T and a Travel Journal

Hi everyone. After some rain last week, the sun has returned and it was another really nice weekend. I got a lot of gardening done and then spent Sunday relaxing by the lake at my mother-in-laws.
I told myself no matter how cold the water was (and it was pretty chilly for late June, as well as it was windy) that I was going to go in for a swim once the dock was completed.
I know it has been a cold spring for us in New Hampshire, but I am often in swimming as early as late May. I am way behind this year.

And the dock did get completed so I went in for my first dip of the season.
The water was chilly but I got used to it.

The dogs enjoyed their swim too. Pete and I do a few laps out to the swim raft  (sorry is not in the photos) and back. He climbs up and then dives in but  I just swim back and forth.

And when I came out, I decided I could relax with my book and even have a late afternoon cocktail by the water.

A Pig's Ear brown ale from a semi-local New Hampshire brewery.  This is a flavorful fairly low alcohol (4.3%) beer. At least the hubby and I like it. 

I am linking up to   Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog  for this week's T day post. Time to share your drink related posts again!

But back to Friday.

It rained last Friday and I spent my morning making a travel journal. I cut apart an old book and used the cover boards to make the new cover of my journal.

I wrapped both the front and back covers in this cool paper I have. 

I bought an inexpensive wooden windmill and rubbed it with ink as well as took a metal gear I had in my stash and used some rust colored embossing powder to make it look a little more worn. I thought the gear looked a lot like the sun so I located it as though it was the sun. And I added a few grass stickers I had. They get a bit lost on the page in the photo, but on the cover they actually are just like ghost images peeking out.  This quote was something I cut off a tag from a pair of pants I bought a while back. I thought it worked perfect here.

I am going to link my cover up to Halle's "Words to Live By" challenge at Art Journal Journey.  I hope the cover works as it isn't really a journal page but it is a page in the journal.
 This is my last link for the month, even though June doesn't end for another week. That's because my husband and myself are leaving to go live our adventure on Tuesday. 

That explains  the travel journal, doesn't it?

It's a strange view but  here's how I bound it.

 My pages are mostly brown kraft paper cut to different sizes so I can add bits to them when I work in the journal. I made it so it would be ready when I get home around July 4.  While the trip is still fresh in my head.

 But I did stitch in a few other papers.

Here's my inner front cover "for now".
And here's the back.

The book was originally a discard library book I got for free at school, and I loved the original library/discard piece to it, so I added that back to the back cover.  And I left some space in the binding without pages so I could insert/tape in some items when I return home.

And so you may ask, where are we headed?

The hubby and I are catching a very early morning flight Tuesday (this T day), and then we'll be off doing some National Parks and exploring the Dakotas as well as a few other spots along the way.
And you might notice I included my Yeti cup with my ice tea in it (when I am home I make a pitcher of ice tea and just refill my Yeti as I want it). Today I am drinking some black currant and rosemary herbal iced tea which is actually really good.

A tea bag usually lasts me a few days as I just add more water and ice to the pitcher as it empties.
 Yup, 2 drinks in this post!
While gone, I am not bringing my laptop but plan on stopping by from my phone. I remember, however, last winter when I went to Florida I had issues with comments going through, so if I don't comment, it's not that I haven't tried. But hopefully it will work.
And I hope everyone has a nice T day next week as I won't joining in then.
But be sure to stop by Try It On Tuesday and the new challenge that starts this Tuesday. I will have a pre-post for that, but otherwise this blog will be pretty quiet until I get home.
Have a wonderful T day, rest of the month of June, and I well see you later next week.