What we all would love to have!

Patty and Rose have a very nice home, very nice land, and had a very nice kitchen. At least I thought it was nice before. They decided to have it rennovated, I wondered why they would do that, it looked nice to me. But how amazing it turned out to be! I had to take pictures - it's that nice. They started the rennovation during the first week of November and just finished it a couple of weeks ago. Lots of time without a kitchen sink, lots of time with no stove to cook on, lots of time with the whole thing torn up and a 3 month construction process! Fortunately, they learned how to wash dishes in the bathtub and make any meals in the microwave, once they could locate it!

Three months......Daisy noted that it was pretty hard on the critters!

Boo told me it turned her world upside down!

Mary and Crumpet spent a lot of time in the living room knitting...


Stay back, Kid, I'll protect you!!!

Some 'before pictures'...



The house is a nice A-frame on a beatiful bunch of acres set in rural Southern Indiana, not far from me. Patty is also an RN, she and I spent 3 hours a day commuting to Indianapolis together for a couple of years. We had time to talk about everything in the world....many times over. Patty and Rose and Patty's daughter, Mary, are very dear to me. Oh.....and Crumpet, Tootie, Daisy, and Boo complete the family. Wait - not quite completed....Mary also has 2 cats tucked away in there somewhere!

They have a big place! I am parked out in front of their 3 car garage with carport!

Their deck leads to the pool and the gazebo....

Backyard and view out of their kitchen window...and Patty's birdfeeders!

And, finally.....a picture of the front of their house - The new kitchen is inside that door and up one short flight of stairs...

I am sneaking up the front stairs to the kitchen....it definitely is looking different

Is that solid wood? Are those all cabinets?
It's solid Alder wood? Wow...just wow!

Is that a handcrafted table/kitchen isle? And it's hard maple? Wow.
Where there was just a wall is now all custom made solid Alderwood cabinets. Wow.

More Wow.

Crumpet is very proud of the cabinet where his food is stored....He had Rose show me...Are these not two happy critters!!!? And rightly so!

It is so peaceful and light and comfortable in that kitchen with lots of room and lots of storage.
Now I am proudly ensconced at the new table, very happily drinking some wonderful tea made by Mary....thanks, guys, for the tour! You done good!

Liz, Sharon, and Callie come to visit!

I actually had the good fortune to have a visit from Liz and Sharon. They spent the weekend in Brown County but made a stop by Bloomington on their way home. It was so very good to see them! They brought their new puppy, Callie, who is lucky indeed to leave the animal shelter and get to live in her forever home.

Callie, too, got to spend the weekend in Brown County....just Callie...no other dogs...life is pretty darned good according to her!

There was some adjustment....the flurry of 'getting to know you'...

Liz is one of Rocky's favorite people and he had a lot to tell her. She is a licensed therapist and it has been quite some time since his last 'session'. He is telling her all about his woes!

Mini wasn't sure at all that Callie had the right to be there...this is Mini's 'I don't care how big you are I am going to pull your face off' look....ears back, eyes staring, a good growl going... Sharon is making sure Mini doesn't write a check she can't cash! I do a lot of that, too.


Finally, the sniffing begins!



Then more of getting to know you....some body parts are apparently more important to get to know than others.....I believe this picture speaks for itself.


Rocky isn't sure he *wants* a girlfriend! Callie seems pretty fascinated with his nether parts


All is well....Sharon gets a good dose of doggy love!

On second glance....she might actually be gasping for breath. Bad doggie breath....really bad! Sorry about that, Sharon!

It was wonderful to have them stop by and, all too soon, they had to head back home but I hope to return the favor in the Spring and finally get to see their home!

Birds are not kind to each other

A much better picture of a Cardinal boy - much clearer and the sun was so wonderful to see this week! Parts of the picture are fuzzy - I am shooting through a window and a screen on a tripod, using the self-timer at 2 seconds with the aperature wide open at F1.8. I was lucky to get this picture of him in mid-chomp on a seed.


Meanwhile, I have realized that the backyard birds are not very nice to each other! Here is an irritable crew - nipping and snapping at each other. Grumpy feather dusters.


The little guy to the right is one of my favorites. He is a rosy/orangy little fellow, I just love his colors. He also is pretty happy to just camp out in the seed tray when no other big birds are around. He dozes a little, eats a little, looks around.


He even has pretty color on his back. Patty has said he is either a purple finch or house finch.

Pretty guy!

Nothing exciting going on. It is just a quiet life in a Southern Indiana backyard!

Bird visitors

The problem with taking pictures of birds is that one picture will pretty much do for all of them! One individual seems to pretty much look like another individual to me. At this point at least. However, I did get pictures of 2 more visitors to a quiet backyard in Southern Indidan.


A woodpecker has found the suet. Actually two of them, this is - I think - a red bellied woodpecker. It doesn't ahve a red belly so I am not sure about that. I am still resisting a bird book, preferring to bug Patty. The other woodpecker is a black and white one, litle guy, maybe a downey woodpecker, have not yet been able to capture a picture of him/her.

While my Cardinal guy here is a gorgeous color, he is not quite in focus. He will have to do, though, since I have plenty of pictures of lady Cardinals but the guys don't seem to be frequent visitors yet. I am still trying for a sharply focused picture of a Cardinal guy! Difficult for me in the best of times but a challenge is always good.

Birds....now beads! For the Beady Eyed Bunch!

It has been quite some time since I have posted anything Beady-like. How many crocheted and Ndebele bracelets can you look at? I have to admit, the shield earrings are cool and there will be more of them but no need to post them here - just the colors changes.

Wait - one more Ndebele!

Quite different! A little spice added to the now familiar stitch!

So what is new? I am so happy to show you!

First - the problem: I often have 3 or 4 beady projects going at one time, all lined up on my table. I keep my thread/nymo/fireline very long because I don't like having to stop and add new thread/nymo/fireline. Some beaders use shorter lengths and don't have to stop and untangle as much. I like a good tangle and I am good at untangling!
Unfortunately, when I went back to a project it was very hard to find the needle at the end of that length of thread. Then several threads for several projects became tangled. Then Mini the nosy Chihuahua girl became entangled in a couple of them. Time to do something - thus, the Needle Finder (aka pincushion) was born!
Very small - about 1 1/2 inches - here is a quarter next to the first one I made:



Each project has it's own colurful needle finder - so I can find the needle! I could have used several regular pincushions and/or a brightly colored piece of cloth but where would be the fun in that? This is more congruent.


I found the patterns years ago on Suzanne Cooper's website. They are part of her Really Really Round Peyote Mandala necklace patterns.
http://www.bead-patterns-24-7.com/e-books-beads-round.html

There is a whole lot more to her website - this link takes you directly to her Really Really Round Peyote designs - and check out those little hats! In other pages she has small boxes, even a shoebox.
Here is another one I have made- Flames:


The pattern for these is similar to the very first pattern you learned - the round peyote Christmas earring! That was a beginning pattern, this is a fairly advanced pattern, needing pretty darned good pattern reading skills!


Happy Beading! I hope we can have a Vernal Equinox beady celebration - doesn't get much more exciting than beading and standing eggs on their ends!

I caught Bird Fever!

Patty and Rose gave me a bird feeder and pole for Christmas. Looking back, I can see their diabolical plot, although I was just an innocent at the time. I did hear them laugh and mutter 'the first one is free'.
Looking back to July, 2010, I can see where they set their plan to capture their next vitim by flashing shiny safflower seeds, making wild promises of Cardinals flocking to my back yard, lots of Cardinals! I have the proof, too. Innocent that I was, I took a picture of Pusher Patty and her 'wares'....


To show you how fast the addiction progresses.....I now have a taller pole, two suet cages, and a truck bed full of bird food. I have no need of sand in the back of my truck for winter driving, I have 2 big plastic boxes. One is filled with food for big birds and Cardinals, the other....devoted to the little birds and filled with thistle. Lots of thistle.
I sneak around, sitting very still with my finger on the shutter button....trying to shoot through a window and screen! How far and how quickly we fall.


Like heroin, I have to maintain a supply of my addictive substance. I have to fight other addicted beings ...here is a picture of my new competitor for Birdy Love! The rotten squirrel is sitting on a pole, waiting patiently......

I am watching you, Squirrel!!!
And I have greased the bird feeder pole with 1/8 inch of vaseline! That took care of the little buggers. They easily shinnied up the pole and ate my bird seed. Not any more....Fie on thee, Squirrel!


Some of my new best friends. I don't really know what they are but I get even with Patty by sending her instant messages and texts about what I am seeing and asking her what kind of birds those are. She is getting desperate, suggesting that I get a bird book. Hah!!! Not likely. She must pay for this!
The little green ones kind of look like malformed parakeets, the other one has pretty rose colors on him/her.

The Cardinals do visit, lots of lady Cardinals visit. And sometimes the feeder is just one big pile of birds. Until Squirrel makes his appearance.
Now, of course, I have my camera on a tripod on my desk, next to the window....waiting for that next shot! I need a better webcam, I am sure of it. My video is too indistinct, to feed my addiction I am now cruising bird cam websites, trying to see what they are using!
Thank you, Patty and Rose!

Finished! Cellini spiral.

Finally! Finished the darned thing. And I don't think there will be another by my hand. Here are it's baby pictures from March 20, 2010.



One year and 9 months later...ta da! It's finished! Not quite as much fun as I thought it would be and it takes much more concentration than I thought it would. It is very easy to miss one bead and then discover it many beading hours later. Then you get to tear all the way back out to that spot, take the wrong bead out, put the one correct bead in and then continue to bead back in what you just tore out!


Maybe it will find a new home at the Christmas party at work!

Beads, rain, rain, rain, rain......

It was a cold and rainy Sunday!! I think most of the Beady-Eyed Bunch decided to snuggle back down under the covers! But those of us who made it there certainly enjoyed ourselves. Not many pictures - I got a couple but, of course, they were a little blurry!

This is the only picture Vicki would pose for! You know - I never noticed her hands before - she has the most beautiful hands! Unless she is reaching out to choke me as has been the case once or twice in the past.....unprovoked by me, of course....
Nevertheless....here is Vicki and her amazing hands!


Rikki decided to seek a little peace and quiet. I found her very nicely and comfortably curled up on her bed


She made it clear that I was to make myself like a mouse and get scarce!

So I did!

Meanwhile, Brent and Drew watched the Colts play....I didn't know Drew could watch it with his eyes closed! Here is our comfortable guy.....probably he has fainted from the excitement of the Colts actually getting a field goal!


Yep - that's it, Beady Eyed Bunch! I am expecting much more and betterer photo ops at our next meeting! Peggy, Susan (who traveled up from Atlanta) and Brent didn't make the picture show. I am sure I can sneak up on them next time......
See you at the Vernal Equinox!