Perched on a Wire . . .

So far today, I'm just foolin' around. This card was inspired by one I saw somewhere - different barbed wire, bird, and sentiment. I think I should have had a bigger bird for my card . . . something. While I like "white space," I might be overdoing here. I don't know. The bird, along with the birds on my second card, are paper pieced using retired Close To My Heart Background & Texture papers. I appear to be into the summer color palette today, which is different - for me.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Star Spangled Blue cardstock; Retired CTMH Summer Carnival B&T paper; Black, Star Spangled Blue and Holiday Red ink pads; Verve Stamps Anniversary Birds and Here for You stamp sets; CTMH My Farm stamp set; Black My Legacy Writer.

My second card was inspired by this card by Cyndi Bundy in the Verve Gallery.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Star Spangled Blue, and Clover Meadow cardstock; Retired CTMH Summer Carnival B&T paper; Hydrangea, Holiday Red, Star Spangled Blue, Clover Meadow, and Black ink pads; Verve Stamps Anniversary Birds and CTMH Treasures of the Heart and My Farm stamp sets; Red mini brads; Black My Legacy Writer.

Both the boys called this morning. Cameron is at the lake, and Dustin and Miranda are here in town. Dustin said something about baling hay today, which sent me on a little trip down memory lane.

There were plenty of years when we put up hay on the 4th of July when I was growing up. As a kid, I thought having on a "holiday" was just plain wrong. Now, I understand. The old saying about "making hay while the sun shines" is true.

My nostalgic tour also included memories of the annual 3rd of July celebration that was held in the tiny town very close to the farm where I grew up. Everyone was there. Little kids ran around. Older kids played softball. The adults visited. The town's two churches took turns every other year serving food, so on alternating years, my sisters and I were "waitresses." It was fun work, however. The evening concluded with a fireworks display, which, if I remember correctly, was pretty impressive for such a small town. While I don't know what year it was that the event was discontinued, I remember being there last in 1980. Dustin was three weeks old.

We're going to the nursing home to spend some more time with Marv's dad this afternoon. Marv says he's having a bad day with Marv's mom out of town. Grandpa told Marv that he thinks he should be able to go home, that he's "better." The cliche, "You can never go home again," keeps popping into my head. While no one knows where this particular cliche originated, it is explained as once you make a big change in your life, things can never be the same. There are situations and events that forever change us. I know that. For Marv's dad, it was his move to the nursing home, where he has a bad day when wife of 64 years isn't around to make her daily visit. I understand.

Well, darn it anyway . . . A little talk about haying on the fourth of July has landed me in the dumps, which is not where I'm going to stay . . . Instead, I'm off to Walmart where, along with the necessities on my list, I'm going to buy some vanilla ice cream and a big bottle of root beer. When I get home I'm going to make a huge root beer float, which I'm going to take outside and eat on the terrace. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Tapping on these keys is sometimes about as therapeutic as stamping, which is probably why I blog . . . Later!