M is for--Missing!

Missing! I had returned to my dorm room (sophomore year) and he was missing! Fuzzy was not in his designated spot propped up on my pillow.  He wasn't accidentally under the covers. He hadn't fallen to the floor. None of the three roommates professed to know where he might be. 

Soon cryptic messages began showing up in my mail cubby. The words were formed from letters torn from magazines and newspapers then glued on plain white paper. I no longer remember how many such notes I received, but it was made clear that Fuzzy was in someone's possession. Then, the message arrived that Fuzzy would be returned safely IF the ransom was paid!

I gladly made a pan of brownies in the small dorm kitchen and took them to the designated location. I didn't see anyone around as I left them at the specified tree by the small lake at the south edge of town. Then, I returned to my room and waited. Memory doesn't let me recall how long or short the wait was, but the culprit did return Fuzzy. I found him squished in my mail cubby, with a piece of athletic tape over his mouth and his arms tied behind his back with a shoelace! I wish I had thought to take a photo, but I just quickly freed him and took him back to my room where he belonged. Whew!

My closest friend lived in a different dorm on campus, and as the story progressed I kept her up to date on what was happening. "You'll never guess what my roommates have done!" "Look at these notes!" "Now they're demanding a ransom!" Well, the joke was on me, because it turns out that SHE and her boyfriend were the ones who had Fuzzy all along!

They married and live many states away now. But whenever we are able to get together it's a pretty sure thing that Fuzzy's adventure will come up for remembrance. They visited a few months ago, and I had a preemptive plate of brownies ready for them, just in case!

L--is for Long Time Coming!

Long ago, as in April of 2006, I decided to start this hodgepodge blog. Looking back on it, I see that my first post had a comment total of one--from a dear friend from high school and college days. We have only been able to see each other a handful of times since college graduation, and she and her husband had only been to our house once. But, last week they made a trip back to Kansas and routed their travels so they could visit overnight! It was SO good to see them and catch up a bit in real time, as opposed to just through social media (though that also has its place.)

What a blessing it is to have friends with shared memories and shared values that time and distance can't separate!

Hopefully our paths will be able to cross again sooner rather than later.

(I plan to share more about the bear in the next post, which hopefully will not be such a long time coming!)

Winter Sunset

Just a sample of one of the beautiful sunsets we've been blessed with lately.  That pink glow stretches w-a-a-a-y around the horizon sometimes, but my camera wouldn't do it justice, so I'll stick with this.

Sharing

Bumblebee and lightning bug sharing the wealth of pollen available from a sunflower. (Photo taken the end of August.)

April Snow! Where Did It Go?

Woke up on April 20, 2021, to several inches of snow that had quietly fallen since midnight.

Here's the same view about eleven hours later!

K--is for Kites

Today is much too windy for flying kites, but thought I might share some kite memories...

It was always fun when Dad would bring home a kite and a roll (spool) of kite string, probably from Shafers' variety store. It arrived as two lightweight joined sticks rolled up with the kite paper, which in my memory was always red. We would carefully unroll the paper, rotate the sticks to form a T, then hook the points of the diamond-shaped paper to the slots in the ends of the sticks. Next we tied a length of kite string to the ends of the shorter cross stick, bowing it up to just the right curve. Another length of string (maybe two feet long?) was tied to the longer stick through a couple of holes poked through the paper a few inches from the top and several inches from the bottom. The roll of kite string was securely tied toward the top of this string. A tail of old nylon stockings attached to the bottom was the finishing touch.

Then, it was time to go to a pasture at the edge of our small town and go fly a kite! If the launch was successful, the kite would soar up and up as the string unrolled in your hand! One had to watch as the string came closer to being completely unrolled, to be sure it was attached to the core of the roll. Otherwise the kite could take off on its own for parts unknown! When it was time to head home, the string was wound back up on the spool. This took considerably more time than letting it out! More than once I may or may not have been late getting home before the six o'clock whistle blew!

At some point we bought kite string winders, but even that took awhile, especially if we had combined more than one spool of string for reaching even higher heights with our simple paper kites.

Now, the kites we take out are most likely to be the two- or even four-lined stunt kites that I previously wrote about on this page. But the fun of those first kites, and the family and friends with whom I made and flew them, remains!

J--is for Joy

It's always a JOY when we're with the grandkids! Here they are at ages 6,5,4,3,2,1,0, 0. I love how their ages line up in order that way! (even though it only does that for approximately a week each year)

I wasn't sure we'd be able to get a photo this year with all the restrictions, etc., but it worked out that we could all meet for a couple of hours earlier this month.

Previously posted ABCs:

Apple, Blog, Cornflakes Candy, Cantata and Christmas, Draw This,  EEEEE, Family, Gum Ball Machine, HIE, Iris

I-is for Iris

Yes, I'm still here, living life with all of its up and downs, ever grateful for the solid rock of Jesus Christ through it all. I don't know how people manage without His strength. I know that some of the stuff we've dealt with since I last posted was only manageable through his grace. I also know that the blessings we've received during this time were also only through his grace!

The "Scribble Picnic" art cooperative I was part of came to an end last year. It did a good job of keeping me posting fairly regularly. Maybe I need to get back to using a theme. Hmm... I started going through the alphabet a few years back. Guess I'll try to continue with that. And who knows--maybe I'll pick up my colored pencils and throw in a scribble now and then!

Here's a bouquet of some of the iris, and a few roses, we gathered from around the yard last evening.

I give B. credit for getting them planted years ago. In fact, it looks like I did a post about all the varieties we had back in 2008. This link will take you there if you're interested in seeing them. Iris from 2008

Previously posted ABCs:

Apple, Blog, Cornflakes Candy, Cantata and Christmas, Draw This,  EEEEE, Family, Gum Ball Machine, HIE

Pieces of my Heart

Earlier this month a new piece of my heart was claimed when Grandchild #6 was born. He and the other five have taken up residence there, but as you can see, there's still plenty of room for more! God has blessed us!

Linking with Scribble Picnic, where this week's theme is Hearts.

Just a Few

I wanted to get a quick sketch done to join in on Scribble Picnic's “A Few of My Favorite Things” theme, especially since I missed the last theme. The key word there is “quick”! 

Of course there are many other things that are also "favorites"–family, chocolate, the sky, fuzzy blankets...–but this is plenty for now! If you're interested, you can click back on these links to previous drawings or posts related to these favorites of mine.

Mail

Cats, cats, cats

Crochet

Music, music

Bible

Basket

See what the favorites of others at the Picnic are by going here.

Picnic in a Forest

It's a picnic in a forest – a Scribble Picnic that is! Thought I'd play with some watercolors this time. You can take a hike into other forests here.

Other painting I did today involved latex paint. Helped our youngest daughter paint a bedroom in anticipation of a new family member in February! What color? A nice neutral green!

(Note to Andrea if you stop by:  I've left comments on your last several posts, but nothing shows up.  If you go to "Settings" then "Posts, comments and sharing" maybe something was accidentally selected that prevents comments from getting to your posts. Or maybe your notification email address has changed? Might be worth checking anyway.)

Double Bubble Double Trouble

     Do you remember chewing pink bubble gum and making those fantastic bubbles? It was even more fun if your brother or a friend was doing so at the same time. Then the challenge began... who could blow the biggest bubble? Of course, eventually, someone's huge bubble would reach the bursting point with a sudden jolt! Somehow it wasn't nearly as much fun when you had to peel it off your face!

     We usually went with Bazooka gum, since from 1953–2011 it included a Bazooka Joe comic strip! The other brand of choice was Dubble Bubble. Now that spelling of double bothers me, but I probably didn't even notice as a kid. 

     Double your fun by going here, where others are also linking up with Scribble Picnic for this week's "Jolt" or "Double" theme.

Tiny Bottles

     

     Over the years I've come across a handful of small bottles that caught my eye. Some were found half buried, for who knows how long, in the ground around our farm house. Some just showed up in our belongings, perhaps from our parents' things, or again–who knows? I know the original contents of a few, but not all. There's a newer bottle that held liquid garlic; one was probably aspirin tablets; another still has some powder that looks like foundation; and the little one on the left was for Sweet Oil "For Earache". I don't know what the chipped and cracked bottle with the star on it is. But when drawing it for Scribble Picnic's bottle theme, and looking at it more closely, it looks like it might have the letters VRM in the center of it.

     I was too late to link at the picnic last time, but if you care to check out the chicken scribble I posted it's at this link.  See what others at the picnic have poured onto their drawing paper this week here.

Chicken Scratches

Scribble Picnic has started up again, (I missed doing an "Explore" entry) and here it is the end of the day that our Chickens are due to hatch. I almost forgot again, so scribbled out a few chicks and hens, just to try to get myself back in the drawing habit.

Wish I had time to post photos of some of the chickens we used to raise.  Maybe another time!

Hot Dog! (over a campfire)

We have an old wheelbarrow that we usually use as a "fire pit" for roasting hot dogs. I prefer mine very well done–not black, but almost! Put it on a bun or just roll it up in a slice of bread, add a little mustard and/or ketchup and sometimes a bit of sweet dill relish, and there you go. Just leave room for s'mores to be made when the wood burns down to coals!

Had a bonus day to get something done for this week's Scribble Picnic (which will be on hold until at least mid-August), so did this quick watercolor pencil scribble. Originally thought the hot dog would be larger, but this is what I ended up with! Scoot on over here to see what other hot dogs showed up for the picnic.

In other news... our county fair was this past week, so I entered several items, and brought home some ribbons! I'll try to post about those within a few days.

Stars and Stripes

     I so enjoyed the craft night some of our church ladies had earlier this summer! The door hangers we made line up nicely with this week's Scribble Picnic theme of Stars! You can check out other rising stars here.

Ready for a Nap

I've gotten out of the habit of drawing something each week, so thought it was time to jump back in with Scribble Picnic's "Plump" theme. I'm thinking a nap with a nice, plump sofa pillow would be nice!  Yawwwnnn....

Check out other plump drawings here.

Spring Storm

     So often storms bring the threat of heavy winds, hail, or even tornadoes. But sometimes a storm is just a brief passing of some wind and rain. That's what we like to see and are grateful for... rain to sustain the crops and pastures with no significant damage.

     Life is that way, too, isn't it? We go through stormy times that threaten to undo us, but other times our "troubles" are short-lived and really of no consequence. Praying that your life's storms are mostly of the latter variety!

     Linking my watercolor pencil storm with Michael's Scribble Picnic. Check out this page to see other storms that may have threatened to cancel the picnic!

Strawberry, anyone?

Strawberries are one of my favorite things we grow in our garden. I was just out there pulling weeds earlier this week and saw some little green berries just starting to form. Hooray! Before we know it they'll be large and red, destined for topping a bowl of ice cream or shortcake, or going into a pie, or going into the freezer to be enjoyed throughout the coming year!

Linking with Michael's Scribble Picnic. Check out this page for more fresh-picked strawberries!

Thanks to Sketch Dirt for guiding me through this drawing with her great instructional video.

Quilts - a sketch and a barn quilt

I've always thought it would be fun to piece together a quilt, but so far that hasn't happened in my life, though I've made plenty of crocheted afghans, and appreciate having quilts like the one you may have already seen here made by my grandmother.

I drew this colored pencil Cat Quilt sample, but take no credit for the idea for it, as it's completely influenced by the actual quilt you can see here.

Now, if we're talking Barn Quilts, I have painted one of those! It hangs on our barn. "Cross and Crown" is the name of the pattern.

Linking with Scribble Picnic. Go here to see what others have stitched up this week.