Archive of Monthly Notes

Archive of Monthly Notes

You will find the most recent month at the top.

Monthly Note: June 2007
My big news this month is that we are expecting! No, not a baby (I’m a bit past that stage of life) but a boxer! Our new puppy was born on May 12, so she’s not ready to take from her mother yet. We expect to bring her home on July 7.

I started reading about the breed around Christmas time, and somewhere along the way, I found a link to Walker Run Boxers. I was impressed with the photos of the facility and the dogs, and was thrilled that they are located only an hour from me. I also like the idea that the Walkers only sell their dogs to pre-approved families.

Catrina Walker and I spoke on the phone a several times, and I finally drove down in February to meet her. I found all the dogs to be beautiful and clean and obviously well cared for. She owns five females and one (very contented) male. After playing with all the females, I determined that Sami has the kind of personality I like the best, so I decided to wait for her to come into season. I put down a deposit then so was given pick of the litter. Of course I wanted a female.

Part of Catrina’s very professional service is sending each buyer weekly photos of their puppy. I receive eight to ten photos each week. I’ve posted a couple from each week’s mailing of boxer puppy photos for you to view here. Be sure to check back; I’ll be adding each week’s photos as I receive them

Isn’t she adorable? We’re still struggling with finding a name. It seems each name I love, Stan doesn’t. I think she should be called Pansy. I think a dog with a face like a boxer should have a name like a flower. But Stan said he has no intention of going to the door and yelling PANSY for all the neighbors to hear!

Men. Honestly.

If you have a name suggestion, please send it along to me. If I pick your name for our puppy, I will happily make five Mystica Beads (one in each color) for you!

As always, I love hearing from fellow lampworkers and bead enthusiasts alike!

Monthly Note: April 2007

It appears the warm weather may be coming early this year. We certainly had a warm winter with little or no freezing weather here on Anastasia Island.

This amazing season of renewal, with life and growth emerging all around me inspires me to take the next step along the path of creating lampwork beads, which is to sell them. To this end, I have obtained my business license, and work begins at Cracker Cottage Studio in earnest.

If you're a return visitor, I’m sure you will notice some differences (such as my name change from Beady Deeds), and there are more changes coming. If this is your first visit, I hope you will return to see how I progress here in my studio.

Drop me a line and let me know how your Spring is going. I love hearing from fellow lampworkers and bead enthusiasts alike!

See you next month!

Monthly Note: May 2007
A pair of wrens (Carolina wrens, I think) have made a nest in one of the large potted plants on my second-floor porch. The nest is a domed cup made in a cavity.

They created the nest by moving the dirt around to make a concave area then lining it and covering it almost completely over with a dome made of twigs, leaves, pieces of grass and the like. She is so far down in there, that if I peek very carefully in through the leaves of the plant, I can just barely see her beady little eyes looking back up at me. I have no idea how many eggs she's sitting on.

My Spring gardening urge has now fully kicked in. I made a pretty little triangular bed among three crepe myrtles in my front yard and planted a bunch of dahlia bulbs there. It was hard work because there were weeds, rocks and roots to remove, but I've been dying to try dahlias ever since last Fall when I found out they will tolerate the Summers here in zone 9.

By last weekend they were really coming up great! But, as I headed out into the yard on Sunday morning, Stan emerged from his garage workshop and announced proudly that he had "gotten rid of all those weeds that had popped up around the crepe myrtles."

Sigh.

But the good news is that, in order to relieve the stress of the dead dahlias, I sat down and created the bead set I call "Mystica." You'll find photos of my Mystica beads along with two other new bead sets on the 2007 Gallery page. (The new stuff is always at the top.)

And I'm part of the way through another set that I've been meaning to make for a long time. I wear a lot of denim - jeans, shirts, skirts. This set is made to be worn with denim and the colors I often wear with it.

As always, I love hearing from people who love glass beads!