Life is....a bowl full of raspberries!

Patty very kindly invited me to go raspberry picking with her at a neighboring farm! Charlie and Sandy own the farm right next to Patty and Rose - what a wonderful garden they have and what a beautiful setting.

A picture from their wraparound porch - nothing like Southern Indiana for beautiful trees and rolling hills. At least in my humble opinion.


Sandy prepared us with buckets...


Then she led us out to the promised (raspberry) land...

Is that some tall corn or what?! It's field corn for their horses but we all know how good young field corn can be on the table!

Sandy provided instruction on the picking of the raspberries. I had to have a private tutorial with hands-on demonstration. But I eventually got it!


These are some long rows of raspberry bushes! 2 full rows - right in between the corn and the asperagus and lots of other good produce.


Patty bagged the first kill of the day!


Every bush and almost every branch had raspberries in every stage of growth - Sandy said she can pick twice a day. She picks the ones that have riped over night in the morning and then can pick the ones that ripened during the day in the evening. There were lots of them that would be ripe in just a few hours after we left!


Yum - excellent to freeze and eat this winter!


Thank you, Sandy and Charlie, for inviting us!!!

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

I just have to wonder if I have reached a new high, or maybe low, in tedious needlework. Here is the completed Huichol Net Weave bracelet - finished in size 11's and with the clasp finished. I have started on the necklace in size 15's - a strip of it is right above the bracelet.


Size 11's are small enough but the 15's make them look like boulders! It actually goes pretty quickly and is a very simple weave. Need good tension, though. Fireline would be the best.

You might notice one side of the silver border is missing - I will add that when the piece is completed. Don't know why they do it that way but that's the way the pattern runs. Yep - made a mistake there in the middle of the bracelet with the little turquoise X's. By the time I noticed it I wasn't going to go back and correct it. So it will just add the the 'charm' of the piece!

Back to plants

It occured to me that the hosta flowers look a lot like my lilly flowers - but in a flatter way.



Then I looked over to see this pretty bud - I've never gotten this close to the flowers as they bud. They dry out so quickly it's hard to catch them this pretty.


More flowers....meanwhile, the Savserveria (aka Snake Plant, Mother-in-Law's tongue) has finally bloomed. It's not very exciting, it's not a splashy bloom and as they propagate from sending out suckers underground I am not completely certain why it would bloom at all.


My little alien lady who lives in there doesn't know what the fuss is all about, she is much more colorful! I can't argue with that.


The happy Bubba the Bird and plant corner where they all live!


Bubba gets some sunlight from the skylight. It doesn't last long but he enjoys it. He usually keeps a very close eye, his head cocked sideways with one eye toward the skylight, for eagles and other predators that want to eat little green birds. Sometimes I watch with him for awhile. It seems like we share a moment when all birds (big and human as well as little and green)are watching for predators!

More Beady-Eyed Bunch!

I gave up on the daisy chain. I finally figured it out, figured out how to make the little 's' curves...then decided it just wasn't fun. Using 4 lb test Fireline did help keep the tension, though.
Here are two pictures of the remnants....it's over to the Beady-Eyed bunch if someone wants to take it the rest of the way.


I did a few other pieces....I think there is a turquoise theme running through here!




And, finally, a brand new stitch to me - the Huichol style net weave. I have tried to puzzle this out from a Huichol bracelet I have with no success. Finally found a simple pattern on bead-patterns.com. It still took me a couple of days to be able to read that pattern but....it's almost done - going to put on one of these buttons for the clasp, probably the one with the black stone in the middle. Will do a black and silver peyote loop for the button, probably. I used 4 lb test Fireline again because this is such a soft weave, I needed the extra help with the tension.




But, still, it isn't what I am looking for in a necklace - it is too wide. I used 11's. I am going to try it in 15's - I think that will be the right width for what I want. Of course, it may take the rest of the year!

Happy Beading!

Mostly stuff for the Beady-Eyed Bunch

Mostly beads.....

First, remember the pattern I posted a couple of days ago? Well - never mind - ended up not liking it. It was too 'wobbly' and the connecting beads weren't symmetrical. It was just...not right.
Here was my attempt, I did this much and realized it wasn't what I wanted.





This is more what I am looking for - I've had this for years - I remember having it in 1988 when I came back from Alaska and was working evenings at the VA. I don't think I got it in AK, though, I think it was made somewhere in the Middle East.


I remember at the time thinking I should sit down and figure out the path of the thread. When I transported a patient down to Anchorage I would spend time until my plane left to scour shops for new beadwork, take it back home to my village, then we would sit around and figure out how it was made and make our own. There weren't many patterns and books readily available back then, none of them in an Eskimo village in the Arctic. The Internet and email hadn't come along, either.


I guess I just got lazy - I know I've seen this pattern for a daisy but can't remember where....if I can't find it I suppose I will have to pull this one apart to figure out how the thread runs. Or.....maybe some young and sharp-eyed Beady-Eyed Beader (like Bonani and Vickie?) will figure it out and teach ME! Good idea!



And, more on beads, kind of, I found my Hula Poppers! Now all I need to do is design something around them. Good thing I have had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years because I want to leave the hooks on. My good friend Jill made me update my tetanus when I lived in Georgia, Bless her heart. I think she made something up, like it was mandatory for all new hospital employees. I think she made a lot of things up to get people to do the right thing!


On to non-beady stuff.....
Can you believe Mini is laying in the sun on hot wood in 90+ degree heat? The deck was so hot I couldn't walk on it and Mini was basking..


I still haven't power washed the darn thing. The deck - not Mini. Although she could use a power washing. She likes to roll in anything that smells 'interesting' from a dryer fabric softener sheet to absolutely unmentionable and horrid smelling things that I end up washing off of her at midnight!

And this is just an interesting little fellow who came skuttling by when I was taking pictures on the deck....I've never seen a bug looking exactly like him - thought he was an interesting color and pattern. He scurried up the table and watched me for awhile then went on about his business.

Beadwork and Buddhism?

Today I went over to the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. It is a most fascinating place! Here is some information from the website:

The TMBCC is located on 108 acres of ground in the southeast corner of Bloomington, Indiana. Located on our property is the Kumbum Chamtse Ling Monastery, a Cultural Building, 2 traditional Tibetan Stupas (Tib. Chorten), 4 Retreat Cottages, a Teaching Pavilion, and 2 private residences.

The monastery is a result of the vision of Thubten Norbu (Tagtser Rinpoche) who was determined to promote interfaith dialogue in the Bloomington, Indiana area and, indeed, throughout the world.

and the link in case you would like to check it out yourself:
You will have to copy and paste the link into your web browser - I don't know why my links aren't working all of a sudden!
http://www.tmbcc.net/info/index.asp

What does this have to do with beadwork? I went to see if this man was around!


He is a fellow who is well known for his beading in the Native American culture as well as Buddhist.
Another link for you - to an article about him in the Bloomington newspaper:
Again - copy and paste into your web browser, sorry for the inconvenience!
http://www.examiner.com/x-40234-Hoosier-Travel-Examiner~y2010m6d21-Man-Creates-Tibetan-Thangkas-Displayed-in-Bloomington-Indiana-To-Learn-the-Secret-of-Patience

Would you believe he was standing in the hallway when I walked into the Cultural Center? And came up to ask me if he could help me find anything? Wow! So I told him I came to meet him and handed him the newspaper article. So cool. He was very nice, we talked for quite some time, his Thankas (pronounced kind of like Tonka) hang in the Temple so we drove up there and I got to see and feel these amazing pieces of beadwork! How does he make them? Just like the barrettes I've shown you and just like the flat beadwork on my winter gloves - no differently but much more skillfully.

Of course there are pictures! First a picture inside the temple itself - the two pictures to the far right and far left are the beaded Thangkas - completely beads, nothing else.

A close up of his beadwork - this is the one I liked best - wish I could remember what she is called! This is done entirely with beads - exactly like the ones we use and in size 11's!

If anyone knows what she is call please let me know. I knew I should have written that down!

The one of the red lady is on the right side of the first picture and this one is on the left - all in beadwork, size 11:


Another picture of the red lady:


Amazing. He thinks he will teach a class in the Fall. I will be there if he does!

The 'lure' of beadwork!?

This is simply creative....had to post it.


To get the pattern/instructions you have to go to Interweave and purchase...
http://www.interweavestore.com/Beading-Jewelry/Projects/Allure-of-Beads.html?a=be100712A

I'm thinking it just might be worth it. Wonder if it will catch anything?

I used to cast for bass with a Hula Popper....I have those and they have lost their skirts....I'm feeling a solution for that here!

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

So I made this...



Black, silver, turquoise. Can't go wrong with that. Wanted a necklace to go with it. Decided to do a daisy chain, nice simple, beginner project. But I wanted one with a little more 'heft' to it. So decided to use Sandra Halpenny's free pattern - here is it on her website:
http://www.sandradhalpenny.com/5589.html
She has more patterns there that you might like, some free some to pay for.

In case the Beady-Eyed Bunch doesn't remember this one, here it is:


Then I decided to go looking for a daisy chain graph so I didn't spend hours beading colors I didn't really like after all. Couldn't find one so I realized I would have to make one. I'm not sure I can get more boring, but I tried several things and ended up using Word and then inserting 'symbols' and enlaring the circle to a 16 font. It came out very well I think. Maybe everything isn't perfectly even but it let me see how some colors would look in different places.

Here is the blank - if you want me to send it to you in a Word doc just email me. If you don't have the pattern any more I can email that to you, too, or you can download from Sandra's website.



If you use the Word doc and use 'format' you can fill in the circles with whatever colors you would like. I played around with it and used some different colors, I think the black, silver, and turquoise will look good in this pattern. Then it appears that you can also so some patterns with this particular daisy chain variation. I started to play with it a little bit. I think if the circles were a little more even it would allow a pattern. Maybe some Word wizard in our Bunch can make it better!



Oh - and to get the Word doc into .jpg I spent more time doing this: took a screen shot of the word doc.; pasted the screen shot into another word document; cropped the screen shot just down to what I wanted to post; copied the smaller screen shot; pasted it into that old Paint program; then saved as .jpg! Took me a long time to figure that one out!

Happy Beading!!

What I did on vacation...

Sadly, the mold did not get washed off of the house. And Bubba was so very relieved that his home was not disrupted for a good scrubbing. However, I am very proud to say that I did get my office mucked out, the cell blind hung - all by myself and without the proper sized drill bit! I really like these blinds, I replaced one of those aluminum mini-blinds that gets all dusty. These are very light weight and raise all the way to the top. Some of them will lower from the top or the bottom. I think I will get one of those next.

I know it isn't as neat and tidy as some would have it but - it's probably as neat and tidy as I ever get! My desk, with the nicely hung (and perfectly hung) cell blind. Apparently I've lost most of my drill bits so I improvised a combintion of a drill bit too small, then piloting a hole with a larger nail, then pushing really hard to get the screws in! It worked.


Office/Guest Bedroom. I have picture-hanging anxiety (should be a disorder in DSM-V) so I decided to just nail them up wherever I could find a place for them. Can't wait to see what Cecily thinks of them! I'm kind of liking the variety.


My $25 Walmart bookcase went together very easily and is actually very nice. I have my pamphlets stacked on it and have now gotten them out of my living room.


I was up early-ish the next morning, admiring my perfectly level blind


And my most precious - the poster my wonderful crew did before I left - I cried a little when I hung it up and re-read everything. I really did. I wanted to wave back to everyone! Just awesome - thank you, thank you so much! I miss you, too! Every single one of you!


Of course, I had company while cleaning out the office and hanging pictures..... my ever present little Chihuahua girl...Mini. I looked at the bottom of one of the pictures and what did I see?

Whatcha doing?

Can I do it, too?

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

The last of Cinderella Horn's designs is completed. I finished the red/black bracelet yesterday evening. Here is the completed collection!

Thank you, Cinderella - it was fun and I enjoyed using the colors and designs you picked out. I think all but the new one has gone to it's forever home! And the final one is quite a sparkler and very eye-catching. I am looking forward to seeing who will pick that one. I know they will all be enjoyed - you done good!

Sanserveria flowering!

This doesn't happen often. And only happens when the Sanserveria (aka Snake Plant, Mother in Law's tongue) is really really happy with where he/she is living.

Most plant growers think this plant likes low light but it doesn't. It will tolerate low light and won't die but it would prefer bright indirect light. A little sun in the early spring mornings is also appreciated.

I took her outside today to give her a good bath with the hose and watering and found she has sprouted a stem that has flower buds on it.
I got her from a nursery when I was living in Reno, I was trying to get something green in the desert! She was a little plant then - maybe 6-8" tall. However, she has grown - she especially liked living in Valdosta, GA, where she could sit out on the screened in porch most of the year.
She's big now - too big to move much

And bringing her back inside with a pot full of water is hard! I will take more pictures when she flowers - it's not a really good looking flower, kind of scraggly with lots of sappy stuff. But I am glad to know she is happy where she is living now.