"Hayward South" - Survived flood & storm ...and fun kayaking

Last night my sister Harriett and her daughter, our niece, Alyssa spent the night with us since there was a MAJOR rain storm, and some wind too.. good thing we had our tent over the deck fastened down. We woke up in the middle of the night to the legs of it banging against the camper, and if it hadn't been tied down it surely would have flown away! Harriett's tent, unfortunately didn't fare well. It had two or three poles snapped in half, or bent, and a rip from one of them in it too...besides being flooded...ugghh.



My sister Peggy and BIL Mel also had a couple of their tents ruined in the wind that came up. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but their teenaged kids in the tent next to them screamed a lot when the tent over the top of them came crashing down!



NOOO, this was NOT the river we kayaked...This was the road leading in and out of the campground...it was flooded! And these photos were taken about mid morning as we were leaving to head out to kayak the Wisconsin River...thankfully the rain had stopped early that morning, so we had a good breakfast at my sister and brother in law's campsite.


Susan and Todd have a summer site at this campground, and a real nice, large space there too..they were sheltered more from the wind so had no damage to their tents. This is their kitchen set up... since they have 10 kids, they need a big set up like this. Here are more photos from breakfast too.







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After Breakfast we all got ready for kayaking...

We unloaded kayaks and canoes and put in just below this dam...
But first, we were waiting for the guys to come back from shuttling the trailers to where we'll put out.







And then we were FINALLY on the river.... lots of fun!!







Lunch and swimming time....




Back on the river...lots of pretty landscape, and even an eagle or two!!





And before we knew it... it was time to get out... it was a super day, nice 4 hour trip down the river.

Camping, Kayaking, & Relaxing in Wisconsin's Beauty...

Vacation time... YAY!! We're taking a few days to get away with my side of the family, if everyone was able to attend, there would be well over 65 of us, unfortunately, some had to stay home because of work, or car troubles, or for other reasons. But there are about 40 of us going to spend some time camping, kayaking, swimming, shopping, eating, and just sitting around campfires and having FUN! We arrived Wed. afternoon, unpacked, and proceeded to enjoy our time off! *S*




John was into the relaxing part right away while we put things away in the camper cupboards, refrigerator, closets, and made the beds.

Tonite there was a major thunderstorm however, and it poured down at least 5 inches of rain here. The wind picked up pretty good too, and knocked down some of the family tents. My sister and her daughter, Harriett & Alyssa, came back to the campsite after going into town, to find their tent in the middle of a pond, so they spent the nite with us in the camper - we had a good time despite the rain!!

Limited access here at the campground won't allow me to load many photos, so I'll have to post more when we get back.

So far, day one, has been GREAT!!

"On The Level" ..... found object assemblage

This assemblage piece "On The Level" is based on the scripture passage from Isaiah 28:17;
"I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the level.." (New American Standard Bible Version)

Other Bible versions of this passage from Isaiah talks about the "plumb line", in place of the word "level". Being "plumb" is a construction term that refers to being straight up and down. A "plumb line" is a string with a weight on the end. When you hold the string at the top, the weight makes the line hang down straight. Today most people use a "level" instead of a plumb line when constructing a building to insure that the walls are level.




I've had this old wooden level for a long time, and God has laid this passage on my heart for some reason. Maybe it's because construction terms in scripture are close to my heart because of our own construction business. Or maybe with all the construction plans being made at our Church it's been on my mind a lot as well? And most likely, it's because God is trying to remind me of where I need to stay in my walk with Him and with others too.

When I was looking up the phrase, "on the level" , I found this definition: "..honest, sincere, straightforward; above board, on the square, on the up and up, square, straight. A level (usually with a bubble gauge) was used to prove horizontals in foundations and floorings, etc. The level indicated that things were as they should be. So, "on the level" means a person is as he/she should be, and that they are truthful."



I love the verse in Isaiah 28:16 too... "...this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."
One of the first praise songs I came to love and sing over and over from many years ago was one that spoke of this .. "I lay in Zion, a foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone..." It's awesome when God brings those memories of way back when I was first "in love" with Him, when I first recognized & acknowldedged, with praise and thanksgiving, the real sacrifice God made for ME. Constructing this assemblage was one of those times of remembering my first love with God. PTL!!



The hands in my assemblage piece also reminded me a bit of Michangelo's painting "The Creation of Adam" where God's hand is reaching down to Adam and Adam's hand is reaching up to God. A reminder to me as well, to always reach for God, for God is always there reaching for ME. Thank you Lord!

Summer Fun With the Grandsons!

It's been quite a few weeks since I had a grandson Friday... but today all three grandsons, Jake, Josh and Jeff came for the day.

I didn't have to go into work so we had the whole day to enjoy together, and we DID!

We started out early (8:20 a.m.), before it got too hot and headed up to the Nature Trail by Spring Grove cemetery. The boys all had to bring along a plastic container just incase they found a toad or frog, or bug that looked interesting.*L*






Grandson Jeff wore the old pith helmet that was his Great Grandpa Paul's as we went on our nature safari. Unfortunately we couldn't go very far on the trail ... it's been a couple of years since I was last there, and they haven't kept it up at all - too bad, because it was always fun to go over the log bridges and see the little creeks and other interesting things along the way. The grass and thistles were taller than I am, so it was like a jungle. This bridge was as far as we were able to go, but Jake took the opportunity to search the creek for frogs...which he didn't find!



We went up to the cemetery after we came out from the nature trail, and looked at old headstones, visited Great-Great Grandpa & Grandma Gifford's grave site too. It was sad to see that vandals had been up to the cemetery recently and tipped over many headstones, some were broken too... sure hope they catch whoever did that!!

This headstone was an old one that was tipped over, I liked the hand that was carved at the top of it.



There were tons of black raspberries along the way, along with other "poison" berries... so a fast lesson on not eating berries unless your parents or grandparents tell you which ones are good to eat, was in order. Gramma Berta also showed Jeff and Josh what mean trick she used to play on her sisters with the red poison berries...putting them in my hand, and putting my hand out to shake a sister's hand, then mushing the berries in their hand... heh heh. Of course Josh and Jeff had to try out that trick on Gramma then too..*L*

We stopped at the park at the top of "deadman's hill" for awhile too... (deadman's hill was a great place to go sledding in the winter, my dad used to take me there when I was a kid).




Then we headed home to get cooled off in our "red-neck" swimming pools on the deck. When the boys were a LOT younger and smaller, they used to "swim" in large pots and the coolers we had... they are getting too big for that now, so I had to haul out the large storage bins to let them "swim" and have fun in. We had squirt bottle fights, wet sponge fights, hose fights, and enjoyed the sprinkler, as well as making lakes in the sandbox too.








A fun day with some fun, loveable grandsons!! xoxoxxo Love you Jake, Josh and Jeff!! Can't wait till you come back again!

More workbench stuff....

Some continuations of assemblages in progress... some new ideas forming...

Here is the pregnant torso, some progress in it... still not EVEN close to being what I want it to be though...I am thinking of cutting a hole in the stomach and adding an insert... not sure about that yet either... (see my post from a couple of days ago for the start of this one).


This is just a fun one... not sure how I'll use it yet... but the vase reminded me of three bodies, arms entwined together, so I used it that way...



I am thinking of calling it Conjoined Triplets or maybe Conjoined Trinity??... but we'll see...




And I have other things here in the works too... more to come later...

War - What is it good for?

....ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! (words from that song from the 70's)... but actually, if war reminds us to NOT go there again, it may be good for something... but, I think we may still need to somehow learn that lesson, for we are still going into war again, and again.... we aren't learning how NOT to it appears.

This assemblage of items are mostly things from my father-in-law. He was a Marine and fought in Iwo Jima in WWII. The photos in this installation assemblage are all real, sad, tragic and horrible...they show the atrocities of war.

A few things, like some of the service medals and pins are from others, the dogtags are my father-in-laws, or, in the case of the wooden one (by the grenade), one he found after a major battle... it is sad. Handling these items makes me realize also, how sad a reminder it is, of the many sacrifices made for us and our freedoms, and the many deaths that had to occur, the many tears shed, the many men and women who have died - on all sides.

This is just something to remember, for me, during this holiday 4th of July weekend... more so than the cook-outs, camping, fireworks, etc. This was real life, something that affects us even still.

Thank you to all who gave so much for our freedoms.... and my continued prayers that someday we may ALL live in PEACE!

What a difference 2 weeks makes....

My tomato tree planter is doing WONDERFULLY!! Here is a photo of it today and one from when it was planted just 2 weeks ago ... so far it's looking GREAT!! We should be having tomatoes to eat within a few weeks even!

This one is from 2 weeks ago...

Assemblage ideas in the works....

Since I have more than a WHOLE DAY off yet, I've been going thru some of the stash of things I have accumulated in my dining room ... (this is besides all the stuff in the basement!), and I have pulled out a few things to start working on, putting together various pieces in hopes of being inspired and actually completing something.

So, here, for your viewing pleasure, are a few things on the workbench...



The Family Tree.... (no, these are not MY family members, but they are cool old photos, some are tin photos that I found at rummage sales, some are on a cardboard backing.) I found the cool wire tree at Goodwill... I hope to use this in some kind of shadow box down the road too.



Coyote UGLY... I had to buy this already framed skinned coyote head, I don't know why I HAD to, I just did... *L* John and the kids say it's "UGLY", so I figured I'd give it the letters to go with the title..*L* (not to be confused by the movie of the same name)... in the meantime, maybe I'll think of something cool to use this oddity with. *S*




I also grabbed this pregnant torso to gesso, and then mod podge some stuff onto it. It's a hollow/half form, that can be hung on the wall... I am thinking I want to cut out a hole in the stomach and have an insert put in...still in the beginning stages of it, but I did get a layer of gesso on it and a few things mod podged on it as well... so it's off to a good start..well, it doesn't really look SO good right now, but hey, it's a start!

Vacations .......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The last 3 1/2 days we've been gone. We went upnorth with our friends, Randy and Sue, and had THE best time!! Randy has a cabin that we went to, and after we did a few maintenance things there we had the rest of the time to just relax, eat, sit in the boat on the lake, play some games, talk, enjoy drinks, have time away, dinners out, and meals in, sleeping in late, naps, and great weather! It was so nice not to have to do much of anything except enjoy ourselves! I think I should do this more often! *L* Thanks Randy and Sue, we had such a great time with great friends!! xoxoxxo

And what's even better is that I still have another day and a half off from work too!! ... Thinking ART things... yeah!!