A Very Happy Surprise!

Last week, Kate went out to get the mail, and informed me that I had a package. Okay, I said, but I was busy with something or other, and told her she could open it. What an unexpected surprise… in it were THESE…

About 15 or so years ago, as a very inexperienced papercutter, I applied to Early American Life’s Directory of Traditional American Crafts and of course at that point I literally had no chance to get accepted. BUT, if I could have chosen one place of honor for our work, that would have been it. Last year I gave a brief thought about trying again, and then life was crazy and the idea got set aside. This January, I wondered if I had missed the deadline, and upon checking I found there were a few days left to enter. I consulted with hubby, and he said to “go for it,” and so we hastily pulled our entry photos together and stuck them in the mail. Honestly, I was expecting it to be another learning experience, with hopefully some feedback about how to improve. When the package came last week we were so very surprised to find we were chosen for the 2008 Directory! Although the official Directory will be in the August 2008 issue (publication available in June) we have permission to “shout it from the rooftops!” It took me few days to completely process the information, but here’s an official “WhooHoo!” from Thistle Dew Mercantile!!!

April Showers…

I think it’s supposed to rain again today. I keep reminding myself that “April showers bring May flowers.” We’ve had quite the dreary beginning to this month! However, yesterday the Crab Apple began to show some blooms, and today it’s nearly completely opened. I took a picture, just in case the predicted storms later today knock them off. We call the Crab Apple tree “Dad’s Topiary,” because of the trim job he gave it a couple of years back. It was very bushy, and difficult to mow around, so one day we girls came home to a beautiful Crab Apple Topiary. It was a bit of a shock initially, but I love how the new trim job showed off the twisted trunk! (Dad also made a topiary out of Jo’s pine tree next to the garden, and that tree STILL looks rather interesting!)

The Crab Apple tree has just the perfect setting… right in a little nook in front of the barn. For years it served not only for decoration, but for goat containment. The door just to the left leads into the goat shed, and as a few of you know, we used to have four goats. (Only April, our noisy little alarm clock goat is still with us.) And as some of you may know, goats are good at escaping. They even sometimes escaped, and then let the horse prisoners that lived next door out as well. However, we foiled them with the Crab Apple tree. As soon as they would sneak out of the barn door, the four of them would spy the Crab Apple and forget all about the wonders of the great beyond. They would eat themselves sick, and we could walk right up and get them one by one and put them back behind bars. Very convenient. My only issue with the Crab Apple, is that it’s a flowering Crab Apple, and the fruits are tiny… maybe cherry size? I’d really like to get an old-fashioned Crab Apple, with actual Crab Apple sized fruits so we can make Crab Apple Jelly.

And now, with no furthur ado, here are April’s Art Journaling Ideas! It’s not quite the middle of the month, so I’m not too late!

Randomness, and various other sundry things…

Okay, TODAY is the very random post.

My spinach, peas, and a few bits of lettuce are poking through the dirt and looking happy.

The hens are confused about their identity. Some think they are geese, others think they are sparrows.

The worms are happily thriving on the art room counter. I’m hoping they move under the counter soon.

I wrote a post on the Farmgirl Flair site yesterday.

Yesterday’s Homemaking Challenge was the kitchen, and we re-organized the stuff on the counters. I also bought Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose Cleaner and can’t wait to try mopping with it. Honest!

While looking up the link for Mrs. Meyer’s, I discovered they now have those plug-in diffuser thingies!

Happy things are happening this Spring! ‘Tis the season of growth and new life.

And now I must be off to chore-doing. Have a great Tuesday!