The Sky

What is it up in the sky? Oh, it's blue and that big yellow thing must be the sun. I better get ready, trick or treaters will be here in 20 minutes.

Butterfly Gourd

Back from the dentist. Look ma, no cavities! I do have to go back because a bond broke loose and he has to repair it.

On a happier note, the butterfly gourd is done. I like how this one turned out. It sort of looks like a world globe based on the colors. I still have an autumn leaf gourd that I'm working on.

Gloomy Again

Rained last night and it's gloomy again today. What makes it even gloomier is that I have a dentist's appointment today, yuch. Yesterday I went to 3 Wal-Marts looking for a certain votive candle that we will be using in our Advent project. Nancy went to four of them and between us we found the 50 that we need.

Sunshine and Gloom

I went to the woodcarving show on Saturday and even though I went fairly early, I didn't get the selection of wood that I wanted. This pile will have to do and get me through Christmas ornaments. I also bought a couple of ornaments from a carver that will be great for next year's ornament. I had to buy a new knife and so far am very happy with it.

The sun shone yesterday afternoon and then the clouds rolled in, enough already. I went to the Oktoberfest put on by the confirmands and was very tasty. Roast pork, bratwurst, Polish sausage, red cabbage, sour kraut, green beans, buttered noodles and German potato salad, and an assortment of deserts. I worked on the gourds yesterday. Two of them are coming along nicely. I also finished this modern crucifix, it's a copy of one I've seen. This one is in basswood and is 14" tall. The picture was not taken on an angle, it's a straight on shot.

A Gloomy Day

Where is the sun?
Today is the woodcarving show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds. Hope I can get the wood I need for future projects and maybe some inspiration.
Update on gourds... the butterfly gourd has 12 butterflies drawn on them and half have been wood burned, very time consuming. The Autumn Leaf gourd has the leaves drawn and need to be sawed and burned and painted.
Tomorrow is the Octoberfest dinner at Church, which is a fundraiser for the young people.

What a Day

Madeline(Maddie) 16 mos.

Meghan 2 weeks

Yesterday was quite the day. My daughter Karrie, sister Lee and niece Samantha went to another niece's house(Theresa) to see her two week old baby, Meghan. She is a real cutie. Here is a picture of Karrie holding Maddie who is 16 months old and me holding Meghan. Note my "I love wood" shirt; I wore it because my niece's last name is Wood. Theresa also has a set of twin girls who were in school.

After lunch we went to the zoo to see the Samantha's husband, the zooman Jeff. I got to feed the rhinoceros, pretty scary. The tapir was sound asleep and didn't want to get up. The elephants were out in the yard so we couldn't get a closeup view.

A great day and the weather was beautiful.

Notso

It is not so glorious as predicted. It's in the 60's but cloudy. I chuckle at the word notso; an old friend used that to describe a new guy at work who came from the country and that he was not so worldly.
I did get 3 gourds cleaned and painted on the inside. Now to draw on them so they could be cut out later this week. I'm thinking butterflies, autumn leaves and a carved decorated piece. Hope they work out. They always look good in my head.

A Great Day

It's going to be glorious today. I have to pay Church bills and then shop for a baby gift. Then I will work in the garage on some gourds. One must take advantage of the weather. Tonight another Leadership meeting.

Monday

No Bible study tonight and it's supposed to be in the 60's today. A good day to clear out some of the growth in the yard. I spent a lot of time yesterday searching the web for wooden spring clothespins and pillar candles for the Advent project and my sister found the best price for clothespins at Wal-mart, go figure. I have to go look for wire in order to string the clothespins on, which will create a wreath centerpiece. The clothespins will be dyed green.

It's Friday

Yesterday was a busy day; today I only have one thing to do this afternoon. Here are a few pictures from the turkey dinner on Wednesday.

Pumpkin slices waiting for cool whip.

The help is waiting for customers.

They have arrived. Not sure of the total count that we served. There were a lot of carryouts.

Potatoes

We only had to peel and cut up 125 pounds of potatoes. 6 of us got them done in no time. Then I had to go upstairs and pay the bills. I was told that none of the stores in town had easy canned pumpkin so I went to Meiers in Woodridge and got a can and there was only one left on the shelf. I don't know why there is a shortage of canned pumpkin. Tomorrow I have to bake pumpkin slices and waitress at the first serving. Then eat at the late serving and come home to rest.

Prepping for Turkey Dinner

The Ladies Aid from our Church serve a turkey dinner every October. Dan, one of the ladies' husband takes vacation time from work to cook all of the turkeys. Today we cut up 40 loaves of bread for the stuffing and a whole bunch of onions and celery. I did get stuck cutting onion so I put a piece of bread in my mouth and that seemed to work pretty good in keeping away the tears. We also set up tables, plates and silverware for 150. Tomorrow will be peeling and cutting up 150 pounds of potatoes for mashed potatoes.I should have taken a picture today of the workers but forgot. Maybe tomorrow.

Finished a Couple of Things

I finally finished painting the Cub player caricature that I learned how to carve at the Gathering of Woodcarvers. He turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. He will be a gift to a Cub Fan.

I also finished another gourd called a "river runs through it". It has a carved groove all around it with tiny little beads glued in the "river". It's ok but I imagined it better. I'll just put it on the mantle with the rest of the finished gourds. The color is eggplant.

WOW!

Where has this week gone? It's already Thursday. Yesterday I spent the entire day gourding and carving. I am trying different carvings that I could sell and give away as Christmas ornaments. So far I have 3 in mind and the cutest takes the most amount of time so I'm going to do another one of the same and see if I can cut down on the carving time.
I want to paint the caricature that I did at the Gathering of Woodcarvers and get it out of the way and I have to spray another gourd with poly and get it out of the way. At woodcarving class I'm still working on the horse's head; it's taking a long time because I only work on it in class.

Sunday

Well, the LWML Sunday skit is over. Here we are trying to be trees. The congregation loved us as usual. They love to see the old ladies of the Church make fools of themselves.

We had plenty of goodies to serve at the coffee "and". After Church , Marge and I went to visit JD and Norma who have had health problems and brought them flowers from the altar, and a beautiful afghan crocheted by one of our members and some goodies for coffee.

Now I rest.

Saturday

Another week has rolled by very quickly. Yesterday I did get the costumes such as they are made for tomorrow's skit. Four of us will be representing trees. I also baked zucchini bread yesterday, will freeze some and eat some now. Today I went to a funeral of a church member, then some quick shopping. Lee wanted to go to downtown Lemont to see the art show on Main street. There were about 6 vendors. The weather is cold and damp and not a lot of people roaming the streets. Then home again to bake orange brownies for the coffee and tomorrow. Now for a little nap.