Rainy day carving.

We have had some glorious sunny, summer-like days around Western Washington as of late. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for us sun-worshippers to start to get used to it. But today it is back to what is normal for us, especially on the coast - rain, wind, and overcast skies. 99% chance of the wet stuff only leaves one thing to do - hunker down inside and carve!

oops! it's all fun and games until someone loses an ear! haha!
well, that was a little slip, but no worries -
I am always fascinated with these one-line drawings

Inspired by a standing request for dog stamps on AQ, I carved my favorite breed of dog - lab. There was Sundance, and then Butch. Now there is Winchester (Chester, for short). Sundance was a beautiful blonde-yellow lab, truly a beast of a dog, that was gifted to my ex. before we met. When we had our first child, I decided Sundance needed a friend so I picked a non-papered black lab puppy from a friend's litter. The years clicked by, and then there were none. After Rob and I got divorced, he got a chocolate lab puppy that he named Winchester. What a sweetie! Chester actually looks a lot like Bo, a lab Rob had when he was a boy. Labs are the sweetest, most friendly and loyal dogs, in my opinion. They really like people, and they show it. It is just too bad that they are so big and goofy because it makes living in small spaces with them challenging. We have decided not to have pets for numerous reasons, but that doesn't mean I don't want to talk to and pet every lab I see. 

Oh my gosh, another fern! Sheesh, I love ferns - we have a shady area in our garden that we have filled with different types of ferns, both evergreen and deciduous. They are amazing. And who doesn't love a wonderfully magical fiddlehead? Besides, they are so simple to carve. I am still inspired by a local letterbox stamp of a simple fern carved on an eraser. It was perfect. Now I have to decide whether to keep this little frond or plant it somewhere.

one of the beauties from our 'fern grotto'

Pinky keeps an eye on some potted ferns
on the other side of the yard

And then there is this. Anyone who knows me even a bit will know that I love road trips. In fact, we are planning another extended road trip as my graduation celebration in Spring '22. With all the chaos of the last year+, I am itching to do some wide-ranging travel, except that I don't want to fly. Call me a wiener, but breathing airplane regurg-a-air isn't my idea of fun. Flying isn't my favorite, anyway. I have always ended up with a sinus infection even when there isn't a pandemic. But with the amount of folks that don't want to get the vaccine, the chances of actually catching some kind of creepin' crud only adds to my discomfort. Besides, you can see so much more from the car anyway. 

But I digress. We are planning a road trip! Inspired by my daughter and her partner who just returned from five days of national park hopping (they visited 4!), we are compiling a bucket list of destinations. I always want to go to Utah (duh!) and we want to go back to Mt. Rushmore. We talked about Disneyland, but Samsonite and T-for-Turtle (who is now grown!) made it clear they don't really care where we go - they just wanna travel! I don't blame them. Just hitting the highway with the sun shining and the windows down, under a big sky with the open road stretching in front of us - ah, now that's really living! For me, that is the American Dream. So, I carved this stamp to inspire us and to use somehow in our planning and 'boxing along the way. Nah, it is not perfect, but that could have been because I was daydreaming about being on the road. 

Well, it has stopped raining for the moment, and the sky seems a little brighter. Maybe it is time to step away from my office and take a walk before the next wave of rain rolls in ...