Flowers, Colors and a Dream

“The Man” and I went to a local iris farm here in Vacaville. They had probably 5 acres of iris blooming. It was an incredible site. So many colors and shapes, it was an iris lovers dream. Ha We didn’t stay too long, but just long enough to make out my list of favorites. I have always wanted a big iris garden and after I get my order this summer that dream will come true.

I have a few varieties now, a couple of yellows, way too many purples, and a couple of oranges. For some reason the one pink I planted turned out to be purple…….must have been a mix up in packaging. Iris is one of the easiest flowering plants to grow. They don’t need a lot of watering and they don’t require constant fertilizing like other flowers.

Here are some pictures of our day and the flowers of course.

I whelped a litter of puppies!

I have been so stuck in one design for my cats and dogs. I have no clue why………. But I think I wanted the easy way out. ha The lentil press I used makes the first basic shaping of the bead very easy. Maybe too easy. NOT!

So yesterday I decided to think outside of the box. (I hate that cliché) I have to admit…….. I did do some research online, looking at other peoples dogs and cats. It’s truly amazing the different shapes and styles out there and they all really do look like cats and dogs.

I made 5 dogs total. I found the perfect core bead to start my shape and stuck with that. From there it was pretty simple, actually…………much easier then using the lentil shape. I think they turned out pretty good.

I do have a small problem with their eyes. They look like they are the proverbial “dog in the head lights”. I have gotten a few suggestions on how to fix that. I also have a problem with the dog’s mouth. Most people don’t see the problem……….and maybe I am just being too much of a perfectionist. Lol But I will try to correct that today.




Which reminds me…………it’s already 72 degrees outside at 8:00 am……… I need to get this old body in gear and get to making beads before it gets too hot.

Needles, hot toes and lentils

I can’t believe it’s been this long since I posted to this blog. Where has the time gone? In my own defense, life has been busier then normal.

Well…………lets see………… I had a back procedure done. They went in with needles and fried some nerves……….hoping it would stop some of the pissy back pain I have been having. It felt great for a week; it turned out to be just the steroids they filled me full of. After the roids wore off the old back was back to the way it was………….and actually more pissed off. Hmmm lesson learned………….leave it alone!

I went into Sacramento to see the gut doctor. No new news there……..more waiting and no progress. Urggghhh

My Dad is doing much better after a few rounds at the hospital. His heart is doing what it’s supposed to be doing now. I have discovered something, 81 is a very scary age for me.

I woke up last night was a cat foot on my mouth. Wrecks likes to sleep with me at night because I am very warm and he is not. He will work his way up in the bed until he is next to me and my arm is around him. hmmm
I was deep asleep, dreaming of a very pleasant encounter. In my dream I was being tenderly kissed by my hubby, it felt so nice, so warm and soft. It woke me up………..and I realized it was a warm cat foot. ICKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!! Where has that foot been??? Oh ICKKKKKK I am too sleepy to get up and do what the ICK is encouraging me to do. So I go back to sleep and have dreams of scrubbing my teeth with bleach. Ha………..that will do it.

I have to add my newest creation, after all this was started to help me sell my goodies. This necklace is called “Cookies and Cream”. I have been having tons of fun making lentils and recently branched out making something different with them. I love the effect, do you?



http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23469686

Santa Fe and all the way the Rio Grande

I have some new beads to share that are listed in my shop I just love them, they remind me of New Mexico and those wonderful colors of the deserts.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22823737

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22565046

Dad is doing much better and is out of the hospital. AFter a few scares, the doctor thinks his heart will beat normally now. whewww

I am out of gas, I hope I can talk "The Man" into hauling the tank to Airgas tomorrow. I have a couple of orders to fill and want to get back to it.

I have watched a great old movie. Its called "Pillow Talk" with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. If you want to see a great feel good movie that has lots of laughs........rent it.

Hmmm......... I guess thats all the news. I will post more pics of the beads I make...........when I make them.

illness, reflection and life

This past week my Dad has been in the hospital again. He has this strange genetic problem with his heart. Out of the blue it will speed up for no reason and just race along at a marathoners’ pace……but……without the marathon. It is pretty scary and potential dangerous. After dealing with it for years, he is going into the hospital this Wednesday to get it fixed. They snake a wire up to his heart via the leg vein and zap the cells that cause the problem. They say it’s a simple procedure……….but I still worry. He is 81 after all and I am not ready to loose my Dad over a “simple procedure”.

How did this happen, how did my Dad get to be 81……. so quickly. Is time really moving that fast? It just seems so strange to me to have both my parents at that point in “life”. I can’t say the words…………..can’t even type the words. Just the thought freezes me in place, not typing, not thinking of something to type……….but just thinking of my parents and reviewing my own life.

Deer in the Head Lights or......Yanni's coming to town

Most of you know my extreme illogical love for Yanni. I fell in love with his music years ago and I still have a fascination with it. Hey……….its good music as long as you don’t have to look at him perform. He is such an ego manic, so in love with himself and……... I admit………..is really gross to watch.

Moving on……….. He has a new show. PBS has been running their pledge week around this new performance. There was nothing else on tv to on Sunday so I turned it on. I was very pleased to see new music and a new style of songs…..well……….sort of. He had new musicians too. Yanni even sported a new hair cut, he no longer had those long locks of hair that he flipped around like some super model during a hair commercial for shampoo.

We ……….ummm………..no…………. I was enjoying the music; “The Man” was not. He would make comments every so often, mostly what he thought of Yanni, the way he moves like some gay guy on crack, or just comments on how little music he is playing but taking all the credit. He made one final comment that I thought was interesting. “The Man” said……… “I would probably enjoy it more if I was watching a live performance and was in the audience”. Just at that moment PBS went to their pledge break. They talked about all the different levels of support you could sign up for. The 300 dollar level will get you tickets to the show………….SHOW??? The 1000 dollar level will get you front row tickets to the show and back stage passes………….BACK STAGE PASSES?? I couldn’t believe it………. they were saying those magic words………..the words I have wanted to hear from many years…………… YANNI WAS COMING TO THE ARCO ARENA……..IN SACRAMENTO!!!

I squealed in delight, so happy and so excited to the possibility of maybe………..hopefully…………going to see my STAR!! I looked over to “The Man”, I could see the realization was taking shape, the realization that he was going to have to eat his words…………the realization that…………maybe………nope not…………he would have to actually GO see Yanni’s new show. His eyes were bugged; his eyes were glazed….. like those of a deer in the head lights, disbelief on his face, grasping at thoughts of running for his life.

Long story short…………….nope…………no Yanni, no front row seats, no back stage passes…………. Just promises of a maybe……….a cd when it comes out in the stores.

Goose Bumps or Soggy Moss

I have been in a rut when it comes to making different beads. I have great ideas before I sit down in front of the torch, but then for some reason they fly out of my head when I turn the torch on. ha Well,....not this time. I made some really odd looking but very fun beads. I saw this one bead online and took some of her ideas and added tons of mine. Here are a few of those beads.

Romance and Love ……..eternal

Yesterday was our anniversary. We have been married for 8 years but have been together for almost 11. I guess you can say we have a very odd relationship in the sense we never fight, or yell at each other or argue. Its not that we don’t occasionally piss each other off, we do that for sure. It’s just that we get along so well; there has never been a time that we felt we had to resort to fighting.

I am sure most of you have heard the word “soul mate”. It’s an over used term and I never gave it much thought. It was always a ridiculous idea to me. But……. this is how I would describe our marriage, we are “soul mates”, destined to be together through out our life. I know I know……. this posting is so oooooooy goooy silly. Oh well……….bit the bullet and read on.

“The Man’ had asked me two weeks ago what I wanted for our anniversary. I told him nothing, but then I thought of a fun little game. I said………lets write a love letter to each other. We can read it to each other during our anniversary dinner. He gave me that “LOOK”………which meant I was insane……..but yet there was something in his eyes that said he liked the idea. I started my letter right away, struggling to put my feelings into words. I found that it’s very hard to express such strong emotions in text. I would stop and start, erase and start again. I knew what I felt, but the words just were not right. It took me five days to finally come up with something I was proud of.

Last night we went out to our anniversary dinner. I asked “the Man” on our drive over to the restaurant if he had his letter, he pretended not to……but then smiled at me. I almost thought I saw a tear in his eye. Hmmm…….maybe not....hmmm maybe so. At the restaurant we sat down, got comfortable and ordered our meals. Before I could even ask “when” did we want to read our letters…………”the Man” brought his out. He started first………with tears in his eyes, he read out loud the words............the words that overwhelmed me, made my eyes tear up, made me smile and sob at the same time. I was blown away and SO PROUD OF HIM, and SO IN LOVE WITH HIM.......…………it was an amazing moment that I will cherish for ever.

I will always look back on this night and know, even though “the Man” doesn’t always say the words, I know in his heart he feels them and so do I.

All wet and freedom rings

I started my water aerobics class today at the local Gold’s gym. They have a fantastic indoor pool and it’s actually heated to the perfect temp…..at least for me. I have to admit it……….. I was a little intimidated at first, mostly from walking into the place and past all those beautiful people……NOT ha Once I got to the pool area and saw that the people in the pool were just like me......I relaxed. The water felt so good and very inviting. Once the exercise started I was a bit surprised to feel how much my knees hated the activity. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have any pain since I was weightless........but I guess not. (I hope in a year or two I can get those bad boys replaced).

But……..back to the pool………….. I never noticed how much my bathing suit likes to scoop up the water while I jog in place. I used to work out at the other pool with nothing but women, so it never was an issue, but at this new gym………..well………. I was jogging to the music, which was the perfect beat to get my heart rate up and work my ass off. Up and down, up and down I go in the water; I could feel the water swooshing in the front…….but forgot about that because I was having so much fun. I didn’t notice how much swoosh was going on until one of the older dudes was staring at me…….......well………..not me………but my girls!!! They were bobbing up and down like buoys in the ocean. I looked down myself and realized the “girls” were very close to escaping the bathing suit……..eeeeek…….. I quickly turned around and pulled up as best as I could to get the girls seated back where they belong. Despite the quick fix, I noticed that the same old man took every opportunity to check to see if my boobs were bobbing for freedom.

So tonight I will see if I can shorten the leashes on the girls and tighten everyone up. Wish me luck……………………..