Unearthing treasures!

I woke up in declutter mode this morning! A day off inspired me to look at my possessions and evaluate whether or not I really wanted and needed them, or I was just too lazy to get rid of them. I came up with several bags of books to go to the library for the book sale. (The book sale is today. I'm not going. That would only cancel out the good work I'm doing! lol!) I'm also going to get rid of some boxes full of old homeschooling papers. The only things I'll keep are artwork and stories the kids wrote. All of those old math and science papers that we feel guilty about throwing out don't help me to remember the creativity and humor of my three very original children. So, out they go! I'd prefer to see them cremated in dear daughter's woodstove than to think of them wandering around lost at the dump. Or falling into the hands of uncaring strangers. (Silly me.)

 

I've had this copy of Wanderings for many years. I accquired it through Paperbackswap. I'm thinking I'm more likely to read this than Josephus (which has a tiny font), so I set it next to my comfortable chair.

 

This was one of the books I used for homeschooling art class. He has lots of good tips on drawing. Worth another read!

 

I finally decided to part with my copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. Remember that? Carla Emery sold thousands of copies because of the Y2K scare. We weren't really scared, but I loved the idea of all that info in one book. Glad I flipped through it before putting it in the giveaway bag. It was full of dried columbines and yarrow leaves!

 

I'm going to Mod Podge a couple of those in my journal. We'll see how that goes. An opportunity to write about my old herbalist phase. ;)

 

May 7. I fried chicken all day at work and drove home in the rain. :)

I had an old quilt stuck away on a shelf in my closet. It was totally shabby and ready to throw. Then I realized that there were a lot of really cute old pieces of fabric in it. I'm not a quilt maker, but it occurred to me that I could use this fabric for collaging on ATC's!

This is one of my favorite scraps. It appeals to the hippy in me!

There is so much stuff in kitchen cupboards that I never use. Jars, an old pressure canner and water bath canner, dishes, knick knacks. Someone else might need them, so I'm mentally marking them down on my garage sale list.

Here's that finished journal page. Mod Podged dried flowers always remind me of the insects trapped in amber that the Victorians loved to collect. It worked out pretty well!

Tomorrow Micah has an emergency dental visit, so I'll be going to work at 9 and then meeting her at the dentist's office at 1:30 to watch the girls while she has her teeth fixed. I think she'll be having two extractions. Prayers appreciated! (They're molars and have become infected.)

Off to enjoy the day! Hope you're enjoying yours as well. Looking forward to my weekend off! :)

Shalom, all!

A day off!

Here is my calendar illustration from yesterday. The Febreze is helping, and I think the aroma of skunk is lessening a little each day. Thank goodness!

My To-Do List for today includes getting some newspaper clippings of my daughter's various high school age activities (track, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, taekwondo, summer theater, AWANA, 4-H) organized and put away. They've been occupying the middle of my living room floor for quite a while.

I also need to go through the house and make some decisions about some items that need to be thrown or given away. A garage sale may be in my future. That's hard to plan when you're working and don't have another person to help. I'm sure dear daughter would love to, but she's working every Saturday for the summer. We'll see. I know people will show up at 6:30 a.m. wanting to look through things, so they have to be out there on Friday night. (I don't have a garage. This would be items lined up on a flatbed trailer and covered by a tarp at night.)

Speaking of dear daughter. She had an appointment with her OB yesterday, but her doctor had to deliver a baby before he could see her. Audrey and Hazel decided to use the time for reading. :)

I also need to go through our old camper and my dad's old cabin and figure out what to do with hundreds of taekwondo trophies. The kids don't really want them and I feel terrible throwing them in a dumpster! Their instructor of many years said he might be able to use a few, but there are so many. My three kids used to go to a competition almost every month and each of them would bring home several trophies. Mostly first places!

There's very little outside the house I want to keep, so I'll concentrate on the inside. I'm just paring things down in the event that I have to move later. Even if I don't move, I'd like to have less "stuff" to take care of. A big dump trailer would be nice to have about now instead of just the trunk of my car, lol!

Here's a recent snapshot of Nathan and Starry in Kentucky. Awww! (Of course, Nathan has a stick to play with, like any red-blooded boy would! And Starry's binky matches her boots!)

 

Son Jordan (right) and worship team getting set up for Sunday morning. (Open Door Church, Burleson, TX)

 

And here he is (left) providing music (along with the pastor's son) at their baptismal service.

 

Did I already show you this one of Josh? Wife Jess is taking a picture every day of her blessings. I think the cake was supposed to be what she was thankful for, but Josh is a daily blessing and great model!

 

And her most recent photo for Cinco de Mayo. The beard is growing!

 

For those who don't know, Nathan and Starry, pictured above, are Josh's kiddos.

 

Well, everyone have a great day filled with the peace of God!

Still stinky...

The house is still kind of "fragrant", but I think it's beginning to fade a little. It will be a while before I get a chance to have someone look under the house. There's no access door right now. That needs to get done soon.

My last Muppet card! Now to mail them off!

 

I've had a nice evening drawing, visiting my ATC site and some blogs. After work I took some supper to my daughter's workplace and we ate together and visited. It's her last day at this job and she's excited to get on to other things. But it's getting late, so...

 

See you later...

 

Shalom! :)

Today's 1" calendar illustration...

This adventure actually began at 10 p.m. last night. As I settled down in my beddy-bye I smelled a distinct...stink. Oh no, there must be a skunk nearby! The smell didn't dissipate, so after a while I checked outside. Couldn't smell a thing outside. It's only inside. Maybe it's not a skunk. Maybe it's...propane! So, this girl called the gas company which then dispatched one of their intrepid guys with a doohickey to check for gas leaks. He couldn't find anything wrong with the gas, but he did
 discover an opening in my trailer skirting large enough to admit one small skunk. The stench of skunk billowed from the small opening. It was after midnight before I decided to try to get some sleep in my still stinky house, so it qualified for my Saturday picture.

It's still kind of stinky in here tonight after work. I hope the little rat has moved on, but apparently something provoked it to spray underneath my house. Who knows how long that will take to wear off!

Hope you're all having a better smelling evening than I am.  :)

Shalom for now!

I fixed it!

My calendar now displays the correct month! Now to think of something to draw in today's square!

Off to prepare a little dinner and think artistic thoughts. I spent most of today running errands. Looking into a new car loan to no avail. Going to the dump...ahem, transfer station. Delivering some items to my favorite thrift shop. Picking up a few items at the grocery store and mailing off some ATC's and then home to change before going to Micah's to babysit. My last official day of babysitting. Micah is changing jobs and will be home with the girls during the week. I'm happy for her, but I told her she'd better expect me to still be dropping in! :)

I chose to use one of my Hubbard Squash seedlings as today's model. So much non-threatening fun!

Shalom for now!

Great idea for an illustrated calendar!

I was just visiting Alarm Cat's blog and saw the wonderful illustrated calendars she's been making each month. I thought, what a great idea to draw a "little something" every day of the month. These are actually 1" squares, so it doesn't take much to fill them. See any obvious mistakes in my calendar?

 

In case you missed it...I guess I haven't let go of April yet. Hmmm...I'll have to break out the gesso or something to fix that.

 

There are LOTS of extra squares to be filled in which equals MORE FUN!

 

Mine will perch on the arm of the couch waiting for it's daily dose of drawing. Since my pen isn't waterproof I'll probably use colored pencil to color some of the squares.



Audrey, Hazel and I watched out their big picture window while the robins bathed in puddles. They thought that was pretty exciting and SO CUTE.  They're so interested in birds!

 

 

Don't forget to visit Alarm Cat for more inspiration!

Shalom!

ATC's and life...

I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted!

I just wanted to post these ATC's I completed for the May Bizarre Holidays swap.

 

 

 

 

Ya know, after my slanderous statements previously about the boring Jigsaw Puzzle Day card, it may just be my favorite. It must be that classic Irish cottage that I like to draw so much! I had a lot of fun with these and now they are off to new homes. :)

There is so much going on here with trying to get titles for old vehicles so we can sell them, and figuring out how to dispose of so much old stuff. Several kids are working on this along with trying to get a new loan for my car so my payments are lower. More things than I can (or should) list. Everyone is getting a wee bit exhausted and emotions flare occasionally. But I think things will work out, one way or another, eventually!

Maybe I'll watch a movie...and probably fall asleep! Shalom, everyone!