A Sign for the Farm

One of the curses (and sometimes blessings) of Menopause is insomnia. Luckily it is not a nightly thing, but seems to run in cycles. Last night was one of those nights. Wide awake at 3 AM, I decided to get up and start a project that I have been putting off for some time.

It has always sort of been my mantra that I can do just about anything I put my mind to. With this as my motto, I have never been afraid to do much of anything. I always reason that the worse thing that can happen is that I can fail. And if that is the case, well, I am no further behind than if I had not even tried. And so it has been with crafting and sewing....I forge boldly ahead. I celebrate my successes and trash my failures.

About a year ago Hubbs and I decided that we needed a sign for our farm. Since neither of us are particularly great with drawing, we enlisted the help of a local art teacher. She drew a sample sign and I set off with her drawings to find someone who could make a wooden sign for us. I had no idea that a simple sign could end up so expensive. And once again my motto kicked into gear....why pay someone else to do something that I could at least attempt to do myself.

I headed to Lowes and bought a $2 piece of wood, cut out a circle with Hubbs' jig saw....using the technique of finding the center of the board and then nailing a string to the center with a pencil tied on the opposite end to fashion a simple compass. A few minutes of sanding and I had a perfectly round, smooth canvas on which to start. I resurrected my old tole paints and brushes and got to work.

By noontime, today I had finished the sign.....and here it is. All in all I am quite happy with it. I believe I like it much better than the original artwork given me by the art teacher. At some point in the near future I will proudly hang it by the entrance to our farm. If you happen to pass this sign....stop in for a visit!