What's Going On ...

Ahoy Mateys...

I'm hearing thru the craft grapevine that Martha Stewart is partnering with Michael's and will have her own line of craft items in their stores...I haven't been to Michael's in a few weeks, but I DO need some varnish, so I think a trip might be a 'good thing'...har...

I forgot, tonight is the Pirates 3 Feast...I am gonna do work around the house and then leave early to avoid rush hour traffic into town..granted, I'm going against the bulk of traffic, so it shouldn't be TOO bad, but ya never know...and I don't wanna be late!!!

Brian and I had some mexican food and watched the G4 Star Wars show...what was so funny was a lot of the inbetween footage (going to commercial, etc) wasn't shot at this year's show..its old Celebration footage from years ago..sigh..and I thought I was seeing what he was seeing...but no...He brought home a book all about Star Wars tattoos, pics of fan's tattoos...it looks really neato...

If I had a hammer...

The awesomeness of Craigslist...I wonder if our neighbor who had the moo cow would want some of these guys...only in Texas...

Yesterday's foray into hanging all things on all walls was really productive...I'm enjoying seeing stuff on the too-white walls..(next project- paint the inside while its blistering hot outside)...Some of the pieces are just too heavy to hang using my little nails, so I need some reinforcements...I'm gonna go get a stud finder and some nails/screws at the hardware store...I probably should ask Brian for help- I tend to just hang and run...he measures and uses tools and stuff...bah...

So, Corina has finally updated...glad to know she's still around, even if she's been having a hard time again...I had no idea what was going on...

The dog played frisbee with me in the street yesterday and it was a hoot...she gets SO excited and she runs and runs...she's a good kid...

I dug around in my cross stitch stash and pulled out a load of what I *think* will be 'quick' samplers to stitch...Its kinda like overloading at a cafeteria...you THINK you can eat everything on your plate, but there's no way...Samplers aren't quick by nature, but i'll do what I can..I did manage to finish a small country piece (a crow on a pumpkin) yesterday, I changed some of the design, added some stars and a moon and changed the saying from 'give thanks' to 'harvest', just cause I liked it better...I was too lazy to chart it on graph paper, so I just stitched it on the fly...All in all, came out ok...

The holiday weekend is wrapping up...

I...am...hanging pictures...I tend to wait a LONG time when living somewhere before I'm 'ready' to hang stuff up...I think I need to live in a space to know where I want things to go...even so, its not like this is a museum-home, I'm sure everything could be grouped better, but I'm having fun...there's a corner in the living room that's halloween cross stitch stuff...pumpkins, witches, crows...another wall is all my 17th Century English Band Samplers, there are bits and pieces in the kitchen, I even hung up our dog-leash hanger...I'm hunting upstairs for more stuff to hang, I know its here, sitting on the floor, doing nothing...I have my hammer and two boxes of nails/brads and I'm causing mayhem all over...its fun!

Ahem...Lime Green Doors, much?

Its been raining (on and off) in Central Texas since last Wednesday...its finally coming to an end and we should see some 90 temps and sun for the next week...Brian comes home tomorrow, he's visiting friends in California who we've known forever and recently relocated there...(computer games, you know)...And I'm feeling the need to get back on the torch, after being extremely lazy and decadent for the past few days...Yeah, sure, I did laundry and walked the dog and fed the cats and took the garbage out..but I also watched telly and knitted and did cross word puzzles and entertained our neighbor's cat who is attention starved more than than she's food-starved...given the choice, she'd rather be petted than fed...go figure...

The garden could use a little sprucing, its taken a beating with all the rain..most of the roses have tossed their petals and my climber has grown so much in the past week I've had to tie branches to the arch before it strangled the lime tree...can't wait till its completely covered w/ little pink 'noisettes'..those are small roses that are very english country cottage-y...that's kinda the look I'm going for w/ this yard...a messy but full of life garden w/ lots of color, texture and wildlife...yesterday, around 8:00pm, when the sun had nearly set, a dark woosh caught my eye...the ruby throat hummer was working my firecracker plant, drinking in the juice and taking his time before heading home...a nice quiet evening...

I hope ya'll are having a good day after the holiday and its sunny and cool where you are...do something worthwhile today, recycle your soda can, or water bottle and leave a nice tip at lunch...I'm heading to the post office...rock and roll...

What is happening?

Ha...Kim Neely has just written a WONDERFUL explanation of how to get the new magical glass "Terra" to work...I have said these same suggestions in many a class (about glass other than Terra, I haven't tried to master that one yet) and I tend to see eyerolls, hear groans and get the 'yeah-right' looks...She's right, tho...Go read her words...

Ladies, need help in getting the attention of that man of yours?

10:30am - I feel better after getting some sleep...around 2:30am I finally crashed and everyone stayed away from me...I think they were frightened of the crazy woman in the house...Now that I'm up, guess what...its raining! again! so of course, guess who doesn't want to go outside (again)...she's talking to me, she's ready for a walk, but won't go when she sees the rain...eventually she'll have to go the bathroom...I guess I better get an umbrella...

Charles Nelson Reilly has died...I was lucky enough to meet him at an X-Files convention in Burbank and he was a hoot...Loved him...so pleasant...and after watching him on Match Game as a kid, it was a real treat to meet him...I dearly love the Jose Chung episode of X-Files...'you look non-nonplussed'...

Check out the Bic Banana Ink Crayon!

IF you're the slightest bit interested in what's going on at the Star Wars convention, Whitney Pastorek has some great pics and write ups..she's been there for 4 days...I love the Darth Maul dude with the little kid...

1:00am - I'm having a major meltdown..for whatever reason, every cat needs to jump on my head while i'm trying to sleep..the dog needs to lick and lick her foot...I hearded them all out of the door and closed it - only to have the dog force herself into the room and then wouldn't leave...so I had to get the leash on her and drag her out...not an easy thing to do when a Doberman doesn't wanna leave a room...it's 1:00am and I'm wide awake from all the noise and bustling...who knew there was a disco going on in my house after I go to sleep?

I guess I will wind down here and see if I'm sleepy in awhile...I wonder what's on television at 1:00am on Sunday...I can't imagine much...ugly jewelry and wrestling are my guesses...why won't the dog listen to me when i tell her to get out of the room? why can't they just do as they're told? Cesar Millan makes it look SOOO simple...my dog has a HUGE stubborn streak and no matter how much I try to correct her, she won't listen...I'm not the pack leader...but I can get her ass out of the bedroom when I'm forced to...sometimes I am bigger than she is, even tho she doesn't realize it...

Where have I been for a month?

I'm baking a chocolate cake and knitting...If I put on my pearls and high heels, I'll be ready to vacuum the house...

I had a funny converstaion with a friend of mine yesterday...he said someone asked what was wrong with me because I hadn't updated my site in 'weeks'...I found that amusing, and came home to check how many days I hadn't updated in May...but it seems I've updated every day this month, even when I had nothing interesting to say...(what else is new?)...So, I dunno who they were thinking of, but I've been here, making snide remarks and posting silly links for the masses...

More rain...yes...the ground (and Sunday paper) is wet...but its cool outside and I'm not complaining...

I never went blackberry picking yesterday, so of course i'm thinking of going today...the farm is open...its not like I NEED more blackberries, its more the fun of being in the muddy field and enjoying the wildlife...lots of really neato bugs and purple martin birds flying over...we saw a scissortail the last trip, I haven't seen one of those in ages...

There's a Monk marathon (18 hours!) on USA today...I might have to catch a few episodes...what I REALLY need to do is tackle the kitchen...its been making me crazy for months...and I'm actually looking forward to it...

The dog wont go outside

Its still raining on and off here and the weatherman says to expect this thru Wednesday...wow...Austin had a Memorial Day flood in 1981...I hope it doesn't get that bad...so far, its mostly been far W and E of the city...my yard and toads are fat and sassy...I'm loving the rain...except the dog won't go outside...I have to escort her everywhere...yesterday I took a drive with her to the country - I bet the locals thought we were out there so I could abandon her, but that wasn't it at all...I just wanted her to get out of the house...we spotted a large turtle crossing the road, but my purse camera is with Brian, so I didn't get a shot...

We went to the local park and ran around...when we got home, the skies opened up...overall, its not so bad, tho...it could be a lot worse...i'm not complaining at all...I love the rain...

BlueMoon asked if I'd lend my lap grinder for a class they're having next week, and i'm happy to do it...i could find the grinder and two water cups with no problem, but locating the grinding discs proved to be much more difficult...while hunting around upstairs, I cleaned up a lot of stuff that needed to be cleaned...and played w/ Clementine because she LOVES running upstairs to play...eventually I located the discs and now I'm heading into town to drop everything off...I'm contemplating taking the dog with me just to get her out of the house and let her walk around town...we are becomming attached at the hip while Brian is gone...its rather humourous...

My Season 1 Gilmore Girls arrived yesterday...I'd never seen the first episode, ever, but it turns out I've been watching season 1 episodes on ABC Family Channel and didn't realize it...I thought there was a lot more back story and I know there must be a season or two in there that I don't know all that well...still, its fun to watch a bunch of episodes all at once w/ no commercials...

Have you seen the awesomely awesome naked lady rings Kate McKinnon has been making of late?

I'm thinking of catching a matinee Spidey 3 at Alamo and having some snacks...tasty and delicious...

Spookily quiet

We had some really good thunderstorms last night and today its eerily quiet...i should walk around to see if there's any damage, but I sat on the porch last night during the whole shebang and it seemed ok...some parts got 7 inches in an hour...we didn't get nearly that much...the dog doesn't want to go outside cause its wet...i'm gonna need to go with her...she wanted a walk, but it was storming...she doesn't like to get wet (do any of us want to walk in a thunderstorm?)...anyway, not much else is going on...

I found another quiz, this one is about cartoons...yes, I scored 100, but in all honesty, its a pretty easy quiz if you like cartoons...

Brian said they were getting up at 4:00am today to get stuff done, and had to stay up till midnight tonight...he's gonna be exhausted when he gets home...probably sleep for a week...

And that's all that's new here...did you go see Pirates last night? the reviews are not good, but that's no surprise...critics didn't like Spidey and it made a ton, they LOVED Grindhouse and it made nothing...ya just gotta go if you want to...I'd like to see Grindhouse, tho...I don't know if its even in the theatres any longer...hmmmm...

I was gonna go pick some blackberries today...I dunno if its a good idea in the mud and muck...

Twinkle toes...

Darth Maul

Oh yeah, I forgot about this...Brian, who's in LA this week for the Star Wars convention, is working behind the scenes cause he's friends with some of the organziers...and part of his duties are to sit with the movie celebs at their tables when they're signing autographs and such...The celebs he gets to sit with - Anthony Daniels (C3-P0), Carrie Fisher and Ray Park (Darth Maul)...Kinda cool, huh...

Is this cat's name Cartman?

So, I'm finally going to get these errands done TODAY that I've been putting off all week...I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go...

The dog has her own bed, and she sleeps in it..but Bagheera also likes to sleep on it...this morning I woke up to the dog dancing around the room trying to get back on her bed, but B had taken it over...he's so little compared to her, he looks so tiny on her big bed, but he was very happy...he could go anywhere - the couch, the human bed, the chair in my office, whereas the dog can only fit on her bed and on the living room floor...and yet, there he is...happily hanging out on her bed while her toenails click furiously as she contemplates how to get him out...
I see that Corina has a new MAJOR update planned...glad to see she's back online...

No new toad pics, i forgot to go outside at dusk...drat...maybe tonight...

Is it seriously Memorial Day this weekend? Wasn't it JUST Christmas? You mean the Tour De France will be here in another month? Did someone speed up the earth's rotation? Did Superman do something he shouldn't have? Are the days going faster than they did when I was 10? I'm pretty sure we only have 12 hours a day now, cause they move so dang fast...geez...and I sound so old when I gripe about this...man...

I'm gonna go get me a Starbucks this morning...I rarely get them cause we don't have a shop in our one-stoplight town (not that I'm complaining)...

Goodbye Veronica...

Beads beads, lizards and beads...

I never get drunk (seriously) cause its just not my thing (now, overdosing on chocolate, that's another story)...so I've never done any 'd-railing', but I found this very amusing...I will admit that I've bought some iTunes that I probably didn't need...my weakness right now seems to be Etsy...drunk Etsying?

Even I miss out...I tried to buy some beads but was told 'sorry'...ha...so, lest you think I don't know how you feel, I do know how you feel...

On a lighter note, I just ordered two Pirates Feast tix...you might recall that our local Alamo Drafthouse cinema does these great meals for high profile releases...we did the feast for the last Pirates movie and it was really tasty...the menu for this one looks just as good...neato!

The last episodes of Veronica Mars were on last night...I was so bummed out that I couldn't watch the second one...its waiting for me on my Tivo...and after reading various boards this morning. fans are still up in arms over the end of the show...I know it sounds silly, but I really liked VM and Gilmore and with them both gone, it leaves a big hole for me...imagine if Lost or Grey's Anatomy were just gone...off the air as of today...you'd probably feel the same way...anyway, I'm not holding out hope, I'm just moving on...

I do have very exciting garden news, tho...

While we've found a nice supply of small silvery garden snakes and some whiptail and anole lizards, we had yet to see any toads in the garden at all...at our Austin house, we were fat with toads of all sizes...families of them would show up under cardboard we'd left out to get wet and sloppy...but here, nothing...for 10 months...(wow, we've been in this house for 10 months?)...last night while taking the garbage out, I saw not one but TWO big fat toads hopping around...one in the backyard, one in the front...toads (and the other creatures) are a sign of a healthy, happy garden...they go where there's food, shelter, moisture and can enjoy themselves...I always wonder 'where do they come from'? were they just down the road, waiting? did they hop long distances to get here? did we bring them in as little toads in our plants? where have they been hiding? I dunno, but I'm glad they are here...

This girl is excited to spot her toad in her garden too...are we weird?

More later, I have to get some things taken care of...lets say I'll post these beads this afternoon? why not...

Why don't I ever learn?

So, as I'm driving down our street, after dropping Brian off at the airport, I notice some unattractive native vines growing on the side of the road...i think 'I'll just go mash them down with my feet, so they don't block the view of our awesome yard'...right...so I go trodding down there, and just as I get ready to lay down the law with my size 10 Crocs, I see an entire eco system at work...there are a whole swarm of assassin bugs that are huddled on a leaf...red bodied, long black legs...then I look around and notice aphids and ladybugs going at it...then I notice TWO horn nosed caterpillars (if they were aggressive, they coulda bit my nose)...then I spot a small orb weaver near the ground, with her web zipped up, waiting for lunch...

How oh how could I ever have thought I should go stomp down their living space? just cause a few leaves were turning yellow and were unsightly? You would think my tree hugger mode would have kicked in, but no, I was in full blown 'superior human coming thru' mode...Man, I'm really glad I LOOKED before I destroyed their homes...Its not like I'm making my yard inviting to them, with all my bright flowers and fancy butterfly food...these are the 'fringe' bugs, the ones that aren't invited to the dance..the ones who hang out in the parking lot smoking and telling lies to sound more important than they are...the ugly bugs...and I'm glad I had a chance to enjoy part of their world today...now i want to protect them, make sure they aren't displaced or mowed down...now I worry about them...maybe a bird or snake will find some of them..that would be ok...but I don't want any idiot humans coming thru with their large Flintstone feet, doing away with their vines...

I strung up the beads I made yesterday...organic...blues and greens...I've gotta take some packages to the post office for Brian and drop off some paperwork...it rained last night, wonderful powerful thunderstorms that woke me up as they shook the house...everything is wet and soggy and I love it...I'm kinda sleepy tho...maybe some lunch will help...

100, 99, 98, 97...

I love this! And what's fun is, I can identify nearly all the movies shown...whatever happened to 'old' hollywood when the actors were interesting and good at what they did, not just pretty faces w/ no wrinkles and boobs that are too big...

More planting, more mulching, and Brian installed my two trellises for me...so the passionvine has something to grab onto and grow around...all my crappy old beads are still dangling from it...some have broken off, but its still like looking at an old yearbook...fun...

I've nearly filled up my iPod...with Cd's from our collection...some really fun old 70's and 80's songs too...Gordon Lightfoot...B.J. Thomas...Culture Club...Prince...i guess Prince will never be 'old'...classic is probably a better word...he's certainly held up better than Boy George has...style and grace..

So, I've had a few focals sitting around doing nothing of late...I will post them this week...Brian leaves tomorrow, and my time will be freer than usual...except I've already been tasked to head into Austin for a few errands this week...but i'll get them up...and more beads made too...its starting to get hot and humid again, and that's when I hide out indoors and watch nature from the a/c comfort...i'm really enjoying the porch and the front yard, tho...the swallowtail caterpillars have pretty much devoured all the fennel, so they are crawling away to change...no new monarch caterpiallars, but the butterflies do come by...and the massive yellow swallowtails still fly by but never stop...boo...

Beaducation is online!

I've been waiting for Lisa Niven Kelly's Beaducation (online class website) to go live and its finally here...If you cannot attend Bead and Button, if you don't have any bead shops near you that teach, if you are a hermit like me and don't like to leave your cave, you can still learn some very cool techniques...and buy all the supplies you need at the same time...I'm not making any money off this announcement, I'm just a fan who is excited and wanna see this site succeed...Go...Go...Go...learn something new today...and sell it on Etsy and make a trillion dollars...awesome...!

Question and answer time...

Have you ever spent $1000 on a chair? yeah, me either...

When I was a kid, a neighbor's cat caught a hummingbird...it was still alive in it's mouth...and was rescued by my friend...happy ending...how does a cat catch a hummingbird? They are the fastest flying bird I've ever seen...Clementine caught a baby sparrow once...it was the weirdest thing to see...the bird was in her mouth, but the wings were open across her face...it covered most of her face...I didn't know what was going on at first...you think when a cat catches a bird, the entire bird is in it's mouth...leave it to Clementine to do something weird and different...

Are you afraid of heights? Of flying? Of spiders and snakes? What if you were afraid of showers (after watching Psycho!)...what if you were afraid of toasters?

I like to go fast in cars, but I don't drive fast myself...The fastest I've gone is 150mph in a Lamborghini Diablo...at 2:00am...it was thrilling...

Have you ever spotted someone in the grocery store you didn't want to see, so you hid, or turned around and walked the other way?

Do you ever talk to yourself outloud while shopping? Do you care if someone hears you?

I don't know how to cook very well...Years ago I tried to make a steak, and it came out badly...so I threw it over the fence behind our apartment, into the field...I vowed never to waste another steak like that, and I never have...

I like the Variety Big Book of Puzzles and games...I do all the puzzles in ink...and it makes me happy...

My cat Amelie is so fat that her nicknames are Chunky Monkey, Chumbawumba, Chunky peanut butter, Fatty, Fatty fat-fat, and Bowling Ball...she can still jump up and run up the stairs as fast as any of the skinny cats can, tho...

Do you play an instrument? Did you enjoy learning it? Do you still play?

Who let the dogs out?

Brian found a friend on his morning walk w/ Lady...someone's Rottweiler followed them home...it seems to belong to someone, it has s collar, yet no tags...and I know folks dump their animals in the country, so there's no telling...he was good enough to get a leash from the grocery and took it back to the street he found it, incase the owner turns up...Lady does not like other dogs, she was growling and nipping at it, yet it seemed unfazed and was very happy to have friends to walk with...We don't need another dog, can't deal with another dog, don't want another dog...so we're looking at the Rottweiler rescue groups in the Austin area...there is a family who has been feeding the dog, but they have a young child and can't handle a big dog right now...we'll do what we can to find it a good home, since it's owner obviously doesn't know or doesn't care that its gone...one of the downfalls of living in the country...

one local said she had 13 dogs at one point, most of them had been dropped off on the side of the road...she finally took most of them to the shelter for adpotion...why can't people be more responsible? argh...

I think all my late nights- early mornings have caught up with me and I slept late...

I'm excited about tomorrow, we're doing some last minute errands this weekend before Brian hits the road for California and his Geek-fest of All Things Star Wars...I've got some framed cross stitch pieces (from 1989) to pick up and we're gonna outfit our new iPods with headphones, protective covers and such...I'm still knitting the felted cozies for us, once i figure out the correct way to hold the piece (I'm not skilled with my double pointed needles yet), I can get going really fast...but last night i did 2 rows backward before I realized it...duh...

Did you watch The Office last night? Love that show...I think you have to have worked in a cubicle environment to really appreciate the freaks and geeks, because my friends who haven't don't get it...still, a funny show that I can't wait till next year...and CSI too...my tv viewing sched got a lot smaller this week, so I'll be saving up my Thursday nights for pasta and Grissom...good stuff...

Sigh...love these computers

I wrote a nice long entry, but my ISP host went down and nothing was saved..I'm ready to run outdoors, so I'll just say its a good garden day and a bad tv day - Veronica Mars has been cancelled and I'm bummed out...first Gilmore, now Veronica...the CW is dead to me now...

On a good note, all my new plants are in the ground..i've been in the garden all morning...its a gorgeous day outside and I'm heading back out...mulch mulch...see yas...

Indian Winter

Patricia Santana linked to me in her blog...Love her...she's almost ready to have her kiddo, any day now...can't wait till she's making beads again, we've tried to do a swap, but time got away from us...I've tried to buy her beads, but I was too slow...one day I'll get some, tho...I'm lurking in the bushes, waiting waiting...I like how she called me a 'big knitter', cause I feel like I'm a 'barely there knitter'...I just post what I make, so it LOOKS like I make a lot of stuff, but compared to WendyKnits or my friend Katie, I'm just a n00bie knitter who likes taking pics of my latest project...did I mention I'm making new iPod cozies for Brian and me? and I've started another Fair Isle tote, but haven't gotten too far on it yet...i've changed up some of the designs in this one, we'll see if I'm able to pull it off...

We get a last few days of 'cool' weather before the blinding summer heat shows up...we've already had a few 90 degree days and boy, could we feel it...I'll take 63 outside right now any day...thank thee...

So yeah, Gilmore wrapped up last night...I was sad...and I hear that Veronica Mars isn't even on the new Fall lineup that's being debuted tomorrow in NY...sigh...guess my Tuesdays have just opened up...

On a good note, I made loads of focals yesterday...sweet...shiny...silvery...funky shapes...

The cats are taking over...

Tonight is the series finale of Gilmore Girls...I am sorry to see the show go, this last season was painful, but I stuck it out...I have all the other seasons in my Netflix queue so I can start over again...and later this week I find out if Veronica Mars is coming back next season or not...I can say the more they take shows off the air, the less tv I watch...I don't watch anything on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday nights, on Monday its only Antiques Roadshow and with GG gone and possibly Veronica, that'll take out Tuesday as well...Thursday will be my only tv night...at that rate, I should be making thousands of beads a week...heh..

speaking of, I'm working on some organic focals at the moment...I know (groan) most of ya'll aren't into focals, and they aren't my specialty either, but I like the earthiness and rock-like features of them, so i'm playing...i'll have some for sale, not expensive since they are mostly just playing around, experimenting, having fun kinda beads...

The cats have been following me from room to room, crawling in my lap, head butting me to pet them...Clem was all over the bed as I was making it, running around, doing flips...she likes the movement of the blankets, she thinks there are little tiny mice under there and she's trying to catch them all...I really need a video recorder to capture some of her hilarity...she is always cracking me up..and she LOVES to grab her brush and make me brush her, even with all her hair missing (its growing in quite nicely, actually...kinda dark)...there's no one like Clementine...

Did ya'll know this was going to be so complicated?

Over the weekend a local Boy Scout troup broke the world record for releasing 1000 model rockets at the same time..(the prev record was 300)...Check out the launch and parachutes raining down...i love model rockets, we used to launch them when I was a kid...awesome...

I've heard from some of ya'll, thanks for clueing me in...Jennifer from Foofaraw beads is alive and well, and apparently Corina has been a ghost for everyone...no one has heard from her...so there you have it...Sounds like there are multiple 'old timer' beadmakers who've disappeared...i didn't know...kinda a drag...

Some days in the garden are great, like when I have 3 monarchs visit the gregg's mist, and other days are not so good....yesterday I found a dead butterfly in the mulch..looked like another bug got to him...AND, one of my monarch chrysalis (the newest one, haven't posted a pic of it) was missing...completely gone...

but there was a black smudge and some black splash on the house...my guess - a bird spotted it and made a meal...bummer...one of the two that are pictured on my garden page has hatched, the other is nearly ready...that's good...I found 11 swallowtail caterpillars on the bronze fennel, which I'm pretty certain cannot take 11 caterpillars munching on it...we'll see...two are ready to crawl off and cocoon...

So, I get the rate increase for postage, that's not a big concern, I'm used to that...but, according to this CNN column, its gonna be much more complicated than we've heard...thickness matters now...size of envelope matters now...do I have to measure the entire package as well as weigh it now? I'm curious to see how Stamps.com works tomorrow when I fire it up..I've already downloaded the new version w/ the new rates, I wonder if they have spaces to enter the dimensions too...

Where are they now?

Has anyone heard from Corina lately? Someone asked me and I haven't talked to her in a long time...just wondering if she'll be back anytime soon...and what about Foofaraw beads? Jennifer Gurganus...I tried her website and its not up any longer...

Blackberry Pickin sure is fine...

6:00pm - yep, we've returned from our berry farm excurision, with about a half a box of strawberries and a half box of blackberries...and I've already cooked us a cobbler and had a nice big corner wedge...with ice cream...its a good day...

Its time for us to try our hand at some berry pickin' this year...I don't think we've gone the past couple of years, and I hear thru the grapevine (ha!) that we might get lucky and get BOTH strawberries AND blackberries in this visit...typically the strawberries come in first, the blackberries about a month later...we'll see...

I'm lookin' for blackberries anyway...we're up early to get on the road before it gets too hot outside...the mornings have been really pleasant, but I see its already 72 and that means it'll be 80 before ya know it...

I've posted the Blackberry Cobbler recipe for you again...and btw, this farm we're visiting was the one that inspired me to name my company Blackberrybeads, after a visit of pickin' one day...trivia...

Diggin and plantin...

Catalina Island is on fire...I love that place, we were there a few years back for the Jazztrax festival...I would love to live there...remote and distant from the real world...most folks don't have cars, they have golf carts...you have to sign up to be allowed an auto and it takes years...mostly you walk everywhere...so sweet...I hope they get it under control soon...

The plants are in, and watered...I discovered two new monarch chrysalis that I didn't know about...I made one of the swallowtail caterpillars stick out his funny little defense fork when I watered the plant he was on...the butterflies were hitting the buddleia as i was planting it...the dog helped me plant everything and then threw up on the driveway...overall, a good day...I gotta get back out there and do some mulching...

I'm gonna try to get those new butterfly plants in the ground this morning while its still relatively cool outside...Brian brought home a welcome surprise yesterday, I'll haveta get some pics...

Back in the day...

I'm trying something a bit new - I'm outside working on the computer...but its not easy to see the screen clearly, so the pics might be a little weird...I'm not sure...I kinda did my same old tricks, hoping the pics would come out, but if they look off, its cause i'm not seeing them in a proper light (too much glare)...sorry for that...but on the plus side, I've got some new pics of butterflies that I woulda missed if I was indoors, so that's good...I'll post those shortly...

I just bought two new additions to the yard - the Buddleia plant, aka Butterfly Bush...I had one of these in the Black Knight color years ago, but didn't get it in the ground in time and it died...also - don't buy buttefly bush plants in August and keep them in a pot and expect them to live...won't happen...lessons learned...(these pics are not from my house, just examples of the plant)...

About 10 years ago, we rented a little house near the University of Texas campus...we lived there about 3.5 years and really enjoyed it...its where we met and inherited Bagheera and Clementine who are still with us...When I found the house we moved into, it was renting for $895 a month...considering houses just down the street from us were renting for $1500, I was pretty happy we could live in the neighborhood for such a cheap amt...it was a nice house and we kept the yard and ivy growing...I see that Austin is offering a tour of other more stately, historical homes this coming weekend...we used to drive and walk by these houses every day...we lived just one street over from Duval, in fact...

Alas, we moved away when we bought our first house, and last I checked, the little red brick home used to rent is going for $1500/mo for rent (the taxes on it are $8000/yr, which is actually rather cheap in that neighborhood)...So, I'm glad we had our time there...I could hear the UT band playing during Saturday football games...and folks who had tickets would park on our street and walk to campus...its a neat little neighborhood that I would love to live in, if I was a multi-millionaire...

I'm somewhere in the middle

I've had folks ask me who this beadmaker is and I can't name names, although I will say she's someone I've never heard of before and don't know how long she's been on the beadmaking scene...granted, I don't know ALL the beadmakers, but I know many of the 'old' ones who've been around as long as me and longer...Suffice it to say, I guess I just think if you make bad beads, you shouldn't charge $10 a piece for them...but then again, everyone can buy (or not) whatever they want...its a free country...

Oh, I was gonna go off on a rant about lampworkers who are asking WAYYY too much money for their beads, but I won't...I don't have the energy to worry about other people...I look at other lampwork rarely, I have my favorites and I check them out and after that, I just walk away...I like looking at well made beads...I like paying for well made beads...when people ask a lot of money for crap beads, it makes me shiver...

thankfully I run across very few crap beadmaker websites...I just don't look...and it keeps me happy and sane...I made the mistake this morning of checking out a page of rather unfortunate beads that have rather unnessarily high prices, but I will just walk away...don't look...stay focused...

And on that note, I've been making some of the more 'typical' round beads that I used to make and just have gotten away from...I'm happy with them...I've got more to make, sure...I'll letcha know when they're ready to go...

I'm excited, my Apple treats are supposed to arrive tomorrow...yeehaw...no powerbook this time, tho...still gives me something to look foward to down the road...

I bought the complete Ambrosia and America 'best of' albums on iTunes the other day...reminds me of when I was a kid in middle school...I listened to a lot of radio back in the day..and now I don't know any of the pop acts on the scene...I guess we do kinda plug into our formative music years and just ride them out...although I do enjoy a lot of 80's music...and of course Brian does love his George Michael/Wham!...um, yeah...whatever...

She needs a mohawk...

A few weeks ago I took Clem in to have her body shaved...she was full of knots and was suffering pretty badly...since bringing her home, I've tried and tried to get a decent shot of her, but she's very fast and twisty and would not sit still for a good pic...her hair is coming in longer now, and its gone more silvery/lilac...she might be darker this time around, we'll have to wait and see...but I can say that she's no longer suffering or pulling her hair out (and eating it, ugh), and she seems pretty happy...I think next time I'll have the vet's office give her a mohawk...why not?

Keep on a keepin' on...

How was Spiderman 3? I'm hearing various reports - it did gargantuan numbers over the weekend, but critics don't like it...like that's ever mattered before...they loved Grindhouse and it hasn't even made 20 mil yet...We considered going to see it, but didn't wanna deal w/ the crowds...there are tons of movies out that we haven't seen...now that we have Netflix, and our wall-mounted telly with surround sound, we kinda stay home and enjoy the non-kid-screaming version...actually, the only theater I will go to anymore is Alamo Drafthouse, and they don't typically have kids in there screaming or kicking the seats, and very few times have cell phones gone off, so its really a pretty sweet experience..

Except for when we went there and saw Spidey 2...there was a kid who musta been about 8 or 10 there with his dad, and damn if he didn't talk thru the WHOLE MOVIE...I turned around at one time to see if he'd shut up, but alas, of course not...and his dad could care less that he was yammering on...sigh...not one of my more fun movie experiences, but as you can see, certainly one that I remember...thus, going to see blockbusters on their opening weekend is not a great thing for me...I know kids talk...i know cell phones ring...i know people have to get up and go to the bathroom 50 times during a 2 hour movie...so I'll let the crazies go first...and I'll sneak in in a week or two and watch in peace and quiet...course, the next big movie is just around the corner...Pirates comes out later this month...

One of the two treats I ordered from Apple over the weekend has officially been shipped and is on its way to my door...that was amazingly fast...the other one should be here soon, I'm waiting on the tracking info...

We used our new bowls last night and they were fun...eating out of a tall square bowl is rather enjoyable and weird...I am gonna try some cereal this morning...I must admit, all the plates look great in the cabinet...makes me wanna take the doors off and install glass panes in them so you can see the interiors...I've always liked that look...

Out and About...

After picking up some much needed dress pants for Brian we wandered by the dinnerware on our way out of Macys and saw these placesettings on sale...buy one, get another for free...the last time I bought plates was 1995 or 1996...I've been eyeing some Fiestaware for awhile, and will probably get some purple and maybe lime down the road, but I liked the fall colors of this Espana design...So home they came with us...square plates, square bowls, its all very high tech for us...I can't wait to eat some cereal from the square bowl, tho...heee....
That's pretty much it...exciting day, I know...I did bring a butterfly in the house, he was riding on my behind and Brian spotted him and whisked him safely outside (after it landed on the light fixtures and sliding glass door...

I plan to package everything tonight so it'll ship in tomorrow's mail...thanks to everyone who bought a piece from me, I hope you enjoy them when they arrive...

I ordered a couple of surprises from the Apple website last night...no, not a powerbook, I think that's gonna be a Santa thing...but I can't wait till these other things get here...one is an early present for Brian's birthday, since he could use some tunes for his trip to LA...I'll show pics when they get here next week...

I've been wearing my Monarch chrysalis necklace lately in honor of all the butterflies to be in my yard...and special thanks to my super secret friend who bought this necklace for me, it makes me very happy to have it...they really are like jewels in the garden, so bright green w/ the gold dots and all...nature rulez...

Lazy McSlog...

Its another one of those days here...the sky is silver grey, its warm and humid outside...if you take more than 10 steps in any direction, you're sweating...We are being lazy, I just watched a Hercule Poirot that I've seen 10 times before and now i'm finally up off the sofa to get the day 'started'...i like lazy days especially when its kinda blech outside...Brian is snapping photos of all these little Star Wars characters he's gonna list on eBay tomorrow to help subsidize his upcoming trip to Celebration IV (C4 as its known in our house)...Why not let Star Wars pay for your Star Wars trip, right? He's actually gonna be working behind the scenes at the thing, some of the organizers in LA are friends of his and asked him to work...

So, for free room and board, he gets to sit with the celebs while they sign their posters, do coffee errands (probably) and basically be a SW bitch like the chic from Devil Wears Prada...and he's gonna L O V E LOVE LOVE LOVE every minute of it...its like a dream vacation for him...I think its great, its like my escape to B&B - immerse yourself in your hobby and go overboard on the crap at hand...I understand that mentallity completely...

So, my first monarch chrysalis has hatched and flown away...his shell was empty today...we have 3 others who are bright green and hanging in there...the one that turned who I thought wasn't ready to turn, has become white inside...I don't think he is in a good way...that's why there were 8 on my plants, so that at least 5 of them can become butterflies and keep the population going...we found a fuzzy caterpillar on the doorway, dunno who he is...he's back in the garden now...there is something invisible biting my right arm..I think its a thrip aka 'no seeum'...i saw a few on my rose next to the door...nice...

Its one of those weekends here, there are TONS of things going on outside, festivals, arts and crafts shows, movie premiers, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite is in town having a lunch at Alamo Drafthouse...we decided to pass this time...

Its a Knittin' kinda day...

Overcast and misty this morning, humid and muggy this afternoon, its a knittin' kinda day...did I mention that I signed up for an on-going knitting class in Austin? Its once a week and we can work on whatever project we want..the instructor is there to help us thru any jams we get into and I'm good at gettin' into jams...i just don't know very much about technique with knitting, so when I pick up a pattern, many times its foreign to me...she's there to help me along, and it is really good...i've only been twice so far, but I'm glad I went...I've got a few projects that I'm working on, things that I've never done before and my never finish, but I wanted to learn about what they were...

One is a freebie lace pattern from Louet (sure, its free, when you buy $60 worth of their linenflax thread to make it...ugh), and having never done lace before, I wasn't sure I was on the right path...but apparently I am...ironically, all of us in this class are working on the same project, just with different colors...its kinda slow-going, I kinda work on it here and there, but maybe it'll be ready when cold weather comes around again in December...its not heavy, its just a simple wrap that wouldn't keep a mouse warm, but that's not the point...
The other project i've just started is this: Lizard Ridge From Knitty, my knittin' guru Katie emailed it to me and I was mezmerized, but had no intention of every DOING it...but when I started reading the directions, its full of 'wrap and turn' which we did some of in the felted clog class...I can do that, its not hard...so I started it today w/ my one skein of purple/peach Noro Kureyon wool...I need to create a chart of the colors, so I don't buy duplicates...truth be told, I doubt i'll ever make enough blocks to create this throw, its not really my goal, I just wanna get better are doing w&t, and once I've had enough, I'll prob stop...but hey, if I buy a skein or two here and there, and work on it here and there, I might end up with a few blocks to make something with...I like the colorways and the pattern is cool...I'm the kinda person who needs to do a lot of repetition of a technique to 'get it down' and have it in my arsenal of knowledge...when I learned to make triangle beads, I made 100 of them...when I learned to make twisties, I spent two full days doing nothing but making and making and making them (some were really bad too!)...so this will be a good L O N G term kinda project, the kind you pick and put down and never get back to...

I just checked and another caterpillar has gone to chrysalis, and another has just started to hang in the 'J' shape...yet another is still crawling around, and then I have 4 more that have probably another week's worth of growing to do...I found the crumpled up striped skin that the caterpillar sheds when it turns, I thought it just absorbed it, but nope, it falls into a neat little puddle below the caterpillar...the butterflies are out on the bananas and life is good in the country today...thanks for checking in, and I'll be posting more pics now that I'm back...yeehaw...

Donde esta tu vaca?

I am a child of the 70's who watched wayyyy too much television...I scored a 100% on this quiz...

Sigh..so sad...Gilmore Girls is officially cancelled...not that surprising, this season has been tough w/out Amy Sherman-P, but I still like the show in general...I hope this is good news for Veronica Mars now...If that is cancelled as well, I might as well sit and knit each night...actually, that would be very productive, wouldn't it...hmmm..

I have a monarch caterpillar on my garden who is going thru the first stages of chrysalis right now...he looks like this and is wiggling a lot...

Beads are up...give them a whirl...

The cow hasn't returned yet...I hope she does soon...maybe they'll bring home a llama or alpaca next...there's an alpaca farm not far from here...hmmm...

Do you knit? Belong to a funky group that does wacky knitting-related things? Wanna be on Knitty Gritty? Check out Vickie Howell's request for folks to be on her show...neato!

While you're waiting, enjoy these Conan clips from his visit to Lucasfilm in SF...hilarious...

Me Gusta Tu Vaca...

More Spring storms last night, thank god we missed the funnel clouds and hail once again...however, tonight more storms are in store...stay tuned...

Our neighbors put their milk cow on a trailer and hauled her away last night...I hope she comes back, she's a real treat to have in the yard...when I tell people I have a cow living next door, they don't believe me, so I whip out my camera and show them...and they love her too...she's just a fun animal to have near you...

A neighborhood kitty has found us...we've been feeding her outside and not naming her, although I do think we'll go have her spayed...we don't need anymore cats and being in the country folks out here aren't inclined to have their animals spayed (too costly)...but its the right thing to do and I can't bear to have kittens all over..plus they'll take out all our cool song birds, which I would really hate...

Beads tomorrow...squeeze, lentils, and those 'fancy rounds' that I need a good name for...and whatever I cook up today...I dunno what it'll be, but i'm in the mood to make stuff...Lost is on tv for Brian, so I can work all I want to...

I have a purple fingernail w/ a small flower decal on it...the rest of my nails are salmony-pink...it just seemed like a fun and weird thing to do...people out here don't 'get' me...well, some do, but the other few who've me me think I'm weird...which is the plan...weird...good word...

My uglykitty pin arrived and I love it...talk about weird...ugly things need love too...don't we all...

Its May Day the May Pole Day for all the Pagans...

I'm still hiding out in my studio making some really groovy beads that I know I'll have this week...I just wanna make more, 'explore the space' as it were...I have ideas, and not enough time to get them all done...so I'm gonna keep working till I'm happy...

I don't know much about May Day and the May Pole, but I found some neat links on Google...who knew it was yet another cool Pagan holiday? Those pagans know how to rock the casbah, indeed...I'm pretty ignorant about religion, my friend Katie is my go-to person on 'all things religious'...I do like the who 'mother earth' and tree hugger vibe of the pagans...

(the whole goth-kid thing w/ the dark eyeliner and looking like Marilyn Manson isn't really my thing, but then I don't think those folks are really pagans, are they??)...I like the idea of balance in the earth, of giving back and making this a healthy place to live, of respecting our water and trees and bugs...i don't kill bugs, in fact, there is a pretty little spider who keeps making webs in my car, and I feel terrible when I destroy the web getting into the car...so much so that the other day, I went to the passenger side to get in and pull the roof up before it rained..I just couldn't bear to destroy her web again, so I let her live in peace while I put the roof up...I'd prefer to remove her, tho, cause she isn't gonna catch any bugs in my sealed car...she needs to be in the plants and catch the bad guys for me...I dunno, is that more Buddhist if you don't believe in killing bugs? Whatever it is, I enjoy nature and see all bugs and creatures as part of the entire cycle...otherwise, I'd be overrun with aphids and grubworms...blech...