End of One Adventure

This post is about three months overdue! If you are not familiar with Teasel, our boxing buddy, now would be a good time to get acquainted. In August of last year, Teasel left us to begin an adventure that would take him far and wide. He returned to us over the summer with a burgeoning logbook and lots of stories to tell. Here is a brief summary of his travels.
He travelled to 9 different states, met at least 9 other boxing buddies, and got almost 200 stamp images of all kinds in his logbook! He went to parks and parties, bridges and churches, and one very special ultrasound!

These pictures are from his stay with Team Knorr.
Here he met Doyle and Toby, other BBs.
He hunted...
found...
planted...
picniced...
posed...
and examined.

Every one of his hosts did a fantastic job of writing notes in his logbook and including pictures to go along with the stamps. My favorite picture is of Teasel being carried by Shoebee (of HG and the Shoebee Crew fame) in a baby bjorn!

The girls have argued, quite emphatically, that Teasel is OUR boxing buddy and therefore he needs to stay home so that WE can take him letterboxing with US. It's hard to argue with that kind of logic, so our beloved Hedgie is ending his travels and will spend his free time honing his carving skills, helping with box maintenance, and foraging in the flower beds. He has confided to me that he is looking forward to more time in front of the fireplace and less time"scurrying about". Perhaps I will get him hooked on trading cards. I also have another surprise for him, but that will have to wait for another post.

CROP Walk LTCs

The Walk is over and the cards are in the mail. If you are expecting these, you might not want to peek!

The four of us participated in the Community Interfaith CROP Hunger Walk in Southern Dekalb County (IL) yesterday. The girls walked one mile with Papa and I walked 5 miles. What started off as slightly drizzly turned into a spectacular Fall day and it was a lot of fun being part of something that will make a big difference in other people's lives. The group we walked with had 167 walkers from a number of different churches in the area and we raised over $18,000! And that doesn't include some of the online donations (not all of them had been verified yet) or any of the matching funds that were pledged. While this was the first year that our church took part, many in the group had been doing this for 15 years or better! I am already looking forward to next year.

The more trading cards I post, the more I am realizing how difficult it is to get accurate pictures of the little buggers. :) The first card, for the silver level donations, is embossed. I discovered some new embossing powder designed for detailed images. I love it! The grains are much finer than what I was using previously and it really made a huge difference.
The Gold Level card is a stamp layered over a printed computer graphic. I bought a T-shirt that looks just like it!
The Platinum level card is the one I had the most fun with. I'm a Farmer's Wife....why hadn't I carved corn yet??? The picture above is deceiving because the paper is textured. I bought it because it reminded me of corn husks. I plan on using this stamp lots!

By the way, everyone who donated received all three cards. I appreciate everyone who helped out with this more than I can say. I am continually floored by the generosity of the letterboxing community at large. Most of the people who sent money are ones that I only have a "virtual" relationship with, meaning that we have never met face to face. But I consider each and everyone of you true friends. Thank you so much!!!