Life Goes On... With Lynyrd!

Hello,

In case you didn't find out from Facebook, our sweet little Ivy passed away a couple weeks ago.  She was 16 and 1/2, blind, nearly deaf and having trouble with strength in her hindquarters.  She wasn't suffering really, just sleeping and eating, then peeing and going back to sleep.  She still patrolled the yard, followed the chickens into the fenced area for breadcrumbs, sunned at the side of the house and refused to be penned up.  We gave her baby aspirin and she had a lot of good days or good long stretches during a day.

It's a miracle one of us didn't break our necks because she would be one place, then underfoot to trip you the next minute.  She still panicked at the possibility of a storm, right up until a few days before she died.  She is buried next to Tucker, between him and Jordan the Golden Retriever, because those two never got along...that was Mark's idea.  That 45 day disappearance last Fall really took a toll on her and we consider her return for a short time a bonus.  Plus, we aren't left wondering...

"Ivy unhappy about sharing a bed with Carrie and vice-versa"

However, another sweet being is now patrolling our yard and at times can get slightly annoying like any other pet.   Audra and I leave for work around 6:30 a.m. to the multi-versed mockingbird that has adopted us and our yard.  Since we think he is here to stay, we decided he needed a name.  Mark instantly named him Lynyrd.  Pretty fitting as Lynyrd is definately a "free bird."  He has a loop he makes, singing all the while.  He never stops for very long.  He seems to love performing for us.  He is very athletic and swoops, jumps straight up and lands in the same place and I swear he can fly backward.  He is also very pretty, but it's hard to get a photo of this ever-moving target.  So, here is a photo of one...I plan to try and record his song for you and report on it in a future post.

"Northern Mockingbird"

If you are interested in learning more about mockingbirds, here is a nice link:  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/id

Now if I can just discourage him from pooping on my swing...

Until next time,
Gale

PS:  Mark found a quail on our picnic table yesterday.  It's the first he's seen since the Blizzard of '78!  He took it some of our chicken's crack (umm, I mean cracked corn...but if you saw how crazy it makes them you'd think it was really crack!)  Maybe that's why all these birds are showing up???

Gale's Gallery VI: Simple, Yet Satisfying Projects

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all!  

Long time, no write.  I apologize for the delay, but I really want to write something of value and not just fill up cyberspace.  So, there will likely be gaps in my weekly routine and maybe I will hit on something that inspires me to write more than one in a week:)

I have been busy selling appliances, running errands and doing chores.  There are days though that I just HAVE to create a little something.  I've talked about some of my more "involved" projects, but there are lots of little projects that can be "satisfying."  I also love the crafting with family and friends, so small projects fill a double role.

Here are some to try:  (Author's note:  If you want inspiration, go to the web or cable tv.  Some of my favorites for quick projects are scrapbooksoup.com, crafttv.com, marthastewart.com, Carol Duvall's projects on HGTV.com and diy.net to name a few.)

Last week Audra and I tried a quick project that only takes a few supplies (which also means you don't have to spend a ton of time getting everything ready and cleaning up.)

You will need a piece of pastelboard (you can find at an art supply store, not so much at a craft store,) oil pastels, a bamboo skewer and a stencil if you don't like to draw freehand (like me!)  You should also have some type of fixative as this will never dry.  This is like kid's scratch art done with crayons, but a bit more evolved and expensive:)  You doodle and fill in the whole board with colored pastels.  Then cover all of it in black.  Take the skewer and draw or scratch out a stencil.  The projects below took less than an hour:

Audra's Scratch Art

Audra used a scrapbook page that was already punched like this.  Very clever!

Gale's Scratch Art

Mine was done with the traditional stencils found in craft stores everywhere.

Another quick project was this bargello tile art.  I had a really colorful cool one, but gave it way:(  I like this one too.  Mostly, you take tiny tiles and make rows, moving every color up or down one row to make a design.  

Tile Bargello

Lastly, for this post anyway, is a woven potholder.  My dear friend Bonnie showed me how to make something "professional" looking from the potholder loom we all had as kids.  You don't use elastic bands, rather wool or something natural.  You make two so it will protect you from the heat.  If you wanted to, you could add a layer of batting.  Instead of putting on loops, you wind the wool yarn around and then loop off when done.    It's easy to chat and do this with a friend!

Until next time,

Gale