The Cup of Fortunes: Week 34 (August 17-23)

I did it. I decorated for Halloween last Saturday. It brought and continues to bring me joy and that's really all that matters. Am I done decorating for Halloween? Probably not. The mantle could use a few more somethings, but this will do for now. I'm particularly pleased with the table. 

There are purple lights but I haven't taken a picture of it lit up yet. Soon. I also put out my ghosts from Wild Rainbow and some other pumpkins and lights. The table is really the best part right now. 

On to this week's fortunes and lucky numbers. This week is a two fortune week. As I mentioned last week, two fortune weeks are going to be the norm for most of the rest of the project. I think there are a few one fortune weeks sprinkled in but this is what has to happen to finish. I love both of this week's fortunes. 

Come on! These are so good. I assume the first one about my adventurous ways is about my recent decision to make homemade vanilla extract (more on this later). That's obviously very adventurous of me. The second fortune...I love a good romantic mystery! As an avid romance reader, one of my favorite romantic mystery is a found letters/found object story. In this type of story, the heroine finds a set of old letters somewhere or a piece of jewelry in the house she's renovating, and decides to figure out the mystery behind the letters or object. Of course, she falls in love along the way. Usually. Sometimes there are supernatural creatures. Sometimes there's a serial killer. Romance novels contain multitudes. 

Anyway, "soon" is rather vague so it could happen anytime and my love of thrift and vintage shopping may bring me into contact with a set of letters or a weird object quicker than just living a regular old life. I also go to the library and bookstore a lot, so maybe my romantic mystery involves more of a meet-cute sort of story but for someone in their mid-40s. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

Here are this week's fortunes and lucky numbers. 

August 17

August 18

August 19 - the first two numbers are the same as Fortune 9. I didn't plan this. 

August 20

August 21

August 22

August 23

Weeks 1-34

WIPs, Books, a Spaghetti Poodle, and Other Small Joys

While I didn't make any progress on the two embroidery projects I have in progress (the raccoon and an abstract piece), I did make lots of pumpkin flowers out of pipe cleaners. Last Sunday was my monthly craft day with friends, and I suggested we do a theme craft - pumpkin flowers. Super cute, super easy to make. All you need is some pipe cleaners and a pen or marker. 

I love them. I have so many pipe cleaners left so I'll probably make some more. I couldn't find long pipe cleaners; mine were all normal size. I ended up using two of each color to make the flower larger and the stem longer. I didn't use floral tape as many of the videos do. I didn't like the way it looked. I was going to use ribbon, but it didn't work out the way I planned. I did make small pumpkins and used ribbon to decorate them. 

And yes, we do need DC statehood now. The pumpkins agree.

I hope to get started on a few embroidery and painting projects this weekend/this week. I wasn't feeling well last week and didn't have the energy to do much more than my stitch journal each day. I'm fine, but aging as a woman sucks. Luckily, I did treat myself to a new spooky blanket and it's been a cozy comfort. 

It's freaking bats! Home Good - Cynthia Rowley for the win.

As I mentioned earlier, I got started on making homemade vanilla extract. Why would I need to make homemade vanilla extract when I have a perfectly good bottle (two actually) in the pantry? Because I can and because I like experimenting with stuff like this. I've talked about doing this for years, but never did. When Kelly was visiting a few weeks ago, it came up in one of our conversations and I decided to do it. All you need is some vanilla beans and liquor (in my case, vodka). I bought the vanilla bean from Slofoodgroup on Etsy (you can legit buy anything on Etsy). They're extract grade beans and cost a lot less than buying them at any store. I smelled like vanilla after opening the package. 

There are tons of recipes out there. I sort of followed what was on the package. Now I wait. The extract should be usable in 6 months, but a lot of recipes recommend waiting 12 months. I'll see where it's at in 6 months (February-ish) and decide whether to wait or not. The only thing I have to do is shake the jar occasionally. 

I did end up visiting Evolution Home again last weekend. I wasn't going to go since I hadn't felt up to much walking last week, but I thought getting out the house and looking at pretty things would help my mood. And it did. I found a lovely L.E. Smith glass turkey which will go really well with the L.E. Smith Moon and Stars candlesticks I found earlier this summer. My fall table is already coming together. 

I also found a spaghetti poodle. Two weeks ago I found spaghetti cats at Miss Pixie's. Kelly and I joked that I needed to get a poodle to complete the set. We decided I needed to find one in the wild rather than through one of the vintage shops on Etsy. I wasn't expecting to find one so quickly. I was wondering around Evolution, turned a corner, and there it was. Staring at me

Come on! He has a beret and matching collar. Of course he came home with me. I've named him George. 

He's an Italian spaghetti poodle (according to the seller and a few images I've found online). Spaghetti poodles and cats were originally made in Italy and later in Japan. My cats are from Japan. Perhaps he's my mystery object and will lead to the romantic mystery that adds interest to my life. I can only hope the mystery involves a spaghetti animal. That would be amazing.

I'm fast approaching my reading goal for the year (50 books). This week, I started Lili Taylor's book Turning to Birds. Yes, Lili Taylor of Mystic Pizza and Say Anything fame is a birder. The book is a series of essays about her finding birds. It's really wonderful and I'm enjoying it so far. 

I also started an anthology, The End of the World as We Know It, which came out on Tuesday. It's a collection of short stories inspired by the novel The Stand by Stephen King. The Stand is my favorite King novel and one of my favorite novels of all time. The stories included feature events from across the timeline of The Stand, and King wrote the introduction. The editors of the book were both very influenced by The Stand and found over 30 other authors who felt the same. I'm excited to read this one. I heard about several years ago and have been eagerly awaiting its release.

While I was at Old Town Books picking up that book, I also grabbed two additional books for my October reading. I'm focusing on a theme this year: vampires. I'm planning to read three books now and watch a bunch of vampire movies. 

I recently picked up a used copy of Vampires of El Norte and that's what inspired my themed reading for October. I added Bless Your Heart for some humor. I was telling the bookstore clerk about my theme, and she said, "I have a book for you," and proceeded to tell me about Carmilla. Never heard of Carmilla? Not surprising; I only know about it because I took a Gothic literature class in college. We didn't read it, but it was mentioned. It's the first vampire novel, released in 1872, a full 25 years before Dracula. Bram Stoker was influenced by the book, and it was originally released as a serial novel. Of course, I bought it. It's considered the foundational vampire novel, and I'm excited to read it. I haven't decided on which vampire movies I'll be watching, but the list will include a few I haven't seen (Sinners, the new Nosferatu) and some favorites (The Lost Boys, Near Dark, and the Bela Lugosi Dracula). Any suggestions?

Last but not least, please enjoy this photo of three raccoons on the deck in my parents' backyard. Apparently, a family of four raccoons live in their backyard. My brother captured this moment early this week. They're clearly off to commit crimes.