Life is good

Mini loves the heat and the sun. Loves laying out in the sun no matter how hot it gets. Life is good - she went from this a couple of months ago:




To this today....drowsing in the sun...can't.keep.eyes.open.


can't.keep.head.up

Still playing with the new camera

Tried out the macro - it worked well I think.

First - a bleeding heart



Then a dreaded dandelion



And my favorite so far - my backyard. With the 'green thing' all covered up by a nice granite boulder....courtesy of Home Depot. I am so happy to have the 'green thing' gone!

New Camera!!!!

Still using a Nikon Coolpix and it is still a 3 oz point and shoot. I got it because of the VR Lens Shift stabilization, hoping it would help the blurry pictures. And the price has come way down since I started looking at this model. It is an S640, my old one is an S210 (not the Chevy). Anyway, I opened the package, charged up the battery and took these pictures about 8:40 this evening. The only one with a flash is the first one. I think it did pretty well in low light with no flash.

Mini is thinking....'oh no, not a new camera'!




In living room with room light - no flash.



I believe I am pretty happy with it so far.

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

I spent the day straightening up my little beading area and quickly took pictures before it imploded again. I saw the show 'Hoarders' and think I had better mend my messy ways! Do I really need to keep Rocky's collar from when he was a puppy and we visited Karen and Chuck in Barstow, CA? Rocky chewed through it and Chuck fixed it with glue. I'm thinking I can throw that away now! And the patches from my Judo gi? And much, much, more! My habit of saving every box I get in the mail is just simply over - although....you never know when you will need just the right sized box..... If I take them to the recycle center I'll bet I will need one right away!

This is my 'spot'. I have beads stored in the book shelves behind me and I usually use my bench to sort things out but this is my 'spot' for beading. Complete with doggie beds under the table. They were using them a lot in the winter but not so much now. Mini was a good footwarmer, Rocky just growls.



A bit more of a close up - I am watching www.ustream.tv/theowlbox from San Marcos, CA, on my little 10" laptop. So cool - I have seen the eggs hatch and now they are are white balls of fluff. Papa Owl (named McGee) brings in the food at night to Mama Owl (Molly) to feed the 4 owlettes. A cam on the outside of the owl box is what is on my screen in this picture. The best cam is the one on the inside of the box.

And a picture of what I am working on now....above the pink light is a pile of projects to join/fix/join & fix. I have a few bead crochet bracelets going and still working on the cellini spiral bracelet. That spiral bracelet takes a long long time. It's very pretty but I'm not sure there will be another. Maybe one or two more - if you could only take one beading project on a trip this would be it. Once you get it started and get through the beginning rounds, it is very very simple.


And a close up of the spiral - just a round peyote with different sized beads - the smallest are size 15 and the largest are size 6.



A new project - I am stringing a crocheted bracelet with a silver line running through it. When I make patterns I have to string the beads in a certain order by hand, one at a time. This is 5 blue and 1 silver. It's a very simple pattern so doesn't take long. A complicated pattern can take a long time to string. If I am using a bead 'mix' I can use my trusty bead spinner and have it strung in a few minutes.
I am working on a piece of leather I have cut to the size of a salad plate - I love Corelle!


If any of the Beady-Eyed Bunch want to send me a picture of their workspace I will post it here!

Boo & Daisy Anderson

Patty hit the road and left her marvelous puppy dogs, Boo and Daisy, behind, all lonesome and pining for their family (which numbers 2 humans and 4 dogs now). I visited, handed out treats so I could be their most favorite person, played outside, then back inside for their dinner. Meanwhile I got one picture of them that wasn't a blur of activity.

And a nice shot of a beautiful, and very old, Bradford Pear out by the barn

I think we are all ready for Spring! My lawn already needs to be mowed - I am losing Mini in the grass!

Spring has sprung

This is what it looked like this evening on my street, standing on my porch....



It sure beats the heck out of this!!!!!

Beady-Eyed Bunch - 3/20/10 Equinox Celebration, continued

Finally! Putting up pictures of our Vernal Equinox gathering. The next one is planned for June 20th or 21st or maybe the weekend after that one (can't remember - but it is near the Solstice!). I believe this one will be at Vicki or Madeleine's house.

Meanwhile.....Riley was the Master of Ceremonies and kept a watchful eye on us. I got a sense of disapproval of the disruption in his domain.



Since it was the Equinox the first thing we did was raid Peggy's refridgerator for her eggs and stand them on end. As we are very easily amused, everyone was excited that Bonani and Phyllis were successful:



Peggy even took a picture on her cell phone! She sent me the picture but I have now lost it - maybe she will send it again.

Yes!


Now for a fuzzy picture of the place Peggy prepared for us to bead. I don't have any clear pictures of the group so I will just post a couple here. It was a wonderful place to bead - very open, very light. Very good hostess!







Vicki's Bumps in the Road bracelet - very nice!


Madeleine's spiral project:


Peggy was working on a free form flat peytote bracelet. I can't wait to see how this comes out.


Madeleine playing 'Smash the Cat'.

Madeleine and Vicki admiring a very nice scrapbook Peggy created.


Vicki learning how to use the jig to make ...well....'stuff'...and now flattening that same 'stuff'. We often make sure most weapon-like objects are not near Vicki but we all supervised her use of the hammer. No one was harmed in the production of this picture:


Bonani was working on a type of beaded 'sandle' that Mary would like to wear at her wedding on the beach. We hav been looking at the picture of a very expensive one and finally I believe we have figured out how to begin it and make the part that goes on top of the foot. Bonani probably has the anklet part finished by now. Mary is a lucky lady to have Bonani on the job!




Bonani's 5 inch heels on my feet. Why? Well, I have never worn heels that high and there were plenty of people to hold me up and/or pick me up when I fell....just seemed like the thing to do.


I worked on my Cellini spiral - tubular peyote with beads of differing sizes:


But then it was time to go.....Bonani got her shoes back


Madeleine starts limbering up for her run to Illinois...


Riley gave a sigh of relief:


Peggy performed the closing ceremonies:



And the Olympic Beading flame was extinguished until the Solstice....