What a wonderful weekend!
Friday evening: My youngest grand daughter arrived around 9:00 (just in time to be put to bed). It wasn't long until she was back downstairs, just a tear away from crying...she was missing her family. Normally when she stays, there are two siblings and two cousins here, but that queen size bed must have felt awfully lonely without anyone else in it. I went back upstairs and laid down with her...she was out like a light.
Saturday morning, I was notified it was time to get up by a very gentle knocking at my bedroom door. I told her I'd be right there, then I heard the piano, so knew she had found a way to entertain herself.
It wasn't long before we left for the Wakarusa annual Ham and Bean Feed. The weather was perfect. We ate outside at the picnic tables, and aside from the spiders and the bees, it was a very pleasant time. We had met up with some of our friends, so we took up the whole table.
In the afternoon, we made and decorated sugar cookies, then it was on to making beads.
My grand daughter loves to design beads, but is too young to make them, but very good at telling me exactly what to do.
We ordered Chinese delivered, and shortly after dinner her parents arrived to take her home.
Sunday morning was church, then around noon-thirty the whole crew began to arrive, and to make tacos. I didn't have to do anything, just enjoy the company and the buzz of having six simultaneous conversations.
It was a great day. We were missing three of my grand children and their spouses, but where as this started out as just four of us going out for Sunday dinner, and ending up tacos for 23, I can't complain. What a wonderful day!
Monday the cleaning lady came...that's always a good day. We had left over tacos for lunch, and I got to make beads all afternoon. Just before 6:00 JoAn and Jim Brown picked us up, and took us over to Arliss and John's for a spagetti dinner. Shortly after we arrived, Pastor and Jolene arrived, followed by Sandy and Walt, with a birthday cake in hand.
It was a totally enjoyable evening. I received many birthday greetings from friends on Facebook, and cards in the mail. It reminded me of how many wonderful friends and relatives I have, and I appreciate each and every one of them.
Today I need to run errands...they get stacked up awfully fast...My list is getting longer, so I'm off...but we knew that!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
I should be headed for bed....but...
This is as close as I've come in a long time to getting to add to my blog. Usually I exercise more restraint, but tonight, even though I need to be somewhere by 9:00 AM, I'm still determined to get something down...I'm working with a real handicap...I accidently download "The Crawler" onto my computer, and it has pretty much tried to take over everything. It now commands my "home page" with it's own "Inbox", and since I've done everything to try to uninstall it, it's punishing me by not allowing about every tenth letter to print. ARGH!
Perserverance needed here...
Now...back to my "Dear Diary".
I have been totally blessed by having a dear friend (Sandy) volunteer to remove the beads from the mandrels, clean the beads and mandrels, redip the mandrels and process the packaging of the beads. She also accompanies me to take inventory of the beads I have out on consignment and helps me keep track of myself...(one very taxing job!) Am I fortunate or what!?!
I have designed a "running series" with 20 different but like beads. When you look at the edge of the bead, you can see a path going around with dots, offset on either side, which give it the rhythm of running. The base bead is where the difference comes in ie: "runs in snow" is a white bad, where as "runs on ice" is a clear bead..."runs in rain" is a blue base bead, and "runs at night" has a black base, etc. There's even a "runs for fun". I had this bead, but didn't know what to call it, so asked my friend Joan (JoAn) to name it for me.
Then a lot of series came to my head..."night rider" all have a base bead of "moss agate", which is dark brown/black/tan in color, and I put different designs on them, such as "fireflies in the night", "clear night", "foggy night", etc.
"painted dasies" are all on a base bead of transparent gold, with green running around the middle with dot of color in a line...a different color for each bead.
My last series was my "feather series", but I haven't completed it yet....but they are very beautiful..so far I have "white dove", "blue jay", "raven" and "parrot". I have ideas for others, such as "turtle dove", "cardinal", "goldfinch", and will be searching the bird books for other ideas. All of the above mentioned beads are somewhere between round and donut shaped beads.
So now...what I've been waiting to do ever since I walked into Kate Drew-Wilkinson's store, Uptown Tribal, in Bisbee, AZ. I have finally started making "tree beads"! Each one is taking me between 45 minutes to an hour, but definitely worth the time. Each bead has a background of a river, a valley, mountains and clouds. In fact, one of the back grounds was so beautiful, I couldn't bare to cover it up with a tree, so I merely put a stump of a tree on that side. : )
OK...enough about my beads...tonight, Sandy and I went down to The Jewelry Box, and took a lesson on wire wrapping. We used natural stones with some crystal beads for highlight. What fun!...and I might add, also...How Pretty! (honk honk...(honking my own horn again))
What's next? Glass Fusing...hope I spelled it right. I have the stained glass to do it with, and the kiln to do it in...all I need is a lesson and I'll be "Off!" And I know exactly where to take the lessons. Tamyra, at Creations Unique is my next stop for a new creative experience.
OK...I've stayed at the computer longer than I had planned to...especially considering having to retype every 10th letter...talk about an albatross around your neck!
More to come after my Fusing lessons...(fuseing? fuzing? fuzeing?)
Is there an end to this madness? I certainly hope not!
Perserverance needed here...
Now...back to my "Dear Diary".
I have been totally blessed by having a dear friend (Sandy) volunteer to remove the beads from the mandrels, clean the beads and mandrels, redip the mandrels and process the packaging of the beads. She also accompanies me to take inventory of the beads I have out on consignment and helps me keep track of myself...(one very taxing job!) Am I fortunate or what!?!
I have designed a "running series" with 20 different but like beads. When you look at the edge of the bead, you can see a path going around with dots, offset on either side, which give it the rhythm of running. The base bead is where the difference comes in ie: "runs in snow" is a white bad, where as "runs on ice" is a clear bead..."runs in rain" is a blue base bead, and "runs at night" has a black base, etc. There's even a "runs for fun". I had this bead, but didn't know what to call it, so asked my friend Joan (JoAn) to name it for me.
Then a lot of series came to my head..."night rider" all have a base bead of "moss agate", which is dark brown/black/tan in color, and I put different designs on them, such as "fireflies in the night", "clear night", "foggy night", etc.
"painted dasies" are all on a base bead of transparent gold, with green running around the middle with dot of color in a line...a different color for each bead.
My last series was my "feather series", but I haven't completed it yet....but they are very beautiful..so far I have "white dove", "blue jay", "raven" and "parrot". I have ideas for others, such as "turtle dove", "cardinal", "goldfinch", and will be searching the bird books for other ideas. All of the above mentioned beads are somewhere between round and donut shaped beads.
So now...what I've been waiting to do ever since I walked into Kate Drew-Wilkinson's store, Uptown Tribal, in Bisbee, AZ. I have finally started making "tree beads"! Each one is taking me between 45 minutes to an hour, but definitely worth the time. Each bead has a background of a river, a valley, mountains and clouds. In fact, one of the back grounds was so beautiful, I couldn't bare to cover it up with a tree, so I merely put a stump of a tree on that side. : )
OK...enough about my beads...tonight, Sandy and I went down to The Jewelry Box, and took a lesson on wire wrapping. We used natural stones with some crystal beads for highlight. What fun!...and I might add, also...How Pretty! (honk honk...(honking my own horn again))
What's next? Glass Fusing...hope I spelled it right. I have the stained glass to do it with, and the kiln to do it in...all I need is a lesson and I'll be "Off!" And I know exactly where to take the lessons. Tamyra, at Creations Unique is my next stop for a new creative experience.
OK...I've stayed at the computer longer than I had planned to...especially considering having to retype every 10th letter...talk about an albatross around your neck!
More to come after my Fusing lessons...(fuseing? fuzing? fuzeing?)
Is there an end to this madness? I certainly hope not!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday Night...
What is this...I can't sleep? No, I didn't have any caffeine...no I'm not troubled...What could it be??? So as I lay there, I remembered I didn't turn the dishwasher on...then I couldn't remember if I turned the propane to the torch off. I turned it of at the torch...but did I turn it off at the tank? OK...two excuses to go downstairs and take care of stuff...so I turn on the dishwasher, and it started making this increditable noise...I checked inside, but nothing was hanging up...so tried it again...tomorrow I'll call Sears. Then I went out and checked the propane valve...it was off, but even looking at it, I still couldn't remember turning it off...that's a little scary.
Bead making is going well. I can now make a bead with the hole in the center and dimples in each end of the hole most of the time, and have fewer "wonkie" beads all the time...and I can do all this in less time...much less time than it used to take me. (the first thousand beads were the hardest) I've gotten a good response from the bead shop. Cheri is always excited to see what I bring in on Wednesdays. I'm done with red, white and blue for a while (I think...unless I get a request). A friend suggested I should start doing beads in the school colors now...good suggestion...thanks, Donna. So this evening I did a bunch of green and white beads. The rod I used was emerald green...when they cooled, they were mint green...it's like that...quite often you get surprised...I'm learning. I had particularly good luck with a blue aventurine glass rod yesterday...but just when I'd hit on a new design, I ran out of rod...need to order more. Guess I should try the design in another color (now why didn't I think of that when I had the torch lit?)
I had the six youngest grandkids over this week...The three boys stayed about 24 hours, but the three girls stayed an extra night (and day). Laurel, the 10 year old is particularly fastinated by bead making...she wanted very badly for me to let her make a bead...but after I explained how hot that torch was, she was happy with just designing what I would make next...then while I was making it, she'd take the cooled beads off the mandrels and clean the beadrelease out of the hole in the bead...that really helps a lot...I'd like to offer her a full time position!
OK...I'm going to try to get to sleep again...I think it may take this time.
Bead making is going well. I can now make a bead with the hole in the center and dimples in each end of the hole most of the time, and have fewer "wonkie" beads all the time...and I can do all this in less time...much less time than it used to take me. (the first thousand beads were the hardest) I've gotten a good response from the bead shop. Cheri is always excited to see what I bring in on Wednesdays. I'm done with red, white and blue for a while (I think...unless I get a request). A friend suggested I should start doing beads in the school colors now...good suggestion...thanks, Donna. So this evening I did a bunch of green and white beads. The rod I used was emerald green...when they cooled, they were mint green...it's like that...quite often you get surprised...I'm learning. I had particularly good luck with a blue aventurine glass rod yesterday...but just when I'd hit on a new design, I ran out of rod...need to order more. Guess I should try the design in another color (now why didn't I think of that when I had the torch lit?)
I had the six youngest grandkids over this week...The three boys stayed about 24 hours, but the three girls stayed an extra night (and day). Laurel, the 10 year old is particularly fastinated by bead making...she wanted very badly for me to let her make a bead...but after I explained how hot that torch was, she was happy with just designing what I would make next...then while I was making it, she'd take the cooled beads off the mandrels and clean the beadrelease out of the hole in the bead...that really helps a lot...I'd like to offer her a full time position!
OK...I'm going to try to get to sleep again...I think it may take this time.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
It's never simple...
June 29, 2009
OK...it's been awhile...I tried to catch up in Colorado, put it in my documents, but it doesn't want to copy/paste...so let's see if this works.
June 8, 20009
So much has happened since I last added to my "Dear Diary"...and right now, as I'm out of touch with the internet, I can't see where I left off, but here goes anyway...pardon my duplication as I'm sure there will be some.
As I remember, I was caught up in researching glass bead making. For a month, I spent every spare minute on the internet, reading "glass bead making forums" and asking questions.
I researched every aspect of bead making...the torch, the fuel, the glass, the ventilation...Studying and comparing...I wanted the most for my money, but didn't want to sacrifice quality.
I stopped by the Jewelry Box and visited with Cheri, the owner. I asked after a bead maker I'd seen at Women's Connection, and she knew who I was talking about, (Karen) and told me how to get in touch with her and said when I got to making beads, to bring them in and she'd sell them for me! What good news! Not making beads yet, and already have someone who is wanting to sell them for me!
I was excited to get ahold of Karen, and she was excited to hear from me. She had not been doing beads, and thought maybe she'd get back into it if she had someone to do it with. After not hearing from her for a week, I called her back...she decided we should meet over at my house, so the next day, she brought her equipment over, and we "did glass beads"...that is, I did 4 beads...the mappgas torch she used got cold and wouldn't provide enough evaporation to make the hot flame, so I gave up in the middle of the fourth bead. I knew then I needed to get a bench burner and have propane and oxygen to get the hot flame I wanted. I also decided it would be better to have an oxygen concentrator than to buy tanked oxygen, as in the long run it would be cheaper...and if I invest this much money, I AM in it for the long haul. I spent a lot of time agonizing over a kiln. Finally in a moment of determination, I "bit the bullet" and ordered a fairly good sized one that should take care of my needs. I have found out I can anneal 300 beads at a time in it. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
I placed an order for the torch and much of the equipment I needed. While I was waiting on it to arrive, I made a few other purchases toward my end goal...but the most time was spent retrieving my stained glass of 20 years ago from my daughter's out building and my son't barn. Getting it to my house was the easy part. Cleaning each sheet and shard at my kitchen sind...washing, scrubbing and drying, sorting and putting it away. Putting it away is a work in progress. I've bought different pieces of furniture to store it in...have been saving flat boxes and glass jars for the smaller pieces...even getting help from a friend here and there.
Finally the day came when the box arrived. I had my handyman "on call" to install everything, but then I realized the oxygen concentrator wasn't with everything else. I called, but it was coming from the person who reconditions them. Three weeks later, it finally arrives. I anxiously called my handyman, and he came over to hook everything up for me. At noon that day, I considered it to be the first day of the rest of my life. I sat down and actually got to do beads...It seemed like a long time coming, but in actually it gave me time to get my mind ready. Each night I was on the computer preparing myself.
I decided my first objective was to make beads with the hole in the middle of the bead and a dimple in each end of the hole, and after about 600 beads, I'm getting pretty good at it.
Getting ready to go on vacation, I fired up the kiln and annealed somewhere over 600 beads. I gave 50 beads to my son for his church project, and took the rest down to The Jewelry Box. I wanted her to critique my beads and tell me what they could sell for. She said she'd take all I could give her, so I let her have them all. In the first few days she sold $80.00 worth. That's not enough to make a living, but it is encouraging.
On the way out to Colorado I was reading a book called "Beads of Glass" by Cindy Jenkins. With each page I'd tell Sandy, "We gotta go home...I wanna make beads!"
The vacation is going well. I found a place where they make beads and I go in and watch them every few days.l Last Thursday we attended a farmer's market that was really fun and we bought some goodies there. We've been to Loveland and the Loveland Outlet Malls, Walmart, some thrift shops and restaurants. Today we went to Boulder ant the Celestial Seasoning's factory and took the tour. Afterwards we went to The Leaning Tree, which is a western museum. They had a lot of paintings and bronze sculptures. My favorite sculpture was a horse made of old parts you'd find around a barn and/or machine shop...a lot of wrenches, pitchforks, rakes, fly wheels, pulleys and so many other things I can't remember. I need to find out how to put a picture on this website and post a picture of it.
Estes has a wonderful laudry. You can set out front and have a view of Longs Peak. The drive into Estes is up a canyon with a couple of sets of switch backs..a beautiful drive, then when you pop up out of the canyon...there it is...Estes in the valley with Long's Peak and all it's friends towering over the smaller mountains in between.
June 7
I love the song..."What a Wonderful World"...both hearing Louie Armstrong sing it and when my quartet used to sing it. When I hear it on "Muzac" (sp) in the store, I always stop and listen. There's so much beauty in our world, and I've been once again reminded of it as we drive through the Rocky Mountains, up the canyon and along the Northfork of the Thompson River...crossing over the river time and again...seeing the rocks jut out overhead...noting the trees growing, seemingly right out of the rocks...some straight up, others gnarled and twisted by the elements. Wildflowers of many colors growing in the valleys and up the hillsides.
We came to the Rockies early this year...usually we've been out here in August and/or September...this year we came last of May and are here into the first two weeks of June. Temperature difference...more rain...more flowers...in fact, we've been able to enjoy Spring at home and now we're enjoying it all over again here in the mountains. When we arrived, the lilacs were just beginning to bloom...the tulips were still blooming and now the peonies...not only the sight, but being able to smell their scents is a joy.
We're in a two story log cabin just outside Glenhaven, CO. The cabin, a four bedroom with a sleeping porch, is in a canyon with a pretty much straight up canyon wall of rock on either side...right along the river on one side and right next to the road on the other. The lot is long and narrow, with about 20 feet in front, from the house to the road and from the edge of the house back, it's less tjam 15 feet to the edge of the river, which is flowing faster and deeper than it has when we were here in past years, due to the time of year. Many tall pine trees grow up the canyon walls, along with current and other bushes. There's a nice bridge from the corner of the house to the other side of the river...also a garage and a picnic area.
I used to set at the picnic table south of the house and paint, or eat lunch, but feel less comfortable doing so now since one day last year, when I was setting at the dining room table, I realize I was watching a bear make his way down the canyon wall across the river from the house.
The dining room has windows all along one side, so you can set at the table and watch the river run by...also, there is a hummingbird feeder hanging just outside the windows, and we spend a lot of time watching them come and go. We've had as many as 8 hummingbirds vying for a position at the feeder. We've taken many pictures of them, but the screens always run interference.
Glenhaven is a wide spot in the road...but a very beautiful and interesting wide spot. It has three well done "treasure" stores, a small grocery/convenience store, a bead and breakfast, a real estate office, a fire department, a town hall and a post office. The buildings have flowers adorning the outsides, and apopulation of hujmmingbirds swooshing by.
Our group:
The cabin is rented by Marcia and Marvin, friends from church, who have been coming here for around 20 years, with different configurations of guests. Marcia and Marvin travel through out the world with Jesus Films and will be in 5 different countries this year.
Two and three years ago, Orval and Eunice (brother of Marvin) were here. They haven't come the last tow years because of health problems.
Leatrice and John took their place last year and this. Sandy and I cook with Leatrice at the church the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. They ride out on their motorcycle. They're both tons of fun and really spark up the group when they're there. They do a lot of cooking, infact, when they spent a week with us on one of our Florida vacations, they cooked, cleaned and waited "hand and foot" on Wendell and me. (Thank you Leatrice and John!)
Sandy and Walt (cousin of Marvin's and travel buddies of ours) usually drive out with us...the last three years they've driven and we pay the gas...works well for both of us.
Coni and Bill are from St. Joseph, MO, and have been coming here for years with the Marvin McKinley's. Coni has Parkinson's and Bill is her husband and caregiver. They're in their mid-70's, and just finished building a new home a couple of years ago.
Dee and Alice are neighbors of the Marvin and Marsha's, and both widowed. They are taking the second week of Leatrice and John's, who are the youngsters of the group...in their 50's, so had to return home after one week to get back to work.
June 11, 2009
The vacation is nearly over...After breakfast this morning, we drove up to Estes and went to the farmer's market. It didn't take us long there, as we'd looked at most of it last week and knew what we wanted. At 11:00, we met the other van load of friends at The Egg and I, a breakfast and lunch restaurant. I had a Mexican omelet (wish blogspot had spell check)...it was really good. After brunch we drove to Sprague Lake. Some of the group walked aroud the lake, then we drove up to Bear Lake...again we stayed in the car. We was a couple of herds of elk both on our way up and back...parted ways and we stopped at "the other" glass shop in town...totally do not hae the personality of the first glass shop. Later stopped to have an ice cream treat. I had an upside-down banana-split in a glass...it was yummie!
We got back to the cabin around 6:00 pm, ate a bite of dinner...I warmed up some smoked salmon we had gotten at the farmer's market and some sweet potato fries, left over from yesterday's lunch. Also sliced up some of the Asiago-basil bread we'd gotten at the farmer's market today.
I just finished downloading pictures from one of our cameras, Sandy is making necklaces and the rest of the crew are watching "The Bucket List on Walt's computer.
Tomorrow we'll all be packing up and loading up the vans, as we will be leaving her at about 5:30 am on Saturday.
Although I will miss the Rockies, I am looking forward to being home and getting to make glass beads again. I've been studying my bead book, and looking closely at all the hand made beads in the stores, getting a lot of ideas for making beads. I'm ready to get started and excited about trying all I've learned in the past two weeks.
OK...it's been awhile...I tried to catch up in Colorado, put it in my documents, but it doesn't want to copy/paste...so let's see if this works.
June 8, 20009
So much has happened since I last added to my "Dear Diary"...and right now, as I'm out of touch with the internet, I can't see where I left off, but here goes anyway...pardon my duplication as I'm sure there will be some.
As I remember, I was caught up in researching glass bead making. For a month, I spent every spare minute on the internet, reading "glass bead making forums" and asking questions.
I researched every aspect of bead making...the torch, the fuel, the glass, the ventilation...Studying and comparing...I wanted the most for my money, but didn't want to sacrifice quality.
I stopped by the Jewelry Box and visited with Cheri, the owner. I asked after a bead maker I'd seen at Women's Connection, and she knew who I was talking about, (Karen) and told me how to get in touch with her and said when I got to making beads, to bring them in and she'd sell them for me! What good news! Not making beads yet, and already have someone who is wanting to sell them for me!
I was excited to get ahold of Karen, and she was excited to hear from me. She had not been doing beads, and thought maybe she'd get back into it if she had someone to do it with. After not hearing from her for a week, I called her back...she decided we should meet over at my house, so the next day, she brought her equipment over, and we "did glass beads"...that is, I did 4 beads...the mappgas torch she used got cold and wouldn't provide enough evaporation to make the hot flame, so I gave up in the middle of the fourth bead. I knew then I needed to get a bench burner and have propane and oxygen to get the hot flame I wanted. I also decided it would be better to have an oxygen concentrator than to buy tanked oxygen, as in the long run it would be cheaper...and if I invest this much money, I AM in it for the long haul. I spent a lot of time agonizing over a kiln. Finally in a moment of determination, I "bit the bullet" and ordered a fairly good sized one that should take care of my needs. I have found out I can anneal 300 beads at a time in it. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
I placed an order for the torch and much of the equipment I needed. While I was waiting on it to arrive, I made a few other purchases toward my end goal...but the most time was spent retrieving my stained glass of 20 years ago from my daughter's out building and my son't barn. Getting it to my house was the easy part. Cleaning each sheet and shard at my kitchen sind...washing, scrubbing and drying, sorting and putting it away. Putting it away is a work in progress. I've bought different pieces of furniture to store it in...have been saving flat boxes and glass jars for the smaller pieces...even getting help from a friend here and there.
Finally the day came when the box arrived. I had my handyman "on call" to install everything, but then I realized the oxygen concentrator wasn't with everything else. I called, but it was coming from the person who reconditions them. Three weeks later, it finally arrives. I anxiously called my handyman, and he came over to hook everything up for me. At noon that day, I considered it to be the first day of the rest of my life. I sat down and actually got to do beads...It seemed like a long time coming, but in actually it gave me time to get my mind ready. Each night I was on the computer preparing myself.
I decided my first objective was to make beads with the hole in the middle of the bead and a dimple in each end of the hole, and after about 600 beads, I'm getting pretty good at it.
Getting ready to go on vacation, I fired up the kiln and annealed somewhere over 600 beads. I gave 50 beads to my son for his church project, and took the rest down to The Jewelry Box. I wanted her to critique my beads and tell me what they could sell for. She said she'd take all I could give her, so I let her have them all. In the first few days she sold $80.00 worth. That's not enough to make a living, but it is encouraging.
On the way out to Colorado I was reading a book called "Beads of Glass" by Cindy Jenkins. With each page I'd tell Sandy, "We gotta go home...I wanna make beads!"
The vacation is going well. I found a place where they make beads and I go in and watch them every few days.l Last Thursday we attended a farmer's market that was really fun and we bought some goodies there. We've been to Loveland and the Loveland Outlet Malls, Walmart, some thrift shops and restaurants. Today we went to Boulder ant the Celestial Seasoning's factory and took the tour. Afterwards we went to The Leaning Tree, which is a western museum. They had a lot of paintings and bronze sculptures. My favorite sculpture was a horse made of old parts you'd find around a barn and/or machine shop...a lot of wrenches, pitchforks, rakes, fly wheels, pulleys and so many other things I can't remember. I need to find out how to put a picture on this website and post a picture of it.
Estes has a wonderful laudry. You can set out front and have a view of Longs Peak. The drive into Estes is up a canyon with a couple of sets of switch backs..a beautiful drive, then when you pop up out of the canyon...there it is...Estes in the valley with Long's Peak and all it's friends towering over the smaller mountains in between.
June 7
I love the song..."What a Wonderful World"...both hearing Louie Armstrong sing it and when my quartet used to sing it. When I hear it on "Muzac" (sp) in the store, I always stop and listen. There's so much beauty in our world, and I've been once again reminded of it as we drive through the Rocky Mountains, up the canyon and along the Northfork of the Thompson River...crossing over the river time and again...seeing the rocks jut out overhead...noting the trees growing, seemingly right out of the rocks...some straight up, others gnarled and twisted by the elements. Wildflowers of many colors growing in the valleys and up the hillsides.
We came to the Rockies early this year...usually we've been out here in August and/or September...this year we came last of May and are here into the first two weeks of June. Temperature difference...more rain...more flowers...in fact, we've been able to enjoy Spring at home and now we're enjoying it all over again here in the mountains. When we arrived, the lilacs were just beginning to bloom...the tulips were still blooming and now the peonies...not only the sight, but being able to smell their scents is a joy.
We're in a two story log cabin just outside Glenhaven, CO. The cabin, a four bedroom with a sleeping porch, is in a canyon with a pretty much straight up canyon wall of rock on either side...right along the river on one side and right next to the road on the other. The lot is long and narrow, with about 20 feet in front, from the house to the road and from the edge of the house back, it's less tjam 15 feet to the edge of the river, which is flowing faster and deeper than it has when we were here in past years, due to the time of year. Many tall pine trees grow up the canyon walls, along with current and other bushes. There's a nice bridge from the corner of the house to the other side of the river...also a garage and a picnic area.
I used to set at the picnic table south of the house and paint, or eat lunch, but feel less comfortable doing so now since one day last year, when I was setting at the dining room table, I realize I was watching a bear make his way down the canyon wall across the river from the house.
The dining room has windows all along one side, so you can set at the table and watch the river run by...also, there is a hummingbird feeder hanging just outside the windows, and we spend a lot of time watching them come and go. We've had as many as 8 hummingbirds vying for a position at the feeder. We've taken many pictures of them, but the screens always run interference.
Glenhaven is a wide spot in the road...but a very beautiful and interesting wide spot. It has three well done "treasure" stores, a small grocery/convenience store, a bead and breakfast, a real estate office, a fire department, a town hall and a post office. The buildings have flowers adorning the outsides, and apopulation of hujmmingbirds swooshing by.
Our group:
The cabin is rented by Marcia and Marvin, friends from church, who have been coming here for around 20 years, with different configurations of guests. Marcia and Marvin travel through out the world with Jesus Films and will be in 5 different countries this year.
Two and three years ago, Orval and Eunice (brother of Marvin) were here. They haven't come the last tow years because of health problems.
Leatrice and John took their place last year and this. Sandy and I cook with Leatrice at the church the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. They ride out on their motorcycle. They're both tons of fun and really spark up the group when they're there. They do a lot of cooking, infact, when they spent a week with us on one of our Florida vacations, they cooked, cleaned and waited "hand and foot" on Wendell and me. (Thank you Leatrice and John!)
Sandy and Walt (cousin of Marvin's and travel buddies of ours) usually drive out with us...the last three years they've driven and we pay the gas...works well for both of us.
Coni and Bill are from St. Joseph, MO, and have been coming here for years with the Marvin McKinley's. Coni has Parkinson's and Bill is her husband and caregiver. They're in their mid-70's, and just finished building a new home a couple of years ago.
Dee and Alice are neighbors of the Marvin and Marsha's, and both widowed. They are taking the second week of Leatrice and John's, who are the youngsters of the group...in their 50's, so had to return home after one week to get back to work.
June 11, 2009
The vacation is nearly over...After breakfast this morning, we drove up to Estes and went to the farmer's market. It didn't take us long there, as we'd looked at most of it last week and knew what we wanted. At 11:00, we met the other van load of friends at The Egg and I, a breakfast and lunch restaurant. I had a Mexican omelet (wish blogspot had spell check)...it was really good. After brunch we drove to Sprague Lake. Some of the group walked aroud the lake, then we drove up to Bear Lake...again we stayed in the car. We was a couple of herds of elk both on our way up and back...parted ways and we stopped at "the other" glass shop in town...totally do not hae the personality of the first glass shop. Later stopped to have an ice cream treat. I had an upside-down banana-split in a glass...it was yummie!
We got back to the cabin around 6:00 pm, ate a bite of dinner...I warmed up some smoked salmon we had gotten at the farmer's market and some sweet potato fries, left over from yesterday's lunch. Also sliced up some of the Asiago-basil bread we'd gotten at the farmer's market today.
I just finished downloading pictures from one of our cameras, Sandy is making necklaces and the rest of the crew are watching "The Bucket List on Walt's computer.
Tomorrow we'll all be packing up and loading up the vans, as we will be leaving her at about 5:30 am on Saturday.
Although I will miss the Rockies, I am looking forward to being home and getting to make glass beads again. I've been studying my bead book, and looking closely at all the hand made beads in the stores, getting a lot of ideas for making beads. I'm ready to get started and excited about trying all I've learned in the past two weeks.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Anticipation...
I'm not doing beads yet...there's plenty to do before I can get started. Last week I went up to my daughters house...actually her storage shed...well, both...and unearthed some of my stained glass, which has been patiently waiting for me to come find it for 20+ years. Rhonda fixed me some yummie potato soup for lunch. (Thanks, Rhonda)
A couple of days after I got the glass here, I pulled it out of the back of the truck and put it into the sunporch...then a couple of days after that, I took each piece...one by one...into the kitchen and gave them all a soapy bath, dried them off and put them in a wooden box (found at a garage sale...where else?).
Somewhere in there, I stopped by The Jewelry box, and asked if they knew of anyone in Topeka making glass beads...the lady there was very friendly and gave me the name of someone I may have seen showing her "stuff" at Women's Connection last year. I called her, and she's bringing her workshop over here Tuesday morning, and we're gonna do beads! I am soooo excited!
So this put me back into the "getting ready" mode. I've been working on getting the sunporch readied. (Ugh!) Lots of "stuff" needs to be dealt with. The souvenirs of travel, the keepsakes, the should-have-gotten-rid-of-long-ago, the magazines, the general clutter...I'm working on it...fortunately, I've had a spurt of energy the last few days...that helped...kind of like being on prednazone.
OK...break time is over...gotta get back with it.
A couple of days after I got the glass here, I pulled it out of the back of the truck and put it into the sunporch...then a couple of days after that, I took each piece...one by one...into the kitchen and gave them all a soapy bath, dried them off and put them in a wooden box (found at a garage sale...where else?).
Somewhere in there, I stopped by The Jewelry box, and asked if they knew of anyone in Topeka making glass beads...the lady there was very friendly and gave me the name of someone I may have seen showing her "stuff" at Women's Connection last year. I called her, and she's bringing her workshop over here Tuesday morning, and we're gonna do beads! I am soooo excited!
So this put me back into the "getting ready" mode. I've been working on getting the sunporch readied. (Ugh!) Lots of "stuff" needs to be dealt with. The souvenirs of travel, the keepsakes, the should-have-gotten-rid-of-long-ago, the magazines, the general clutter...I'm working on it...fortunately, I've had a spurt of energy the last few days...that helped...kind of like being on prednazone.
OK...break time is over...gotta get back with it.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
MY HOW TIME FLYS WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN!
Can you believe it? I found my blog spot again!
I need to add Tucson, Arizona...Also Bisbee, Arizona to my list of favorite places.
I loved the cactus, the mestique, the palo verda, the mountains and the garage saleing...especially the garage saleing!
Probably only a fellow garage saler can really appreciate this paragraph, but I must continue...I found such bargains! My favorite is a small tri-gold saguaro cactus pendant I found for only $1.00. I found all sorts of pottery bowls really cheap...had to buy some clothes...that's really for another paragraph...the one on packing properly and doing your climate research before packing.
We managed to be there during the Tucson Gem and Mineral show. There is no way I can explain what a big event this is. Acres of tents...also in hotel lobbies and hotel rooms...also hotel parking lots...Also picked up a few great bargains there.
Packing...do your homework. I saw Tucson was Southeast of Phoenix, so "assumed" it would be warmer, and having been in Phoenix during the winter and finding it plenty warm, packed only capri pants, light tops and sandals...plus two pare of jeans...it wasn't long before I was looking for long long sleeves and warm socks and shoes. Note to self...check the altitude the higher up you go, the cooler it is.
Speaking of sandals, they shouldn't be worn anywhere near a cactus, and that would be anywhere in Arizona and/or New Mexico, and many other unmentioned places. I found a pair of second hand cowboy boots at an antique/collectibles store in Bisbee, and my feet felt much more out of harms way.
And, speaking of Bisbee...I returned to the bead shop several more times, and got to speak with the bead guru, Kate. About the third time I was in her store, she asked me if I was making beads yet. I told her I needed to get back home before I could set up, but also told her I'd been watching her DVDs to the point I was making beads in my sleep. She told me she was going to have one woman coming in the next week for a two-day class, and said I should come in and she'd teach me how to make beads. Then she laughed and said, "I don't believe I said that...I don't teach beginners!" But she didn't retract the invitation, and the following week, there I was, in her studio, making glass beads....What fun!
I totally enjoyed being with my step-sister for two months. She is such a sweet person. I am so lucky to have equally sweet sister and step-sister. What fun to be around them...in fact, I'm quite blessed to have so many really nice, good friends...life is good.
So now...where am I besides at home in Topeka...Actually what I'm saying is, how do I plot my course...what are my plans, and how am I going to go about accomplishing them.
I know what I'd like to do...that's pretty obvious...make glass beads! But with the economy as it is, I'm not sure I should be investing in all the equipment and supplies I need. So, I'll just set tight on that one...watch and wait...keep checking ebay, craigslist, and a few other choice spots waiting on someone to sell their stuff...and hope it happens soon.
Today I noticed my tulips poking up through the ground..That's always encouraging. We'll be having warm weather the next couple of days, I plan on spending a good part of them out side.
OK...I've gone on long enough...Arizona...great fun.
I need to add Tucson, Arizona...Also Bisbee, Arizona to my list of favorite places.
I loved the cactus, the mestique, the palo verda, the mountains and the garage saleing...especially the garage saleing!
Probably only a fellow garage saler can really appreciate this paragraph, but I must continue...I found such bargains! My favorite is a small tri-gold saguaro cactus pendant I found for only $1.00. I found all sorts of pottery bowls really cheap...had to buy some clothes...that's really for another paragraph...the one on packing properly and doing your climate research before packing.
We managed to be there during the Tucson Gem and Mineral show. There is no way I can explain what a big event this is. Acres of tents...also in hotel lobbies and hotel rooms...also hotel parking lots...Also picked up a few great bargains there.
Packing...do your homework. I saw Tucson was Southeast of Phoenix, so "assumed" it would be warmer, and having been in Phoenix during the winter and finding it plenty warm, packed only capri pants, light tops and sandals...plus two pare of jeans...it wasn't long before I was looking for long long sleeves and warm socks and shoes. Note to self...check the altitude the higher up you go, the cooler it is.
Speaking of sandals, they shouldn't be worn anywhere near a cactus, and that would be anywhere in Arizona and/or New Mexico, and many other unmentioned places. I found a pair of second hand cowboy boots at an antique/collectibles store in Bisbee, and my feet felt much more out of harms way.
And, speaking of Bisbee...I returned to the bead shop several more times, and got to speak with the bead guru, Kate. About the third time I was in her store, she asked me if I was making beads yet. I told her I needed to get back home before I could set up, but also told her I'd been watching her DVDs to the point I was making beads in my sleep. She told me she was going to have one woman coming in the next week for a two-day class, and said I should come in and she'd teach me how to make beads. Then she laughed and said, "I don't believe I said that...I don't teach beginners!" But she didn't retract the invitation, and the following week, there I was, in her studio, making glass beads....What fun!
I totally enjoyed being with my step-sister for two months. She is such a sweet person. I am so lucky to have equally sweet sister and step-sister. What fun to be around them...in fact, I'm quite blessed to have so many really nice, good friends...life is good.
So now...where am I besides at home in Topeka...Actually what I'm saying is, how do I plot my course...what are my plans, and how am I going to go about accomplishing them.
I know what I'd like to do...that's pretty obvious...make glass beads! But with the economy as it is, I'm not sure I should be investing in all the equipment and supplies I need. So, I'll just set tight on that one...watch and wait...keep checking ebay, craigslist, and a few other choice spots waiting on someone to sell their stuff...and hope it happens soon.
Today I noticed my tulips poking up through the ground..That's always encouraging. We'll be having warm weather the next couple of days, I plan on spending a good part of them out side.
OK...I've gone on long enough...Arizona...great fun.
Monday, January 26, 2009
AWOL AGAIN AND AGAIN!
AWOL??? How many times can one go "AWOL", before having to give up ones blog???
My last entry was October 29, 2008...WOW! At that time I was saying we weren't going South for the Winter...Was I ever wrong!
About a month later I got a call from one of my brothers-in-law asking, "Where are we going this Winter?" I told him I thought we were going to stay home this year and he informed me, "That was before it got cold and snowed two inches in Spokane."
So I got on the computer and started looking...Florida is a long flight, and even longer drive from Spokane for them, and there was a hurricane in Galveston, TX, which was the place we'd once talked about going, so I started looking in Arizona, which is a favorite place of his anyway.
After many phone conversations with both him and his wife, (my step-sister, Sharon) we found a place agreed upon it and started making all the necessary arrangements.
This brought up sort of a problem...my granddaughter who used to watch our house and dogs for us got married and moved out of the house...what to do...what to do???
As I was batting this query off a friend, all of a sudden I thought of a friend of the families who is still in college and thought might be a candidate for such a job.
As I was on my way to have coffee with my daughter at the time, I ran the idea past her, and she followed up on it, as the person in question (Karen) is a better friend of hers than mine.
It wasn't long before Karen called me and wanted to come over and talk it over. (GREAT!)
Karen's only problem was the fact she and a friend (Brenda) had just signed a lease with the college to share an apartment, and the next day was the last day they could break it and get their money back...also, she hated to leave Brenda "high and dry" as Karen had been the one to talk Brenda into the apartment deal in the first place.
So I asked Karen some questions about Brenda, and going with what she said, I offered Brenda my guest room...The girls returned the next day to visit, and accepted my offer. (FANTASTIC!)
I started packing! It was easy, as I wasn't using my summer clothes by this time anyway.
But there was lots to do. We had Thanksgiving with my kids the Saturday after, then began planning on our Christmas together for Dec. 15...I'm not the greatest shopper, so I had to put it into high gear...stacking all the gifts on the dinning room table, waiting for wrapping...got it all done just in time to set the table for Christmas dinner! It was a great time, and the only ones missing were my oldest granddaughter and her husband...but they truly had a good excuse. My son who is the police detective was called out, so nearly missed it, but arrived after the gifts were opened.
We left for Arizona at 11:00am the next day. I was trying to get out of town, and out of Kansas and through Oklahoma before the ice storm hit us. It didn't begin to get bad until just North of Ft. Worth, when we ran into some freezing mist. We forged ahead, going West and didn't stop until we were on the West side of Abilene, TX. When we got situated in our motel and turned on the TV, we saw pictures of cars skidding into each other and off the road in Ft. Worth. (God was certainly with us, allowing us to keep ahead of the ice.)
The next day was an easy drive into Tucson...we arrived in the 5:00 pm traffic.
Now when I say easy drive...that means we had no trouble. We stopped only for gas and bathrooms, as I had packed the ice chest with food, and made sandwiches on the road for each meal so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in restaurants.
We called John, and met us a few blocks from the condo, as we would never have found our way in, had he not. When he came down, he was on the phone with the lady who oversees the condo, and verbally led him in.
The next four days John was the perfect host to us, driving us all around the country side. We saw Tombstone, Bisbee, Douglas, Si era Vista, No galas, Benson, McNeil, and all points between.
(Was I ever glad when he took the 5th day to go golfing...Although I appreciated the guided tour, I'd been in a car pretty much for 6 days straight!)
Rhonda, my daughter, arrived the afternoon of Dec. 26. We saw a wild life museum, botanical gardens, the zoo, the Gates Pass, plus did some antique stores...it was great having her here.
On Dec. 31, Rhonda left, and Sharon arrived. Our favorite things to do are checking out the antique stores both in Tucson and Bisbee, running our errands, grocery shopping, going to Walgreen's (there's one about every mile or so) and doing the laundry, cooking and cleaning together. We've been in the pool a couple of times, but, although the pool is heated, you have to get back to the condo when you're wet and we're wimps.
I found an amazing shop in Bisbee. The woman, Kate Drew-Wilkinson is from England, and is a glass bead maker. I was very taken with her and her shop, and was especially excited, as she used bits of stained glass to make her beads, which is what I have been wanting to do. I bought two of her DVD's, and after watching them, am making stained glass beads in my sleep. It is my desire to turn my sun room into a shop when I return to Kansas and get into the business.
We've looked at a lot of property with Sharon and John, as they're interested in buying a Winter home down here. We've found some really nice places, some really "quaint" places and some not so really nice places.
So that brings me pretty much up to date.
I know this was long, but since I'm not convinced anyone is reading it anyway, that's entirely OK.
My last entry was October 29, 2008...WOW! At that time I was saying we weren't going South for the Winter...Was I ever wrong!
About a month later I got a call from one of my brothers-in-law asking, "Where are we going this Winter?" I told him I thought we were going to stay home this year and he informed me, "That was before it got cold and snowed two inches in Spokane."
So I got on the computer and started looking...Florida is a long flight, and even longer drive from Spokane for them, and there was a hurricane in Galveston, TX, which was the place we'd once talked about going, so I started looking in Arizona, which is a favorite place of his anyway.
After many phone conversations with both him and his wife, (my step-sister, Sharon) we found a place agreed upon it and started making all the necessary arrangements.
This brought up sort of a problem...my granddaughter who used to watch our house and dogs for us got married and moved out of the house...what to do...what to do???
As I was batting this query off a friend, all of a sudden I thought of a friend of the families who is still in college and thought might be a candidate for such a job.
As I was on my way to have coffee with my daughter at the time, I ran the idea past her, and she followed up on it, as the person in question (Karen) is a better friend of hers than mine.
It wasn't long before Karen called me and wanted to come over and talk it over. (GREAT!)
Karen's only problem was the fact she and a friend (Brenda) had just signed a lease with the college to share an apartment, and the next day was the last day they could break it and get their money back...also, she hated to leave Brenda "high and dry" as Karen had been the one to talk Brenda into the apartment deal in the first place.
So I asked Karen some questions about Brenda, and going with what she said, I offered Brenda my guest room...The girls returned the next day to visit, and accepted my offer. (FANTASTIC!)
I started packing! It was easy, as I wasn't using my summer clothes by this time anyway.
But there was lots to do. We had Thanksgiving with my kids the Saturday after, then began planning on our Christmas together for Dec. 15...I'm not the greatest shopper, so I had to put it into high gear...stacking all the gifts on the dinning room table, waiting for wrapping...got it all done just in time to set the table for Christmas dinner! It was a great time, and the only ones missing were my oldest granddaughter and her husband...but they truly had a good excuse. My son who is the police detective was called out, so nearly missed it, but arrived after the gifts were opened.
We left for Arizona at 11:00am the next day. I was trying to get out of town, and out of Kansas and through Oklahoma before the ice storm hit us. It didn't begin to get bad until just North of Ft. Worth, when we ran into some freezing mist. We forged ahead, going West and didn't stop until we were on the West side of Abilene, TX. When we got situated in our motel and turned on the TV, we saw pictures of cars skidding into each other and off the road in Ft. Worth. (God was certainly with us, allowing us to keep ahead of the ice.)
The next day was an easy drive into Tucson...we arrived in the 5:00 pm traffic.
Now when I say easy drive...that means we had no trouble. We stopped only for gas and bathrooms, as I had packed the ice chest with food, and made sandwiches on the road for each meal so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in restaurants.
We called John, and met us a few blocks from the condo, as we would never have found our way in, had he not. When he came down, he was on the phone with the lady who oversees the condo, and verbally led him in.
The next four days John was the perfect host to us, driving us all around the country side. We saw Tombstone, Bisbee, Douglas, Si era Vista, No galas, Benson, McNeil, and all points between.
(Was I ever glad when he took the 5th day to go golfing...Although I appreciated the guided tour, I'd been in a car pretty much for 6 days straight!)
Rhonda, my daughter, arrived the afternoon of Dec. 26. We saw a wild life museum, botanical gardens, the zoo, the Gates Pass, plus did some antique stores...it was great having her here.
On Dec. 31, Rhonda left, and Sharon arrived. Our favorite things to do are checking out the antique stores both in Tucson and Bisbee, running our errands, grocery shopping, going to Walgreen's (there's one about every mile or so) and doing the laundry, cooking and cleaning together. We've been in the pool a couple of times, but, although the pool is heated, you have to get back to the condo when you're wet and we're wimps.
I found an amazing shop in Bisbee. The woman, Kate Drew-Wilkinson is from England, and is a glass bead maker. I was very taken with her and her shop, and was especially excited, as she used bits of stained glass to make her beads, which is what I have been wanting to do. I bought two of her DVD's, and after watching them, am making stained glass beads in my sleep. It is my desire to turn my sun room into a shop when I return to Kansas and get into the business.
We've looked at a lot of property with Sharon and John, as they're interested in buying a Winter home down here. We've found some really nice places, some really "quaint" places and some not so really nice places.
So that brings me pretty much up to date.
I know this was long, but since I'm not convinced anyone is reading it anyway, that's entirely OK.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)