The Magic of Freezer Paper

The Magic of Freezer Paper

Have you tried cutting out those tiny pattern pieces, like eyes? My circles usually look like ovals and get smaller and smaller as I keep trimming, trying to get them just right. I tested a technique that calls for fusing freezer paper to your felt. It’s like...
Our Custom Cornhole Boards

Our Custom Cornhole Boards

Last weekend was the grand opening of Milbridge Commons – a wellness park and garden I’ve been working on with a group of others for more than three years. In anticipation of this event, I asked Paul to make a cornhole game. Before building the boards, he carved the...
A Mama and Her Babies

A Mama and Her Babies

Last month while visiting my parents, Hannah and I visited Boiling Springs and walked the lake. We spent quite a bit of time watching the Mallard mama with her babies. A flotilla coming into shore. Taking a mid morning break on the boat ramp. A fierce mama watching...
Dreaming of Felt and Choosing Colors

Dreaming of Felt and Choosing Colors

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spent every free moment pondering and planning developing kits for some of my patterns. It’s Paul who encouraged me to jump into this endeavor and I confess that I’ve become a bit felt obsessed. I found a wholesale source for wool...
Tin Tiled Back Splash

Tin Tiled Back Splash

When building our house I didn’t install a back splash in the kitchen. In part because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and in part because I just wanted to be finished! After seeing a tin tile ceiling in a restaurant, I started doing some research on...
Mergansers on the River

Mergansers on the River

A lull between appointments gave me the chance to pause and enjoy watching a couple of Common Mergansers floating down the Narraguagus River. I call moments like this “drive by shootings” – serendipitous photos taken from the comfort of the car....
No New Feeder Goes Untested

No New Feeder Goes Untested

Mom (aka Granny Gadget) sent this new bird feeder to me. I finally had the chance to fill it and put it up yesterday. Since the ground is frozen I couldn’t rig a pole for it, so I opted to hang it from the trunk of a young tree. The birds love it. It look just a...
The “Honey Do” Custom Spice Rack

The “Honey Do” Custom Spice Rack

Paul doesn’t get enough credit for things he does for me around the house. He’s a very handy guy. Ponds, duck and chicken coops, pot racks, you name it and he can likely do it. The only challenge is that Paul has one speed. He calls it “half...
Addicted to Christmas Wreaths

Addicted to Christmas Wreaths

I admit it. I’ve become a bit addicted to decorating Christmas wreaths. It started with my Whooo’s Home for Christmas wreath. Then we had some extra undercoated wreaths from our WHRL Christmas Tree Festival that I felt compelled to do something with. This...
A Patriotic Christmas

A Patriotic Christmas

Our Christmas Tree Festival and Auction at the WHRL is but a memory except for the cleanup. This year’s tree was inspired by an Adirondack chair we had leftover from our “Chairity” auction this summer.  Paul said he wanted to paint it up for us and I...
An Upcycled Pallet Tree

An Upcycled Pallet Tree

It’s Christmas Tree Festival time here in town. The past few years I decorated trees with my owls, birds, and woodland critters. I’d planned to follow in that theme, but just didn’t have the time and was in the mood to do something different (I did...
Morning Frost

Morning Frost

A couple of degrees below freezing this morning as I ventured out for my day. I relented and dug out a jacket and gloves and then sat in the car watching the sun rise over the trees waiting for my windshield to defrost. How pretty a morning frost can be.
Better in Black and White

Better in Black and White

A longtime friend photo challenged me on Facebook. The task was for seven days to share a black and white photo of your life. No people. No explanation. It was fun revisiting my pictures, testing which ones look good in black and white; many did not. Others are...
The Lobster Chair

The Lobster Chair

The WHRL’s summer fundraising auction held over the weekend had a new feature this year. In addition to the raffle-style auction, we had a “Chair-ity” silent auction. Local artists decorated folding Adirondack chairs that were then auctioned. Paul,...
Macros and Milkweed

Macros and Milkweed

The Monarch caterpillars are getting quite big. This morning I gave them a new sprig of milkweed. By this evening, they’d eaten all but the stock. I had two new stems of milkweed left in a mason jar on the counter from last weekend. As I prepared them for the...
A Macro View

A Macro View

Last week I splurged and spent $19 on a macro lens for my iPhone. I figured that it would be an inexpensive way to begin experimenting with close up photos of my Monarch caterpillars. I’ve played around with the lens a bit with various results. Once clipping the...
Family Night Out

Family Night Out

Hannah, Paul and I took a break from the hustle and bustle of life and attend a local paint and sip event. None of us have much experience with painting anything other than a wall, but we had fun! The subject was seascapes. From left to right: Hannah, Susan, and Paul....
Downeast Thunder Farm Fox on Wood

Downeast Thunder Farm Fox on Wood

Browsing through a craft show yesterday, I spied a display with holiday decorations created from wood discs with wood burned designs. Last year, I cut discs from a downed birch tree, but never did anything with them. I found Hannah’s wood burning kit today and...