Packaged And On Its Way

Yesterday was a wet, gray day here in our part of Alabama, but nobody is complaining because we definitely needed it.  We have been under drought conditions for a long time now and everything is so dry that the governor issued a statewide fire ban. We’re supposed to have more rain over the weekend, and though it won’t be enough to completely overcome the drought, every drop helps.

Travis and Geli came over in the afternoon so Terry could help him package up one of his art creations and get it ready to ship out. This is another one of his barn quilts made from pallet wood and naturally stained that he made as a wedding gift for our granddaughter Hailey and her husband Toby.

I used to sell a lot of items on eBay years ago and Terry became a master at packaging everything from Aladdin lamps and other fragile collectibles up to much larger items like vintage bicycles so that they would get to their destination in one piece. For the barn quilt, she started out by sandwiching the gift between sheets of cardboard and strips of Styrofoam for padding, and used Styrofoam as corner pieces.

Then she took a much larger box we had and cut it down to size for the final packaging.

By the time it was all put together and taped securely there’s no question that it’s going to get to Arizona in fine shape. I know that Hailey and Toby are going to love it. Travis sure turns out some amazing artwork using very simple methods and materials.

Be sure to enter our latest  Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Hands of Onyx, book 2 in the Sav’ine series by Stacy Bender. It’s a story about cybernetic soldiers escorting a long haul space freighter to the outer rim planets, dealing with saboteurs who are trying to stop them and a crew that includes a half-blind medic, an explosives expert who is a sociopath, and an interrogator suffering from dementia. What could possibly go wrong?

To enter, Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – I hate when people ask me if I’m ready for the holidays. I’m not even ready for today.