I have joined a lovely little group of 10 members. We are going to make ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) going through the alphabet, sending each one to a different member each week. So this week it's 'A'. I have done 'A' for Abstract and this is my ATC:
Do click on any of the photos to enlarge them
I took the photo with flash so it's a little washed out, especially the gold third.
I'm looking forward to receiving my 'A' card from Teri in America. How the Internet has changed our world. Marvellous. My little card is off to Julie in Florida.
Buster
I took a little collection of 4 photos of Buster and put them in a 'joiner'. I hope it uploads ok.
He looks so innocent, doesn't he? When I was in the UK, he was a monster apparently and ate two pairs of shoes. Jim's daughter Jenny came to stay with Jim and one of the pairs was hers! Oh dear, bad Buster. He's also hardly eating anything here but is getting fatter, so where's he eating, I wonder?Jenny
Jenny is Jim's younger daughter and is expecting her first baby (a boy) in August. She didn't want Jim to take any photos of her as she said 'they'll only end up on Gina's blog'. How right she was!!
Jenny playing 'tug o war' with Buster
Showing her little pregnant tummy! So Jim will now be a Grandad twice, one girl (Poppy) and one boy.
Exciting Post
I had a surprise parcel today from Mildred from the USA. She has a lovely blog called Nalley Valley and we've struck up a blogging friendship across the miles. In the parcel was a lovely card, a photo of her first rose in bloom and a gorgeous piece of lace, which is intended for a shelf. I put it on our coffee table and it looks perfect there:
Mildred loves butterflies and dragonflies
What a beautiful rose
Gorgeous lace on our coffee table and, below, a close up
There was a label attached to the lace which read 'Heritage Lace, A Welcome Touch'. It certainly is. Thank you once again Mildred. If you'd like to pop over to her blog, it's:
http://nalleyvalley.blogspot.com/ How lucky am I?
Bad Back, Top Barn
I have been suffering with my back since I came from the UK. Today I took a super pain killer and moved around a bit more and it seems to be improving. As I have already mentioned, we are having to have our old barn, adjacent to the house, taken down as it is dangerous. We have a much newer one by our top gate, so we need to have electricity put in there and clear out the accumulated junk. Some of it is ours, some from the previous owners. Here's the 'top' barn:
I took some 'before' photos of the inside, too. It's full of all our stuff to go to the recycling bank. The left hand door is a separate section and is where we store things. At the moment it has the new bathroom suite in there, the old furniture from the ex-conservatory, Boris (oh, that's the name given to our amazing table we bought) and the motorised wheelbarrow, plus sundry other things. I managed to break up some of the cardboard boxes to re-cycle and started sorting the rest of the rubbish for the tip. My back felt much better having moved about a bit. Here are some of the photos:
This shot shows all the 'rubbish' for re-cycling. The wall at the end doesn't have a 'top'. It has a good roof and is waterproof, so we'll be able to move everything from the other barn up here, once it's cleared.
This is facing the other direction! We have to put a door in the end. What a job! The trough along the middle is because it was a cow shed - you can guess what was washed down there!
I didn't spend too long and had just gone down to the house to make a cup of tea when the heavens opened! It absolutely poured down just as Jim came back from the shops. I didn't make it back up but will do some more tomorrow all being well. I did take a couple of shots of the small section too:
Cement mixer and flooring for the poly tunnel!
Under this blanket is Boris! I'll take some photos of him soon
Well, what a funny blog post this is. Super photos of our messy barn! Then I'll be able to show you how wonderful it looks when it's all sorted..... 2010 maybe?
More Presents
I think I mentioned that Jim had brought me some presents back from his last trip. Here they are:
Map of the world, 2 new pairs of gardening gloves and 2 proddies to make rugs, see below
The two hand carved prodders.These belonged to Jim's Gran and he has just received them from his sister, who is emptying her house. Aren't they just wonderful? I have made several proddy rugs (as opposed to using a latch hook) and had lost my prodder, so now I can have another go. I'll be proud to use these, as they are a part of Jim's family history.
Untidy Desk Joiner
Jinksy had put a photo of her desk on her blog and a highly amusing account of all the 'stuff' on it. She dared me to post a photo of mine! I have a temporary desk 'area', so can't be blamed for all the mess.....
Now I can't write as eloquently about the chaos here! There is a computer there somewhere, a knitted scarecrow 'Granddad', a cactus, lots of empty pots awaiting 're-cycling', an angle poise lamp, scissors, some things for making ATCs, paintbrushes, a sewing machine, Kitty's quilt.... etc, etc, etc. Am I ashamed? Not a bit of it. There you go, Jinksy, I rose to the challenge.The Garden
Finally, a bit of green. Jim took some photos in the garden a couple of days ago. The hawthorn blossom is quite stunning and the stream was flowing with full force.
A pretty moth on a post rain buttercup
The bottom stream in full flow
the top of the stream, Jim had just cleared out the leaves
Wild flowers outside the gate. Cowslip, vetch, pig nut showing.
Finally, I lumped all the hawthorn shots together, I hope you've enjoyed this pottage of posting:
