Josh's 5k and some odds and ends...

Bless his heart. Josh got to run a 5k this morning. With all of his caregiving responsibilities it's so nice to see him have the chance to just do something he loves for a bit. Jess and Nathan stayed home and watched a movie. (Nathan can get bored waiting and you can't predict how he might act. Better not to take him to this type of thing.) I couldn't bear to stay home and not cheer him on. I think he would have been  fine with going alone, but in my late 40's we ran these together, and it's kind of a sentimental thing for me. I don't mind admitting that I teared up when the lady blew the air horn and the runners took off. This was in a tiny neighboring town as part of their Paul Bunyan Festival. It was a small group of runners and lots of walkers. Josh came in a mile ahead of everyone else, ha ha. I think he's the only one who trained at all. This was their first year doing this. It's a fundraiser to help local people battling cancer. Everyone got a t-shirt and a finisher medal. Anyway, it was a nice little morning jaunt.

My farmer neighbors got their hay baled. I hope it was dry enough! I wanted to take a picture of all the bales in the field. It was so picturesque. I made the mistake of taking my daily walk first, and when I got back they had already removed about half of the bales! They are busy little bees! I suppose they have to make room for that second crop!

Here are the second four cards for the #6 Altered Playing Card swap. The theme of the first four I showed you was "Birds". The theme for these is "Stamps".

I was prowling around outside in my yard a couple of days ago. Kind of looking for flowers to press, but mainly enjoying being outside in the beautiful weather.

A mingling of oak and hazelnut leaves.

The hugging trees. :)

Josh made me aware that I have ferns growing in my underbrush. I pressed a few of these to frame.

Yarrow leaves also make pretty things to press.

I imagine these are some sort of phlox? I picked some of these to press, too.

What's on my desk you ask? Well, my current swap theme is "Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh". We can paint something original, but do it in his style. Or, we can try to copy something of his. Always the copier, I'm attempting his self-portrait. I don't know if I can create something that looks even vaguely like his painting, but I'm trying to lay down solid base colors, and then I'll go back with a pointy tool and add in some of the lines like he does. It should be a mess! But I'm going to try.

This was my first attempt.

The children look on in this 25 year old picture. Josh (10), Micah (3), Jordan (12).

I'm currently reading The Remnant from the Left Behind series. I think I read the first three books of the series many years ago and then realized there were going to be tons more and kind of gave up. So, now I'm leapfrogging over a bunch of books and reading this one. Maybe I'll go back and fill in the rest later, but my library only had this one and Armageddon, which I also got. I'm aware that end time events are a controversial thing, and people can disagree on how it's all going to go down, but let's face it; none of us really knows. I trust God will take care of it in His own way and in His own timing. But this series of books gets me excited about Jesus coming back and keeps my mind on Him, and I think that's a good thing. The world can seem humdrum, or too challenging, and sometimes it seems like it will just drag on forever this way. It's good to have a reminder that things are happening in the heavenlies, and we have to keep looking up! Anyway, that's my take on things. :)

Looks like I have some blog reading to catch up on! Thanks for stopping by!
Shalom!

An extra mile...

It's been a restful Saturday on the old homestead. I did a little "art", meaning some APCs (Altered Playing Cards), took a nap (the whole family did), then took a 3 mile walk. I had to add on an extra mile to get photos of some flowers I wanted to post here. :)

I've been doing this APC swap for quite some time. We're working our way through a deck (or two, depending on whether you do one group or two). The gal who hosts the swap suddenly disappeared, but it sounds like she'll be back eventually when things calm down in her life. So, I'm continuing to make these cards so I'll be prepared when she returns. This is my bird group.

I've also been digging out all of my acrylic paints and a few canvases. Maybe I'll jump back into the 5x7 canvas swap. I'm feeling like trying something different. I've been watching a series of YouTube videos called "Landscape Artist of the Year" and "Portrait Artist of the Year". They're British shows and in each episode a group of artists have four hours to paint a portrait or landscape. At the end of the season someone wins the whole thing and they get to do some big commissioned work. These can be addictive, and at 45 minutes long, they can eat up your evening. But they are interesting to watch.
Here's a sample episode, though I haven't watched this particular one.

Landscape Artist of the Year

Anyway, it's inspired me to do some painting!

Josh found some flowers while running down the horseback riding trail yesterday.This is the only bunch he saw on the whole trail. They're purple and yellow irises. I followed his directions and found them to take these pics. The horse trail runs parallel to the trail I walk on.

Purple Vetch-small but pretty.

Lots of wild roses!

I thought this graceful branch of maple leaves looked nice against the dark background. We have very few maples. I think this one's a youngster.

 Does anyone know what these little flowers are? The blossoms are about 3/4" across and they have the geranium type leaves you can see best in the middle photo. Still not sure what they are.

Not sure about these either, but they were cute.

 I was so thrilled to find this little group of flowers in the underbrush. I almost missed them! These are called "Small Yellow Lady Slippers". I had to wade through the poison ivy to get close enough to take a picture. They really are small! Our state flower is the Showy Lady Slipper, which is huge compared to these.

 And my chariot await(ed). I'm not sure what that trail is that the sign points to. I lack curiosity, I guess, lol.

And so a pleasant day was had. But it started out with my daily reading in my Streams in the Desert devotional. I'm sharing this here because it really spoke to me. Amen, Lord. I hope it blesses you as you go through challenging times. It happens a lot in life, eh?
(I'm reading out of order. This is the May 13th entry.)

 I love you folks, and I love following your lives through your blogs! We're all so different, aren't we? It makes life interesting.

Have a great Sunday and shalom to all!

Finished a book...

That's all I have to say for myself. :) I found this little copy of Brentwood, which is by Grace Livingston Hill, at the library book sale for ten cents. She writes sweet little old-fashioned romances, so I figured it was something I'd like to read. But look at the cover art! Very 1970's! Someone might have been disappointed to buy this book in 1970, only to find that it was written in 1937! I, fortunately, knew what I was getting, but that sort of marketing technique doesn't seem like a good idea to me. It doesn't become a 1970's book just because they reprinted it then. Oh well. I enjoyed the innocence and old-fashioned language. Good light reading.

I took my daily walk today and went a different direction on the trail. I saw a couple of flowers I hadn't seen going the other direction. This part of the trail is more open, so I guess different flowers like it there. Wish I had my camera. Maybe tomorrow. I tried to look up one of the flowers, but didn't find anything exactly right. They looked like miniature wild roses, but the leaves looked like geraniums. So, they probably are some type of geranium.

Maybe I'll go outside and enjoy the breezy evening or visit neighbor Micah. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Shalom!

Robinson Crusoe and other things...

I just finished this little volume of Robinson Crusoe. I saw some reviews saying it's such a BOOOORING book. Oh, it does drag a bit here and there, and things are repeated a bit, but I did enjoy it. Maybe you have to have an interest in survival? I was fascinated by how he figured out how to produce what he needed, and just the fortitude it takes to survive alone for such a long time. And, of course, the spiritual education he received as the years stretched on. There's no copyright date, but I'm guessing the 1950's. The pages are orangey and brittle. I'll keep it on my shelves for its own protection. :)

I took this photo last evening after a thunderstorm had passed over. I think I just missed a much pinker version, but it was still really pretty.

We've sure had a bumper crop of red columbines this year! My yard is full of them and they're very abundant along the trail where I walk. (Of course, I didn't have my camera with me!) I've been pressing a lot of them, and brought in a vase full.

Micah's horse, Dachessa, is looking shiny. I got a couple of shots of her when it was sunny yesterday. Today is grey and occasionally sprinkley.

The Lord has sent me a blessing in the form of an old friend. Kathy and I both homeschooled "back in the day". Our boys played together almost 30 years ago! How can that be?!? She lost her husband 16 months ago and we found each other at church one day a few months ago. We went to some grief workshops together and Sunday School. Yesterday we went out for burgers. It's so nice to have a friend I can really visit with and spend some time with. I was looking for another "grown-up" to visit with, since my main friends around here are my children. They're wonderful, but this is something else I needed. Thank you, Lord!

Pray for me if you think of it. Well, me and this extended commune-like family here in my trailer, along with my neighbors (daughter/son-in-law), whose land we live on. Bless their hearts, lol. It's challenging in little ways every day, but the Lord is good and He's with us. I need to quit trying to figure out how it's all going to turn out. Only God can figure this one out. I try to help by spending some time with Nathan each day so Josh has a little time to do his work. He has so many hats to wear! Anyway, there's no way I can explain it all here, but the Lord knows if you'll just pray. Thanks! I'll be remembering you all in my prayers as well!

Thatcher says, "Hi!" He has two teeth! :)

I'll let you go for now. Thanks for stopping by!
Shalom!

Finished ATCs...

Not much of a post. I just wanted to post pictures of these finished cards before I run into town to do a few errands. These are for the Whimsical Wonderland swap.

Love you guys! Have a great day!

Philippians 4:8, NASB: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." ... Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Shalom!

Blustery day!

It's a beautiful, sunshiny, blustery day here in northern Minnesota. My favorite kind of weather, though I'm aware it's probably blowing up a thunderstorm for tonight. I love it when the sun glints off of the oak leaves and the wind wooshes, even a little violently, through the treetops. Too bad you can't really capture it with my camera!

I took a 3 mile walk yesterday. I had planned on 2 1/2 miles, but miscalculated, lol. That's probably as long as I'll go for a walk. It just takes so long! I find myself counting footsteps instead of enjoying the experience. I guess that's just my type of brain or something. I look forward to uninterrupted time talking to the Lord, but my mind quickly zones out. Well, each day is a new chance to try again! :)
And, of course, we can talk to the Lord at all times. Not just during a planned time. It just seems like a walk would be a peaceful time to commune with Him.

I'm currently working on a swap called "Whimsical Wonderland" (as in Alice). The cards must be hand drawn and painted. I haven't done much drawing and painting lately, so this sounded like a good swap to try. These cards aren't finished, but I thought I'd show where I'm at with them. They will have ink outlines, and I'll finish up the painting as well. I'll post again when they're done. This is what I was doing at my little desk yesterday. (I haven't decided on a character to put on the chanterelle mushroom card.)

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend and summer! See you in the blogs!
Shalom.

A car repair sort of day...

I knew it was coming down the pike. Just a matter of time. My car guys at the Ford garage had been telling me for the last several oil changes that my brakes would need attention soon. I could hear them rubbing lately, so I told them to do what they had to do. Unfortunately, all four needed to be replaced. It made for a long day of waiting. I could have driven home, but I didn't know how long it would be and I didn't want to have to just turn around and drive the 12 miles back. So, I had lunch, read a book in the Burger King parking lot, went to the library and read some more. Finally, I headed back to the garage and my car was ready: oil change and inspection, and new brakes all around. Spendy, but it has to be done.

Nathan and Josh have been doing some fishing. These are from a week or so back. They went again today and caught a rock bass, but didn't have as much luck. I think they caught four nice ones on this particular day.

When Josh was a boy he would get on his bike with his fishing rod and go fishing off of a local bridge or public pier. He was older than Nathan is now. Probably 12 or so. Worried me because he couldn't swim! But he made it.

When I got home from town today, Nathan and I picked some grass and fed Micah's horse over the fence. He thought that was pretty cool.

Short post, but I'm kind of tired from all of the sitting around I did today, lol. Hope you're all having beautiful weather. We sure are!

Shalom and blessings on all of you! :)