A Bit of Catch Up

The biggest piece of news is that my husband made it safely home, it is SO good to have him back! 

(A rare picture of us.  Neither of us like having our picture taken, but this was real happiness.  I'm so glad that one of our friends captured this moment):

 

I have been busy around the house: crafting, and also getting the garden started.  Every year I start several seed trays a couple of months early.  These are brand new baby tomatoes!  The ones in this picture are all cherries.  They are started from seed I saved last year.  This is my 5th year using saved seeds:

In the crafting department, I've been doing quite a bit of work on the epic stagecoach project.  I'll be writing (much more) on that later.  For now, here is a sneak peak of a piece of it that I've now completed.  It is the front axle and steering assembly:

The end is in sight - well, as far as having a rolling chassis.  (which I've long considered the first major milestone)  I'm looking forward to that!

I've been trying to figure out what to make for the Fair this year.  Last year was my first time ever entering and my tatted Barbie wedding dress won first place and Best of Show in tatting!  I'm not sure how I could top that, but I have definitely been planning to enter again this year.  The problem was that the fair is in August and I had NO idea what to make. 

After thinking it over and talking to my Granny recently, I've decided to make a tatted American flag.  This is another pattern than Granny gave me, it's another one she had made.  I believe she also entered it in a fair and won 1st place.  (same as the Barbie dress pattern I'd used - Granny has won lots of ribbons for her tatting!)

I started on the flag just a few days ago.  It looks like it will be a pretty good size, this is the width of the blue, but the blue part will be 3-1/2 times taller than what I have so far:

It dawned on me that, with my current project, there is a whole lot of blue going on!:

Blue is my favorite color, but I do have different colored scissors and tatting shuttles...  It just so happened I have all of the blue tools and thread going on right now.

My husband and I are also quietly working behind the scenes, working on getting our laser business up and running.  We did a bit of preliminary work online recently, setting up some accounts and checking in on ones I'd set up before (Etsy, ArtFire, e-mail, and the like).  We've also been working together with the software used to design things for the laser to cut or etch.  It's looking like an exciting year to come!