Whatever possessed me to draw a black horse? Did I not realize that a black one would have a gazillion dots compared to a nice white one? I’m still working on it, one dot at a time.

The drought continues, both in my mood and the rain forecast. We’ve had 4” of rain since July. It’s very worrisome.

I’ve lost my creative urge, both glass and drawing being just things to occupy my hands. I really need a kick in the pants. I tried making some new murrini last night, and they were less than inspiring. I really like working with silvered ivory, and it works best with making focals (also, with making focals, I get to use a lot more colors than I can with big hole beads). So I’m trying to make some murrini in the turquoise & coral colors. This is what came out last night,

I wish I understood more of the dynamics of the glass and the way the heat distorts it, because this is what the test murrini was like,

Pyr has been going through a teething stage the last couple of weeks. He’s chewed his way through several gloves, a pair of slippers and the shoe laces of my outside shoes. No funny photos of him today. But I do have bird photos, one taking a quite cold bath,

That’s it for today.

There hasn’t been much to write about, other than winter is coming. It’s been cold and cloudy and windy, and my back hurts and I’m depressed. Only another ten weeks until the days start getting longer, and another four months until I can feel like spring is on its way.

The cardinals have come back to my feeder. I’ve got one arguing with a finch right now. Here’s a photo of one the other day,

and a photo I took this morning, with the sun just coming up. He certainly stood out!

Pyr is growing, but he’s still a big goofy clumsy pup, and not too big to fit on Christian’s lap,

The other day I laid down for a nap, and he was between me and the window. Well, it wasn’t much of a nap for me, between his farting and snoring and turning over and scratching the window with his paws (in his sleep) and then turning over and flopping his big feet on my head. I still love him, though. :)

Look what was came to visit today, a pileated woodpecker, and he was huge! He was as big as some of my chickens.

Last week we had a “Clean Out The Freezer” family party, with my sister and her boys, grandkids and great-grandkids coming up for ribs, steaks and burgers. The kids had fun feeding bread to the cows,

And Scott had to give a ride to one of his grandsons,

Today we had a flock of gulls go over, with a bald eagle up above them soaring around looking for lunch,



Last week after my dentist appointment, I went shopping at the rock shop in Princeton. I love rocks! I was specifically looking for new slabs for backdrops for my beads. Here’s some photos,

I haven’t decided yet if I like any of them enough to use them. I think the citrine (the yellow-orangish one) may be too strong, while the agate slabs make the bead look like it’s floating on nothing.

Meanderings today, with the theme of ‘shaking my head in disbelief.’

Eternal Clock Could Keep Time After Universe Dies
http://www.livescience.com/23419-eternal-clock-space-time-crystal.html
“The idea for an eternal clock that would continue to keep time even after the universe ceased to exist has intrigued physicists. However, no one has figured out how one might be built, until now.
Researchers have now proposed an experimental design for a "space-time crystal" that would be able to keep time forever. “

IMHO: Who’s paying these people?!? Aren’t there more relevant things to think about, other than a clock that will keep time after there’s nothing in existence? Like there’s anyone who’s going to need to know the time if there’s no universe?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7422764n
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/mitt-romney-60-minutes-health-care_n_1908129.html
When asked about health care for the uninsured, this was Mr. Romney’s response:
"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance," he said in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night. "If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care."

IMHO: Uhhhh, isn’t that the most expensive health care? Isn’t that why so many hospitals are closing, because people are using the emergency room for treatment?

NYC schools give out morning-after pills to students — without telling parents
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/city_schools_plan_UoW7ke5l2KRwg43nHzt97H
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/morning-after-pill/MY01190/DSECTION=risks
"The morning-after pill isn't appropriate for everyone. Tell your health care provider if:
You're allergic to any component of the morning-after pill
You're taking certain medications that may decrease the effectiveness of the morning-after pill, such as barbiturates or St. John's wort
You're breast-feeding (Plan B One-Step and Next Choice can be used during breast-feeding, but Ella isn't recommended)
In addition, make sure you're not pregnant before using Ella. The effects of Ella on a developing baby are unknown."

IMHO: If a kid has a sniffly nose, or is going out on an all-day track meet or something, schools can’t give over-the-counter cold medicine that the parent sent along, or even put sun screen on a kid, unless there’s a doctor’s order on file in the nurse’s office (personal experience speaking). But yet, the school can hand out hormonal pills.

Yup, shaking my head...

I’m off to the torch to make some pretty beads.

See what I had in my back yard?

And see what was stalking them?

Today’s headline, “Early Christian Text Discovery Reopens Debate, Was Jesus Married?”

A piece of papyrus (unauthenticated) the size of a cell phone shows someone named Jesus referring to his wife. That would be like 1800 years in the future, someone coming across a piece of paper saying John was killed, and automatically assuming it was talking about John F. Kennedy. Just as there was more than one John, there was more than one Jesus. That’s why the Bible referred to him as Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Nazarene, or Jesus the Messiah, to distinguish him from other men named Jesus. My little history lesson for today.

Gorgeous day today!!! Brisk NW wind, 69°, no bugs, I should go out and do some barn cleaning or something, but I’m seriously lacking energy. NEED COFFEE!!

I’m trying to get organized (a never ending process, sigh) and keep better notes so I can try to duplicate beads that I really like. Part of that is testing different combinations of Galaxy stringers. That’s what this is, with each color combination put into my glass catalog. The dots on the beads help me keep track of which one is which.

I’m also trying to get some different color combinations in my focal beads. Here’s a blue one from this a.m.,

But gosh, I love the striated sandstone and earthy colors, like these,

And here’s a couple of new big hole beads,

Our hay was delivered today. Summer is coming to a close, it’s time to get the bulbs dug up, tender potted plants moved into the house or greenhouse, get the furnace checked, get a cord or two of wood, and get the propane tank filled. The weather is going to turn icky tomorrow, so it was a good day for this load to come. Maybe one of these days I’ll have a nice bobcat too, it sure would make some tasks a lot easier to do.

My Percheron drawing is progressing. I’m just about done roughing it in.

It’s a meandering night...
Want to know what 100 amaryllis bulbs look like?

Stupid pet photo,

Some last pictures of my flower garden, sigh,

The cleome in front is from seeds a dear friend from North Carolina sent to me,

I’ve been on a murrini kick again. Some samples of my latest,

LOL, disgusting!!! Suka wanted attention, so he rested his head on my arm and looked at me, so nose to nose, I told him we got Pyr for him to play with, and he burped at me!

I’m watching the news this a.m., and the topic of Pres. Obama’s birth certificate came up again. It’s interesting that so few seem to realize that it wouldn’t make any difference where he was born, he’s still a U.S. citizen since his mother was a U.S. citizen. That’s why Mr. Romney’s father was able to run for president, even though he was born in Mexico.

My Percheron drawing is progressing, very slowly,

Lots of work to do on it yet. I have to finish laying in the basic drawing, then go back and fine tune the darkest parts, then finally lay in white highlights with gouache (a white opaque water-based paint).

I’m starting on a new drawing. This one is of a Percheron I saw at the Horse Expo several years ago. This is what I’ve gotten done so far (just a phone photo, not a scan, so it’s kind of rough).

Starting Sunday, I’m going to try ebay again. It’s been quite a while since I sold on there, so I’ve been playing around with my listing program to remember how to use it. :(

Here’s some that I’ll be listing,


My nephew bought his 5 yr. old granddaughter with last week when he came up, and we took her out when we did chores. I thought the safest place for her to be would be up on Christian’s shoulders, both because of how little she is, and all the fresh cowpies. She’s the prettiest little girl!


Pip gets into moods where she wants to play, so here’s some photos of her and Suka playing, and yes, they are playing,

And here’s Suka and Pyr playing,