testing

just checking to see if the dead air space continues…

Made a treasury on etsy

 Tea-bags!

that’s all for now…think I’ll go eat something…more later…we have lots of running to do today.

Why is there all that white space down below?  That is very weird….dead air space….

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More photography and tea…

I’ve been playing with the Buddha and photography. Trying to get some decent photos. I’ve made a couple of jewelry items with a carved jade Buddha and am in the process of getting some great images of them. One thing I learned today is that my (Richie’s) camera has a setting labeled evf/lcd. You can adjust this setting if your photos are too dark…so I’m playing around with that setting to see if my photos improve. The natural lighting is absent today due to rain and overcast skys. So it is all just an experiment..as is my entire life! I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Drinking my tea all day long….

No work today…I’ve already given notice to a couple of clients and will gradually drop my work load…(I’m only about 20 hours per week as it is) so that by the end of May I will be totally free to be here to paint on the house…keep up with yard work, landscape and help re-do the basement so we can put this up on the market by June! (at the latest)…

Here is what Richie has been up to this week! He has it all sheet rocked and mudded. I think he has a couple more coats of mudding to do. Then sand and paint and attach the mantel. He rescued the mantel from a craftsman house he was remodeling last year. I love the fact that we do use lots of items that have been rescued from old houses! Here are some pictures of his progress thus far.

I’ll post some more jewelry after I get better shots. But for now…these turned out good-enough!

Both soon to be available…

Lately I have been coming up with some great ideas for making things…even have a notebook with all kinds of drawings of items! It is exciting because my creative juices are flowing and it is all about the journey and NOT the destination…I’m just having fun. What more could I ask for?

netti pot news…

I have been using the netti pot for about 1 week so far…usually I do it in the mornings.  Sometimes also at bedtime.  What I have tried is using  water.  I also have tried a salt solution…but found that it burned my nose really bad.   So I quit using it and use the water.  I have found that I use my hankies way less than before and so far I have not gotten the sinus pressure that I usually do get on most mornings upon waking.    As most of you know who read this or know me, I DON’T use chemicals or anything artificial in or on my body!  (at least I try my best to avoid those things).  I’m still experimenting with the netti pot.  And must say that the first time I used it, it freaked me out that the water would run out of the opposite nostril!!  But it doesn’t hurt, doesn’t make a mess and it is easy to learn.

We went out tonigh about 10pm to see the lunar eclipse!  The moon had a pinkish glow to it…and when the clouds covered it up I thought that it was a total eclipse…but Richie laughed and told me no it was just the clouds and then like magic it reappeared!  It was just clouds.

I didn’t have to work today so I did some of the icky household chores…bathroom cleaning, dusting ect…And I do have tomorrow off also…so with most of the chores done I can do some other things.  I have been looking for some old photos of my sisters so that I can start a portrait.  There is one in particular that I’m looking for…just haven’t found it yet.  Maybe I’ll have to visit my mother to see if she has a copy.

Time for the netti pot and bed!!

Night…zzzzzzz

Sunny saturday

Yesterday I had a wonderful surprise in my email box. Someone had purchased a necklace from my little etsy shop!!! Actually this “someone” is a blogging friend which makes it extra special. Thanks again…you know who you are!

Today I have had my one cup of tea, said goodbye to my sweetie for the day (he had to go to work) and am now planning what to make.

Oh…I checked out the status of the Book “1,000 Jewelry Inspirations: Beads, Baubles, Dangles, and Chains (Paperback)
by Sandra Salamony (Author)” that will feature 7 of my jewelry items and it is not published yet. Sometime in May I think…but here is the link and my zipper earrings have made the front page!!! If you click on the cover it will enlarge and you can see some zipper earrings! Those are the ones I made! So, because I am feeling like I have a little momentum going at this time, today I will be first straighting up my mess at the work table and then starting some new projects.

On a somber note…the shootings at Northern Illinois University have hit close to home. My hometown of Belvidere is only 20 minutes from the college and it was the college that I applied to right after graduation. (however I choose to get married instead of going to college at that time) My son’s good friend was the Teaching Assistant who was up on stage teaching the class when the shooter attacked. I had met “Paleo Joe” Peterson (he is a paleontologist) a couple of times at my son’s while they were going to college together at Southern Illinois University. My son did get ahold of Joe. His sholder was grazed by a bullet and he was ok but shaken up. Spencer (my son) is going up there this weekend and will hopefully get to see his friend. Richie’s nephew also goes to NIU and was in the class right before the one that got attacked. I am at a loss for words…

this is where I sell stuff!

Come and take a look…let me know what you think of the photos…honestly!!!  I need some pointers!!

a day off work…

We started receiving some new magazines about gardening and self sufficiency. One that I really like is called “Countryside & Small Stock Journal” published out of Medford, Wisconsin. The reason I do like it is because it is not full of full page/full color advertisements (there are a couple but not all glossy). It is printed on a cheaper paper (recycled?, I don’t know) and there are few color inks used inside. Not only that but the articles are written with frugality in mind! Telling you how to make due with what you have or what is cheap or free. You won’t find lavish ads from big name corporations taking up most of the pages.

I’m in the process of making some vegetable stock for soup.

More later…

Ok, it is a little later…and I have been trying to take better photos!  Even going so far as to use a tripod.

This is what my working area looks like….

Here is what I have been making these past couple of days.

 

And this necklace I LOVE!LOVE!LOVE!!!!

Driving and realizations…

Last night I returned home from a weekend spent in southern Illinois. Having drove the whole trip alone, I was pretty spent this morning so I took the day off work. My son and only grandson live there. The drive is at least 7-8 hours one way and depending on the weather it can take (at least it took me!) up to 11 hours! Both drives went well and only took the 7-8 hours…Only rain in Nashville…always rain in Nashville it seems. And there was enough snow on the ground when I arrived that the very next day

my grandson and I made a snowman!

Yes, I LOVE making snowmen…and snow-women. Years ago I made a quasi replica of the maiden on the helm of a ship…breasts and all!! The neighbors never did say anything and it melted soon afterwards.

Again I was listening to country music on my trip. It has been almost 6 years that I have been here in the south. Being born and raised all the previous 40 years in the NORTH. And even though all my family trasplanted here they all consider the south home more than the north. I don’t. Up until lately. Now I have been getting all nostalgic about living in Georgia. The first year I was here I felt like the luckiest person! I came with enough savings to live until I found a job. I stayed at my mother’s the first 2 months! And moved out just as soon as I found

this little house in a tiny 4-way stop sign town.

In the back yard of the house you could see the foot hills to the Blue Ridge Mts. There was a farmers market right across the street and the town was unincorporated so you had to pick up your mail at the post office. The first job I found was working at a 37 acre tree farm!! My dream job…I loved going there and watering and working with the plants. Only I broke one universal rule, “never date your boss!” So that job only lasted one year. I quickly found another (better paying) and did ok.

I truly do love this area!!! In beauty it is unparalleled to any other place I have lived (except Colorado). But I do also miss, miss, MISS the changing season! And even the snow!! I must say however that the people and the very laid back attitude of the south is intoxicatingly addictive. One example that was somewhat of a shock to me, was the common habit to be late for work. It is not only tolerated but accepted as the norm. That is one thing I will miss when we move. The flexibility and relaxed atmosphere. It will be such a stark change moving from here to Iowa City, Iowa. It is listed in an article on MSN called “10 low-cost locales where jobs are plentiful”.

It is listed as #5!!

5. Iowa City, Iowa

Once the state capital, Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa and has one of the highest levels of educational attainment in the country. While it still retains some of its traditional agricultural base, Iowa City has expanded its economic sector to include light manufacturing, high tech and biotechnology businesses. Despite its isolation from other large towns (Des Moines is 110 miles away), Iowa City feels progressive, Sperling says. It boasts a lively cultural scene, a complete offering of goods and services, an attractive downtown and active community efforts. Older tree-lined neighborhoods comprise the east and south parts of town. More suburban developments springing up to the northeast and west, heading into nearby Coralville.

Larger retail developments are confined mainly to the nearby I-80 corridor, and sprawl issues are modest. The area is a scenic mix of flat river valleys and wooded undulating hills, which help shelter the area from some of the more severe storms in the state. Summers are warm, but winters can be harsh, with below-zero evening temperatures fairly common.

Iowa City, Iowa		U.S. avg.
Area population	138,941	647,500
Median home price	$206,900	$235,000
Cost-of-living index	97.5	100.0
Unemployment rate	2.7%	4.6%
Job growth — 5 years	12.33%	4.90%
Job growth — 1 year	5.14%	1.66%
Median household income	$46,798	$46,326

The first sentence kind of scares me but also excites me. Because of being in this slow lifestyle for these past few years…I am afraid that I will kind of slow compared to those PHD’s…but then excited that I may get the chance to finish my college degree!!