Friday, June 26, 2020

The missing post...

A couple of days ago I tried to post a comment on Pom Pom's blog, and for some mysterious reason it showed up as a blog post on MY blog, instead of a comment on hers! So, if your blog roll said I had put up a new post, and you couldn't find it, it's because I realized the mistake and quickly deleted the post. But I guess it still shows up as a post. Anyhoo!

The "girls" come by every couple of days. They're so cute with their bulbous bodies and tiny heads. Sometimes I don't see them. I just hear them making their clucking and whirring sounds in the bushes.
Black cat, anyone? I'll mail them special delivery. We actually have four, and two grey tabbies. The mama cat, who's looking at the camera, is kind of odd. Her tail curls up over her back like a husky. One of her kitten's tails does the same.
I just finished this little novel that was published around 1912. Very saccharine sweet and full of moral teaching, but kind of fun to read. I got a stack of books similar to it from the thrift store that I will read eventually.
I bought this side table from the thrift store for $10. The little side table I had before got donated. It just wasn't big enough to hold enough "stuff". This one has little castors (spelling?). I think it's an antique. Cute anyway. ;)

Another thrift store find. I decided I needed a small vase for the all the little poseys the grandkids bring me. :)
Hazel made a fancy Father's Day card for her daddy.


And no blog would be complete without a few ATCs. These are for a Personal Profile swap. We're supposed to learn about the other player's interests by reading their profile on the site, then make cards to fit their interests.
The one on the left is for a gal who likes retro futuristic art. The one on the right is for a gal who likes vintage images.

These are self-explanatory, I think. That's a Loteria card on the right.

These are the backs of the two collaged cards I showed first. The retro futuristic lady also likes clowns, lol. 
We've been having great weather and I've been walking most days. I took today off because I was very tired and wondered if I might not have to take a break from walking every five days or so.

I might go out and do a tiny bit of mowing before the mosquitos come out. You guys enjoy your summer!

Shalom and love to all!

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Early morning walk...


Yesterday I walked in 90 degree heat, so this morning I decided to beat the heat and walk early. I didn't carefully plan for this yesterday. I just happened to wake up before 6 and thought it looked nice and cool out. It will reach 90 again today, so I ate a quick breakfast (peanut butter and banana on cranberry/wild rice bread, yum!) and was out the door about 6:15. I followed Adam's truck out the driveway as he headed to work.

It was a breezy 70 degrees and just perfect for walking. I decided to take my 2 mile walk up Elk Haven Drive, which is right across the county road from my house. I even took my camera, so look out! Here come more pictures than you really want to see, lol.

Heading out my driveway.

The gnarly oaks and hazelnut bushes are well leafed out. The breeze was ruffling the leaves so their silvery undersides shone in the morning sun. Poetic, eh?

The farmer who owns the adjoining property is  baling hay. Working like mad to get it done before thunderstorms set in tomorrow. He worked late into the evening yesterday, and is back at work this morning.

Who's that on the left?


A wily turkey. There are two, and they gobbled quietly at me, not happy that I had interrupted their morning jaunt.


As I walked on they headed for the road.

Turkeys, like chickens, always seem to want to get to the other side.
See the jeep on the left? And the white box-like thing behind it? That's the little free library. He's revamped it to hold more books. Now it contains six (I think) large bins with books. There's a new sign on the side that says "Not so little free library"! I like his style! Can't wait to paw through the books. :)
There are lots of interesting little driveways going back into the woods on this road. But, of course, it's all private property, so we only get a glimpse. There's also an area that's a game preserve. Micah once saw a bear wandering across this road, so you won't find me walking here when it's getting dark.

As I type there's a pileated woodpecker at the bird feeder. For such a shy bird they sure do talk a lot and draw attention to themselves. If I look over my left shoulder (I'm sitting on the couch) I can see him hopping around the trunk of the tree, trying to position himself to breakfast on suet.

This photo is just to show that there are houses all along this road. It's a dead end and I think it's on sort of a peninsula, because there are lake homes on both sides. It ends in a big loop. If I stop right before the loop and head back home it's about a 2 mile walk. I've never walked around the loop. I'll have to do that one day when I'm full of energy. That would make it about a 2.7 mile walk. (I've measured it with my car.)
Another mysterious driveway.

There's the loop at the end of the road.




Back home again. I noticed a couple of wild roses in bloom.

 The barn framed in greenery.
 The view from my camp chair in the front yard, where I sat for a few minutes until one of the local barn cats came pleading for its breakfast. :)
I did a lot of APC (altered playing card) creating in the last couple of days. These APC swaps can go on for over a year to get a complete deck finished. I decided to finish this one up early and get the cards sent to the host. My postman must wonder why I've sent five envelopes to the same address in the last few days. I could bundle them together, but I think it's easier for the host to have them separated according to the swap they belong to. So, I finished up these sets. The theme was "Female with Text", so they just had to have a female on them, and some text. Weird, huh?










Here's a random Butterfly and Flower card that I couldn't find when I posted pictures of that swap. Got to use up some of my dried flowers!
We had another unusual swap called "Funny Fish". The only requirement was that they fit in a 9x4 business size envelope.



And now to enjoy the cool breezes coming in my windows as I have some time reading scripture and other good Christian books. And I just may need a little more breakfast! (Second breakfast?)

Eye doctor update: No glaucoma! Thank you, Lord! She'll monitor me every six months.

I hope you all have a great week.
Shalom and love to everyone!

Saturday, June 13, 2020

So, what's in my camera?

This will just be a willy-nilly journey through my camera's memory card. Life goes on pretty normally, so not much news. I did get checked for glaucoma on Monday, but haven't heard back from the doctor. I'm hoping no news is good news, right?

Taking almost daily walks, and the weather is gorgeous. Hope yours is too! :)

And now, in no particular order as usual...

Rock painting continues...
 These are the only two I've finished.
 Some thrift store finds. Someone donated several hand-made pottery bowls. They aren't glazed inside, but they make perfect bowls for rinsing brushes. And they're heavy enough that the kids won't tip them over. And I love that they're hand-made.
 This vase was also a thrift store find.
 Hazel made me a surprise gift. It's a special potion made of water, paint and hand sanitizer. She's really into making exotic concoctions. As she gave it to me she told me just how to make it,  in case I wanted to make more later. "And," she said, "if your jar doesn't have a lid, you can just make your own. Like this!" Bless her sweet little creative heart. She loves to make gifts for people!
 I tried to take an artsy photo of Paris the pony through the foliage. She refused to strike the correct pose!
 Trying to capture the morning light. I knew you'd want to see my lawnmower and gas can, so I included them.
 I hunted down some elusive ferns hiding among my bushes.
 These two are kind of wonky, so they're going in a vase in the house. I cut others and pressed them in the Rand McNally Road Atlas you see in the picture. They were too big to fit in the Bible Atlas, ha ha. If I frame these I'll have to give them away as gifts. My walls are full!


 Went for a walk yesterday. Of course, on the days I remember to take my camera, it's usually overcast. I had been without my camera the day before and saw some flowers I wanted to take pics of, so I went back out yesterday armed with a camera. The flowers had already begun to fade in just one day!
The yellow iris I photographed last year is making a come back. Not quite fully opened yet.
 There are lots of columbines. They never look as vibrant in my photos as they do in real life.
 This little wild rose was fully open and fresh yesterday. Look at it now!
 They may be hard to see, but there are lots of buds on this rose bush. So there are many more to look forward to.
More columbines.

 See the viney sort of thing closest to the camera? I've wondered for a couple of years what it was because it's the only one of its kind I've seen on the trail. You flower experts will think me silly for not figuring it out. After some research I see it's a...
 Hairy Honeysuckle! (An unattractive name for a pretty plant.)
 I'm not even sure if they're supposed to grow in our area.
 Heading back.
 And I found some more random ATCs.

These were for the Southwest Images swap.
We have a retired judge from our area who has become a world traveler, and he writes a column for our little local paper. The red buttes you see in three of the backgrounds are pictures of his that were printed in our paper. He travels overseas as well.


We continue to work our way through the alphabet, making zentangles whose names (yes, they have names) start with each letter. I decided to just get them all done and sent in ahead of time rather than stringing it out for months. I'm impatient. :)

You can find zentangle patterns here.

Alphabetic Zentangle Y, Z and 0-9 (Names that start with a number.)



 Alphabetic Zentangle V,W,X



 Butterflies and Flowers swap. Apparently I didn't take a photo of the other two cards I made. The backgrounds on these are napkins which are decorated with a Van Gogh design. (Irises.) I decoupaged that on the card and then glued on butterflies. I found several packages of pretty napkins at the thrift store that I'll use for making cards. :)


 Library Catalog Cards swap. We were sent 6 catalog cards and had to make a card for three of the titles. Plus, I usually make an extra for the host. He likes haiku, so I made that one for him. We could cut up the cards and just use parts.



Alphabetic Zentangles S,T,U

It looks like a promising sunshiney day, with a brisk breeze blowing. I did some mowing yesterday, and hope to finish up today. Micah and Adam are working on finishing up the siding on their house. So it's an outside kind of day! Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Love and shalom from the backwoods of northern Minnesota!