Sophie's Puppies

A few posts back I mentioned that my little female dog Sophie would be having puppies. They were born on February 26th and here is a photo of them at 10 days old.



The white and black one is a male and weighs in at 9 5/8 oz. The black one with white toes is a female and weighs 8 oz. She started out the tiniest at 3 1/4 oz. The all black is a female and is gaining fastest. She weighs 11 3/8 oz. It's really fun having puppies in the house though my male dog - Willie has been banished by Sophie and isn't allowed anywhere near the room the pups are in.

A New Year Begins

I was surprised when I realized that it's been such a long time since my last post. The holidays were a bit of a busy time for me and probably one of the best things about them was the time I was able to spend with my granddaughter. She stayed with me for five days. We took a ferry trip to a slightly larger city than the one where I live. Our purpose was to do some shopping. When looking around in a great yarn shop, she spied a pair of fingerless gloves and asked me if she could learn to knit them. That was a pretty exciting request from my point of view, so we bought wool and got her started. She's doing quite well for a beginner though the project isn't happening as fast as I think she'd like it to. Hopefully I can keep her moving forward on it.

I haven't been doing a lot of beading but I do have a few projects in progress. Here's my proof:



I did finish one smaller project...a necklace. And I finished it again with the Swarovski square button. I think this has become my new favourite closure. The hex beads I used in this spiral necklace sparkle quite beautifully. I have an order for this necklace in greens.

The Winning Christmas Tree

There is quite a story behind my Christmas tree this year.

It began when I asked my son to go out into the forest and get me a tree. Not too tall. Not too big around. Maybe even a Charlie Brown tree. When the tree arrived it was about 8 feet across and 8 feet high. Too big for my living room. But my son assured me that when he was finished with it, it would be great.

There was quite a struggle between my son and the tree. It refused to stand up straight in the stand. He had to go before the job was done but assured me that he'd be back another day. Round two between the tree and my son and the tree won again. He assured me that he only had to stop that time because he'd run out of cuss words.

I had a go with it on my own...twice. The second time ended with me throwing it out the front door, over the railing, complete with the stand and the tree top angel that got broken in the first struggle with my son so it was now zap strapped on and I wasn't about to put any energy into removing a broken angel. Sigh.

After much thought about what I'd do, later that day I went out and bought an artificial tree that came complete with lights. It was easy to put together. Three sections with plugs between them for the lights. Plugged it in and it looked great. Turned my back to get the rest of the ornaments and when I faced it again...the top section had gone out! I wiggled and juggled the plug. Nothing! So I sat to contemplate what would be next. And the lights came on. And went out again. And came on again. And went out. With no one and nothing touching the tree! Packed it up and took it back. Checked elsewhere and managed to get the same tree six inches taller and $50 less expensive.

Fortunately, the second tree I brought home worked perfectly and looks absolutely lovely covered in my (mostly) hand made ornaments! So...here is the winning tree....

Still Nothing Beaded to Show

The past several weeks have been hectic and crazy and I just haven't been inclined to sit down and bead. By the time I'm able to sit down, I'm too tired to bead. I've been going to bed by 9:30 every night. Usually, I read for 1/2 to an hour before I turn out the light but I also get up pretty early. As early as 6:30 but as late as 8am.

Today was the local Farmer's Market. As I'm participating in the "50 mile Food Challenge", (where I've committed to trying to eat at least 50% of my food from local producers) I head to the market looking for some fresh produce. Today, I didn't get there until late but I managed to get some gorgeous veggies!

The kale, zuchinni and yellow plum tomatoes came from the market.


Those yellow tomatoes are so delicious! I had to taste one as soon as I got home. The red one came from my son's tomato plant. Another beautiful and delicious tomato!


The prune plums came from the tree in my son's backyard. I'd already eaten the few I'd picked from my tree so they are not pictured here. I'm looking forward to the kale. There were three different kinds in the bunch I bought.


And of course I had to leave you with another beautiful sunset photo. This is the only shot I got of this one as my camera's battery died right after I snapped it.


There are a few beaded pieces brewing in my brain. Maybe I'll start one today.

Back From Vacation

There have been no posts to my bead blog as I was away on a road trip with my granddaughter. Here is a small peek at where we went and what we saw.

Hoodoos in Dinosaur Provincial Park



Back in the Rocky Mountains



Looking out over Osooyos



And finally, home for a beautiful sunset!



And now...back to beading. I'm hoping to have some finished projects to post soon!

Settling In

I still have a way to go to be settled into my new home, but I'm getting there. Lots of distractions here, that's for sure. Here is one of them taken from the balcony of my second floor bedroom last night.



At least a few more days, maybe a week till I get back to beading.

Whatta Distraction!

I haven't been getting much beading done and here's my reason why! My 5 pound chihuahua mix, Willie and I have added another member to our family.

This is Sophie, who weighs about a pound and is almost 8 weeks old. She's a shih tzu/poodle cross and was the runt of her litter. We expect her to be about the same size as Willie. She's keeping me pretty busy while I make my best effort to get her house broken. Because we've got a smattering of snow covering the grass, I've been working with her on a puppy training pad strategically placed beside the door. Amazing to me that in four short days, she has learned her name, responds to "come" and does her business on the training pad. I'm grateful that Willie has gone from completely ignoring her to playing with her and even sharing chewie treats.





If you are interested, I've put a few videos taken of Sophie on YouTube.

My son is arriving for Christmas today so...who knows when I'll get back to my beading!

Still on the Planet

No post for over a week now. That's not like me. I was away from home for five days, taking a trip to see my son perform in a play. I took no beading, no knitting, nothing with me and it's a good thing. The schedule was pretty full and by the time I headed to my hotel room each evening, the only thing I was ready for was sleep (in a strange bed that put my back out). Today I cut up a bracelet that I was working on. Decided it wasn't what I'd hoped for. Found a rock and bead store while I was away and made a few purchases. Just not "feelin' it" the last while. Soon....I hope.

Just A Quick Update!

I'm still away from home and have been since Friday, October 10th. At the moment I'm in a cafe with free wireless internet. After spending a week with a girlfriend in Manitoba, I flew back to British Columbia and bought a car. I haven't been driving for three years (while recovering from a bad car accident) and my #1 priority was to get something I'd feel safe in. What did I buy? It's a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder LE. And I'm loving it! It's got all of the bells and whistles, including heated leather seats (feels so good on my pain racked body) and a sun roof. There are airbags all around and I'm feeling very comfortable in my new toy.

I'm in a small town on the ocean in BC, called Powell River, where I'm hoping to buy a house. Even though there is just me and my little five pound dog, I'm making an offer on a five bedroom, three bathroom home with a wonderful view of the ocean and outlying islands. I'll be able to watch the ferry coming and going and the sunsets will be spectacular. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I spent the last two nights in a most charming hotel - The Old Courthouse Inn. Lovely place! Tonight, I'm going over to the island my son lives on - Texada. We're having dinner at The Tree Frog Bistro and it's also a lodge so I'm going to stay there overnight.

I expect to head for home, later this week. Haven't been doing much beading and I'm looking forward to getting back to it and sleeping in my own bed!

Blog Award...and...

I received a blog award from Linda at Hammelman Art. I really appreciate being given this award, but I'm not going to pick seven blogs to pass it on to. If you are interested in having the award, help yourself at Linda's blog. There are just too many wonderful blogs out there for me to single out seven! Again, thanks Linda.

Abrupt change of topic:

Looks like cruise season isn't over yet! This ship is on it's way to Alaska, past my front door!

The Big Bear In My Front Yard

Life is never dull, living in the boonies!

This guy dropped in for a visit. My neighbour threw him some apples. You can see that he's eating one.



He hung around for about 10 minutes and at one point he was on my deck, looking in my patio glass doors. I was upstairs in the window above him.



After some of the comments left, I thought I'd clarify a couple of things. Yes it's interesting to see these guys up close, but it's also very dangerous to feed them. Lots of bears get lazy and go after the "easy pickins" rather that forage in the bush as they are meant to. They'll keep coming back to where they found food easily and they have been known to break into homes to go after food, once they know it's there. The town I live in is very small (about 2500 people) and it's about 100 miles from the closest large center so we are really in the bear's territory. I have a lot of respect for them and a healthy dose of fear!

Rainbow Time...

Though I don't have anything finished to share, I'm beading. Working on a necklace right now that features a couple of pretty glass beads.

What I do have to share is a photo taken this afternoon. I live on the ocean and the weather here often changes very quickly. That means we see a lot of rainbows. This is the first one that I'm seeing in about 6 weeks.

Uninspired...

I'm stuck at the moment. Nothing is inspiring the next piece. I've got two sets of beads laid out and have started something that I'm thinking about pulling apart. Something will come along soon enough. For now, I'm practicing living in the moment.

The Joys of Living Alone...

This is a birds-eye-view of my coffee table in my living room:


Notice the bare edge of the coffee table. There is room to put down a cup of coffee and the remote.

'Nuff said!

Inspiration on the Ocean

This photo was taken today, from a boat on the ocean. We were behind an island I can see from my home so what I saw there was a surprise and a treat. Looking at this shot, what really struck me is the subtle variation in colour. It's monochromatic at first glance but multi-coloured on second inspection, I'm intrigued...and inspired. If it inspires you, I'd love to see what your inspiration produces. I have an idea I'm ruminating on.



Most of this scene would be under water were it a high tide. The low tide has revealed the striations in the rock and the barnacles. In the foreground is the reflection of the rock in the water and the bulb heads of kelp.

On Hiatus

I'm going to be gone for a few days and most likely won't have an opportunity to bead or update my blog. Life sometimes gets in the way of what we'd rather be doing.

What? No New Pieces Done?

I can't believe that I haven't completed anything in several days now. I'm finding that the beads I have on hand are not thrilling or inspiring me. I keep ordering more though so hopefully soon something will click. My second reason for not getting something new happening here is that I've been dedicating more of my time to marketing my blog. And my third and final reason is that the weather here has been improving so I've been out walking my little dog more. Here he is...Willie...hoping to go for a ride in the laundry basket!

Totally off topic...

Today a young man lost his life too soon in a motorcycle accident. Luc Bourdon was 21, had been with the Vancouver Canucks and the Manitoba Moose of the NHL for the last three years. Not only was he personable, charming and a genuine person; he was a blossoming defenseman whom the team will sorely miss. I ask you to hold him and those who grieve for him in your prayers, whatever your faith.

I will miss seeing him on the ice during the games and I'll miss the off the ice glimpses we got of him through the press. I was so impressed with him and recognize the quality of person he was.

Goodbye Luc.

If you are interested there are some tributes to him both on YouTube (search Luc Bourdan) and the Canucks.com.

Away From My Beads!

I'm in Vancouver this week for medical appointments and I'm away from my beads. Though I brought supplies to start something, I'm not sure that I'll have time to get to it. Why am I mentioning this? It's in case there are folks out there who follow my blog and wonder why I'm not posting.

I'm hoping to get to a couple of bead shops while I'm here and if I'm make any interesting purchases, I'll post a photo. The weather here is beautiful and I'm enjoying the lack of rain!

Oh...I have an almost finished bracelet at home that I'll complete when I get home. I thought I'd be able to get it done and posted before I left, but no such luck. It's about all of the time I had to spend getting ready for the installation of laminate floors while I'm gone! Whoo hoo! No more disgusting carpet!

My Photography Set Up

Several days ago I said that I'd reveal my photo set up. It's pretty simple (and even a bit embarrassing). I set it up on my recliner because it's beside my patio doors where the light is good and I can turn off the flash. The white is a piece of freezer paper with the papery side up to create an infinity background.



These are the beads for the project I'm just about to start.