Wisteria memories and an ID

I love Wisteria! I remember it growing over the back porch at my Great Aunt Mary's house and sitting out there with various great aunts (my grandmother was the youngest of 17!) while they chatted in early spring. The bees would always be buzzing away as they explored the intoxicating fragrance of the blossoms.

Later in the summer, the lush green leaves were a cooling canopy for us while we cleaned "snap" beans for a family dinner.

I suspect those memories prompted me to plant the one in the picture above about 8 years ago. In the past couple of years it has finally come into its own. I'm sure I planted it much too close to the house and with construction planned for the summer, it may have to be moved.

Spring is so full of beautiful sights, I can't seem to stop posting about them. Soon, I may have some glass to gush about, but right now...

This yellow flower is one we couldn't identify off-hand in one of our rambles. As it turns out, it is Marsh Marigold. Seeing it at a distance, we just weren't quite sure of it - thought perhaps it was an amazing stand of yellow violets. We saw more and more expanses and finally got close enough to snap a few pictures. After some consultation with a wildflower field guide, we came to the correct conclusion.

Alpacas again... and a newborn!

I just love these furry creatures and I happened to have a camera along today. I have been watching to see if, like there seem to be with every other animal in the fields, there were babies. Sure enough, I looked and there was a little fellow(?) lying down beside his momma all tuckered out.

They were far away as usual, but even my presence seemed to make them move.

The baby hauled himself up and trotted along behind Mom toward the far fence line. She sure keeps a good eye on him! One of the humans from the farm was just standing silently in the field among them. I think she was hoping for a better view of the baby too!

He/she sure looks spindly in the midst of these wooly creatures. By next winter, I imagine he'll seem just as puffy as the rest!

The neighbors seem to want to get a good look too...

I wonder how an animal can appear to be so regal and so goofy both at the same time!

I wish I had the camera along with me last night when Bob convinced me to go see some baby Pygmy Goats. I have a feeling we may go see them this weekend while Rob is home with friend(s). Baby Pygmies are as close to living stuffed animals as you can get with their perfect little hooves... No, we are NOT bringing any home!

A Lancaster County Dessert Sampler

It is great selling to some of our area's popular tourist attractions because on the days we make deliveries, we get to see and visit a lot of beautiful and friendly places.

On our travels yesterday, we stopped by the Bird-in-Hand Bakeshop on Gibbons Road (in Bird-in-Hand!) and found this marvelous sampler of Lancaster County treats.

We are not known to be small (girth-wise) people in our area. Most of us have been raised on traditional German influenced farm diets and since most of us no longer work on the farms with the accompanying physical activity, it shows.

Regular meals involve lots of starches.. often more than one per sitting, along with sauces and lots of sweets.

Traditionally, every good Lancaster County housewife always had at least one - usually more - pie on the table for dinner. In the winter, when the fruit was scarce, Shoofly Pie, containing brown sugar and molasses filled the bill.

This sampler, containing not only Shoofly Pie, but a number of other local delicacies, is perfect for a visitor to our area to get a good taste of some of our sweet specialties.

On the platter we have: 1. Shoofly Pie , 2. Apple Struesel, 3. Whoopie Pie, 4. Chocolate Shoofly Pie and 5. Sticky Bun.

I purchased one of these samplers because our son is planning to bring a friend along home from college this weekend and wanted her to have a chance to try a bit of everything. She is from Connecticut and her father is a chef, so I'm sure she will enjoy it. I might have to go pick up a few more for everyone else to try, too!

More Spring

Is it really this beautiful every year? I know it always amazes me.

I wanted to share some of the sights I am lucky enough to see every day.

This sight greets me each morning when I walk out to the shop... The red tulips and grape hyacinths grow outside the shop door.

I really believe the reds are much more vibrant this year... Everywhere, not just here, I see them and the red just glows! I asked Tina if it seemed that way to her and kinda got a blank stare (we do that to each other from time to time). I'd think maybe I was getting cataracts, but then they would seem dull rather than brighter

Walking past, or driving in and out the driveway for the past month I have seen the fruits of one fresh Autumn day.

Bob and I had purchased a number of bags of daffodil and tulip bulbs. He started up the tractor and scooped out big sections along the driveway, between clumps of day lilies. We placed the bulbs randomly and Voila! Each spring we are rewarded with this gorgeous display.

Most of the daffodils are already finished, but now the tulips have replaced them and the brilliant yellows are being replaced with oranges and reds, with the occasional stray pink!

Walking back into the house, I pass an exceptionally beautiful bed of various tulips. This bed is in the direct sunlight and the crocuses in it are some of the very first signs of spring.

We put some especially nice tulips in this one and it is just a joy.

The crabapple tree is one of my favorites... We have pictures of Rob helping his dad to plant it when he was probably 3 or 4.

The big pines behind the crabapple were Charlie Brown Christmas Trees when we moved in 20 years ago. They truly were tiny little misshapen things that I watched and pitied outside our kitchen window as "Bobby" and I would eat our breakfasts together.

Now, they have grown big and strong and bear very little resemblance to those sad little things. Just as Bobby is now Rob and grown into a man.

Pay Back!

After our beautiful day goofing off yesterday, the piper had to be paid!

There were a couple of orders waiting to be filled and after pulling them from the shelves, we saw all the empty spots and realized there was a soaping extravaganza in the very near future - like today!

So, while Tina wrapped soaps for the orders, I made four batches of soap.

These are the soaps, neatly put away for the night in their molds. I made Lily of the Valley, Wise Woman, Seize the Day and Honey & Oats. Tomorrow, they will be unmolded, then cut and trimmed.

The shop is always permeated with the combined fragrances of all the soaps, but on soaping days, it is even stronger - yum!

Tina has had a project going for the last couple of months. Since we don't scrape the pot because the last bits of soap will not mix into the regular soap and may cause discolored spots. She was alarmed by all the soap that was scraped out of the soaping pot and into the trash.

She lined a small mold and when we were finished with a batch, she would then scrape it into the mold. If there were scraps after cutting and trimming, they were added to the mold. Eventually the mold was filled and the picture to the right was the result. Pretty colorful, huh? We have a new one going now and we can't wait to see the results. We're calling it "Wacky Soap".

So, tomorrow, the latest edition of The Essential Herbal will be hot off the presses and so I will be with Tina getting it sealed, stamped and in the mail. Can't wait to see the finished product. Each issue just seems to get better.

Sometime between now and Sunday, I hope to get my groceries for Easter Dinner!

A Perfect Spring Day!

It was a glorious spring day here. It started slow, but, boy oh boy it turned out to be just great.

Tina and I decided today was the day to search for some Dutchmen's Breeches. A friend had clued us in on a place where they were growing wild and not protected by law so we though perhaps we could bring some home.

The weather was perfect and after attending to a few other errands, we started out. We went almost right to the spot and found our treasure trove. Neither of us had really seen them growing in the wild - at least not in such profusion. We dug a few and stashed them in the back of the car.

Our appetites were whetted and we continued on to a wildlife preserve near Safe Harbor called Shenk's Ferry. We had both heard of this place, but never visited.

We had heard tales of the amazing varieties of wild flowers that grow there and we had also been warned to only visit on a weekday because weekends were very crowded - which I would think would spoil the ambience!

As we drove down the bumpy dirt road leading to the walking path, we rounded a bend and Tina yelled, "Stop the car!" I barely had the car stopped when she jumped out and ran to a meadow like area that happened to be polluted with trilliums! Now, you have to understand that Tina has been attempting - unsuccessfully until this year - to plant trilliums in various places. She was ecstatic! They were interspersed with Dutchmen's breeches, so it was a great find.

I slowly drove the car along the road as she pranced and took picture after picture. As I rounded the next curve, the meadow rose up to become a steep hill, which was covered with Virginia Bluebells.

Just last week, I had purchased a plant of Bluebells at the Pa Herb Festival because I thought they were so beautiful and would make a wonderful addition to the native plants in our own woods. To see them in such numbers was almost overwhelming and we hadn't even officially entered the preserve yet!

I'll leave the rest of the reporting on plants to Tina, but I did find some interesting sights that caught my eye. For instance, the big hole in this tree trunk provided a perfect planter for some Dutchmen's Breeches and you can see what spilled out all around the base of the tree.

So many lovely sights and amazingly, the flowers started to become commonplace!

The path was nice and wide and well kept, on the side of a very steep hill, but creeping right to the edge was an astoundingly wild area. The path dropped off to the right steeply to a nice sized stream and some places it gurgled and splashed providing a pleasant accompaniment to our walk.

At a fork in the trail, this structure rose up from the side toward the stream. It completed the feeling of being in a faraway place. It reminded me of the ruins of a castle. I was waiting for a fairy or leprechaun to appear at any moment!

The whole experience was like something out of time. In fact at some point, we decided we had better turn around and get back to the car.

We have decided that the area will be changing almost daily and that we must get back hopefully once a week to document all the wonderful things there.

On the way back, the sun was shining ina different direction and so the flowers were not as evident, but it did seem that more had come into bloom while we were walking! We had only seen one Trout Lily on the way in, but a number more were to be seen on the way out.

This gnarled mass of roots was covered with a variety of flowers, but the real mystery was what might be living in the hollows!

We drove out of the preserve and rejoined the rest of the world, realizing we were hungry and thirsty, things we hadn't even thought about for a couple of hours while we were lost in another world.

Waking up to the world waking up!

What a beautiful morning! Yesterday, I looked outside and at first glance it appeared we had a shower overnight. You can see that things are "greening up" under the pergola outside our back door.

When I stepped outside, I saw... white stuff! It looked like a very thick frost and most of it had already melted away, but when I checked a little farther from the house, I found that it had, indeed, snowed!

This should not have surprised me since when we were kids, it seemed every spring we would hear the story of the day our grandparents were married, April 14, in the biggest snowstorm of the year!

I found a Motherwort plant (that I had forgotten that I had even planted) and saw how beautifully it is coming along, even with the snow tracery around it. That gorgeous bright green is sooo welcome after the grayness of winter.

The daffodils have been knocking themselves out for some time, but now the tulips are coming along to pick up the slack as the earliest daffodils begin to fade.

Actually, everything is starting to really wake up from it's winter nap.

I looked up and saw the sun just starting to peek through the pines behind the house and wanted to see what kind of a picture this shot would produce. I like it!

Those big pines give us such nice shade in the morning now, but when we moved here, over 20 years ago, they looked like Charlie Brown's Christmas trees! I think they each had about 2 branches and they were so misshapen. Rob was a baby then and when we sat in the kitchen as I fed him his breakfast, the sun came straight in the window, blinding me!

Of course, Rudy came with me on this early morning ramble. He looked up at me as I was pointing the camera his way and I felt the need to snap his picture.. he's such a sweetie!

His coat is so full and we have already begun brushing him to help the shedding along. He's, oh, so much more cooperative this year!

Shortly after we went back inside the house, we had some very serious looking snow squalls! They passed quickly and we went on to the sunny spring day we were hoping for.

Bead Shows and Mangos

First, I must report on the Intergalactic Bead Show at York, PA this past weekend.

The picture to the left is "our" table. Once again 4 of the Sizzlers shared a table under the umbrella of Mothwoman. If you can see the white arrow in the picture, it points to my portion of the table. Oh, and that's Faith's back!

I believe people have been chomping at the bit to get to a bead show. This one is the first relatively local show since before Christmas and the customers were lined up well before opening. The organizers opened a bit early and the line continued for at least a half an hour. We were busy non-stop for the rest of the day. It was pretty exciting.

The jumble of beads is just a quick shot of our neighbor's table. He had probably 6 tables that all looked a lot like this! What a great selection, along with some really great silver findings. It was very tempting with all this treasure so close, but I did manage to contain myself and only bought a few furnace beads and a ring base.

The fruit in the picture to the left, next to the apple, is an Ataulfo mango. It is quite small for a mango. This variety is ripe when yellow and the fruit itrself is sweeter and less "stringy" than what I consider to be regular mangos.

This site has lots of information along with recipes on the different varieties of Mango.

We discovered it on a trip to our Farmer's Market and remarked that it didn't look like a mango. The gal behind the table explained it to us and we tried it.... If you see them in your produce section, they are certainly worth a try!

Crocs, Wheatland & Spring Beads

We had some deliveries to make last week and started out in Amish Country.

We made a few stops and then got on to the serious business of finding some Crocs. I've been reading about them on some of the forums I frequent and in fact, one of the nurses at the day surgery said they were the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn.

I had searched the crocs website for a location near us and found a place that, sure enough, had a small selection of Crocs. I tried to post a picture, but you'll just have to check the site.

After purchasing one pair each of the navy "Beach", we decided to try another possible shop just to see if they had a wider selection. Oh, and by the way, they ARE someof the most comfy shoes I've ever worn. Clunky, but comfy and light as a feather!

On the way there my sister, Tina, (the other part of the "we" I'm talking about) said, "Oh, there's the Arboretum, I'd sure like to stop in there soon."

I said, "You mean now?" and screeched into the driveway.

Now, I knew she would take care of the actual Arboretum on her blog, but it happens to be right next to Wheatland, the home of Pennsylvania's only president, James Buchanan.

This is a different shot, since it is taken from the side. This walkway is from the Lancaster County Historical Society. Usually, pictures of Wheatland show it from the front. I imagine at other times of the year, when there are leaves on the trees, the buildings are invisible from each other.

We never did find anymore Crocs in Lancaster - although over the weekend, I managed to find a pair of brown "Aspens" in Harrisburg.

The spring weather (predicted to go rapidly downhill tomorrow with a snowstorm!) has inspired a number of springy type beads - colors and flowers.

The floating dots are the pastels of spring and Easter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a bunnie right in the middle of the set!

The set would look right at home in an Easter basket...


The flower and leaves are etched for a really soft look. They are spring - verging on summer. I think the picture here actually makes this set look better than it is, but I wouldn't mind trying this again. The leaves have beads at the tops and the flower is built on a small bead.

The flower is about 35mm from the top of the center petal to the small leaf at the bottom. The way the beads are arranged here, the whole set is 60mm from right to left.

We're almost there (Spring). Now the calendar agrees and the weather will soon follow suit!

The Unusual Season

When I was in elementary school, we presented a play called "The Unusual Season". It was about the odd weather events that occur outside of the time frame when it would be expected.

Well, apparently, we are living through one of those unusual seasons. This has been a mild winter and for the past few days, we have been enjoying some extremely warm, totally unseasonable weather. Of course, on the other hand, it snowed over the weekend in the desert southwest!

My sister and I took an early walk through the woods on Sunday and saw butterflies! Two of them flitting about. I tried to get a closer picture, but this was all I could get. They would settle on the side of a tree or hang from a naked shrub. On first settling, their wings were spread and then they would close and the butterflies seemed to disappear.

Not only the butterflies were ahead of schedule. I went out early and the birds were singing their heads off. Apparently they have taken cues from the weather and have become twitterpated! They are calling to each other, swooping about in pairs and checking out the nesting sites.


The crocuses are blooming and the daffodils on the south side of the shop are about to pop - only two weeks early! Oh, and I forgot - the bugs are also buzzing. We have an abundance of flies here (yuck) and I'm sure I saw a mosquito in the house over the weekend.

Well, I hope all the flora and fauna have a plan B. We were expecting a drastic change in the weather on Monday and overnight. Yesterday, we were in the 70's - almost 80!

This change has been moving across the country causing tornados and golfball sized hail. I was hoping that it wouldn't be so violent by the time it gets here, but a 40 degree (F.) drop in temperature was expected.

I guess this will continue to be a roller coaster ride. If we are to have previews, this is the best kind. It's been so lovely to wake up in the morning and go outside to drink a cup of coffee on the patio.

I was surprised this morning to find we had a slight sprinkle overnight and the winds have picked up quite a bit, but the temp is still in the 50's... Overnight, oddly enough, the daffodils have opened.

Later in the week, when we have snow (maybe!), I'll post a few more pictures.

New Sets and Vessels...

I can't believe I've been away for so long. The foot has still been sidelining me a bit and along with that, I can't seem to remember my camera when I do go out.

I did learn some new editing tricks in Photoshop and today, I finally took a bunch of pictures of recently made bead sets and vessels.

The first set is called Seafoam. It is periwinkle, swirled with a transparent turquoise. On top of it all is a complex cane stringer of a number of white streamers mixed with clear.

This one is called Tortoise Diamonds. It is one of my favorite frits on transparent topaz. The reaction is really nice and forms a kind of tortoise shell pattern in topaz and greens. I put the diamond beads together with some pea green round beads and the combo is great.

We've had an amazingly mild winter and it seems we are now headed for an early spring. This set is called "Spring has Sprung" and it is such a cheerful combination of grassy greens and pinks on peachy pink transparent "Kalera" beads. The pink spacer beads pull it all together.

Do you notice how the beads in all these pictures seem to float and stand out in sharp contrast to the blurry backrounds? That was the new application I learned in Photoshop. Masks are very cool!

I called this "Pixie Dusted Amethyst" because that is how it was made, but I think a better name would be "Iced Amethyst".

I was experimenting with the pixie dust - actually it is mica which I happened to have from some soapmaking experiments and when I realized that pixie dust is really just mica, I tried it in a new use, with glass, and was quite pleased with what came out of the kiln.

The Iced Amethyst is probably my favorite photo today.


This is "Peach Implosion". An implosion is when a bead is decorated from the inside... sounds more complicated than it is, but it made an interesting vessel. The stripes on the body of this vessel are actually inside the hollow vessel.

Lately I've had a difficult time sitting at the torch long enough to produce a decent set of beads.

Yesterday, I managed to make the sets at the top of the page. At the end of the month, the Sizzlers will again be sharing a table at the York Intergalactic Bead Show. I was hoping to get some new things made for the show and now it looks like I may be able to reach that goal.

I'm feeling a bit uninspired with the names of the beads and the vessels, so if you have any suggestions, I would certainly welcome them.

Well, I can't believe it's been so long! I've been leading a pretty boring existence. My foot is still a major influence in what I can and can't (or just don't want to) do.

I'd take another picture, but I've been hearing about the last time from my disapproving son and brothers... yes, I know.. I'm boring!

The cool thing about my foot is (yes, I'm still going to talk about it!) that it appears to have become Vulcan... I'm hoping it will eventually go back to normal, but for now, if I lift my bare foot, looking at it from the bottom, I am giving a "live long and prosper" sign.

We are catching up on soap - stockpiling for the spring coming up sooner than we ever expect. Plus, I made up a sales sheet and am doing a little sales push. Time to grow again.

Beadwise, I just don't seem to have the inspiration at the moment. Even when I do sit down at the torch, the concentration to make whole sets just isn't there. It'll return.

I did get an electroforming set up which will allow me to apply copper to my beads - for instance, metal handles for the vessels, etc. I also have finally gathered everything I need to finally use some of the techniques I learned last Fall at Beadfest.

While I was acquiring the electroforming set up, Tina ordered a still! So the plan is to use both... Maybe electroform some leaves and use the still to make some hydrosols and tiny quantities of essential oils. Lots of things to experiment with.

This may all go on the back burner, however, because our son was home for a visit this weekend... needed to do his wash (!) But, as it turns out, he was just coming down with whatever bug it is at school that is laying everyone low. He spent most of his time here sleeping. And when he wasn't sleeping, he was snorting and coughing in the living room while I plied him with various medications! I'm glad it worked out this way because he seems to have a hard time really being able to relax in his room at school. Seems he has a very inconsiderate party boy as a roomate.

Well, at any rate, he must have been at a very contagious stage because as he was leaving this morning, I noticed I was beginning to have a dry cough! Lovely! I feel my sinuses closing as I type! Great, and I sent most of the cold meds along with him!

I'm sure this will pass in no time and I'll be raring to go, inspired and rested.

Fog in the Morning

I snapped this picture on Monday morning just because the way the tree limbs look through the fog is always mesmerizing. It puts a whole new perspective on the world and makes our home a cozy, quiet, private place. Usually, this picture would show the tangle of trees and the hill across the road. Usually we'd hear the cars and trucks that pass by much more clearly.

On Thursday, at the doctors', I was given the go-ahead to do stuff! It's limited, but I can go and do things as long as I put my foot up occasionally, or take it easy if it begins to bother me.

So, Tina and I made plans for Monday morning. This is what I woke up to! Did it stop me? No way!

I had agreed to go to Tina's house, so, even though it was 10 o'clock in the morning, the fog was still pretty treacherous on the way there. By the time I was headed home 2 hours later, it had finally lifted.

Well, it's not snow!

Did you ever...

Did you ever notice how, sometimes, when you have all the time in the world, you just can't seem to concentrate? Like, in the hospital, I can't watch an entire TV program, or if I do, it doesn't really make sense... Or just try to read in there - absolutely impossible for me. Well, I'm dealing with the same thing at home

Taking pity on me sitting here with my foot still propped up, my sister visited yesterday. We intended to play some Scrabble, and we did, although it was all we could do to finish one game. She looked at the rubble that is now my living room... My coffee table is completely covered with jewelry stuff, a side table holds unfinished knitting and wherever I am, I must cart the TV controller, laptop and the telephone along - oh, plus a bottle of water and the ice pac! There are jewelry magazines in piles everywhere.

She threatened to take a picture of this mess, but I talked her out of it!

With all this available and lots of free time, you'd think I would have produced a number of finished items... but, no. There's something about feeling "not well" that destroys my concentration. I'll begin lots of things, but finish none of them. Wild and wooly ideas come to me and either I lose them completely or when I begin, they just don't look in reality the way they looked in my mind's eye. So, there are a number of half-finished projects that I will probably take apart to rework later. I wonder if it's some kind of perfectionism kicking in. That is usually the culprit when I can't produce.

So, this morning, on the phone, we brainstormed some new ideas for soaps, but again, although I took copious notes, it's something that will have to sit on the back burner until my foot is ready to go.

I'm not really complaining. Everything seems to be going according to schedule and I go to the doctor for another post op appointment tomorrow and expect to be able to do more each day. Might as well enjoy the luxury of vegging in front of the TV and cruising the internet at leisure for now.

I thought maybe I could learn html during this time too, but same thing ... no concentration ... and my husband just came in and asked if, since I'm bored and have nothing to do, I was ready to work on a site for our evergreen farm!

It's just an odd situation and I do wish I could pull it together to take advantage of this downtime to finish a few things but if not, I know I'll be raring to go when I'm physically ready. Soon ... soon ...

My Left Foot!

I'm sure this is just what you've been waiting to see! It's what has been keeping me away from the torch, the soap pot and from any new activity on the blog.

On Tuesday, I had surgery to remove a neuroma from between the third and fourth toes on my left foot.

A few years ago, I had the bunion on that foot repaired, but it didn't correct the pain I was having. Until now, I had put off having further surgery because I was afraid it was maybe just a "vanity" thing... wanting to be able to wear nicer shoes and not squeaking when I walked because of the orthotic in the clunky shoes I was forced to wear.

Now, I wish I hadn't waited so long. The surgery was as close to "fun" surgery as I could imagine. The IV nurse (the part I dread the most) was fantastic! I hardly knew she had even done her job. And the anesthetician was perfect. He kept it very light and I was "in and out" during the surgery itself which was done basically with a block.

The entire staff, as well as my surgeon, truly made it as enjoyable an experience as surgery can be... they seem to all enjoy what they do and take a lot of pride in their work.

I was gratified when the surgeon said, "Maryanne, this is the biggest neuromas I have ever seen - sit up and take a look at it if you want to." I didn't sit up, but I was very relieved to hear that what had been causing all the trouble wasn't just a little something that anyone else would have just lived with.

Today I went for my first post op appointment and everything looks as good as it can even though the toes look a bit "wonky" and the Betadine stains certainly don't help the picture.

I can walk, somewhat gingerly - with the rolling gait of a pirate! But, in another week or two, I should be good as new... maybe even better.

Sorry I went so off track, but when you are spending your days with your foot elevated and iced, it is pretty much all you can think of! I'm sure I'll be back at the torch and soap pot very soon and I will get back to much more interesting and attractive pictures!

General HTML Rant!

Just for fun... I thought it was time to vent a bit about what it's like to try to manage a website with no real knowledge of HTML!

When I first decided to set up my website, Torchsong Studio, I registered the name and downloaded one of those "easy, overnight" website designers. It really was easy and I really did manage to get the site designed and up almost overnight. The hard part came when I decided it was time to make a few changes.

The first change was adding a stat counter. I found a stat counter that looked good and was free, set that up and then, I had to paste some code into the page. Unfortunately, there was no way to access the code through the program and this led to downloading another website design program, NVU ( freeware), which allowed me access to the code. I pasted it in and all was well.

Then, I had sold a few items and it was time to start rearranging stuff.... that was when the trouble began.

Headers started to disappear and change, tables started rearranging themselves, stuff like that....

Along the way, I consulted with my brother who set up my Lancaster County Soapworks site and who uses Front Page - so there was a little tinkering with Front Page, too....

My latest fiasco was adding a Gallery page of the items I have sold. So far so good, until I decided I should make the pictures on the Gallery page into thumbnails and link them to larger pictures that would open in a separate window. I thought I had it right, but when the images were clicked, nothing happened. That was actually something that I did wrong, but last night and this morning, I corrected it all.... loaded everything up and... bingo... the header disappeared and the navigation buttons are doing something odd!

I know, it's back to the books and I think what I really need to do is redesign the whole thing in html (while learning it!) and get rid of the templates that came with the original program! I need to work in one design program and stop jumping around from one to the other because it is apparent they are doing some reformatting all on their own.

My son has supplied me with two excellent books on the subject and I'll be having foot surgery next week, so I'll have plenty of time to work on it.

Just thought I'd share my pain! Wish me luck, and don't think badly of me when viewing my site for the next week or so... The pictures are still pretty, the information is correct and I hope to have everything looking much better soon.

Frosty beads in a mild January

Yesterday was one of those Sundays that I just hung out in the house - caught up on the wash and brought a few sets of beads into the house to work on while I waited through the wash/dry/fold cycles!

I've been trying some new techniques with the glass and so really excited about the first couple of frosty lentil sets that I had to string them up into bracelets!

The picture of the green beads show the finish and the true colors very well. I call this one "Green Frost".

The iridescent luster is from pixie dust and there is clear (well, very light green) scrolling over the top.

Really a pretty effect and something different.

Then, I tried the same technique light pink and wound up with this one that I call "Tea Rose". Although it doesn't show up as well in photos as in real life, the beads include all the blushing colors of a tea rose as it blooms. I love those roses, so this, to me is a very romantic bracelet.

You can see the iridescent pink tones on the beads along the right front.

Along with the new style of beads, I also did something that I find tried and true.. Scrolling with florals and pressed in the lentil mold. I just love the lentil beads, they are such a comfortable shape on the wrist.

The lapis is always a nice color to wear with jeans ... my usual wardrobe ... especially working here at home. And I do feel it is necessary to always be wearing some jewelry! I guess that's what got me into the shiny stuff to begin with!

Don't miss what's right in front of you.

I went out looking for something to inspire a blog entry. I took a number of pictures of the pond because I like the way the trees reflect on the surface.

Then I thought I'd take a picture of the edge of the pond where all the fall leaves are still preserved, along with the green plants waiting to burst forth again with the warm weather. I wasn't sure how the stuff underwater would show up, so I tried the "underwater" setting on my camera... pretty tricky, huh?!

What I didn't notice, of course, as I snapped the picture was the beautiful tracery of the trees on the surface... and I was pleasantly surprised by the picture when I opened it on the computer. It has a definite Asian quality to it... graceful and peaceful.

I'm sure there's some kind of philosophical message here... about when we look too deep, we miss the beauty right in front of us.

New Year's Chocolate Dream

I know a lot of blogs concentrate on food and just thought I'd add one of the big favorites around here. This is Chocolate Dream.

A good friend, with whom I have sadly lost touch, gave me this recipe a number of years ago but we still make it from time to time and I always think of her. Isn't it funny how foods and smells can bring back wonderful memories?

This is something like I imagine a trifle to be with layers of cake, pudding and candy.... This picture shows it fresh out of the refrigerator and so the top of the dish has fogged up a bit making it difficult to see the yummy bits on the top.

It is really very simple to make, especially since we use mixes for it. You will need 1 Chocolate fudge cake mix, 2 boxes chocolate pudding mix, 2 containers of Cool Whip and 9 Skor bars. First bake the cake in a 9 x 13" pan. Next, prepare the pudding. Whack all the Skor bars to shatter them as much as possible. (I will often put the pieces in a sandwich bag and give it a few whacks with a meat tenderizer to finish the job.)

When the cake is cooled, cut it into squares and crumble 1/3 into the bottom of the trifle container. Next, a layer of 1/3 of the pudding. Then a layer of 1/3 of the Cool Whip followed by 1/3 of the Skor bars crumbles. I actually like to kind of push down a bit at the end of each cake layer. Continue in this manner for two more layers, ending with the Skor bar crumbles which make a lovely finish.

Refrigerate at least overnight before eating so that the cake has some time to absorb and all the flavors get a chance to blend. This is a large container and should feed a crowd (or one serving to three adults and the rest to three teenagers as we found on New Years' Eve this year!)

Our son is a picky eater (although deserts have never been a problem for him) and while he didn't choose to partake in most of our feast, he requests this dish every year as his own special treat for the New Year.

Christmas Eve Visitors?

If you believe in this sort of thing, our Christmas Eve celebration was filled with many many folks other than just the ones we expected.

I have been told that the presence of *orbs* - the round things that are all over this picture - indicates spirits. I'm not really sure how I feel about that, but it is interesting that it seems every time our family gathers for a holiday, orbs are visible in the pictures although not usually in this number! I should also mention that every picture taken last night at this gathering contained many orbs.

We lost our Mother in March and her loss has served to bring us closer together. Some rifts have been healed and a couple of changes she wanted for us have come about. Although we miss her terribly, I believe that she has been working hard to make a lot of things happen that she couldn't manage while she was alive. It has been a very mixed blessing.

The love between all five of us, her children, is an almost palpable thing these days and I believe, if these are truly spirits, she said to all our many relatives who have gone before, "Come on, I want you to see my kids!" It's something she would have done. She was always so proud of us and I suspect she may be even more proud of us now.

We gathered at *her* house, where my brother, Tom, is living now. It's only a few years old, so there wouldn't be any old ghosts hanging around from past inhabitants. My sister and I were looking at these pictures and trying to figure out who on earth all these orbs could be (if that's what they are). Our grandparents were both from very large families, so along with Mom, her brother and our grandparents, there could be any number of great aunts and uncles...

I guess this would be frightening to some, but I find it very comforting. Either way, it was a great gathering, full of love. Can't wait to see the pictures we take today!

By the way, this same camera (same settings) was used earlier to take some other pictures of our dog at our house and no orbs were visible in those pictures.