Yesterday, then Today

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First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and emails when I posted about my concerns with my eating. I guess that's the difference between blogging and talking face to face. Several people seem to be concerned that I'm depressed about the whole thing. Well, I'm not thrilled, but I was just blowing off steam. It is hard, and I was hoping someone would have a magic potion that would make it easier. Alas, it's not to be, so I may just pipe up and complain every once in a while.

Now to today's find.

We're still cleaning out the garage, which was a solid wall of boxes and such. I mean you could not step one inch into it. Now it's getting much better, and we're thinking we'll get it done by the end of next week. It's a strange process. Most of it is boxes of things we used to sell on eBay or take to the flea market. Much of it hasn't been opened in years, so it's kind of like a treasure hunt. Then, every once in a while, we find something that really means something to us. How did it end up in the garage?

Today, we found a beautiful redwood burl cribbage board that Terry made probably 35 years ago. We both decided we should keep that.

Then we found this box that truthfully, I have no idea where it came from. I'm also not quite sure what they are! I can tell you they're this amazing collection of what I believe to be woodblock type stamps.

If anyone has any further information on these, I'd appreciate a comment or an email.

This one is actually metal,
and is obviously machine made.

All the rest are hand carved
and mounted on rough wood.
Doesn't this have that Craftsman era feel?

Some seem to be carved
from a hard rubber.

Others seem to be carved from a
bi-color linoleum type product.

And still others seem to have a woven backing,
kind of like carpet.

What amazes me
is the intricacies of the carving.

Some are kind of hard to make out.
This is a cowboy on his horse,
lasso in the air.

Most are about the size of a pack of cards,
some just a bit larger.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get a large ink pad
and see what they look like
when pressed on to paper.
This is just a small sampling,
there are over fifty in all.

And I'm going to add one to the motorhome,
because, I love them as art.

Which one would you pick?

This one came loose from it's backing,
can you see the bears?

Here's a small set of cowboy items,
two boots, a horse and a saddle.
The wood mounts are also hand carved.

Here's a whole set of tiny animals,
most are about the size of a half dollar.

I'm just fascinated with these. Someone put a tremendous amount of time into this, and had a good deal of talent to boot. I'm sure I picked up the whole box at a thrift store (because, had it been a yard sale, I would have gotten a story). I sure wish I knew more about them.

I really feel that these are art.

If anyone cares, once I've applied them to paper, I may post a few more pictures.

I have one more bit of good news. My cataract surgery was scheduled for the end of March (the soonest they could fit me in). I asked to be put on the cancellation list, since after the first surgery, I will have to wait another month to get the other one done.

I got a call today, and I will get my first implant on this Monday! Is that cool or what?