Here are a couple of pictures Jordan scanned in for me.
The first couple are of Yellow Creek- summer and winter.
My sister, Robin, took these pictures about 14 or 15 years ago, but they are much better quality than I could get from the bridge or road.
These are so filled with memories of happy times- watching our kids grow up messing about down at the creek.
The next pictures are from a scrapbook Allyson made me that holds the pictures of the gingerbread houses I’ve made over the years. On Celia’s blog, Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, I mentioned in the comments that I had made a cemetery in one of the gingerbread creations I made, called The Village.
I thought you might like to see the Village- but I didn’t couldn’t take the pictures off of the page, so you may have to click and zoom to see them better.
The cemetery is next to the church in the upper right hand picture. In front of the bare brown trees and behind the big evergreen tree. The Village has all sorts of activity going on, children sledding and throwing snowballs, dogs chasing sleds, and a snowman being built.
I’m sorry the picture quality is so bad. I am not a great photographer now- but 15 years ago I was even worse!
A little history for this September evening.
Your pictures really bring back the memories, mostly happy ones. Thanks for the pictures and the jog of memories.
Heidi that looks so good. You intrigued me in Celia’s comments with the mention of it. How interesting. How long did that take?! My boys would love it!
Brydie,
From drawing up the plans to the final dusting of sugars, it took about 30 hours. I made it for the Bake Shop I do cottage baking for, and they entered it into a contest and then put it up for bidding at a silent auction that benefited the local Children’s Hospital in Akron.
There is a “stained glass” window on the church an a light source inside, a “stream” with a bridge over it and a horse and carriage on the far right that didn’t make it into the pictures.
The ones I made with my sons were much less time, they loved making them and eating all the left over candy, and they basically demolishing them to eat on Boxing Day.
Thank you for the wonderful creek pictures, it looks quite magical – I love pictures of water cutting its way across the land and the way it opens up the sky if you are in the woods, just beautiful. Do you have beavers there?
The detail is amazing on the village. Is it a fantasy village or based on some real buildings? Not the sort of every day undertaking…..
PS
I was thinking about you today as I cut back my raggedy lavender bush and looking at all the overgrown herbs in the side bed. I went so far as looking for florists wire the other day on some sites, and got lost in the ‘stuff’ you find there.
LOL! Oh yes, Joanna, I have always felt that florists supply houses are magical treasure troves! As a little girl, my father would let me wander about looking at the sprays of rhinestone and netting butterflies and and fuzzy bees on wires for corsages while he picked up the huge waxed boxes of flowers my mother had ordered to complete a wedding.
There were beavers on the creek when my sons were still teenagers, but they ( the beavers) caused quite a bit of damage to the waterway, so the country environmental control people moved them out of the area.
As to the village, I adapted it from a pattern my mother was looking at for needlepoint. The BAke Shop wanted to win a ribbon, and the houses I had made in former years were mainly in the honorable mention category. Most of the houses were made by Wilton trained bakers and were traditionally judged according to their techniques. I had been decorating the cut out cookies for the shop and they asked if I would make their gingerbread houses. I had never made one before, but I made gingerbread cookies and knew how to make royal icing, so I gave t a try.
Over the next 10 years, I made about 40 gingerbread designs – from a replica of the Bake shop in Ghent ( my erstwhile employer) to two birdhouses nestled on small chair. The Village and Noah’s Ark ( complete with Noah on the deck and two of every animal cutter I could find making their way up the gangplank into the ark.
After the show each year, my sister, Robin and I would go to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cleveland and have afternoon tea to celebrate.
Sorry this is such a long answer, I haven’t thought about those intense sessions of baking and icing and creativity for quite a while. 🙂
Heidi, thanks so much for posting these lovely photos! Your creek photos are so serene and isolated, they remind me of scenes from an old frontier movie…
LOVE the gingerbread village, and so glad you posted the photos. So many people (myself included) were amazed to hear about it, and now they can all admire your handiwork! How much of the village was actually edible? I love the gingerbread cemetery, and as always, I’m astounded by your attention to detail.. 🙂
You could do a book of your gingerbread house designs! no just ignore me, I’m getting carried away now…
Hey, it’s your blog, you can write as much as you want! I enjoy my comments conversations more than writing the posts. One throws the posts out there and never knows what will turn up. Sort of like fishing in a creek 🙂
Celia,
Except for the light in the church and the foamcore base, EVERYTHING was edible.
The rules of the contest said only gingerbread, candy and icing. So that is what I used. and nuts- I love sliced almonds for the roof !