loading up the shop

I’m getting ready for my trip to Wisconsin.  This will be the first time back since my mom’s passing.

I don’t know how I’ll be feeling... but it sure will be weird being in the house she died in and I’m bound to go through a lot of changes,  but I have some fun things planned and I’m ready to get out of the big city and be in my homeland which I miss, especially in the summer.   I am going to see one of my favorite bands, The BoDeans, in Oshkosh with my brother.  I also have a Blues Festival planned for a weekend so things ought to be pretty cool.

So in preparation, I’m working non-stop to fill my Etsy shop before I leave.  I just park myself in front of the fan because now it’s just too hot to sit outside.  This old 1920s house is hotter than a pistol inside.

More bangle stacks cause the ladies just can’t seem

to get enough of them....

and they keep selling..

and that makes me very happy.

I made many of these while watching a Marilyn Monroe

marathon on TCM...Bus Stop, Seven Year Itch

(The Sheboygan Conservatory of Music) and How to

Marry a Millionaire.

boho wedding

In closing, here’s a heart shaped

pee spot in the litter box...

I just couldn’t resist...

exciting adventures ahead.

I got a new table and chairs  so now I can

work outside.    

This makes just a swell spot to work in when our

house gets to be 100 degrees inside.   And to think

we used to park our car here.   Now it’s a whole new room.

I move the beads I’m using and all my tools, wire and

stuff out there.  My mandrel and hammers are all set up as well.

So here is what I’ve been working on since 7 this morning.

They remind me of a crown of thorns... These are a lot

of work for me...just kills my hands...but when I look at

them now well gee whiz I just love em.

I wanted to use up all these tiny beads that I have...The holes

are so small so you can’t just bangle em up you have to weave

them in there.  It’s like sewing with wire.  I had these tiny

laboradite beads sitting around so I did some of these bangles

and experimented and tried new some techniques...fun.

It’s sort of mindless, like knitting or crocheting.

Here is my famous" hammer as arm shot".

Spending the same amount of time trying to get some decent

pics of them.

Kitty cat update

Well my friends miracles do happen... Prayers do get answered... And sometimes when you think that what you have in front of you is a lost cause you get a reprieve. Such is the case with my little cat Princess. That amazing tiny little animal of mine has made a stunning, unbelievable come back. She is on my lap as I write this... " marching" away, creating her own little nest on her human mommy.   She jumped up here on my daybed on her own steam...something I thought I would never see again as just two short weeks ago I was lookin into having her.... ( words that I can't even say out loud).   She was so bad that I called my husband at work and said " this is it... You better come home". She couldn't even make her way to the water dish.    But a miracle happened in our little cottage.


     Here is what I did. She was still eating but oh so very skinny so I thought"what fattens you up?"... Fats... So I started to put olive oil on her food. She loved it and lapped it up with a crazy gusto and she started to become more alert and started to put on some weight and I would find her in the living room, the bathroom shower floor lapping up drops of water and now jumping up on the bed... A miracle ... A bonafied miracle... The work of a divine agency!
 Another thing I did... I let her go. I didn't hold on so tight... I stopped worrying...fretting obsessively... I went back to my yoga classes which let me tell you folks...get out of the house and on your yoga mat and find yourself and your focus and your breath.  It works for real and I could go on and on about the benefits of a yoga practice.

   Now mind you she is still blind and still skinny and her days I am sure are numbered, but then whose days aren’t.   Meanwhile...I can relax a bit more and get to enjoy my little best friend a little while longer.

 Life is like that... A roller coaster of events...downs and ups... Fast and slows... When you think it can't get any darker it starts to brighten up. It has taken me many years to stop dwelling in a negative headspace. I was brought up to worry. I came from worry and fear and negativity... I have had to claw my way out of that way of thinking and as you all know it is a lot easier to live in the comfort zone of the familiar than pinching yourself  in the midst of a negative thought and saying out loud STOP!
stop what your thinking..  " change the channel” as my friend Larry use to say.  Pull yourself out of the gloom and doom and think another thought, a better thought.   Be grateful for all you have and the daily miracles that are available to you, once you allow them to come to you.

A Day in the Long Beach Marina

 Some of our Wrigley

neighbors got together and rented this boat out

on the Marina here in Long Beach...

 I did not expect it to be that much fun but

we laughed our heads off and enjoyed a nice

couple of hours out on the water...

exceptionally nice weather...

breezy, sunny and not too hot..

You are able to rent all kinds of water vehicles...

This one involved the whole family...

It’s like two bikes that you pedal...

looked like a lot of work.

Living in limbo

happier and chubbier days

I know it has been awhile since my last post. My sweet little girl cat Princess has taken ill and has gone from bad to worse. I have watched her waste away before my very eyes and I' m afraid that I am not taking it very well. When you watch a vibrant little animal first go blind and then turn to skin and bones and barely walking, eating or drinking, well, I must confess that this  has turned me into a worrying and fretting mess, a raw exposed nerve and not very nice to be around.  Fear snaps back as anger and every insecurity I have is even more pronounced and I am as vunerable as a child.  I do not do sickness or death well.  I end up spending a lot of time going back to my old friends junk food and tv...not a good combination for me but for many a year my drugs of choice when the going gets tough.  Funny how when you are hurting the first thing you turn to is something that is going to cause you more hurt and discomfort rather than going to the gym or doing yoga  and eating nourishing and sustaining food.

  I suppose when you don't have children your pets are your kids and the bond is much stronger. She has been in our lives for 14 years... since the first time that we saw her , dragging her five kittens across our front fence. We reluctantly took all of them in , spayed and neutered them, saved them from too numerous to remember illnesses and disasters and ended up with keeping two, my Princess and her son Ginger. We became a little family and I watched as my husband who said he was allergic to cats, baby talk and play with them.  I gained a new respect and love for him as I saw his tender side revealed.

   I've never had a pet this long. I didn't have much luck with animals. My mom never let us have a dog or cat as kids cause she said it was too much of a heartache. I now see where she was coming from... obviously from the voice of experience.  Heaven only knows what she went through as a child...I shudder to think.  I also cannot imagine how people endure what they do in life...losing a child must

be so utterly devastating...and for all of you who must be thinking that a pet is nothing in comparision and what is this crazy lady going on about, well I wholeheartedly agree with you...the suffering that many go through is just impossible for me to comprehend.

 I just lost my mom in September and now I am going through it all over again...  caring for and watching someone you love die.   She is still eating and drinking and purring..maybe a miracle will happen?... so we wait and watch and suffer right along with her.

  If you are lucky, you find a soulmate or two in this life... She is one of them for me.  I use to tell

my husband that I thought I saw my dad in her...she gave me a look that said Hank to me...it makes me cry just thinking about it and I still mourn the loss of him.

 She has been my constant companion and helped me through a lot of stuff with her unconditional

 love and sweet little ways that helped me to forget my problems.  My best buddy...  a little clown and a diva and a life force and a huge personality all rolled into one tiny extraordinary package.  

 To all of you....thank you so much for your words of comfort and kindness....geez blog love is like pet love...

honeymoon hotel and new nursery

See that jasmine arbor to the left?

It has been the focus of our attention

lately as two mockingbirds have decided to

turn it into their honeymoon haven...

First the building...

It went on for days as they flew back and forth

with beaks of straw and twigs and grasses.

In and out they went...

until finally they were satisfied...

They settled in nicely...

while the honeymoon went on...

but sooner than a blink...

eggs were spotted in nest as we had to take a

peek inside...days went by.

Soon more in and out and out and in...

with beaks filled with tasty little morsels for the little ones.

I am convinced that the parents are the wee ones we

had two seasons ago when they built a nest very near our bedroom

door in the Wisteria ...then we could see and hear them...

They are “my mockingbirds”....

They have used my husbands sculpture as a landing spot.

New work and lovin the monkey.

I’ve been on a necklace making binge.

Suddenly, without warning, I had some ideas...

so I took this old crystal  I had and painted it pale pink...

Then I wrapped that baby in wire as I have a tendency to do.

and added those little tiny czech seed beads that I had

since the 70s.

Then I added a few more beads...pretty pale girly.

a smattering of hope....

Not only do I love how this turned out...I mean want to

keep it!

Hey and look!   Another one!

Geez...feast or famine for me...

I got these fabulous Bohdi Tree beads at the bead show

down south...

They are so earthy, textured, wonderous things.

They were for a Mala... Tibetan Prayer beads...

I wear my heart on my sleeve...

I’m finally starting to be able to mix beads up...

without getting all fussy and counting and first one

and then another about it...freedom!

And these pics!

well I’m loving those too....

Thank you PicMonkey...which is the bomb...

Turns meh into beauteous...

bugs, mice, birds in bronze

Mr. Beatnheart is working on a commission

for a hand railing...He made these first out of wax.

Then sent them to a foundry to be cast in bronze.

This little mouse will sit on the railing...

along with these Rails...

early stages of this bronze bug 

made from Mr.B’s imagination...

Installation of this is next week...