Garden, Art and Family Health

First- I haven't been blogging, because my husband has been seriously ill, in the hospital.  The good news is that he is doing much better and should be home today or tomorrow.  He'll be recuperating for awhile and plans to cancel any future workshops for this year.  We also cancelled our art exhibit that was supposed to start this week in Wisconsin. 
With that in mind, I lowered the prices on a lot of work in my shop, so take a look to see if some of your favorites are now at a better price.

In between driving back and forth to the hospital in Evansville, I have gotten some yardwork done. 
My straw bale kitchen garden thrives.


Digging makes me feel good, even when life is a little askew. 


I put in a new rose bed out front, but didn't photograph it.  While digging the new flower bed, I excavated an old tool! 

It's about 16 inches long total, with a six inch cutting edge.  It's been upset on the back of the blade, from being hit with another hammer, probably a sledge.  My flickr friends generally concur that it was used either to split wood, or possibly in the butchering of farm animals.  What do you think?

Speaking of archaeological artifacts, my mom was digging through my childhood memorabilia, while trying to declutter her own house.
She brought me this lovely vintage Sanrio trinket that I must have liked enough to save.

It's cute, but I'm not a collector of vintage Sanrio kawaii cuties, so I am offering it for sale in my Etsy shop.  I hope it goes to someone who will adore it.

I haven't gotten much metalwork done, but I did finally get a chance to photograph some of the work that I had finished right before Bill got sick.

a rose brooch


a simple sprig of rose leaves as a lightweight brooch


one of my classic designs, a copper oak leaf on a copper chain


A chained wool black heart necklace




The Morel Mushroom pendant, that matches my Morel Mushroom Brooch.  I've put close-up photos here so that you can see the detail in the chased and repousséd texture.

Once Bill gets home, you can expect to see a bit more blogging and metalwork.  For the time being, you can follow me on twitter (lots of politics and fluff) or on my facebook fan page if you only want the art updates.