butter dish purchased from a fun little kitchen shop in Boston::

And the Anthropologie-inspired ramekins that I picked up many years ago for a couple of dollars, but never, ever took out of their box until now::

A new phase of Winterfoliage!

Hold on to your pants folks, things are about to get a whole lot more homely here at Winterfoliage. Why? Let me introduce you to the new homestead! It was so hard keeping this project under wraps! And now you can understand why crafting has been so. extremely. slow. With everything we owned boxed up and stored it was hard to find two knitting needles to rub together let alone a matching skein of yarn. Holy cow, I had to spend two weeks in a cabin just to create a diversion from my lack of crafty content. Did it work?

Things are about to pick up ~ not only do I have my very own craft room, I have a whole file of new home-related craft projects waiting in the wings! Fortunately for us, the house itself requires no work, so our focus will just be on the finishing touches :: sewing curtains and pillows, turning some of pictures into wall art, etc. Oh, and we've inherited a whole pile of old furniture, so there will be many projects revolving around refinishing some of these pieces. As a result, my internet browsing has transitioned from weddings to houses; I've added a short list of some favorite design-related blogs at the top of the left side-bar.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the gardening. This place comes with a plethora of winter {and spring, summer, and fall} foliage! The first year in the yard is going to involve both a bit of research and trial and error, and I'm hoping to share much of it here. Wow, I'm still in shock at our luck. We have so much to be excited about and thankful for, and I hope you do too!

Stay tuned*

I know what you're all thinking...

When will there finally be another Springsteen song posted for Wednesday Soundtrack? No? Is that just me wondering when, oh when, has enough time passed so that I can finally post another song from Bruce?

Ok, seriously, I'm sure it's more like this when you stop by:: When will there finally be more knitting on this stinking "craft" blog? Well, your wait is over.It's a pentagon of owls! I LOVE this sweater. Loved it the first time I knit it, and love it even more now. Plus ~ how awesome does the green sweater look with my hunter-orange hat? Fantastic. ! Unfortunately, I've lost my knack {or maybe I never had it?} for taking FO photos. I may need to call upon Sarah this weekend. Fortunately, I'm sure I won't take off the sweater, so there will be plenty of photo opps. I'll give you the full project details when I get the better pics.

Now, click here to enjoy some old-school, but newly released Bruce.

Weekend at the Mosh'

Lovely readers, I ate Cranberries. Not dried cranberries, not cranberries from the frozen food section, but real, straight from the bush cranberries! It was my first time ever, *ever*, finding wild cranberries. As a result, it was also my first time picking and eating fresh cranberries. For those few minutes, I was in heaven.
This moment of joy happened on a day-long hike with my pop. Our trek took us over, around, and through the bog, marsh, and forest ecosystems bordering the lake.
Finding the cranberries was a stroke of luck. We had stopped to take some pictures when I noticed some red berries among the dried grasses. It only took a second to recognize the distinct berries, and just one more second to pop one in my mouth and confirm my find. Please note ~ I'm usually not so willing to "pop" a wild berry in my mouth, but I was 100% confident in my find... that said, Pop was slightly more timid. I don't blame him, earlier in the day we thought we came upon a patch of teaberries, but were mistaken... which we realized after sampling and immediately spitting out the impostors. Although the "teaseberries" seemed harmless, pop thinks we may not make it through the week. {If I don't post anything by Wednesday, assume that the berry got me!} But in all seriousness, we're fine, and I promise not to eat any more berries from the mosh unless they're easily identifiable.

Now, back to the cranberries. A big event next week is going to leave no time for pre-Thanksgiving cranberry picking, but check back in next year around this time, and I promise to take you along as I pick enough berries for some Thanksgiving cranberry sauce!

And almost just as exciting as the berries. I woke up to this beautiful foggy-scene outside the cabin.

... and the scene from the road as I drove to work.

Happy Monday*

Saw Mill Trail

The start of this morning's hike required extensive use of my camera's macro setting::



Today I took off down Saw Mill Trail, where, unfortunately I found no evidence of a saw mill. BUT I did come upon quite a few four-legged creatures trying to remain inconspicuous among the foliage {it is hunting season after all}. Can you spot the guy in the first picture?
What about his friend over here {this one is tough, you can click on the picture to blow it up}?

This trail was bursting, BURSTING, with teaberries. Eating the real thing just put a craving teaberry icecream in my mind!

And wow, the weather has been consistently beautiful, mild, and clear for this mid-November adventure!

Wednesday Soundtrack

Hello! I have some fantastic music today, but no video.

Bob Dylan played in town yesterday, and unfortunately I didn't go, but it reminded me of new Dylan cover that I really love.

Artist :: Bree Sharp
Song :: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright {how could you not love a song that rhymes know'd with road?}

In other Dylan news, the mp3 download of his Christmas album is on sale this month for $5!!! You can bet that I'm downloading my own copy, especially since it was on my Amazon wishlist last year and not one person in my family bought it for me. The shame! I'm sure they were all kicking themselves last Christmas morning when we realized we were missing a good, gravely rendition of Here Comes Santa Claus to go with our eggnog and stockings. Well, don't worry guys, I've got it covered!

In cabin news, as I mentioned, we have absolutely no cell or internet service in the park. None. So, imagine how excited I was when I noticed the international sign for wireless on the park map. See it?!

Um yeah, what a let-down* when I referred to the map key.

*Really just a minor let-down, because I'm enjoying the internet free evenings. Except when I get that urge for some Bob Dylan Christmas music** and realize I have to wait until the next day to get it!

**Ok, that's a joke, there will be no Christmas music played until after the Thanksgiving turkey.

Home Sweet Home...

For the next two weeks this place is mine all mine!
I think the view from the back is even cuter. It's a one-room cabin in a PA state park, and I'm renting it for the next two weeks until I can move into my real digs...

I wish I could hitch this cabin to the back of the car and take it with me! It's so much fun to come home to this little space, and it's even more fun when I successfully start the fire! Here's some proof of last night's success: Once the fire's lit and my dinner is cooked, I cozy up to the hearth and don't move until bedtime. There's no internet or cell access, so before I leave work, I remember to download a few podcasts to listen to while I knit.

Since the evenings are so dark, I'm going to try to fit a few hikes in the morning before work. This morning I explored the trails closest to my cabin and ventured down to the large bog/marsh/lake::
One thing I love about winter hiking is the open canopy. If you can't have the warm weather, having the bright morning sun shining down makes for a fantastic walk.

Fun fact : this bog is home to Pennsylvania's three carnivorous plants, the pitcherplant, the sundew, and the bladderwort!

And my fingers are crossed that no one eats these guys before I get to them tomorrow:: They're teaberries! I saw them today and thought they might be the real deal, but I didn't want to eat them until I was sure.

This is it!

I just have to make it through one more day of work {which is hard when there's this much excitement in the air!}. After work I'm packing a few more things in the car and taking off for PA and more adventures before things finally {finally!} settle down... ...I know that's a joke, things aren't going to settle down for a long while!

My to-do lists are growing by the day. There's the moving, beginning work at a new school, wedding planning, holiday shopping, holiday crafting, etc. so you'll have to excuse the sporadic posting on this blog. Click over to Tumblr to see a few pics from my last days in Boston, including the one above. It was taken last night after I met up with my roommates where we bought enough yarn for a couple of sweaters {you'll see these results soon, I promise!}, then I took a quiet walk through Boston Common by myself before eating one last meal at Wagamama. A perfect last evening to end this crazy, hectic, and sometimes less-than-perfect adventure in Boston.

ps. Did I mention the cabin? There's going to be a cabin and I'm so excited for a few evenings knitting by the cabin's wood stove. That's perfection.