Indulge Your Shelf

I'll bet things are in full summer busy-ness at your house.  They are here! We are counting down to less than a month until Ben goes away to college.  The other day his dorm room linens arrived and he must have been excited because he pulled it all out of the big box to check out.   It's still strewn all over my living room. I feel like I've settled into a routine at my new job -- six weeks into it now -- and I know what I'm doing, so the days are flying by.  Busy.  I like the peaceful surroundings of the resort; summer looks beautiful here. I don't have much time for junking and am concentrating on de-stashing right now, so there's not a lot of creative fun going on in my life.  But...last weekend when a storm blew in, I couldn't resist grabbing a bag of vintage red fabrics and starting a fabric book. Still in its beginning phases -- the front cover is a patchwork star layered with some other reds.  The fabric on the right, above, isn't...

We have been sad this week, missing our best friend. Maggie was 13 and has been in failing health for a few years.  She had congestive heart failure and on our last visit with her lifelong vet, he told us what to look out for so we would know when it was time. We spent a couple of  days, tears flowing freely, remembering her entire life.  And what a life she had!  We brought her home for Ben's 5th birthday...  she came from field champion hunting stock and the outdoors was in her blood.  She loved the water and the forest.  I'm so happy that we took her on camping trips with us, and have wonderful memories of her running through the woods and sleeping under the stars. We once rented a cabin because it was right next to a flowing stream so she could play in the water, which was a big hit.  Maggie enjoyed walking, hiking and, most of all, swimming. She was an only dog for a few years but bonded instantly with Snoopy when he jo...

Even though I missed Birdsong this year, I had a chance to get in on the fun: I purchased an extra kit by Lesa Dailey for the class she taught there.  It is a little bird decoration she called Juniper June.  I think I waited about 18 hours from the time it arrived in the mail until I was at my dining room table creating it! I followed the directions all the way up until the end, when I deviated from the style of eyes that were suggested.  I just couldn't quite figure out how to make them work, so I decided my little bird would have glass beaded eyes. Hopefully, it doesn't look too plain. I love my little bird and I had a ball making her! It is the first creative thing I've done in weeks.  The challenge before me: I need to find a way back to both regular exercise and regular art time now that I have a job with regular hours!