Squeals of Delight!

Remember the quatrefoil window?

Of course we remember it!

Our Amish friends remade it with Cypress wood. It's quite a work of art on its own. But wait, there's more. But just a tease...

That's some tease!

Squeeeeeeee!!!!

This is only a tease, and I'll explain more later, but I couldn't NOT share this with you! I'm so excited I do think I actually squealed when I saw it. I don't believe the church ever had stained glass before, and it's not our intention to turn it into Sainte-Chapelle, but this is so delicious and perfect that my heart pitter-patters. It makes everything seem real. The Church will be a place of art, beauty, and window to God's Unimaginable Greatness.

Stu Stu Studio!

So what do you want to do this weekend?

Foreshadowing shot.

Hows about we make a studio so we can make some art?  First step: let's get some of the Artist's work all up in here. 

Art. Check.

Next step: Let's make it convenient to work. The Artist needs an area to store his tools. 

Hmm, I smell a Sears Solution! Check!

Indeed. What better than a Craftsman tool box. On wheels! 

Mobile unit. Check. 

Ok, before I move on, let's really focus on the joy a simple solution like a giant Craftsman tool unit brings. All the stuff can go in it. All of it! Brushes, pencils, acrylics, oils, papers, tools, tapes, glues and more. There's even a drawer for incense! 

The Craftsman and the Artist!

Even the little lady was happy about this solution! 

I prefer Artists, but Craftsmen have their uses... 

Last step:  it's up to the Artist. He's made his studio. now he must be left alone to create. So let's take a walk. It's early April, and it's been a brutally cold and lengthy winter. So what does Lake Huron look like? 

Frozen

Brr! 

Cold, but beautiful. 

What else is going on this spring around Grindstone Corners? 

No buds on the trees yet...

But there is new life! Look, a baby cow!

Seriously, city girl? It's a calf. MY calf. Back off!  

This Momma cow did a deep menacing moo at me to express her feelings about my interest in her baby c... I mean calf. 

This cow expressed himself in other ways!

Back End!

Mike and I agree- this cow pasture is one of the world's more magical places. There's just something about it. The cows always have attitude, the landscape is always beautiful, and there's always something there that makes you just want to stop and step into the world of the pasture. It's just part of what makes Grindstone so very special! 

I also happen to be privy to what is on the Artist's easel right now, and it is cow-shaped! They are so inspirational!

See you next weekend!

Board, but not Bored

So besides the furnace ouster last weekend, we also kept ourselves from being "board"...

Using old electric cords to bundle ceiling planks

by cleaning up the sanctuary, but not before trying out the art in the new venue. 

This is gonna be good...

Off with the carpet!

Well those wires are a hot mess...

Sharing the vision with daughter Eva...

....pretty sure these aren't "hot"...

...pretty sure this piano's dead...

...pretty sure this church is going to be awesome...

Friend Duane was up with more freshly turned bowls and a check for the barn...

Coming soon to Grindstone City...Duane's Wood Shop!

The Ascetic

The art looks great, with or without the finished gallery. I'm so lucky to have such beautiful art  hanging up around my house. I think some people shy away from art because they are unsure of how to react- or how to think or what to say about it. But painting, like music, dance, and other arts, can touch something in you that doesn't need thoughts or words. This hand of an Indian ascetic, holding the prayer beads, buried in the sand, is such a vision of hope and devotion to me that it just touches me every time I look at it.

I'm sure that's what these two were discussing...

...furnace needs to go...

So that's the other part of the weekend. Family fun with Eva and Jack her boyfriend, Pat and Duane, and of course, the Don, Paul Fisher. 

The Don poses...

St. Michael and his seraphim

Friends and Neighbors

Who's that sneaking around back, hooking up... ELECTRICITY???  Power? Lights? All that comes with the modern age?

Far out! Electricity is surely on the checklist. Light, heat, and TUNES!

But nature is still in charge. Look at the beautiful art it makes on the INSIDE of the window!

 

Friends and soon to be neighbors were up to help with demolition. Thanks so much, Duane and Pat. They will be Grindstone Corners neighbors soon! 

Pat taking off molding

Duane helping to de-nail lumber

Another building that needs love!

The Barn Door is ...closed for now! But not for ever...Pat and Duane are going to bring it back to life. A Wood Shop. Wood, metal, stone.

Can cute get any, gosh, cuter?

So work progresses, even at night now. The ceiling tiles were held up by piles and piles of very nice, very expensive lumber! 

$5-$6 a piece! American!

Wood chair!

Happy Church!

New Friends and Neighbors across the street are renovating Captain Peer's place, but it's not mine to reveal: 

The Old Peer Building

It's going to be awesome, though, and I can't wait till it opens! Ice Cream, candy, and toys! Just for starters...

Meanwhile,  back to work...

I know how to use a hammer.

The Pursuit of Happiness

This is a man inspired.

We need a dumpster.

Hey, when the ceiling came down,

...the Bible got a ding!

He heard a voice and found a church.

Fix walls, sand the floors, electricity, furnace, paint inside and out...

Tile pile:

A man walks his own path...

Where the HECK is my pry bar?

White Church Revealed!

White Church post 60's redo

So we've been "willing to tell you,  wanting to tell you,  waiting to tell you!" What's behind the ceiling? Is it the roof? Is it more wood? Is it BAGS of GOLD???

Should we tell?