Tax Forms Are Gone

Today's postcard

I'm feeling good - my taxes went off in the mail today. The semi-circle of tax-related papers on my office floor is picked up and out of sight and walking to the desk is no longer a challenge. Maybe now I can be more creative.

No pictures of the post office, since it's 60's institutional ugly - we'll just look in front instead. There is a second post office in Newport, very old and charming, but it's only open in the mornings and I wasn't ready in time. I'll show you a picture of that one of these days.

When I was growing up in Bluffton, Ohio, I loved to go to the post office and admire the huge mural that took up one entire wall. I can't remember what it looked like, but a quick internet search tells me that it is "Joseph Deford and His Friends Building the First Cabin in Bluffton" by Satee Graziani, oil on canvas, 1941. That article says that most post office art works were not WPA funded but were commissioned under the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture. History for the day.

Like Me

Today's postcard - Cape May - for Cindy

I stopped by Steph and Mike's today to pick up some oh-so-cute studio pictures of Aaron. Nora was excited that Grandma and Pap were coming and was agreeable to taking a nap before they came. She fell asleep with a nice selection of books - just like me. I'm surprised, sometimes, that the clunk of a book falling to the floor hardly ever wakes me.

Like every other day, Aaron was not agreeable to napping. He usually cat naps a couple of times, 20 or 30 minutes each, both at home and at school.

My sister likes to spend a few days at Cape May in the summer. Several years ago she sent me a picture of a pink fence with some flowers and plants. I always meant to make a little quilt of that picture and tonight I decided to just go ahead and do it, even though the little postcard doesn't do it justice. Sometimes you just have to make a start - maybe there will be a bigger quilt later.

Spring Light

Today's postcard

I love the light of a sunny spring day. Not too intense, not too warming, so welcome from the bleak winter days and the overcast spring days.

My neighbor's tulips -

Flags at Newport on the Levee -

Ohio River from Newport

Pictures of April

Today's postcard

How wonderful to see the flowers of April. Not in my yard, although next year will be different. I've been looking hopefully for a daffodil or hosta shoots or even the pansies I planted last fall. No luck, although there will be peonies in a month or so. But, other places share their beauties with me.

Ever since we moved to Aberdeen and I first saw the combination, I've loved the mix of pink and white dogwoods planted close together. Different places, different landscaping. In Fremont, a redbud tree was a treasured ornamental tree, in Berea they grew wild on the hillsides. In Detroit, flowering crab trees were the tree of choice for suburban front yards.

It's amazing how ornate some of the common flowering trees are.

We're supposed to have rain and cooler weather for the weekend, but surely tomorrow will be a good day to plant lettuce.

April Take It Further Challenge

Today's postcard

The theme for April's Take It Further Challenge is "How do you feel about change?" In giving the challenge, Sharon mentioned that in our personal lives, change is sometimes regarded as more of an issue than a positive state, for example, midlife changes are sometimes referred to as midlife crises. In the corporate world, however, professional development time is sometimes given to managing change. Remember "Who Moved My Cheese?"

I can picture making a quilt about change, but making one about how I feel about change is harder. I'm still thinking, and it's the 10th already. One thing is sure - I need to do my taxes before I start on that quilt.

Design Wall

Today's postcard

Last fall I was figuring out how to do a design wall. After a couple of trips to Lowe's, I decided on a piece of peg board for the base, 4 feet by 4 feet. It was sturdier than foam insulation board and I decided I'd watch for a sale on flannel to cover it.

I never saw white flannel, and I wasn't really happy with that idea because it wouldn't quite cover the board and there would be sewing involved. I know, I sew every day, what's one seam, but that was my thinking, plus I was thinking that I'd need to use some batting for padding.

Finally this weekend I hit on the easiest solution ever, using white fleece. It comes in 60" widths, is nice and cushy, and there's always lots at Hancock's. I turned the extra to the back and clipped the edges with clothespins. Maybe there will be those cute little clips after my next trip to the dollar store.


I'm happy. I have a board that can be moved from place to place if I rearrange, was inexpensive, and pieces of fabric stick like they should. You'll no longer see pieces of brown pegboard behind my pictures. Hooray all around.

Aaron's Turn

Today's postcard

Pictures for the past few days have been all about Nora. Here are a couple of Aaron pictures, too, taken at the Yellow Park. Nora was highly suspicious of grass during her first year, but Aaron doesn't seem to share that. He was perfectly content to sit and admire it, sometimes tug at it a little.

Aaron with Aunt Tina. That isn't product in his hair, it's sunscreen.