Preparing for Winter

These photos do not even show the last two or three truckloads the guys brought home this week.    Hubby's brother-in-law happened to see a home with a downed tree, and a sign saying it was free wood.  

The bad part was, that it was cut into those gigantic pieces that most folks do not want to mess with.  Hubby, his brother-in-law, his nephew, and my son, took the wood splitter up and cut it all. There were a few near accidents, but the all came through it in one piece (thank goodness).

We are thrilled.  It's red oak.  The best wood to burn for heat. We are ever so grateful for it.  They guys also took a rake to clean up the person's yard before leaving.

Proud "Mom" Moment:  Hubby said a woman across the street asked where that "young man" was, that had been out helping, and she told Hubby she never saw such a "hard worker."  His brother-in-law told him the same thing.  That "young man" they were talking about is my son.

They brought home 7 full truck loads.  And guess what?  There are more in neighboring yards, and they came out and asked if Hubby wanted it too.  I guess we're getting more wood.  Oh, and the wood is oak too.

Stitched Stationery

Without a television to watch in the evenings, I am finding myself working on my crafting projects more and more.

I just started the art of "stitched stationary" and love it.

I was looking over a few patterns over at Sublime Embroidery, and saw "Stitchable Stationary" but found it was out of print.

Looking a little deeper, I located the blog, The Stationary Place.  She posted instructions that got my mojo going to give it a try.

I searched the internet for coloring pages that were printable.  I re-sized them to fit my note cards.  I used her tip on punching holes over the pattern, and into my cardstock.  I simply held the printed picture with an office clip, and used a bright light to see where I was punching holes with a pin.

I then took embroidery floss and connected my dots, using my pattern for guidance.  I started with this basic cat.  But one thing led to another. 

I found this cute goat, and made him too.  And it kept going from there.

I challenged myself with this barred rock.  Boy, there were a lot of holes for this one.

 And of course I had to embroider a camper (he he!).

If you are interested in making these yourself, I simply cut cardstock in half, width-wise, to make two cards.  I cut white cardstock so it was just a bit smaller than the front of the card itself.  I embroidered the pattern, then attached it to the front of the card with double-stick tape.  I hand stamped the back with a rubber stamp that says "Handmade with Love" and I signed my name underneath where I had stamped.

Oh, and I don't know why I just kept on making cards with the farmyard themes, but I plan to expand on that too.  Maybe flowers, a cabin, cookery, camping, and all those fun things in life.