March Artist Trading Card Exchanges...

Treasures March Artist Trading Card Exchanges

There may be one card missing from this lot, but these are the cards I received for last month. The theme was "Shamrock", and I think each and every one was a unique endeavor by all the artists. I love them all! 

As I'm sure each recipient has come to know my style, I'm becoming more familiar with each of theirs, too. I think they're all fun and creative, and are great additions to my collection.

My April Artist Trading Card

I was really late getting my cards out last month, so I decided to get busy early this month. I finished them yesterday, and they're in the mailbox now to go out to the trade recipients.

The first thing I did was search out an image that I thought would best exemplify our April theme: "Rain". I purchased this sweet bunny artwork from VintageArtRealm on Etsy. I knew I was going to add raindrops, so I first affixed the image (printed on cotton fabric) to the base fabric, using a shimmering Madeira thread. Then, I used a holographic thread from Kreinik to make stitches above the umbrella. Each stitch is anchored with a sparkling bead.

All my cards are in addressed envelopes and will be heading to the swap participants today. Now that this project is complete, I think I'm going to turn my focus to my bluebird embroidery. It's about time, don't you think?

I have my MRI and doctor's appointment today, so I may not be embroidering today. I know there won't be the stress that I had with the other one, but I may just choose to take it easy when I get home. We'll see. Either way, I have a feeling you'll see an image of my bluebird embroidery tomorrow...just to remind you what I'm going to be dancing with next.

Stormy Weather...

We woke up to cloudy skies yesterday, and it got more interesting by mid-morning. Handsome had errands to run, and this is what the sky looked like to the southwest from the farmhouse as he was driving off to town. There were lots of angry clouds rolling in, and you could smell the rain on the wind.

Before long, it was pouring, leaving lots of much-needed rain for all the surrounding yards and fields. It was a perfect day for baking bread, so I got out the supplies and started the dough.

Whether you refer to downpours as "gully washers", "cats & dogs",  "toad strangler", or Handsome's favorite "turd floaters", I could hardly see out the windows of the kitchen for a little while. Thankfully, there weren't strong winds, so although there was a lot of rain all at once, there was no damage around here. Our neighbor to the north did text me to ask if our power was out (we never lost power), but sent another message within the hour saying her power was back on.

Before long, this first storm rolled through and offered this view toward Lake Michigan. We had light showers (and a little thunder) throughout the rest of the day, and you could almost see the grass and crops green up by the hour.

When all was said and done, we had four fresh loaves of bread and eight hamburger buns. It was a very good start to the week. I also put Destiny to work embroidering my name on my work shirts, so I don't have to worry about forgetting my name tag anymore. I did spend a little more time sorting through things I want to move out of the studio, too. I actually accomplished quite a bit by the end of the day.

I work today and tomorrow, so we'll see whether or not I'm able to stitch when I get back home. My hands are still sore, but I'm attributing it to the change in the weather. I'm expecting a change in my hands with the rain moving on. I really would like to get back to those little frogs!

Blessings...

I spent most of the day tidying the studio and the spare guest room. While 

I was in the house, it rained outside. I love the sound of rain on our tin roof.

 (It's one of the things I love about rain on the roof of the Flying Cloud, too.)

At 5:30, I left home to go to our quilt guild board meeting. (I'm the recording

secretary.) When I turned from our street onto the nearest main east/west road,

this is the view that greeted me...a magnificent rainbow crossing the sky.

  Finding blessings in our lives is simple. All you have to do is take the time to look around you (or in this case, "up").
Wishing you many blessings as you go through your day today.

Rainy Days And Mondays...

Nothing quite like the sunlight coming in on our
pool deck in the morning...

Unless it rained the night before, and the raindrops are

still clinging to the screens on the roof of the screen enclosure.

God's little diamonds, greeting us as we sip our morning coffee.

This is indeed a fleeting sight.
Within a short period of time, the breeze and sun had
dried up all the raindrops.
Lucky Girl...I caught a few frames before this gift disappeared.

Na Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye...

At 4:04 this morning, I was awakened by the sound of the trap door dropping closed, followed by loud thrashing. As there was none of the squealing I expected, I figured we had caught anything but the Lone Ranger. I was wrong.

Handsome and I grabbed our flashlights, went out the front door, and immediately knew that we finally had the beast that ruined our front yard.

We had to wait until 6:00 to contact Jason, but made the call as soon as we could. His cell phone was (as expected) turned off, but we received a call back around 6:30 to let us know that they were on their way. As fate would have it, just as they drove in the yard it started to pour down rain, so it got to be a mucky, muddy process.

By the time they got here, hog had already pushed the top loose from the rest of the trap, but thankfully hogs are not big jumpers so he was waiting for them when they arrived. From there, he was snared, hog tied, muzzled and dragged to the truck. It all seemed so unceremonious, but after all...what did he expect? He was mean-tempered, and as Jason told us from a message left by a previous trapper - a notched ear - this hog was not unfamiliar with a trap. That explains why it took a whole week to lure him into this one. We were lucky that he was duly tempted by the fermented corn and watermelon to take the bait.

After about 25 minutes, Jason was able to safely remove him from the trap. And to add insult to injury, the Lone Ranger was dragged through the mess he'd made in our yard...all 200 pounds or so of him. Jason was exhausted by the time he finally lifted the hog up into his truck for transport, but he didn't stop until he had used our hose to cool the hog down with water. He knew that the hog was hot and tired, too.

The hog left our property to live on a farm about 45 minutes north of us. He won't be back again, but the trap will stay here for another couple of weeks to make sure there isn't a Tonto waiting in the woods.

I never dreamt that this would be a major topic when I started my blog, but now you have a real peek into my life. It's not all girly lacy, frilly, yarny and crafty. Sometimes, it's just down and dirty. But, I'll tell you, my friends, this is also what makes my life with Handsome so joyful. The unexpected events we share and how we deal with them.

These words are a link to the last of the hog saga photos. I also have a link for you to a video of the hog capture. You can click on the title of this post to get to the video. Welcome to my world!