Smile, She Said.....

Last Friday night, or early morning my subconscious self said " You will be cheerful today!".. This was said in a commanding voice and I don't take commands very well. But all day I tried to be cheerful. Sweeping out bad thoughts and putting a smile on my face. I finally thought, I must make something. But laziness said "Now, nothing to big, dearie".

I re-strung a necklace that I had made years ago that had stretched out. Now, I was much happier afterwards. The blue beads are cultured pearls from my Grandmother and the orange beads are antique Italian Coral.

I haven't taken it off and when I catch my reflection in the mirror, I smile.

A Comission

A lady back east saw a Brown Corduroy bag that I had made. I made it as a "Knock Around" bag, but to glamour it up a bit, I trimmed it in Amber and Gold beads. The lady liked it but really wanted Red Corduroy. Not red but Lipstick Red. That took some doing. You would think that any store would have the basic colors of Corduroy but no. I scoured the web. Even ordered some fabric. And the time from the order to the time of beginning was growing longer. Finally, I decided that I had to get in the car and "crawl" the fabric stores. But I let my fingers do the walking first. I Finally found one store that said yes. I drove clear across town and in Los Angeles that is a long space of time and miles. They had 3/4's of a yard left. But it was the perfect color. I took it.

I emailed the lady and she was happy that progress had begun. Then 3-4 weeks later. I finished it. The bead work took so long, I thought my eyes would collapse on themselves. She loved the idea of common fabric and the beads. I used American Turquoise and Tourmaline beads on the front. The lady had lived in the Southwest and is also part American Indian. Now she lives in the East, near the Atlantic. That is why I put a piece of Ivory Scrimshaw on the back. The Silk lining is a bright purple with embroidered colored Polka Dots. She called to say that it was just what she wanted. I was thrilled

Clara Survives

When my kittens damaged my Amaryllis, I took it outside. Then I gave it a name, Clara. I personalized the plant, so that I could talk to the plant and encouraged it.

Dear Clara responded and began to thrive. The rains also encouraged her.

She Blooms!!!!!!

Lump in the Rug

Hello, Right now, I have two kittens on my lap. They are getting to be giant kittens and it is hard to type without losing one or two. I feel very precarious because I must appease the Kitten God and still do what I want, also.

As you know, kittens are always into everything. Their curiosity is boundless. My house used to be as I left it. Roxanne, my darling that lived with me for twenty years, was not in to havoc making. But these two now are.

Last night I went out and forgot to leave a light on in the entrance way. Bad choice. I came in and practically landed on my bum stumblingon the carpet. The entry rug was balled up and lapped over. They had been at it again!

Chester, the Oriental Shorthair, has all the characteristics that we are familiar with in Siamese cats. But also, he is smart. He finds it extremely fun to roll himself up in the carpet and mew softly. Penelope comes running to find out what he is saying. And the fun begins.

This goes on all day. I straighten out the rug. Chester comes along and to play "Lump in the Rug".

P.S. This photo was extremely hard to take. Every time I tried, he would leave the rug to see what I was doing. The little devil!

Have I mentioned that I have Kittens?

I know that I sort of go on about the Kittens. Calling them Demon Kittens and saying that Chester was a bully. But two kittens is twice the trouble and also, twice the joy.

I came into the house a day or so ago and found all of the couch pillows on the floor. It is like having two toddlers in the house. Fun, fun, fun and trouble, trouble, trouble.

I get books from the library. I don't like to keep books that are not of a reference or history source. But I read all the time and I especially enjoy mysteries. so, I go to the library. I consider the Library the best bargain that the universe has given me.

So here I am, two Saturday night's ago sitting at the kitchen table. I am enjoying a glass of red wine and my book. Chester had just come home from the vet's on Thursday, after having his "procedure" done to him. He had an Elizabethan collar on to prevent licking and causing more harm. He is a curious cat and he thinks he has to know everything that is going on. He investigates what I eat, how I brush my teeth, tells me what he needs and generally bosses Penelope around.

Back to Saturday night. He has his collar on and I am at the table. Everything is quiet and I am peaceful. Bam! Chester jumps up to the table, the collar catches the wine goblet, down goes the glass and the wine pours all over my library book. I did not lose a second. I jumped up and grabbed the sponge. Put the red pages under the water. Nothing happened. Then I got the eve ready bottle of bleach. Put water with it and worked on the pages. Nothing, nothing nothing. I had a red library book on my hands.

At that point, I looked at the book. I noticed that I was the first user of this book. The cost was $24.95. Yikes!!! The cost of the glass of wine went up mega times.

After the book dried, I could see that nothing would help erase the color or the fragrance of wine. So, I went on Amazon to compare prices. It worked out to be $5.00 cheaper to buy from them. It got here in the nick of time. I took it in and the people were amused with my story and pleased not to have to go to the trouble of ordering a new book.

And I got to take the damaged book home, to pass along to another mystery reader.

Oh, the costs of the Demon Kittens is adding up!

Middle of the Night Perusings

I am not quite done with this purse but I want to share it. I need to put in a few more pockets. The way it was made did not allow me to install the pockets while the inards were separate from the exterior.

I get my ideas in the middle of the night. Right after I get back in bed and can't go to sleep right away. When I realize that sleep won't return,I then try to puzzle what is keeping me awake. Sometimes I can figure it out and sometimes it is just worry. When I can figure it out, it is an idea that has been boiling. Well, the idea that I had been working on with this purse is this:
1. I had this wonderful fabric - a remnant that I insisted on buying. It was to small to made anything from but the colors and flowers got under my skin.

2. I had bought red quilted fabric to make a jacket for my grandson but I didn't make it. I thought, "Oh, no, I can't give that to a little boy. It will get dirty and get thrown into the wash and everything will be pink". So, I had this red quilted fabric as extra.


3. Also I wanted to see if gros grain ribbon could be gathered and how it would feel.

I put all this in my brain and I came up with this idea. I would get the iron on fusing material. Fuse the great red floral to the quilted fabric, gather the gros grain and use as a trim. Sounds so easy in the middle of the night but in actual fact, it took quite a few weekends to do. Add on to that I am not done yet.

But I am very pleased with the outcome. Am I allowed to say that?
By the way, the feel of gathered gros grain is quite engaging.

It's A Fairy Ring

My darling neice told me that the rings in nature are Fairy Rings. That fairies congregate around them. So, when I saw this cactus that I have had since it was a very little fellow, I said "A Fairy Ring, I must make a wish".

I made a wish, but I can't tell. Otherwise it won't come true.

Isn't it charming?