Catching Up, Part 1

A much-needed trip down to Midland Monday meant that I was going to be a day behind all week, so instead of doing my usual post, I thought I'd take today to try and catch up on some much-needed blogging thank yous.

First, to my excellent friend Anita of the Iowa Junk Gypsies, who was kind enough to present me with the Kreativ Blogger award -- right back at ya, sista! Thank you.

And to Sarah, known on-line as Garage Sale Girly, for bestowing on me the Beautiful Blogger award. I'm am truly appreciative!! Each award comes with the opportunity to list 7 things that most people don't know about me, as well as the chance to pass the honors along. So here's my list (don't worry, I'm only doing 7, not 14!):

1. My son is named after Jackson Pollack, one of my favorite artists. The thing I admire most about Pollack was his possession of the courage to carry out his unique vision, something I hope Jack Garrison will share. And now he even has his own stamp! Go Jackson Pollack!

2. I LOVE to read. I could lay around all day with a good book, but I almost never get the chance to do that. Right now, I'm reading a couple of things including "We Two," the story of Queen Victoria's girlhood and marriage. It is fascinating, and I highly recommend it.

3. My new vintage crush is royal family memorabilia; this actually started earlier this year due to a post by Linda Crispell, so the book just fit right in -- as did watching "Young Victoria," which won the Oscar for costume design this year. Also recommended.

4. I live in the house where I grew up.

5. I love to make things and right now am especially interested in all things paper and all things wire.

6. I just lost 10 pounds -- yeah! Go South Beach.

7. I'm not a serious collector of anything, but I've been fascinated for years with flower frogs, especially wire ones. It's their weird, sculptural shape that gets me, and I have enough of them to fill a cabinet in the living room.

I'm going to do the second part of this post later in the week. The aforementioned Jack has to go back to school tonight for pit orchestra rehearsal. But here's a peek at Midland:

And look what greeted us at Allegan Sunday morning:

Despite the forecast, we had no rain Saturday for set-up, and blue skies to start the show Sunday. It did rain around 10, and then again around 1, but there was a good crowd for the season's first show. Team Rhubarb met and even slightly exceeded its sales goal, so we couldn't complain too much about getting wet! Thanks to all who came out -- and stayed! -- to support the show. xo

P.S. Check back later this week for the second part of Catching Up -- some favorite blogs and other things beloved by yours truly on the Internet.