I had four trumpeter swans fly over the house the other day. They are so white against a blue sky. Thrilling!!!! Spring is on the way, even though we’re freezing our buns off here. We’re going to have a warm-up for one day, then it’s going to be frigid again. I keep looking at Intellicast’s 10 day forecast, hoping to see a real warm-up, but there’s nothing to cheer about yet.

My latest drawing is progressing. He’s laying in water, trying to cool down. I’m just about ready to start putting in some color.

Some new beads, I’ll be putting these on Facebook,

Another dreary day here, cold and raw and snowing. Oh well, at least I don’t live in New York or Boston. I really feel for them.

My leopard drawing is finished,

I’m working on a tiger now, and if it progresses well, I think I’ll finish it with color.

I have some new beads up on Facebook,


I’ve been playing around with layering some silver glasses over the Galaxy layers. The problem is that I’m ending up with some large (for me) beads. Just going to have to start with a smaller footprint.

Well, off to the middle room to work on my drawing. It’s warmer in there, especially if I use the electric throw.

I’m finishing up on my leopard drawing,

I think I’ll do a tiger next. Thank National Geographic for this spate of wildlife drawings, it’s been inspiring to watch their wildlife shows (except for the ones that show the kills, I have to fast forward past those scenes).

I am SOOOOOOO ready for spring! We had 40° today, and it was just teasing me. I’m just thankful I don’t live in Buffalo, New York. Gosh, have they been slammed this winter.

I have amaryllis and orchids getting ready to bloom, so hopefully next time I post I’ll have some beautiful blooms to show. In the meantime, some beads I’ve got on Facebook,

This is Arke, a Double Helix silver glass. It is really neat using it in a Galaxy stringer, it just shimmers like crazy.

January 2015

We’re having our January thaw, and it is SOOOOO nice to go outside without my fingers going numb in a matter of minutes. Winter is on its way out…

I took this picture last month and forgot to post it. It was a grapefruit from my tree, and it was delicious!

I’m almost done with my leopard drawing, and so far, I’m pleased with it. It’s coming out nicely.

Time to start looking for something else. I think I will do a tiger. I was watching a show called Tiger Dynasty on National Geographic Wild, and there were a couple of scenes that struck me.

Some new beads on Facebook; the first is on dichroic glass, and I’m not sure I like it, the second is a pretty Galaxy bead.

What is it about a northwest wind in the fall sounds different than it does in the summer. A summer howler brings a welcome relief from the heat, while a howler this time of the year makes a person shudder. It just sounds cold and depressing. Winter is on its way, but at least we don’t have the snow that other places are getting, thank goodness.

I have some nice bird photos to show, a cardinal pair and a pileated woodpecker,


If you’ve never seen a pileated woodpecker, they are HUGE! About the size of a crow.

I had fun watching this cardinal. I have a hose running to a fountain, and it froze, leaving the bottom bowl covered with ice. The cardinal landed on it and was skittering all over trying to keep his balance.


Free entertainment, LOL!

I finally got around to listing some beads, and this is my favorite,

and some laughs for the day,

Indian Summer?

It’s a warm fall day here, the wind is blowing and the leaves are drying up. I don’t know what it portends, but we have a LOT of pine trees drying up and turning brown, even the big mature pines. I don’t recall seeing so many turning before, even in the drought years. We could use some rain, certainly. I’ve been watering my front flower garden because I plants some new perennials and bulbs. Much as I hate the hot weather, I do wish we could have another couple of months of this. I don’t think this is Indian Summer yet, because we still haven’t had a hard freeze.

We’ve got our wood and hay in for the winter, 50+ bales of hay and three-four cords of wood.

The mosquitoes and black gnats are out in force to get their last licks in. This big boy will be going to the butcher next month, and I won’t be too sad to see him go. He’s been sparring with Dexter, our bull, and I don’t want Dex getting hurt.

I was thinking this morning that I should probably take down the hummingbird feeder, but then I had a little straggler stop by, so I’ll leave it up for a bit yet. This is an earlier picture of a little girl preening herself,

I love storms, as long as they aren’t severe. The power of nature is always awe-inspiring.


The cat was sleeping on the kiln and fell off, here she was giving me the evil eye for laughing at her.

Some bead pics,



and funny Internet pics,

Every cold wave for the past month and a half, I say ‘This has to be the last one, it has to start warming up!’ The sun was kind of shining yesterday, and I so wanted to get outside and play in the dirt with my bobcat, but with everything still covered in snow and a frigid NW wind, it didn’t happen. It’s 6° right now, and that NW wind is still blowing. So very, very, very tired of winter.

I’ve been playing with a new style of beads. I think I’ll try putting some murrini on the next one I make.

My parrot drawing is progressing. As usual, I’m not entirely happy with the progress. Maybe after a few more watercolor washes to pop the color I’ll like it better.

And a little humor for the day,

I’m REALLY sounding like a broken record, but we have another cold wave coming in, -17° tomorrow night. Getting really, really tired of it. At least it’s been sunny.

I’ve started on a new drawing, quite a bit smaller than the last, just 5 1/2” x 4”, so this one won’t take nearly as long as the elk. This is Baxter, our kitty that we just had to put down this past fall, when he was a kitten. He had such pretty blue eyes. This is in progress,

I just listed some new beads, and have several that I really like, especially the last one,



And a couple of funny Internet pics,