Sunday, July 26, 2009

Putting A Different Spin On It


I have made several of the "bead soup" necklaces and decided to put a little different spin on it. I rather like the multiple strands of matching beads that accents the front and using the big hole beads to hide all the ends worked out just great! I think I might make a few more in this style, in fact I have one for myself on the bead board as I write.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Bird Nest


I love these wire bird nests and had wanted to do one for a very long time. Just my luck, there was a tutorial in my new Step By Step Wire! So off to my bench, out with the wire and away we go. It was twisting time. Plus, I finally got to use some of those beaded head pins I made so long ago. Perfect little bird eggs!!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Southwest Style Bead Soup


When I originally started making this type necklace I called it Bead Soup because I made it from beads that were left over. It was a good way to clean out the bead box.

This necklace was made for a friend who had purchased a Bead Soup necklace only to have to stolen from her checked luggage at the airport. She requested a replacement so I set about making odd beads in order to create bead soup! It was more difficult than I had thought because I was purposely trying to make a different bead each time! I rather like the end results and I think I may have enough "left over" beads to make another necklace.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Peppe LePhew


This was our early morning visitor today here on Valley Creek. Such a pretty boy but not a visitor you really want in your yard!

It did remind me of my favorite cartoon when I was a youngster. I loved Peppe's French accent and the way he held his tail so high as he hopped through the fields of flowers calling his girlfriend! My little flower he would call her. I thought that was funny because I knew a skunk didn't smell like any flower!

We always walked to town on Saturday and got there a bit early so we could go from theater to theater to look at the billboard posters and decide what movies we were going to see. There were three or four theaters within a couple of blocks. Each theater usually had a double feature along with a newsreel and a cartoon. The cost to get into the movies was 25 cents and you could stay and watch the movies over and over. For another 50 cents you could get a bag of popcorn, a drink and a couple of candy bars. We usually only watched the movies once because we wanted time to go to the two 5 and 10 cent stores and check out the perfume and jewelry. Evening In Paris was my favorite scent but I think it was more the beautiful cobalt blue bottle than the actual smell of the cologne. Then there was the walk home and the time with parents telling them all about the movies, especially the cartoon. It was a great way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Off With The Old!


I guess the big guy that occupied this skin thought it was time to get a new suit!

We walk the yard many, many times each day looking for slithery visitors. This is the second time in a week that one has visited this spot in our yard to shed its old skin. You would think we would catch one in the act but haven't yet. They do seem to like this spot.

Just a couple of feet from the front end of this skin is where we killed a rattlesnake a couple of weeks ago. Not sure what it is about this side of the house but the "slitherins" sure seem to like it. I really don't mind the ones like the former occupant of this skin but it's the ones with bells on their tails that upset me. You would think that with all the room they have available they would leave my tiny spot alone.

In case you are wondering how things are at Valley Creek.......it's hot, hot, then dry and hot! We have been having August weather (100F plus) since May and to say I'm tired of summer would be an understatement. What little yard we had is burnt to a crisp and my few little plants are struggling. My poor garden has just about given up although I think I might get some melons out of it. Almost every day we are teased by black clouds promising rain but then they pass on by without leaving us even a drop. Our part of Valley Creek has stopped flowing although there are still some pools of water left. One pond still has water but it is lower than we have ever seen it. We are thankful our wildlife has some source of water even though they have little to no green grass to eat. We have seen several fawns and I wonder how they will survive. Not sure where the turkey have gone but we don't see them like we did last year. Doesn't look like the hot, dry weather has affected the sneaky snakes at all!