TRYING TO WAKE UP NOW

Ok, I've rested for a few days and it's New Year's Eve Day so it's time to get in gear.  I always try to start the new year with some goals, not written in stone, but things I would like to accomplish.  Seems everyone wants to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthy things, and I am no exception, but there are other things I want to do too.  For one I want to be a kinder person.  I want to remember to try to see the world through the eyes of others and see if I can make a difference in some body's day.  Maybe it's just a smile, or holding a door open, or seeing some one's need and being able to fulfill it, without them knowing.  I want to appreciate what I have every single day, and I think for the most part I do that, but I complain about little things and I want to stop doing that.  So tonight I will be grateful for all that I have and tomorrow I will try to do my little bit about helping to make the world a better place for someone else.

PS  an aside unrelated to the above.  It has been brought to my attention that people are having trouble commenting.  If you want to comment just hit comment at the bottom of the blog you are reading.  A box will open on the left with a place to write your comment.  Choose either name or anonymous as who you are, you don't have to sign up for anything.  You don't even have to use your real or whole name if you choose Name.  After you have written your comment hit publish and there you are.

A LONG WINTER'S NAP

That's what I intend on taking, now that Christmas is over.  I do love the season, but the older I get the more it wears me out.  After spending the weekend before Christmas with three of our grandchildren who came in from Atlanta and then driving to St. Louis to be with our other grandchild, I am officially "done in".  I loved every single second of our time with all of them, but now I'm going to really enjoy that nap:)  I have a book I want to read, a scarf I want to finish knitting, and after a long break my studio is calling my name.  Maybe my mojo is back.  I do know that my jewelry has been selling at the new store so that makes me happy.  Please go read the comment my Honey Bunny made under the My Mojo and a Whine entry.  He cracks me up sometimes!!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the coming year brings you happiness.

A VERY GOOD, WONDERFUL DAY

A friend of mine wore a piece of my handmade jewelry over to her friend Ann's place of business.  Ann owns a shop that has all kinds of unusual art from all over the world.  Ann fell in love with the necklace my friend was wearing and asked to see more of my things, so I took bracelets, necklaces and pendants over to her shop today.  In two hours that woman gave me my mojo back!  She loved everything I brought and kept it all.  She wanted to know all about lampworking, and was most interested in hollow beads and the silver glasses.  I left her place feeling so good, and renewed in my love for making beads.  Etsy and Ebay have not been good venues for selling beads recently and I only do two bead shows per year.  I was getting very discouraged about my abilities as a beadmaker ........and then along came Ann.  Some kind words, some positive reinforcement, some genuine appreciation for the art and my world turned around.  What a great day I had!  I celebrated with a Starbucks :) 

MY MOJO AND A WHINE

My bead mojo is gone again and I can't find it anywhere.  I look at some of the beads I've made, or the jewelry I've turned them into and I am pleased, until I offer them to the public and they are rejected.  It's the way I judge my work, if it's accepted by others.  At my recent bead show, sales were down considerably for all of us, and I know in my head that it's the economy, but my heart doesn't see it that way.  So I have this little argument going on in my head.  Do I keep making beads or just throw in the towel? Maybe I should just quit trying to sell anything and just enjoy the glass, but part of enjoying it is seeing others appreciate it. So this is my little whine for the day.  Minor in the grand scheme of all things, but still troubling, even if only to me.

THE BEST PART

of the Thanksgiving holiday is family.  This year most of the second cousins were together for the family meal and they had a blast.  There were six of them between the ages of 2 and 6 and they blended immediately, first at the family gathering and then later, on play dates.  First cousins who hadn't seen each other in years were also busy playing catch up.  It was just a great, feel good day!
Our son and daughter in law spent time during their visit looking for a house while HB and I watched the grandchildren, who are busy, entertaining and sometimes very loud :).  I listened in amazement as my 2 year old granddaughter used the word "actually" in a sentence.  Her vocabulary is just mind blowing to me.
All in all it was a wonderful holiday, and now a sweet memory, I've locked away for a too quiet day in the future.

CATCHING UP AGAIN

First I had my bead show, then an unexpected 5 day trip to Florida to check on my mom who has been in the hospital.  Now I am back home preparing for the onslaught arrival of some of our family on Monday:)  Actually, we are looking forward to the arrival part. It's our son, his wife, and 3 of our grandchildren and they are bringing with them the news that they are moving back to Louisville!  HB and I have hoped for this for a long, long time.  Having the opportunity to be involved in the lives of the little ones on a frequent basis is heaven sent.  The kids are 6, almost 5 and 2, so there are lots of dance recitals, baseball games and cookies to be made and tasted.  I love being a grandmother!  I enjoy all of my grandchildren in a way so differently than I enjoyed my children.  I guess it's because in the end they are not my total responsibility, as long as I protect them on my watch.  I get mostly the fun parts, except for an occasional meltdown which is over quickly with the offer of chocolate....shhhhh don't tell !

MESSAGE

Dear Whoever is in charge of it all,

Thank you very much.

Me

ALMOST READY

A bead show consumes me so that's all I have been writing about.  I don't want this blog to be just about beads, but right now it's the only thing on my mind.  To the right is a bracelet that will be for sale.  I love the turquoise bead that is close to the center.  I almost left it out so I could just keep it and just look at it, but talked myself out of it.  Sometimes I get attached to certain beads and have a hard time letting them go.  I think it's because all of them are one of a kind and I know I can never duplicate it again.  The colors are always what draw me to a bead, or anything else for that matter.  I took some pictures of the maple tree in our front yard today.  It's at the very end of loosing it's leaves, but it was so beautiful when the sun was shining.  It's one of those late blooming maples, so it's one of the last trees on the block to become bare.  I think the colors are so wonderful, even though it means that winter will soon be upon us. Winter...my least favorite season, the one that drags on forever.  Okay, I'm stopping now.  The reasons winter and I are not friends are too long and too whiney.  I'll just add that I hate being cold.

CHAOS

This is what  am doing next Sunday and if you live in or around the Louisville area, you're invited.  I love to do bead shows, but getting ready is well, just general chaos.  Here is a picture of my work area, and this was taken a week ago, it's much worse now.

I wish I was one of those neat and tidy people, but I'm not.  I work much better under pressure.  Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, I'll show you some of the things I've made for the show....if I can find them :)

VEGETABLE SOUP

Here is my veggie soup recipe, per request.  It's best made over two days and you've got to be one of those a little of this a little of that kind of cook.  First I brown a package of stew meat in a small amount of oil.  Use a large pot and brown slowly.  Season meat with salt and pepper first. You want those brown bits in the bottom of the pan, nice brown bits.  As the meat is browning add one chopped onion.  I add this after the brown bits are starting to form. When the meat is done add one large can of crushed tomatoes and one large can of whole tomatoes,  2 chopped carrots and one can of water. Add one large soup bone, Lawry's seasoned salt, and cracked pepper.  Let this cook at least two-three hours.  I usually let this cool and put it in the frig over night, at this point .  The next day I heat the soup up and add 2-4 chopped potatoes and 2 carrots, 1 can creamed corn, 1/2 cup ketchup and cook for an hour.  Stir frequently because the ketchup has sugar in it.  Next add 1 small package frozen peas, corn, green beans, and any other veggie you like. You might need more water at this point. Add 1/2 to 1 full jar of red currant jelly, depending on your taste.  Cook for another hour. Sometimes I add a small can of tomato sauce instead of more water.  This is kind of a personal choice.  I do not add cabbage, as it overpowers the other flavors.  Lima beans are not allowed in my home as the result of a promise I made to myself as a child.  Even the thought of them makes me shudder.  Watch the soup closely as it will stick because of the jelly...ask me how I know.
Soup can be frozen.  Best served with homemade applesauce and corn muffins.  There you have it.  Now go make some!

WHO MADE THIS MESS?

I'm getting ready for a show.  I'm not a well organized beadmaker.  Truth be told, I work much better under pressure.  However, I don't work well without supplies and right now the 25 handmade toggles I ordered are still sitting in a flooded Thailand.  They were suppose to be shipped September 25th but as of yesterday they were still at the point of origin.  My heart s sinking, since these toggles are beautiful and I think they add a special pizazz to my beads.  If necessary I will take the toggles off my own bracelets, but I haven't kept that many, so it really won't help much.  I guess I better order some ordinary toggles huh?  I know some of you are wondering how I know what I have in my studio considering the disarray you see in the pictures, but trust me I know where everything is, and I WILL find it........eventually :)

COLOR

         
This is my newest addiction, crocheting.  The yarn I am using is from New Zealand.  I found it on the Internet, where else :)  I also made a new friend.  Her name is Helene and she hand dyes all of her yarns.  This yarn is all cotton and it is beautiful.  Here is a link to her store and this site is her blog.  She's also on Facebook.  I just ordered some more yarn from her to make more "things".  I'm telling you, retirement is wearing me out.  I've been taking a knitting class, but I like crocheting better.  There's only one hook to keep track of and it takes less time to make hexagons and squares than it does sweaters and scarves. I have found that it is the color that draws me to most of the crafts I get involved in.  When I first learned to knit and crochet, colors like those above were not available in yarns.  Actually I think the world is a lot more colorful than it used to be.  Look at these hats that Helene makes.  When I was a kid we wore plain colored things.  The whole world is just prettier now don't you think?

                                           

SIGNAGE

                                                          

I found this on Facebook and couldn't resist.  One person I would recommend highly is the truck driver who stayed right on my bumper as we traveled over Mount Eagle, in Tennessee, on the way home from Atlanta.  I was driving in the left lane, along with 6,311 other cars, as we passed slow moving trucks who huffed and puffed their way up and down the winding roads.  Apparently this truck was not as full and the driver was hell bent on going as fast as he could until he got to the next upward climb.  It was terrifying looking in the rear view mirror of my Mountaineer and seeing nothing but the grill of a 16 wheeler. It was white knuckle driving for a good 15 minutes.  I don't want anything bad to happen to him, just a little reminder that he is big and scaring us little people. Am I the only one who remembers the days when truck drivers were polite?  They flashed their lights when it was safe for you to come back into the lane after you passed them.  When your kid pumped his arm out the back window the truck driver would blast his air horn.  My son could occupy himself for hours seeing how many drivers would respond to him. Now when I'm on the road, I feel like it's me against them.  I miss those earlier times.  I wonder why things changed?

GETTING READY

I really don't mind fall, in fact I kind of like it, but I dread winter, and since it follows fall I'm kind of ambivalent about the season.  However I have certain things I do every fall in preparation for the cold days ahead,  First I make applesauce.  Lots and lots of applesauce.  So far I have 10 medium sized containers in my freezer, and I'm not done yet.  My grandparents made applesauce and I loved it then and I love it now, plus it's so simple to make.  I get at least 3-6 different kinds of apples, cut them in quarters (no peeling), add a little water and cook until done.  Then run through a food mill, add sugar, put it in containers and freeze. Next I make vegetable soup and chili and freeze them.  I am now ready for cold weather.  Believe me these are not the only foods we eat during fall and winter, but I love knowing that if I don't feel like cooking (and after 42 years of it those feeling are much more frequent) there is something in the freezer.

KATE

                                                   


This is Kate, my oldest granddaughter.  Today she is six years old.  I remember when her daddy was six, it was just yesterday wasn't it?  I remember when I was six too.  That's a whole lot of sixes that went by  really fast.  I love that it's all ahead for Kate.  I wish that I could go through life with her all the way, but know it isn't possible.  So now I just try to make a whole lot of good memories for her, like I have of my grandmothers.  Happy Birthday, sweet girl. You are my sunshine.

THE BEAD FAIRY

Sometimes she's good to me and other times she eludes me for weeks.  Where does creativity go?  There are nights when my mind can't think fast enough about the beads I want to make, and then weeks go by without a spark of inspiration.  I use quilting books and fabrics as tools sometimes,  I might have an idea about what I want to make when I sit down at my torch, but usually that's not what I end up making.  Often where I intend to go with the glass is not where I end up.  The beads at the left were just going to be two or three colors when I started making the discs, but before I knew it I was thinking of Fiestaware and all these colors wanted to be beads...see, the bead fairy, she had a hold on me.  I always work at night, usually from 8pm until 2 or 3 am.  I'm just a night owl and honestly I don't even begin to feel human until about 4 in the afternoon.  I like working at night.  The phone doesn't ring, Honey Bunny is doing his own thing, it's just me and the torch.....and an occasional moth or bug, who insists on flying through the flame.  Now that can scare the creativity out of anyone!  Anyway, maybe for a little while I will be able to make some beads that I like.  That would sure be a welcome feeling.

                                         

SISTERS

I'm so lucky I have a sister.  We are three years apart and I am the oldest.  When we were young I mostly thought she was dragging me down, you know, the tag along when you were with your friends.  We're so dumb when we are young, at least I was.  We had the best time during this visit.  Here we are. She's in the purple, I'm in the green.  While our husbands bummed around we went to quilt shop and the St. James Art Fair, which is the highlight of fall here in Louisville.  Mostly though we just talked and laughed and remembered.  I did re-teach her how to crochet.  My hubby took this picture because he thought it was kind of amusing, and truthfully it is. Just give two old gals a crochet hook and some yarn and they're happy!  The three days flew by.  I wish we lived closer.  I'd love to have her tag along with my friends and me:)

                                         

THE BEAD BLUES

I'm in a bead funk.  The bead to the right is my best effort in days and while it's okay it didn't lead anywhere.  Sometimes, when I make beads, one thing leads to another and before I know it I have a bunch of bead ideas rolling around in my head....recently, not so much.

 I made these beads last week and they are on ebay with a bid, but they didn't take me anywhere either.  One of the problems for me as a beadmaker is that there is no dark pink opaque glass in rod form.  Well, there is one, but it has personality problems.  It devits, meaning it gets scummy and loses it's prettiness, and pinkiness.  We beadmakers call it evil devitrifying purple.  It's a fuchsia pink and so lovely in rod form, until you put it in the flame. There are light pinks and transparent pinks, but I always want what I can't have.
My good news is that my sister is coming for a three day visit.  We don't get to see each other very often since she lives in DC and I live in Ky. So I'm putting the bead funk on the back burner for awhile and enjoying my time with my Sissy!

A LITTLE GLITCH

Several people have told me that they have tried to comment on this blog without success.  I think I have fixed it, but not being computer savvy, I am not positive, since part of my fixing is just messin' with the buttons :) If you try to leave a comment and it doesn't work please let me know.  I will then ask for real help.  I actually do have an IT guy, but like to make him work for his money by screwing it up as much as possible!

SARA

This isn't a feel good post, nor is it happy or amusing.  It may be TMI, but when I started this blog I decided I would write about what I was thinking or feeling.  I wrote this last night, slept on it and read it again this morning.  It pretty much sums up my week and my feelings about it, well at least as best I can write about my feelings, which in actuality  is kind of hard to do.

This is my baby girl.  Well, actually she's not a baby any more, at least not in years.  If I asked you to guess her age I don't think anyone would say they thought she was 35, but she is, in years. This picture was taken at her 35th birthday party.  She has the most beautiful smile and she is always, always happy. Sara had a brain hemorrhage at 5 days old.  It was a devastating one. She had continuous seizures that lasted for 5 days.  I hung over her isolette and willed her to live.  She developed hydrocephalus and had a shunt put into her brain at 2 weeks.  Because she was an infant the only pain med they could give her after surgery was tylenol and I watched my child shudder in pain each time someone moved her isolette or her body. It broke me.  Sara also has cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, and she is developmentally delayed.  This happened to her because not one, not two, but three doctors didn't take the time to look up a drug that one of them prescribed for me during my pregnancy.  If they had they would have known that the drug caused bleeding in the brains of newborns and extra Vitamin K should be given to any babies born to mothers who were taking this drug.  Instead all three doctors told me there were no problems associated with the drug. .... there are no words for my rage.
Usually I can tuck my true feelings away and take what life has given Sara and us, but there is always something that brings those feelings back and I find myself again engulfed in an anger that has no source of comfort.
Sara lives in a local community residence with other adults who are mentally and physically challenged.  About three weeks ago she had a fall in the hallway.  When she was home for the weekend I noticed that she was favoring her right side.  Sara feels pain but she cannot locate it for us.  Her language skills are limited and she is unable to provide information.  I took her to the doctor the next week and we have spent this past week having multiple MRI's and CT scans of Sara's whole body.  I would say Sara has spent at least 6 hours on the table listening to the MRI machine thump away.  SIX hours!!  She doesn't understand why she's there.  For a time there was a concern about her shunt, but that was resolved by the radiologist.  Today (Friday) it was determined that Sara has a large tear in her right calf muscle and a small one in her left calf.  Considering all of the other things it could have been this news was a relief.  However it just kills me to know that she has been in pain for over two weeks and no one could help her....and I am once again overwhelmed by a horrible, unrelenting, consuming rage.  I wish I could say that I forgive them, the irresponsible docs, but I don't, and I never will.  Not one of them ever apologized to us.  Yes, there was an out of court settlement, which was a pittance by today's standards, but money means nothing to me. It will not bring my daughter back and I will always grieve for the Sara that should have been. Please don't misunderstand me.  Sara is much loved just the way she is.  My anger is not for me, it's for her.  She can't communicate her wants or needs, her pain.  She will never go to college, get married, have babies of her own.  Three well educated men did not follow medical protocol and my daughter pays the price. There is no way to make peace with that, and yet 35 years later, I am still trying.

LOOKING FOR MY SOCKS

One of my most dreaded days of the year arrived last week.  It's that first day you get up and know that this is not a toeless shoe day.  First of all it was raining, and added to that it was somewhere around 58 degrees  The week before it had been above 100 for several days in a row, and then bingo, out of nowhere, socks were needed.  I have a sock drawer, and at the end of winter I always remind myself that my sock drawer needs to be replenished, because I am hard on socks.  In colder weather they never leave my feet.  However, warm weather seduces my feet into going naked and the sock drawer is soon forgotten, until that first day that comes with a chill on it's breath.  So that specific morning I spent 20 min looking for matching socks.  Finally I found my favorite pair of Smart Sox.  They are wool, but don't feel like it and they are very very comfy.  I pulled them on my feet only to notice a hole in the heel of one of the socks! ACK!  A hole, in my favorite, and so far only pair of matching socks.  I remembered then my grandmother, sitting in her chair after dinner, darning my grandfathers socks. I knew that I was now the owner of that darning tool, not that I was going to use it, but it was the first time in a long time that I remembered my grandmother performing this task.

I eventually found two socks that were similar and wore them with the promise to myself that I would get some new socks immediately.  Of course the weather got warm again and sandals have become my footwear of choice.  The weather report calls for rain beginning tomorrow along with colder weather.  My sock drawer remains empty except for one or two socks with frayed elastic at the top and that one pair with the hole in the heel.  Maybe I should look for that darner after all :)

TEN YEARS AGO

It's difficult to write about anything this week and so this post is kind of heavy.  The news coverage of 9-11 takes me right back to it all, just like it was yesterday.  The most significant event in my life before 9-11 was the assassination of John   Kennedy.  I had just graduated from high school and I was in my first year of nurse's training.  I was stunned.  I was young and naive and had lived a fairly sheltered life.  I knew my history and knew that presidents in the past has been murdered, but of course I never thought something like that would happen in my lifetime. I remember watching our black and white television for days, thinking if I watched it enough, I would believe it happened.  Over time it became a reality, but like everyone else of my generation I can tell you right where I was when I first heard the news report and I can still hear Walter Cronkite's trembling voice as he announced the president's death.  After that nothing much surprised me, and there were horrible,terrible things that happened over the years, but in my mind's eye the death of JFK was the most powerful...until 9-11.
Again, I know just where I was.  My first thought was to account for my grown children who both traveled as part of their jobs.  Once I knew they were safe I don't think my eyes left the TV for more than several minutes for the first 24 hours.  When the first tower fell I remember repeating to myself "There are people in there, there are people in there."
My oldest granddaughter's school had a commemoration ceremony for those who lost their lives on 9-11.  All the students wore red, white and blue and carried flags. Kate is only 5 and I know she really doesn't understand what all of this is about yet, but I hope when she is 10 and 15 her school is still doing this.  To me our children's children can no longer grow up naive and unaware.  Those days of innocence are gone. If we are going to protect ourselves and our country each and every one of us, young and old, must learn from our past and be prepared for our future.  My personal hope is that we all become more aware of our surroundings, more alert to unusual happenings, more united in our efforts to keep our country and it's people safe. I want 9-11 to be more than just a day of remembrance I want it to be a day of commitment.

NEW BEAD

I've been in a bead funk for a week or so.  It hasn't helped that my air conditioning went out in my studio :(  Fortunately the cool weather allowed me to make beads yesterday and this bead came out of the kiln this morning.  It's one of those beads that needs to be hung instead of worn though.  The colors show up better when there is light coming through it.  I like to hang beads at my windows on fishing line.  I have glass all over the house , from old to new, but beads will always be my favorite.  Oh, this bead is on Ebay if anyone is interested :)

GRANDCHILDREN

This is my two year old granddaughter, Cassidy.  She's a character and we never know what she's going to say.  She's began talking very early,and incessantly just like her dad did, and she has a mind of her own.  Her dad is my son and he was one of those kids who was.....let's just say challenging to raise.  Never in serious trouble, but always pushing the limits. When he was growing up I used to say, someday I hope you have a child just like you.....I think maybe he did!  The thing is while Cass didn't fall far from the apple tree, neither did her dad, because I was "that kid" growing up, always testing, always pushing.  Now I watch my son parent and he's everything I hoped he would be. Part of me smiles at what he has ahead, raising a strong willed daughter, but another part knows how hard it is on a parent's heart. All I can say is it sure is easier being on the grandparent side  and just watching all of this unfold.

LIFE GOES ON

I always wonder about my ancestors, the ones long ago.  Am I like any of them?  Were there any beadmakers in my past?  Honnybunny and I have 4 grandchildren and each one of them is so special to us.  The oldest is 7 and the youngest is 2.  HP is our daughter's son and already he is very athletic.  I don't even know that much about sports, as you all well know if you read my encounter with softball as a child blog, but when I see him play baseball or soccer, even I can recognize that his form is something special.  His paternal grandfather played baseball in his youth, and I often think this must be where HP's talent comes from, but maybe it's back even further. HP's grandfather is still here to see him play and I know that brings him so much joy.  Kate, is our son's oldest daughter.  She will be 6 next month.  She started horseback riding lessons three weeks ago.  Last year she wouldn't even consider getting on a horse, but this year was different.  Kate has had three lessons and her instructor told her mom that Kate was able to post instinctively when the horse trotted.  Apparently this is not an easy thing to learn.  She said she only had one other student who could do that so soon and she was 7 years old.  I couldn't help but think of my HB's mom, Kate's great grandmother.  She was an avid horseback rider as young girl.  I know she won many ribbons and we have pictures of her in her riding habit on several horses.  She's gone now and will never see Kate ride, but she would have been so proud.  So Honeybunny packaged up some pictures of his mom and sent them on to Kate.  I guess this is just part of growing old, seeing other generations in your children and grandchildren.  It's kind of bittersweet.

RE-LEARNING

So, I'm teaching myself to crochet.  Actually I learned to crochet about 35 years ago, so I guess you could say I'm re-teaching myself, however, it's not the same mind that learned to do this 35 years ago.  I'm not a fan of aging, until I consider the alternative, but I sure can't remember things like I used to.  Therefore, I spend a lot of time going back and counting stitches to see where I am in the pattern.

 Crocheting used to seem like an "old lady" (and that would not be me ) hobby to me and when I learned it the first time it was to make my then 3 year old daughter a little jumper out of granny squares.  Once it was done I didn't make anything else.  Recently I joined Pinterest.com.  WOW is it a fun website.  You have your own boards where you can pin your favorite items.  Or you can repin someone else's favorite item.  There are pictures of everything....quilts, glass, beads, crochet, recipes, photography.  It's a party for the eyes!  Crocheting has changed dramatically.  First in the way color is used and then the things that are being made.  Anyhow it's a really cool site.  You might want to check it out.  Here's a picture of my first square, which is still round because it isn't done yet, and it also has a big error in it, but it's my practice square so I can live with it.  Well, I'm off to make beads.  If HB was honest he would probably say I have too many hobbies (although he is always my biggest fan) and he could be right, but I'm retired and isn't that what retirement is all about?  Doing what you want when you want? Well, that's what I think it should be, so I just go wherever the creative part of me wants to go, because I think I need to enjoy the time now. Someday I may forget to count those stitches and then what kind of mess will I be in?

BACK TO NORMAL

It's been a rough couple of years for my Honeybunny.  He has a very rare blood clotting disorder and has had some severe medical issues in the past.  A specialist in New York, whom I consider to be a miracle worker, a genius and a very kind man, suggested that HB start an experimental drug that has shown some success.  It's extremely expensive but since HB is a vet the VA has agreed to pay for the medication, and it appears to be working! At long last he is beginning to act like his old self.  I know this because he has started to cook again.  He loves to cook, and I have to say that after 43 years of cooking, I really like that in a man.  He likes to prepare things on the grill, but he experiments with indoor cooking too.  Tonight he made hamburgers and baked beans, and it was yummy.  Then after dinner he, who says he doesn't like sweets, decided he wanted to make beignets....yes, I said beignets.  Now HB is not a neat cook.  When I walked through the kitchen about an hour later every cabinet door was open.  There was not one speck of open kitchen counter space, and I think he used every single cooking utensil that we own.  However, also on the counter were little tiny miniature beignets....and they were GOOD!  But the best part was that HB was in the midst of all of it and he was happy and so was I.

UPDATE

Just thought you might want to know today's count:
Harriet 5  Flies 0.  I'm thinking about going to the batting cage tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'm a late bloomer in the sports department.

Another new bead.  On Etsy. Have a good Sunday everyone !

CATCH UP

I got an email from my sister this morning telling me it was entirely too long between my blog posts and I know she's right.  I just have too many irons in the fire right now.  I'm working with my IT guy to get my website up and running.  It's kind of been a trial by fire, but we are getting there.  I've had to rethink some things about where I want to go with my bead business.  I love making beads, but when you make them you need to sell them.  It's just not happening on ebay right now.  I know it's the economy for the most part, but when you judge yourself by your work and it is not accepted (bought) it makes you doubt yourself, at least this is what happens to me.  The set of pink beads that I showed here didn't get a bid last week, so I am left to wonder if they were priced too high, they are unattractive, or floral beads no longer "in".  Ebay is being flooded with Chinese beads that are not annealed and of coarse much cheaper.  I think my main focus will now be selling on Etsy.  I have several beadmaker friends who have been very successful using that site.  I hope by next week I will have everything up and running.  I do have an Etsy store now, but I want to change it's appearance. So people, that's what I have been up to and why I haven't updated.  Oh, I have had one success the past several days.  For anyone who read my long stand off with a fly in my bathroom, my aim has improved considerably.  The score this week Harriet 4  flies 0 and I got them all on the first swat !

A BEAD

These pictures are the front and back of a bead I made recently.  It took 1 1/2 hours to make this bead and I loved every minute of it.

GOOD NEWS

Mr HB is home from the hospital and doing fairly well.  He still thinks that no one has ever had pain as bad as his.  I just kind of "uh huh" him.  I was thinking the other night that I don't do well with sports injuries (not that I ever played any sports after the baseball fiasco) but if I sprain an ankle I am not a good patient, so I think we all have trouble with pain.  I am no longer Nurse Rattchet and I am taking very good care of my patient.  It's homemade chicken and noodles with homemade peach cobbler tomorrow night for dinner. Hopefully that will put a sparkle in his eyes. :)

Here's a picture of some beads I made recently.  They are on ebay and called Summer Bounty.

MAKING CHOICES

HB is still in the hospital.  His plumbing hasn't been working like it should so they decided to keep him several extra days.  He doesn't have much of an appetite and he sure isn't very eager to get up and walk around.  He's kind of happy just staying in bed.  Today he called me in the morning and said the aide wanted him to start his bath, but he wanted to wait til I came down and then I could give him his bath.  Seriously?  So I went down with my nurse Ratchett face and helped him bathe himself.  I did wash his back, but the rest was pretty much up to him.  You know it's kind of hard to do that, but my nurse self tells me he needs to move around, get his circulation going, push himself a little bit.  The wife part of me just wants to do it all, wrap him up in a blanket and rub his forehead until he falls asleep.  Sometimes being a nurse/wife has been a good thing because I understand his disease and what needs to be done.  I can talk some of the medical jargon.  What I don't understand I can look up. Then there are other times, like today, when the nurse part of me is kind of hard on him, and I wish I could just be the wife.

It's All Relative

My Honeybunny had surgery today, three hernia repairs.  One of them was really big, the result of another abdominal surgery that never healed properly.  Actually my HB has lots of big medical issues and he is a real trooper most of the time.  He had a cancerous area on his liver about 18 months ago that was a result of medication he was taking to treat his major disease.  It was successfully removed with a small incision.  That area never healed properly and that's where the hernia grew and grew.  The doctor was able to fix the two little hernias from the inside but he had to make an incision for the big hernia.  Actually, it's a pretty big incision.  So when I first got to see him in the recovery room he was not feeling very well.  He said. "Man this hurts, I mean really hurts.  Did you ever have anything that hurt like this?"  Hmmmm,  let me see, oh yeah there was that time I had a foot of my colon removed for diverticulitis, yeah that kind of hurt.  Then I had that ectopic pregnancy that ruptured.  Yep I remember that being kind of painful too. Oh and wait what about two of our children who were C- sections, one because he weighed 9 lbs...yeah that was just a tad painful too!!  Hello, you were there, don't you remember?  You know I don't think he could even relate.  About two hours later our oldest daughter called and he began telling her how painful it was and began questioning her about her experience with this kind of pain.  She reminded him of her son, our oldest grandson who got here by, yep, C-section.   I could tell that he still could see no comparison.  As a retired nurse I've seen many men in pain.  They seem to do well with sports injuries or accidents, but surgeries, especially of the belly area, not so much.

The Gathering

Since Wed. night I have been attending the ISGB(International Society of Glass Beadmaker's) convention here in Louisville.  It is held yearly in different regions of the US.  This year there were about 300 beadmaker's, men and women, in attendance.  As I explained in an earlier blog, this is the chance to see all the new glass, tools, books, jewelry making products, etc. available.  It's also a great opportunity to make your billfold very, very thin.  I was exceptionally good at that.  My justification was, how many times could I actually reach out and touch all these products before I bought them?  In the past, I've had to look at a picture on the Internet.  This was REAL.  So I did my duty and spent.  Now I have to follow that up with making some money with all those new products I bought, and that is always the hardest part.  There was lots of inspiration there among the beadmakers though, so after a good night's sleep...I'm thinking at least 12 hours, I'm hoping to get on my torch and make some pretty things...we'll see.

Simple Lessons

When I went to bed tonight there was a annoying fly buzzing around the room.  I tried chasing him for awhile, but let's face it, my aim is lousy.  When I was young my parents signed me up for a girl's baseball team.  It was the 50's, there weren't many sports for girls back then.  My dad was a runner, and a good one at that.  Actually I could run too, but that wasn't noticed or appreciated in girls in those days.  There were no girl's track teams.  So on this baseball team, one night I made all three outs in one inning.  It was disheartening.  I just had no eye hand coordination. I couldn't play ball then, nor apparently now kill flies. So anyhow, after chasing this fly around the bedroom for 15 min or so I decided to trap him in the bathroom.  Now our bathroom is little.  Our house was built in the 60's and although hubby and I had the bathrooms redone last year there in no way to add extra room where there isn't any.  So the fly and I played hide and seek for another 15 minutes or so.  I think I finally got him because he made me really mad when I knocked one of my glass beaded bracelets off the counter.  Two beads broke, but they weren't the glass ones, they were the ceramic ones that were used as spacers.  That made me kind of happy actually, well what really made me happy was finally disposing of said fly.  Then I was happy because MY handmade beads didn't break, and then I was even happier because I realized I did have good eye hand coordination after all, but it was just used more efficiently close up, like at bead making, not swinging heavy clubs of lumber at big white things that are being hurled at you, or trying to chase flies around a slippery bathroom with a rolled up piece of newspaper.  See you can learn something new about yourself every day, even when you're old.

The Picture I Left Out.....and a few More

Here's a couple more pictures of beads that I like.  I think florals are my favorite beads to make.

I was going to post a pic of my sister's birthday necklace, but I couldn't figure out how to do it...trying again.  I'm also going to post some pics of some of my other favorite beads.

Catching Up

Well bronchitis is still winning.  I hate being sick.  I just sit around watching my house get "dirtified" (made up word) and the clothes pile up in the laundry bag, and I whine a lot.  I guess I'm not horribly sick since Starbucks still taste good, and I haven't whined so much that my hubby is no longer interested in going to get them for me.  Although I might be getting close to that fine line that separates sympathy from annoyance.  I can tell when I'm getting there because he always finds something to do outside, like clean up the dog poop in the yard.  Choosing dog poop is always a good indicator that I have crossed the line. Speaking of crossing the line, why can't men clean kitchens?  I've been married 42 years and I have cleaned many, many, many, kitchens.  I've showed that man what a clean kitchen looks like .  I've taken him through the process, you know, made him watch me.  So why, oh why, can't he repeat the process just every once in awhile.  Oh I'm not dumb, I know he doesn't want to be good at it, and if I'm being honest here, I don't want to be good at taking out the garbage either, so I'm not :)

Beginnings

Although I've been a beadmaker since 1999 I've never really had a blog.  I tried once or twice, but I was a failure.  I'm going to try harder this time.  In two weeks the International Society of Glass Beadmakers meets in Louisville for it's annual convention.  Beadmakers come from all over the world. On Saturday July 30th there is a Bead Bazaar at the Convention Center and some of the beadmakers sell their beads.  It's phenom !!  I love meeting people I've been talking on the forums with for years.  Lots of vendors come to sell us all kinds of bead goodies, new glass, tools, and gadgets.  We're all kind of like little kids with new toys.  If you are anywhere close to Louisville, and love beads, you should come down for the Bead Bazaar.  It runs from 10am until 5pm and admission is only $5.00.  Okay, I'm signing off my first blog now.  I'm fighting bronchitis and it is winning.  Here's a picture of a necklace I made my sister for her birthday.  The beads are hollow.  Oh never mind.  I can't figure it out.  I'll try again tomorrow.