Not long ago I was asked to create a personalized wedding gift. I knew that the person who commissioned my services would tell me about the couple and then set me free to come up with something appropriate. So…I agreed.
The bride and groom are both devoted disciples of Christ and have a passion for helping others. It took me a couple of months, but I finally came up with something (wild though it might be) that would be a symbol of their passion for each other, their Lord and for touching the lives of others.
I made it out of steel and copper and embellished it with some metal leaf. I call it “Light Your World”.

The thing weighs ten pounds, so you can’t just pop it in a gift bag and head to the wedding. So…..I decided that instead of the usual bag or paper covered box, it should travel to the couple in a wooden crate adorned with the brand of my gallery. At that point I had to cut and paste, since I had neither crate nor brand.
I started with the brand.

I fashioned the initials “BRG”, for Bend in the Road Gallery, out of steel and

and made myself a branding iron.
Then I built a crate

and fixed a slot for the base of the sculpture to slide into so that it wouldn’t move around.

Next I started a fire and heated the branding iron. Before long, I had made my mark

on the lid of the crate. Now, I just have to secure the lid, and that box will be checked.

Yesterday was sort of a lazy day.

Maybe slower paced is a better description.

But lazy still works for some of us.
I mostly just piddled around the place, got caught up on the laundry, did a little house keeping at the barn, and spent time with the animals.

The ducks have really gotten pretty. I wasn’t expecting them to be white. The crested ducks that I had before were brown and gray – but I’m o.k. with white.

Sassafras, who lives with the ducks, spent a good part of her day hanging out under the fig tree.
I put Polk Salad Annie outside to play in the grass, but brought her back in

before dark.
I surprised the goats with roses,

which happens to be one of their favorite snacks.

The water in the fish bathtub cleared up nicely. That took about a week.

I have this one broody hen,

who hates to see me coming. She knows that I’m going to take the eggs out from under her. I wouldn’t do that if we had a rooster. So, those eggs wouldn’t hatch if she sat on them till the cows came home. And that would be a long time, since we don’t have cows.
I meandered through the lilies in the evening. Even though they’re not at their best at that time of day,

they were still beautiful.
My life is not a part of the same rat race that most of the world seems to embrace. And even though I do march to a little different drummer, its still good to take things down a notch. This morning,

when Joel pointed out the sun’s rays reaching across the room,

I went out and strolled through the garden.

Everything was fresh and new. Flowers were open that were not open yesterday,

and will not be open tomorrow. Creation calls….it’s going to be another slow day.

This morning I bought one of those corner shelving units for my utility room.

It came in a box, so there was obviously some assembly required. And that box weighed about 75 pounds. I managed to get it from the shelf, to the cart, to the car, to my living room, by myself.
Then I opened the box and got out the instructions, since I have been told that prior planning and preparation prevent poor performance.

After I completed step one and was about to start step two, it occurred to me that I was following instructions for the wrong unit. Imagine that.

I found the real step one and started all over. Why you would include instructions in a box for something that isn’t even in the box is beyond me.
When I finally got on the right track, the thing went together pretty well. I screwed the wheels into the bottom and rolled it to the utility room door. I’LL BE JOHN BROWN IF THE THING WASN’T TOO WIDE TO FIT THROUGH THAT DOORWAY! My only choice, if I didn’t want to call for help, was

to take the door off its hinges. And that’s what I did.
It was still a tight fit…but it fit.

I rolled it over and positioned it in it’s corner. I don’t mind tellin’ ya…I’m sure glad I got that box checked.

This morning while I was at the feed store, I decided to buy

a new float valve for the little pond in the pen where Sassafras and the ducks stay. Before you leave the store it’s always a good idea to take a gander at the instructions

to see if you need any parts that are not included. I probably don’t need to tell you that that did not happen…but, that did not happen. Sooooo, I had to drive back into town to get parts that I needed to connect the float valve to the water source.
I went to Home Depot and spent some quality time on the isle with the PVC fittings trying to figure how to put together something that would work. All the while I’m thinking, “Adapters and couplings and elbows, oh my.”

I finally figured it out and came on home. I went out to the shop

and made something to hang the float valve on,

which I then had to pound into the ground. That kinda turned out to be a deal, but I got-r-done.

I had already glued the PVC stuff together, so I just had to attach the float valve to the post.

I thought I did pretty good….I mean, for a girl.
But, there’s something else that you need to know. Earlier, I had put Polk Salad Annie in that pen with Sassafras. They had gotten acquainted a few days ago, so I thought that I would go ahead and move Annie outside. WELL, Sassafras chased Annie all over that little yard until Annie jumped in the pond and hid under the overhanging bank. I got her out, and everything calmed down. I figured that I’d just give them a little time to work things out.
About the time that I got the PVC fittings glued together (the rabbits had been together a couple of hours) Sassafras took out after Annie again. Annie took cover in the pond again. This time, I had to wade in and get her out. Well, I almost didn’t get her out because I got bogged down in the mud, and one of those suctions formed. I was afraid that I was going to be there a while, but I lost my balance and fell onto the bank, releasing the suction…but not the rabbit.
Poor Annie was terrified. I brought her back to the house and put her in her cage.

I finally got the mud washed off of my feet. But, I wasn’t the only one with mud on their feet.

Bless her little heart.

Yesterday evening not long before dark Donna and I were returning home from having dinner with friends. We were about half way down the driveway when I noticed Willow eating clover, which would have been fine had she been in her pen. THANK GOODNESS it was clover and not daylilies. I put her back in the pen and noticed that she had made another big hole

in some chicken wire and crawled through, with Rose and Jasmine right behind her. Then, the best I can figure, she got on top of the sink and jumped over the gate. The last time that she tried to pull something like that she broke her leg, and $900 later she was good as new.
Well, I dragged my 55 gallon barrel of chicken manure in front of the hole and hoped beyond all hope that they would behave until morning. And they did.
As soon as Home Depot opened,

I bought ten pieces of 5/4″ decking, some lag bolts and a box of nails. Then, I started to work on a new fence.

The twins showed up and

offered a little help. But, before I realized what was going on, they found my camera and had themselves a fabulous time.

At one point, I turned around to find Hudson with the camera, trying to take advantage of what he obviously perceived to be a wonderful photo opportunity. He was holding the camera as close to Willow’s rear end as he possibly could and still be in focus. I wish I had a picture to post, but, like I said, he had the camera.
Then, he discovered the hose and wanted to know if he could give the goats a bath. I explained to him that goats don’t like water.
About fifteen minutes later, I caught him peeing in the feed trough. I said, “I can’t believe you!” He shut if off and ran to the pasture yelling, “I need to hurry!”
All the while, I’m trying to build my fence.

And, I got it built….before lunch. It was worth the time and money. As a matter of fact, the cost was less than just one of those blooming daylilies … which, by the way, cost the same even if they aren’t blooming.
As we were leaving the barn, one of the goats was peeing in the dirt. Hudson walked over to her and said,”I can’t believe you!”

Yes, it has been a while. As a matter of fact it has been way too long since my last post. But know that I have repented of this sin of omission, and am making things right today. So, let me sum up what has transpired during my “silent period”.

The daylily garden is beginning to come alive. The roses are in full bloom, but because of the unusually cool weather, the lilies have been a little slow…but beautiful.

We had to put a gate

where no gate has been before because of our ‘e-scape-goats’. Those Houdinis of the ruminant world have escaped through a hole (that they made) in the fence in the barn area. They were found eating

daylily scapes in one of Josh’s gardens. (Not good)
The Crested ducklings

are now sporting beautiful white feathers and loving being in the water.

I traded in the two little Dutch bunnies because they were both males. If you remember, Joel brought them home not realizing that they would fight when they got a little older. This has happened here before and it isn’t pretty. Later I went back to the feed store and came home with

this little female that I call Polk Salad Annie. (One of the first things that I fed her was some polk greens that we pulled out of a flower bed.)
We’ve been trying to spruce up the yard for the convergence of daylily people.

And at Donna’s suggestion, I turned the old bath tub

into a goldfish pond.
With scraps that I had in the shop,

I built a trellis and planted a running rose in an attempt to hide those outside units.
While I was at it,

I made a few more ‘geardenias’. And,

I made a mallet and froe to split small pieces of wood for starting fires. Speaking of fires,

I’ve done a little open hearth cooking. One Sunday after church, I cooked vegetables and pork loins. Then last week,

I set up my little oven after

hanging a roast in front of a nice hot fire. It only took a couple of hours to cook and was delicious.
Still on the subject of fire,

I fired up the forge and had myself a hot time in the old town.
I fostered a stray kitten

for 24 hours. We found it a good home thanks to Nikki and facebook.
I’ve also spent a good deal of time on the Azalea Trail

with friends and family, visiting and

measuring trees.
So you see, it has just been a normal few weeks, and

that should about get you caught up.