Fresh from the Kiln

I guess I'm a little excited about this bunch that I pulled from the kiln yesterday.

First the full set of the swirled beads that I mentioned yesterday. I'm calling them Taffy Swirl and I guess I'll just take them along to possibly sell as a set at the show this weekend. If they don't sell, I have some plans....

Next a good-sized focal. I was playing with the pleated bead technique but I think I stretched the pleats so far that they just disappeared! Actually, they're still in there, but very faint. I added a few stems and then the little flowers of pink and purple. When I pulled it out of the kiln, I was reminded of the beautiful little pink and white "Spring Beauties" that grow in our woods in early spring. It's a chunky bead, but the flowers on it are so delicate that it has a dainty feel to it.

Since I recently sold the black vessel on my website, I decided to make a new one. After the basic vessel was finished, with opaque top and bottom and a transparent "belly", I picked up a tiny black stringer and began scrolling curls all around it. My black vessels always wind up being called Midnight something and looking at this one, I immediately thought, "Midnight Lace". Isn't that an old Elizabeth Taylor movie? Whatever, it's a somehow "voluptuous" vessel!

Finally, I made some silvered ivory stringers, cut some pure silver wire, pulled out the Lapiz and transparent cobalt and started playing. This was the result. It looked like an interesting night sky with stars and comets streaking through it. I added the moon to glide serenely through it all.

I made a moon vessel a few years ago and it was always one of my favorites, so I'm happy to have a new one to add to my stash! Before I add it to my website, I'll wire it and add a few adornments.

We're having an overcast day today and the pix aren't the clearest I could hope for. When the sun comes out again, I'll get some better shots.

The Latest

Well, it's been a busy week. For some reason, I got a cleaing bug and managed to get the house in really nice shape.

Delivered orders, took care of a lot of details I've been ignoring, made some soap and even managed to visit the new slots casino!

I also sat down and torched for the first time in a while and almost everything I made was a success.
For one thing, I tried blowing shards. I've been seeing some really beautiful things online made with dark silver plum shards and so, I got out the hollow mandrels I bought for a class that never came about and used them to blow shards from Dark Silver Plum.

This bead is the result of applying shards to a caramel apple bead and then reducing it to bring out the metallic sheen of the shards.

It's a start!

Then, I worked with some of the glass I bought last summer at Beadfest from Wale Apparatus. This vessel and bead are made with a combination of Desert Chameleon and Dark Topaz transparent. The Desert Chameleon has a bit of an almost opalescent gleam about it and the topaz, as always is just liquid amber... I'm very pleased with it. I finished another 4 of the beads, so there are now 5 of them which will make a great bracelet or an interesting necklace to wear with the vessel.

I made a couple other new vessels yesterday along with some other beads, but haven't had a chance to photograph them yet, but stay tuned, because I think they are a couple of the best vessels I have ever made!

Things are not always what they seem..

This is an unusual year. Spring seems to be coming quickly although the temperatures don't necessarily reflect it.

The bulbs on the south side of the shop always bloom first, but they are about a full week or more ahead of normal. It's taking a lot longer for the rest of the bulbs and the tulips and daffodils in the driveway are being much more cautious!

This daffodil is blooming its little head off, but on Saturday we had a threat of snow. The predicted 1" turned out to be a .1" sprinkling of granular pellets, amounting to nothing much at all.The little bit of white globs on the right petal is what accumulated on the flower and obviously affected it's enthusiasm not at all!

Yesterday a couple came in to tag some trees to be dug and as we went out so I could give them some instructions, we looked up at my sister's house. On the roof was what appeared to be a Great Blue Heron. I ran in to grab my camera and tell Tina to come out and see. I took this picture, then tried to move a little closer for a better picture. As I prepared to take another shot, it appeared that the "bird" had flown away! Then we saw "it" again on the utility pole across the street from the house. It is apparently a piece of electrical equipment on top of one of the big cylindrical things on the pole!

The realization of the optical illusion gave way to lots of laughter and stopped us speculating on the "luck" of a heron on the roof - as opposed to a stork!

Insert Trite Saying...

What is the saying? Oh, yeah - "It never rains, but it pours."

We've been slogging along through the winter, taking care of what we need to do, keeping up. We kept expecting things to break loose, but they seem to be starting up a little later than last year - at least in the soap business... But, we did make sure that the soap stock was in order...

So, the orders start coming in.... Tina's putting a new book together, which means I'm laying it out. Oh, and the magazine deadline was the 15th, so everything comes to a halt while that is put to bed.

Now, I'm spending most of my time on the computer while Tina is making sure the soap orders are getting out.... Talk about cross training!

Of course, I signed up for a swap which is a little something to work on in my spare time... and I'm downright neglecting the torch!

It's going to be a strange, early Easter this year. It seemed to have snuck up on us along with all the other holidays this week! We've decided there won't be ham for Easter this year - one non-pork eater and (at least)one low-sodium diet, so we think it might be Salmon. Well, at least it's pink - sorta like ham! Oh, and it's on sale.

We've been really lucky with our winter weather this year, but now it's been raining for two days and it's getting old. I know I shouldn't complain because there's so much more rain in other parts of the country, but I will anyway!

Well, this is probably one of the worst blog entries I've ever made. I just felt the need to blog and had, as you can see, very little to say!

Promise of Spring!

It isn't much, but at this time of the year, it doesn't take much! It's been raining and ugly. This has been a somewhat mild winter for us. No snow, but cold, raw, rain and ice...
Today, the sun finally came out and I happened to look down as I walked out the door of the shop. There were these lovely daffodil leaves coming out of the ground. Bulbs are the promise of spring.

I had some errands to do around the area and noticed the lawns and fields just starting to "green up". I love all the seasons, but spring has to be the best.

Something new - needle felting

I was reading a thread in an online forum about needle felting. It referred to a YouTube video which intrigued me. We passed a wool shop on Wednesday as we were making deliveries and stopped in to see if they had the materials we needed.

They did, and so... First, I made a big old flower. It would be a great accent on a cloche hat or on a coat. Then I found an old piece of felt and decided to try felting a design on it. It was pretty free form and I really have no idea what it could be used for. A couple of snaps and it could actually be a cuff bracelet.. can you do that in felt?
Then I decided to give a figural a try. That was really what I thought I wanted to do when I got the supplies. I tried a teddy bear. His arms are a little long and I couldn't get his face right. At various times, while I was making him he looked like a monkey, a cat, a mouse and finally, when I got his face right, a bear! He's a pocket bear - just the right size to pop in a pocket for a little girl to take along as a secret friend.
Obviously, I haven't done much else for the past two days except to play with this new medium! But, the final piece is a mermaid.

I don't think she is finished. This is the piece to which I will add pearls and beads and maybe a few small shells.

She is my opportunity to really pour on the embellishments.

Next, I think I'll try a relatively large head. I have some ideas of a base to build it on...

I've been hearing a lot about people to being anxious for spring to come, but the older I get, the more I believe in enjoying life as it comes. One of the things I like about this time of the year is the opportunity to just hunker down and try new things...

Experimenting with soap, glass and, now a new medium, for me, of needle felting.

Eclipse

Watching the lunar eclipse last night, I was reminded of a once in a lifetime experience I shared 10 years ago with my husband and son. We were fortunate enough to be able to view a total solar eclipse.

Our son had shown an interest in astronomy and I happened to see that there was an "Eclipse Cruise" sponsored by a local museum. The actual eclipse fell one day after his birthday and it all just seemed like a perfect vacation/birthday present.

It was our first cruise and now that we have a few more under our belts, I can say that it was not at all typical. A majority of the people on that trip were there for the eclipse. For many of those people, this was not their first eclipse. It seems there is a segment of society who actually chases these things and will spend a lot of money, that they really can't afford, to travel to wherever there is an eclipse. I thought it was odd, but then, of course, I hadn't experienced one yet.

The trip itself was lovely and we were lucky enough to share our dinner table with the museum's planetarium director and his family. A couple of nights, we went up to the top deck with a telescope and he showed us the features of the night sky close to the equator. I was excited to see the Southern Cross.

On the day of the actual eclipse, we spent a short time in port (Antiqua) and then headed out to sea to jockey for a perfect cloudless viewing location. We were given special glasses and I guess just about everyone on the ship was on the upper decks. There was some amazing camera equipment set up at various places. The mood was very party-like as we all prepared for the event.

A solar eclipse is a much faster event than a lunar eclipse, so it only lasted for a short time. As it began, it was hard to see the actual changes. The easiest way to see what was happening was to somehow project the light of the sun on the deck. This was achieved by making holes in our fingers and letting the sun shine through it.

Excitement was building and we started realizing this was a really big event. The atmosphere changed. It became colder. As we approached totality, the temperature had probably dropped 20-30 degrees. We were in bathing suits and shorts and suddenly became chilled.

And then - it happened... The dragon swallowed the sun! It truly was a very exciting event. Just before the corona appeared, the "diamond ring" effect flashed.

And then, it was DARK. All the stars were visible and it was night - and there we were on a ship in the middle of the ocean. There had been a collective gasp as the sun disappeared and that huge ship was almost silent as we watched the unexpectedly moving event. We KNEW what was happening and the feeling was still very eery. I understand now why eclipses have always been such powerful events.

And then - just as suddenly as it disappeared, the shadow moved and the sun and the world started to return to normal.

My advise is that if you ever have the chance to experience a total solar eclipse - do it!

And now ... color!

I was making a lot of organic beads. I love that style, but sometimes, I need to work with some bright colors.

First, I made something that I've been thinking sbout for some time - "Hey Taxi!" I've been wanting to combine these colors for some time, but I think the trip to the city last week put me over the top!

Mustardy yellow and black, with black and white accents.

Does it say taxi to you? Or does it say school bus?

I think all the funky shapes and motion makes it very city-like...

Then on to another city - Paris and a set I call "Ooh La La"!

Why is it that pink, black and white say Paris to me? I looked through images on the internet and never did figure it out.

I thought maybe it was Schiaparelli, but that was a hot pink. I did find some note cards and a picture with a pink dressed lady with a poodle. You would think it would be easy to figure it out, but I didn't.

I don't know why this one is called "Heavenly Chatter", either, but that was the name that came to me!

Okay, it was the blue, but the coral wasn't exactly relaxing and restful, so that made it chatter.

Finally, I think I went somewhere south of the border for this combo, although it isn't really sunny enough, it certainly is bold.

I think maybe "broken pottery" or even "rag rug", but it's strong with sharp lines and pattern... I don't know.

Any ideas?

I may actually be doing a show again, which is what got me working on new sets, but I have time to come up with a name.

Gone to the City!

When we had our retail shop, a trip to NYC had become almost run of the mill. Since the shop was sold in 2000, I haven't been there, so visiting for the day was a real treat. I'm not sure exactly how it came about, but we decided to attend the International Gift Fair at Javitz and traveled by train with friends, Sarah and Kara of Radiance, an herb shop in Lancaster.

Since we will be doing a couple of herb faires and of course, our farmers' market, we thought maybe there might be something we needed - plus, we were just itching for the hustle and bustle of NYC and a chance to just break out of our day to day routine (idyllic though it may be)!

The weatherman was predicting a beautiful, sunny day for Monday - a repeat performance of a very gorgeous Sunday and we were looking forward to a lovely train ride and a sparkling view of the city.
It was not to be, but, even in the fog there is always something interesting going on. You can see the top of a skyscraper disappearing in the fog in the picture above... and if you look at the top of the building on the right, you'll see some workmen doing something to a round structure up there!

The Gift Fair is an enormous undertaking that runs for about a week. If you are seriously wanting to see the whole thing and do some major buying, you would want to spend the entire time there.

It is row upon row of opulent booths and tables full of everything you can imagine; Jewelry, clothing, household linens, toys, flowers, decorative items and on and on. Anything that could conceivably be considered a gift.... It is exhausting and even that huge hall full of people becomes stuffy and hot.
We stepped outside to cool off and get some fresh air and to sit down a couple of times during the day. One of those times, we were collapsed on a very cold cement bench facing the street and I looked up to see a parade of Amish headgear bobbing along above the wall toward the street. I would imagine this show is one of the more "worldly" events. Something about "storing up your treasures on earth"... But, now that many Amish run gift shops and bakeries catering to the "English" I guess they need to keep up with what's new.

Earlier, as we rounded a corner inside the show, I was shocked to see an Amishman followed by his daughter and even more surprised to realize that I knew him! It was Eli, one of our first soap customers. He's been selling our soap in his little countryside road stand for probably close to 15 years now. I called his name and he finally turned around to see us. I think we were all pretty amused to be running into each other there. We discussed how we had all gotten there and compared notes. He and his daughter had come up in a "taxi" which is basically a van and driver that hires out to groups of Amish for things like this or for getting to a work site. After we explained the train experience, he thought that might be a nice alternative to try.

Finally, a shot taken in front of the Javitz. This is where the shuttle buses line up to haul fair goers back and forth from hotels and transportation venues. They run every half hour all day long.

I actually really liked the composition of the picture. The geometric shapes and blocks of color reminded me a little of one of our local (historic) painters - Charles DeMuth. The man on the cell phone and the woman behind him, dressed in black are iconic NYC figures.

Finally, I wanted to mention the changes since I have been there last. The last time I was in The City was 1999 - obviously before 9/11. It is pretty evident the changes in security. We used to be able to just buy a round trip ticket on the train and choose any train that day to return home. Now, we must book a specific return - all using photo ID. That's a minor irritation. The physical barriers everywhere are a little jarring. The old taxi stand at Penn Station is no longer there... now it's outside on the street. There are huge barriers up outside the Javitz building where at one time buses and taxis moved freely. I really saw very little of the city and yet the changes are obvious.

Signs of the times....

A Free Preview - The Essential Herbal

You know, I know I've mentioned the magazine, The Essential Herbal, that my sister publishes. I think I've mentioned that I do the layout every other month after she has pulled it all together.

But , If you are interested in having a look, we've never offered that opportunity, until now.


This issue (March-April 2007) has sold out and Tina has made it available for download. Click on the cover or here to download.

If you like it (and I'm sure you will because all we hear are raves after every issue) go here to subscribe. It's a fabulous magazine, filled with lots of great herb related info and it is well worth much more than the $20/year subscription price.

If you want still more information, check out the full site to see even more of what this magazine is all about at The Essential Herbal. Then Subscribe!

Shards, Forget-me-nots and ceramic tile!

Well, I've been seeing lots of "shard" beads online and have been wanting to try them for myself. This is my first attempt.

I actually tried one before and the shards I used were very, very thin. They melted into little blobs and just looked like mistakes on the bead that I put them on.

This time, I used the thickest of the shards I had blown, but I believe I now know how they should be applied - it takes a lot of heat control.

So, this was my first attempt... next one I show will be better.

On the other hand, Molly, my neice, loved the bead and had a very specific way she thought it should be used in an art nouveau style necklace and I may just try it.

She (Molly) was torching yesterday while we were making and wrapping soap and after she and Tina went home, I sat down at the torch myself and made the bead above and also, this set.

The base of the beads is Lauscha cocoa, the vines are avocado and the "Forget-me-nots" are pajama blue.

I haven't made a set like this one for some time. When I first started making pressed beads, the florals were all I wanted to do. This one was almost relaxing to make - a comfort set, if you will.

Another ongoing project around here is the remaking of our basement. This summer, when we did some other work on the house, we added a nice, private, outside entrance to the basement and will be making it private from the rest of the house with a door inside.

Our son had taken it over for years and just recently, we moved all his stuff over to the unfinished side so that we could convert the finished side into something like an apartment.

We enlarged the powder room to a full bath and are going to basically use a large set of bookcases as a room divider to make the large room into a livingroom/bedroom. The old paneling has come down and drywall has gone up and we've finished painting it.

My husband and I have always wanted to try our hand at laying ceramic tile - don't ask me why, but we have. This was our chance.

The picture shows the view from the bathroom door. The picture is pretty washed out so you won't see the seams very well. We have laid most of the tile and next week will finish it off and grout it. It's been fun and looks pretty darn good for a couple of amateurs!

Almost Finished...

If you read my blog even occasionally, you might be getting tired of seeing this style of beads from me: I've just been so fascinated by the reactions and the gorgeous results I've been getting and, as you can see, I've made up two of the sets into bracelets. I'm about to get started on the other two.

They are so versatile. The combinations are almost neutral, but they are downright stunning. I have been wearing the finished bracelets almost non-stop and have gotten more compliments on them than on anything else I have even worn.

Part of the charm is the crazy bird's nest spacers that I made to go with them. They are made of sterling wire which has been oxidized to give them depth.

I suppose I'll have to start letting them go, so if you are interested, please get in touch. I'll try to put them on my website, but I know there are at least two people who already want one!

Here's another work in progress:
This will give you an idea of how I work. I take a set of beads and find the complimentary beads that I want to use with them from my stash. Often, I'll just take out everything that could possibly work with them. In this case, the usual silver findings just didn't work with the beads I put together, so I wound up using Gold Vermeil as the metal. I tried different combinations; strung, unstrung until I was happy with the look. I have had this sitting around for a while, just to be sure it was the way so I could pick it up from time to time and make sure it still was a combo that pleased me. I think I'm ready now to finish it off with a magnetic clasp and a dangle.

Yeah, I keep saying I'm almost finished. Just hope I don't go off on another hare-brained tangent before I do!

Sunflowers in January

This shows both sides of a 39 x 17mm focal.

Sunflowers seem to be an ongoing theme around here. I've made sunflower beads before, but never really got a combination of greens and yellows that wasn't "jarring" until this one came out of the kiln.

With the weather so mild right now (better post this fast before it changes) flowers seemed to be a great theme at the torch.

Ambivalence

Lots of conflicting feelings right now.

Our son is leaving today on his great adventure to an unknown new life across the country.

Here he is many years ago with his first "vehicle". Now, he'll take a very different vehicle and truly set off to see the world! It is very sad and yet very right.

I remember the little guy that said, "Mommy, I want to stay with you forever" and would wrap his little arms around me and hug as tight as he could. I think part of him is still feeling that way, but his eagerness to find his own way is heartening as well in that perhaps we managed to give him both his roots AND his wings.

I think this was the theme of a post shortly after he left for RIT.

I suspect he'll wind up back here one of these days, but for now, Godspeed! I'll try to control the rising panic and the lump in my throat and just wish him the very best.

Old Year's Day offerings

About 22 years ago, we spent "Old Year's Day" in St. Thomas. It was the year before I became pregnant and my husband had surprised me with the trip. We went on a side trip that day to Mountaintop, the highest point on the island, and there, it was explained to us that while we celebrate "New Year's Day", on St. Thomas, they celebrate "Old Year's Day" and use it as a day to reflect on the past year.

I have two sets of lentil beads, fresh from my torch/kiln this last day of 2007. The first, I call "Mirror Islands" because of the mirrored finish on these beads. The reactions I am getting from regular old Morette and Vetrofond and a little bit of silver is just knocking my sox off! This is my favorite of the two:
The second set is called "Craters of the Moon". It is probably lighter than it appears in the photo and Tina was totally enamored of this one.
I have had a number of requests for this type of bead and will be offering them unstrung or strung as the buyer wishes...

I can't wait to see what 2008 holds. My fascination with these organic beads seems to only get stronger. It's kind of amazing since when I started working with glass, I wasn't really attracted to them and wanted to only work with bright patterns and crisp lines and dots... I'm sure the tide will turn again though.

Christmas Eve

A couple of images from this Christmas Eve...I started baking this morning at 8. This is the platter I took up to Tina's tonight as my contribution to our family Christmas Eve. She had a wonderful buffet which included an assortment of sandwich fixin's along with shrimp cocktail and potato salad. The spread was rounded out with crudites and dip. It was wonderful, especially after spending the day sampling chocolate and sugar filled treats.

There are a couple of new goodies I tried out this year that will join my repertoire. I made drop sugar cookies and iced them, chocolate crinkles (a recipe I requested and received on The Essential Herbal list - thanks again, Sharon!), a delicious toffee candy that I've been reading about for a couple of years on another forum and Tina (and now Molly's) favorite, Snickerdoodles. They joined my usual chocolate chip, chocolate chip oatmeal and magic cookie bars. The kids baked the two chocolate chip varieties last night, but I made the rest of them this morning.

Later in the day I finished up the T-shirts I was making for gifts. It was fun being able to personalize them for everyone.

We decided to make handmade gifts this year and I think we should probably continue it as our tradition. Everyone put thought and love into their gifts and one of the coolest was a little box that our brother's wife, Pam, made for each of us. It was made of the wood from a cedar chest that our grandfather had made for our grandmother as a wedding present. Now we each have a little piece of that chest. She even filled it with Peppermint Patties, which were a something special our grandfather would treat us with from time to time.Something else that stood out tonight was the almost full moon outside. We had some clouds streaking through the sky and although it doesn't show well on the picture, the light of the moon formed a pinkish ring around the it. The clouds were moving so fast that the moon appeared to really be sailing across the sky. It was just beautiful!

Merry Christmas!

Rambling thoughts on the Holidays

This may be somewhat disjointed and a bit more personal than usual, but... I guess I'm just having a few thoughts about the holidays.

TIME
It's been an interesting week. We didn't officially close the tree farm on the 17th, as planned, because the weather was so nasty in the preceding weeks and we wanted to be sure people who had tagged trees would have a chance to pick them up. We're closed now, though and I suspect as I type, my DH is out gathering up all the directional signs on the surrounding roads which lead people here. So, now with 2 days left, we can try to prepare for our holiday!

While I was out delivering soap on Thursday, Bob and the kids (Rob and his friend) cut a tree and had it ready for me to decorate when I returned. The wonderful aroma of the concolor fir almost knocked me over when I came in! They also cleared the dining room table, changed the tablecloth and put out a few of our treasured holiday knick knacks... At least the house is beginning to look like Christmas and I must say, it is beautiful!

We (our family) have decided to do handmade gifts this year. I thought that would make the gift-giving easier, but as Christmas eve approaches, I'm not really ready at all. I have acquired most of what I need to make the things I want to, but... time is getting short. And I've been planning to bake some goodies for days now, but there was that soap to be made (finished now) and the orders to get out - oh, and the phone to be answered, etc, etc...

I may sound like I am complaining, but I'm not. As Rob has grown, the pressure to have the "perfect Christmas" has been released and I am basically "going with the flow". What gets done, gets done. Christmas will come and it will be wonderful and full of love and laughter whether all the little details are perfect or not.

FOOD
Every year, at some point I think, "well, this isn't so bad, I'm not going to gain any weight this year. I'm not baking and we don't seem to be eating so much junk." And then it begins... friends, neighbors and some of our lovely customers bring food... cookies, candy and (thank heavens this year) fruit. We begin eating.... Then our family round of birthdays start and celebratory cakes and wonderful meals become de riguer(?). Rob has been home and his friend, Julia, is staying with us for a few days and, naturally, that calls for a few delicious, but calorie laden restaurant meals. And it goes on....

I begin to feel bloated and think, "Well, Christmas is almost here and we'll be able to stop this insanity as soon as it is over." But then I remember our New Years' extravaganza which usually involves a feast of seafood and more desserts! And, of course, the pork and sauerkraut dinner we MUST eat for luck on New Year's Day.

SOLSTICE
I thought, since it was a full moon solstice, it would be fun to do something special this year - like a big bonfire up on the hill to welcome the return of the sun... Well, not only time, but Mother Nature refused to comply on that one and it was an ugly rainy night. I should have at least lit a candle!

OUR EXTENDED FAMILY
I've always enjoyed having lots of people around. Before I became all-consumed in motherhood, our house was like Grand Central. When we flew balloons, it was the gathering place before and after flights. Lots of laughter, people, excitement. Even when Rob was young - after the initial shock of having an infant in the house passed, we were still a gathering point.

There were a number of major life changes going on here too that just somehow made us more insular and not as social or a whole lot of fun to be around. But, we were still the place where everyone came for holidays.

After a few kinda sad scattered years, we have almost all become much closer as a result of Mom's passing and now John's medical challenges. It's really interesting and fun to have sort of an open door policy around here again. I've always heard of other families that adopt other people into their circle. For some reason, the generation before ours didn't seem to warm to that idea. Holidays were for family - period. If we brought friends in, it was always a bit uncomfortable. Well, things have changed and I love it!

Rob brings friends around. They join us at our get-togethers and seem to enjoy our aging but wacky, rollicking banter. Sometimes I feel like a way station - a safe house for traveling college age kids - and that's a good thing. We need their youthful infusion and Molly, the youngest free spirit around here, needs someone who doesn't speak "60's"! Julia, whose parents live in Brazil, has been with us for a few days and is leaving today for Chicago to spend Christmas with "real" family. Sonny should be arriving soon and he will be staying with us until school starts in January.

Since John has moved up with Tina, one of his friends in particular seems to have adopted us. He joined our "workforce" one weekend during tree season and seemed to really enjoy all the hustle and bustle of the day. He showed up early that morning with cider and doughnuts and really caught the spirit of the place - putting us to shame really! In the picture you can see our brother Mark, Scott (John's friend), Sonny, Bob - and in the front, Rudy, at the ready!

He just returned from a business trip and called (from the airport I might add!) to find out what was happening on Christmas Eve. We were planning to forgo that particular event this year, but - oh well....

Triangulum Nebula

I've had a couple of requests for some beads (and a bracelet) like the one I showed a couple of weeks ago called "Moonscape". I can't seem to part with the original, so, last evening, I finally sat down and made some similar beads using a blue base rather than the brown I originally used. Next, I'll probably do them using a green (olive) base and see what happens then.

The other thing I've discovered is that it's fun playing with the backgrounds of the bead pictures! In this case, I downloaded a picture of the Triangulum Nebula and superimposed the beads over it. So that's the name of this set - "Traingulum Nebula". I think the rest of these will be part of the "Nebula Series"!

Next I'll be wiring it up into a bracelet... should be pretty.

Just thought I'd share it with you.. on my birthday!

Ice Storm vs. Tree Farm!

Well, maybe we won't be closing quite so firmly this year! Today was to have been the last day we were open for the year, but there may be a few stragglers who haven't yet picked up their tagged trees. I told one caller that we will be here tomorrow if he wants to wait.

Last night we had an ice/sleet storm, all night long. It's cold enough that the trees are all frozen and the limbs are bent in unnatural poses. It's warm enough that the ground is saturated and covered with mud puddles - or should I say wallows?

A few brave souls are here getting their trees, basically because it is now or never, but what kind of fond memories will this make? On the other hand, the folks that still show up laughing in this weather are the ones who probably WILL remember the day with amusement.
As always, Rudy is prepared to carry on with his "greeting duties" and, most importantly, he'll be certain not to allow the "frogmobile" (the ATV at the left of the picture) to carry his favorite human away without being hot on its heels - err, wheels.Speaking of Rudy's favorite human, there's Bob walking toward Rudy's nemesis now!

See the lovely icy tracery on the trees? I sure hope no one shatters any branches trying to cut a fir or pine! We did lose a rather large tree out back. Luckily it fell away from the house and we didn't even hear it go. It could have been a disaster, but apparently our luck is holding - so far.

Has it been that long?

Amazing how quickly time flies sometimes! We've been having little snows every day or so and it seems to be sending everyone into a tizzy, including us!

I must say it is beautiful, but at this time of the year, and since we've been somewhat spoiled the last few years with pretty mild winters, it makes doing business and getting ready for the holidays just a bit more difficult.

But, we persevere and somehow between the flurries of snow, flurries of customers at the Christmas tree farm and flurries of health ups and downs with our brother (who seems to be well on the mend now,) we're still managing to carry on our other businesses!

Tina & I, for some unknown reason, decided to host a swap on her Yahoo list. Because of a few stragglers, and other odds and ends, the shipping of the swap coincided with the day the magazine went out - along with a few other orders.

When we bought our Rav a couple of years ago, we opted for the newer, longer model so that it would hold our tent and tables for craft/herb shows. Little did we know how handy it would be to be able to just flip those seats forward for other times when it would be packed to the gills with boxes and bags of magazines! This was one of those times. Almost all of the mailings for the day are in it and you really can't even tell how deep it is from this picture.

I believe it was a very good purchase, not only for its roominess and thrifty gas usage, but last winter when we were trapped on the other side of town at a craft show watching it snow, I discovered that its 4-wheel drive was a godsend! When we finally got packed up and out of there, it carried us safely through the slippery, unplowed snow and even helped us to rescue Tina's daughter from her school bus which was firmly stuck in a snowdrift!

So, the mailings that were hanging over our heads are all out - and what a relief! Some new orders have come in to be filled. About 12 batches of soap should bring us up to speed and we are planning to make 8 of them today, probably the other 4 over the weekend.

We have a sleet/snowfall forecast for today and a bigger storm on Saturday, so I may get some time on the torch later today or tomorrow.

And the biggest and best news of all... Our son is finishing his last week of finals at college and will be coming home with his degree this weekend! Math major, CS and Physics minors. No graduation ceremony unless he wants to return in the spring, but it is really exciting to have a college grad in the family. We are so proud of him. He's grown into such a wonderful young man!