Burning the candle at both ends...

So, we got home from the weekend of frivolity. I knew I had two big orders waiting to be filled. I knew we had a garden show to get ready for. I knew there is a new book and a new magazine which will need to be set up very soon.

I had forgotten that the show begins on FRIDAY. That meant a 3 day week!

Tina came up and gave me a hand. We got the orders out and 4 batches of soap put to bed. I got most of Tina's book transferred into the right format and actually have a few days to get it "massaged" into shape. Parts of the magazine are in place...

One more day of prep for the show... I think we'll make it.

Oh yeah, and she's trying to get moved! At least that can take place at a leisurely pace - more or less.

Pictures at 11 - well, soon.

The Weddin'

So here we have the new cousins-to-be, Kristin, Molly and Rob. Kristin is holding her bouquet, Molly is holding some "props" for a blending of the sands ceremony which works well in beach weddings - much better than the unity candle. Rob is just standing there with the girls, waiting for the wedding to begin.

This was a pretty nifty idea. It was early enough (10 am) that the beach wasn't yet crowded or overly hot. The weather was glorious after all the last minute worries about a stormy day.

And the happy couple were gorgeous themselves. I have a feeling everyone is happy that it went well and is OVER!

The wedding went quickly and then many there hung out on the beach.. We aren't especially fond of the beach anymore, although the kids came back to the motel, changed and then headed back over for an hour or so.

Dinner was scheduled for 5 PM and we had a great dinner at the Village Inn in Chincoteague. We all went back to Sue's parents' house to play a little Guesstures and then headed back to the motel... A game playing family .. sounds familiar!

Chincoteague

So, here are the beads I made to match the sarong/scarf that I'm planning to wear to the wedding tomorrow along with my dress.

They wound up pretty "flashy" so I etched them to try to make them a bit "softer". I did manage to make a bracelet and probably will get a pair of earrings done for tomorrow. I don't have the chain with me that I would like to use to make the necklace from the extra large straught sided lentil. Maybe I can make it into a pendant since I do have some silver wire with me.... we'll see.

So, the day today was mainly spent driving to Chincoteague. This is the view from our balcony - sunset over the Chesapeake Bay... a "God sky".

I used to come this route when I was traveling back and forth from Norfolk for some medical stuff over 20 years ago. It used to be so much easier back then - or at least it seemed easier.

The roads seem to be much improved although also much busier.. I really did love the trip back then and, in fact, would drive it from time to time just to visit friends who were going through procedures at different times than I was!

Exciting events

I hate to be reporting on the same things as my sister, but since we basically spent the past two days together and they have been somewhat eventful, I guess that's what I'll have to do!
Tina's been working on a new book which will be called "Wild Foods for Every Table". Yesterday, we decided it was time to start planning the cover. As we planted the garden up at what will soon be her new house, we discussed ideas and by the time we were finished, we decided to give it a shot.

The picture to the left is not the one we will be using for the cover. You can see the finished product at the link to the book, above. This particular picture didn't have enough room at the top for the title, but we loved it and think it would make a great poster... We'll see! Of course, I played around with a couple of effects on Photoshop which make the candle flame more prominent, etc.... (Don't worry, I still have the original, which is probably better anyway).

The other memorable thing was this morning. We had a delivery to take out deep into Amish country and set out on our way relatively early. We got off the highway and immediately noticed a LOT of Amish buggies on the road. I mean a LOT! It appeared that the entire Amish population was out and about... taking back the roads!

We saw the basic buggies, and THEN there were the chariots, the station wagon style buggies, open buggies with ponies pulling them and any other kind of horse drawn vehicle you can imagine... It was very weird. I've lived in this county all my life and NEVER seen anything like it. The buggies, which are usually relegated to the side of the road, were two abreast (they were PASSING each other).

As it turns out, this is Ascension Day, which is a big Amish holiday. It is an excuse to take the day off and picnic with family and friends... very similar to the way we celebrate Memorial Day. All the Amish businesses are closed today (which foiled our delivery).

I know I wound up in Amish Country before on either Ascension Day or Whitmonday (which I still don't know what that is - apparently both are quite important in Amish holidaydom!) and no one was open... I just never saw the profusion of families on the move before.

Aside from these two things, I did finish a "different" set of beads this morning and may be able to photograpgh them a bit later. The colors are perfect to match a sarong/scarf I just bought and may wear this weekend (as part of an outfit)for our brother Tom's wedding at the beach. Stay tuned!

Fairies - as promised

Here's a surprise! For a change, I am doing what I promised.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long while, I sat down at the torch and decided to create some new fairies. They seem to keep flying away, which is a good thing, but I do love them and love having them around.

The first fairy is a combination of purples. She has some silver inside which sparkles through the purple layers. Somehow I grabbed an orange stringer (by mistake) to start her hair and it turned out just beautifully. The orange hilights add a little oomph to her coloring!

It is unusual to see them alone - not made into a necklace - because they just seem to inspired me and I can't help but put them together with some gorgeous beads. I guess it's because fairies have such an affinity for sparkly things!

Second is the blue fairy... I just love doing these because I use the Galaxy glass I got a year or so ago to give the blue fairies a dreamy look. And, before you ask, no, she is not topless.. she has a gossamer wrap about her (ample) bosom.

I tend to hoard this glass because I've never seen it available since that first time. I tried buying, from another supplier, a glass called "Iceberg" that is very similar, but has yellowish tinges to it, rather than the pure icy, creamy blue of the Galaxy.

Anyhow, the blue just seems "right" for fairies... too much Pinnochio, I guess!

So, what's new?

I will show you some of the latest.

The lovely birds on the left are the most recent addition to our never ending menagerie. Bob decided we need some wild turkeys in the woods... so he bought in some peeps and here they are. They are standing on one of the numerous shelters inside their roomy cage. They are still too young to be out in the world alone... although yesterday, we were planting some wild plants down in the woods and thought we heard some wild, wild turkeys chattering away just waiting for their new friends to join them.

The cage (aviary!) is next to the asparagus patch and these guys are about as friendly as they can be... We go out to pick asparagus and they are all over on the roof (like in the picture) asking what we are doing, and when are we going to throw in some more of that delicious chickweed?

There are some younger pheasants in the garage.. still bathing under a heat lamp and we're waiting for a bunch of partridge chicks... Never a dull moment. Yup, that's why I married him!

And then, there's this structure. My brother, Tom, had to call me just to find out what the heck this is for. Well, this year, it's going to be an arbor for gourds to grow on. That will be the experiment this year. Next year? Who knows?

Oh, the little towers in the front? It seems my dh, Bob, was watching Martha Stewart(!) and saw this use for old windows. He had been rehabbing some rental properties and just happened to have a number of old window frames. They are now tomato towers... pretty cool, huh? You plant the tomatoes inside and tie them up to the windows and crossbars. We've never really groomed them properly, but I think if you keep after them, they'd be really nice. Maybe this year we'll do them right!

Tomorrow.. some new fairy beads!

What I could say

I could tell you about the past couple of days at Landis Valley and all the fun it was seeing old friends and making new ones at an event we haven't attended for over 5 years, but, you'll have to check in at Tina's Blog for that.

When I got home last night, I put my feet up and pretended to watch TV. From time to time, I would regain conciousness and think about eating something or going to bed, but it wasn't 'til about 11 when I finally dragged back to bed and crashed for real!

I think my Mothers' Day gift was the guys showing up yesterday afternoon at the end of the show to load up the tables and everything they could take in the pick up. Neither Tina nor I are as spry as we were 5 years ago when we would load and unload everything with no problem except a few laughs and groans. The guys came in like the cavalry and really were wonderful.

This morning when I came out to the shop to unload the Rav, these flowers were my Mothers' Day bouquet. I took a bunch of pictures, but loved the rose against the turquoise, red and white of the shop!

Resin experiments, etc

For the past week, I feel like I've been in a whirl with a number of projects going at once (like that's something new)! I'm getting ready for Landis Valley Herb Faire, working on a Viking knit bracelet (how ya doing on yours, Faith?), catching up on soapmaking and playing with resin.

The class I took a few weeks ago from Susan Lenart Kazner was about casting with resin. Shapes, embedding, etc.

Sunday morning, Tina & I were playing with it and yesterday, I finally sat down, with a bit more experience under my belt and produced a few things that might actually warrant a look.

The yellow flower in the first photo is a tiny Johnny-Jump-Up. The resin is apparently alkaline and pulls blue colors out of most things that are embedded. I think the flower wound up looking like a yellow orchid.. pretty cool.

The background is still rough and will become quite smooth if I apply a thin layer to the back of the piece and allow it to cure.

The second picture - the Maple leaf is actually a stamp of a Maple leaf. I stamped it on a piece of Shrinky Dink and shrank. Then I applied a "dam" around the piece and added resin.

I think it turned out pretty well. The leaf looks real - very tiny and detailed. Because it is on a clear backing, it seems to just float in the middle of the puddle.

The last piece I'm showing is my Lancaster County Soapworks logo.

I did a couple of these and they all turned out well. I printed out the logo on the computer... it's only 1/2 x 1/2". I had a tiny square of glass the same size and put "dams" around the sides.

First I poured a drop or two of resin on the bottom, then slid the tiny slip of paper on top of it and finished filling the mold.

Since I took these pictures this morning, I have worked on the charms and found that the sides on most have come off somewhat easily and after a bit of filing, they look almost like cabochons. Little nuggets. Now, to decide what to do with them.

I'll have to think about it as I continue getting ready for the Herb Faire... Still got lots to do on that project!

Candle & Soap beads and the real thing!

Wow.. I'm managing to combine a bunch of things all in one post. It even has something to do with business!

Last year, I started making soap beads with holes large enough to be strung on a chain and hung around the neck. We took them to a couple of soap conventions and sold quite a few.

This year, Kitty from Kangaroo Blue contacted me to see if I could make someting special for her. Kangaroo Blue is a popular supplier to soap and candle makers.

I made a slightly different version for her. They are charms - wired with a sterling silver loop for hanging. I found a rectangular press so they are now much more uniform in size and shape than last year.

Kitty wondered if I could do something for the chandlers and I wracked my brain until the idea for this candle charm popped into my brain.

It so happened that shortly after the idea hit, I was attending a bead show where I was able to find the exact components I needed to make this charm.

I love the little sterling candle holder and the sparkly crystal candle "flame". It really turned out better than I had even hoped!

Now, as to soap... Yesterday we had a fun, creative and yet productive day making some new soap varieties.

We had some special soaps to make for one particular customer, but once we got started... It just got the creative juices going et voila!

Starting from the top left and going clockwise:

Rosemary - scented with Rosemary eo and swirled with the powdered herb.

Doublemint - one of my favorite combinations of eo's and double swirled with the same colors (red and aqua) as the Starlight mints flavored the same.

This is close to the scent I call Wise Woman, but changed just a bit for a special customer. So we don't get confused, we marbled this one with burgundy oxide.

And finally, Happy Camper, a soap made to combat the itching of poison ivy and mosquito bites. We collected and blended jewelweed and plantain to make the interesting "pesto-like" addition and then scented lightly with tea tree and lavender eo's.

Numma!

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.