Taking The Long Way Home

Today... We have renters! Good ones! I made more curtains... so-so ones. Rick made new steps; wood instead of icky carpet. Beautiful ones. It seems that Mercury is in motion again. Amen to that, sister. More in-depth coverage soon!

When the tulips fade, the poppies begin to bloom ... sounds like some kind of Ancient Zen Wisdom, but it's actually what's happening in my yard... Come to think of it, maybe there's a message in this after all. Endings and beginnings... often so painful on this human level. But endings are nature's way of making room for beginnings. I'm sure there's something ponderable, and maybe even comforting in that. (I'm talking to someone close to me today... do you hear me? You will feel better soon. I know you will. Soon you'll start to see the poppies.) ~~~ And - my curtains are finally beginning to bloom too. From a song I heard somewhere... Progress is made, when progress is made ... I just got the sewing machine back yesterday, and after a long day in the office and the studio, I went to the trailer to start sewing. I am not good at sewing, or more specifically, at measuring and cutting and pinning. I don't enjoy those parts. Not even a little bit. But t...

I want to be her when I grow up...

After all that eating, it's time to start moving. Deborah and I were talking about hula hoops last night. This has come up with other friends recently, so I dug a little deeper, and found some good sites and information. You can buy fancy hoops from lots of places, and these are not your standard kiddie shoop-shoop hoops. The new hoops are made for grown-ups, and the beauty part is, you can easily make your own! Rick is at the hardware store as we speak, buying tubing and tape. Today we're making hoops. Maybe I can't play the violin, but I bet I can re-learn to swing a hula hoop! Care to join me? Check out the video. She's inspiring! And here are some links to get you started... How To Make A Hula Hoop: http://www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html Hooping.org Magazine: http://www.hooping.org/ Hoopnotica: http://www.hoopnotica.com/index.php?cPath=3 Weighted Hoops - The Great Debate: http://www.hooping.org/archives/000531.html Can't you just see me, out there hooping it up...

Two parties, two days, two peach cobblers. This is so good. Mom's recipe, from back before I started trying to make dessert good for me. I only make it when I know other people will help eat it, or I'd eat a whole vat of the stuff myself. Try it with a shot of Reddi-Wip or vanilla ice cream; best served warm, of course. Here's my very old recipe card. I'll clarify below. Use a 9x13 baking dish, and double the recipe to make the required vat-full. Use two big cans of sliced peaches in heavy syrup (really, you want all the sugar possible here). Drain the juice off of one can, and dump both into the pan. Here is where I sometimes add my own little touch. Last night it was a whole bag of frozen raspberries. Today it's a bunch of dried cherries. Then make double the amount of topping. I now use whole wheat flour, because it's all we have in the house. You can get one called "white whole wheat", which is still whole grain, but nice for baking. Not too grit...

I've sold my old roll-top desk. The one I use in the studio for all my jewelry making stuff. There's a lot of stuff in there, and somehow, I'm going to move it from here... ...to here... This is my project for today, along with making some beads and marbles. Wish me luck, and the powers of the "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" shrinking machine...

You should see it around here. There are stacks and piles of things all over the place. Thing To Take Along, Things To Put In Storage, Things To Sell, Things To Donate, Things To Take To The Dump. It's a total mess, and I feel sort of like the hummingbirds we're still managing to feed, zipping from task to task, all day, every day, even in my sleep. It's finally hit me - we're moving . but unlike most people who move , we'll just keep on moving along until we know where to stop. This would be well beyond most people's limits, I know. Chaos is hard to live with, but I think it's gotten a bad rap. After all, Chaos is "where great dreams begin", if you look it up in the I Ching . I believe that. I embrace it. Hell, I even had it tattooed on my arm. We're making good progress though. Sold the hot tub. Sold the violin. Sold a bunch of studio stuff. We're interviewing renters, and I trust we'll find a good one very soon. And work on the trail...

I'm having a Bead Sale on Monday and Tuesday. Time to clear things out and make room for more! If you're not on my mailing list, or didn't get your Beadist Email for some reason, here's what you need to know... Monday and Tuesday are the Sale Days. For 10% off everything in my BeadShop, use the Discount Code "MOVE", before you complete checkout. I can't go back and refund the 10% if you forget, so... remember! Happy Shopping! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now for this week's Bead Give-Away! The Rules: One entry per person per week. You have to enter as a comment to this post, not by email or mail or phone or pony express. Just answer this week's question, and sign your first AND last name at the bottom. (You won't be entered if you don't sign your name) No anonymous entries! The winner will be chosen by random drawing at the end of the week. Check back here to see if you won! Have fun, and good luck! This week's ...

We have a WINNER in this week's Bead Give-Away! MARY FREE, please contact me so I can send you your bead! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yesterday was Heidi's second modeling gig for Katy George . The set-up was a "tail gate picnic", like the ones typically enjoyed in the Santa Fe Opera parking lot before curtain time. It's a wonderful, silly tradition that you probably don't find at most opera venues. New Mexico is... different! Heidi and Judge agreed to wear Katy's beautiful Doggie Couture for the shoot, and one of the "real" photos, taken by Jaap Vanderplas , will be on display at the Opera House, along with the dog clothes that are available for sale there. We all had a really good time, and polished off the champagne afterwards! Here's my take on "what dogs think"... Find the larger version here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=101217644459 (Yes, I'm aware of the typo... To fix it, I'd have to go all the way back t...

Here it is - the Magic Gypsy Bead Chest! The outside is finished, but the inside still needs a mirror, an earring rack, and of course, beads! I'll be getting to all that soon. Certainly before we head out of Taos, which is now looking like early July. All these little jobs... they have to be done before we ease on down the road. I'll be shifting some things from my BeadShop to the BeadChest, maybe as soon as next week. I think I'll have two separate inventories as we travel. It's just too hard to keep track of what's online when it's also for sale live and in person. I've tried, and something always gets messed up and double-sold. So I hope that the good people who shop my website will be quick and decisive when they see something they want. Otherwise, it might just "get gone". A few more pictures, and I'm on my way. The beautiful gypsy ladies are my "ancestors". Of course they are! Well, they are now...

Still no photos allowed today. I can post pics from the internet, but not from my computer. Evil Blogger Demons. They were quick enough to slurp up my money, but ever so slow in delivering the service I paid for. Grrr..... I could take the long way around, by posting my pics someplace else, and then copying them in here, but I really don't have time for that today, so I'll try again tomorrow. Sorry! When I can get them loaded, I have pics of the Gypsy Bead Chest. It is fabulous. Till then, give this a try. A homemade sugar scrub for your skin! I made some last night, subbing canola oil for the glycerine, skipping the aloe, and adding a few drops of lavender oil. It really works! Rick tried it too, and now we're both as soft as a baby's... anything! By Annie B. Bond OK, folks. Get ready for almost unbelievably soft skin (even for those of us with older skin). The other day I was speaking with Larry Pleasant, CEO of The Vermont Soapworks, and he mentioned that he and his ...

The trailer re-do is well under way. Rick is at it pretty much full time now, while I make beads and keep the cash flowing. He's doing a great job. So am I, for that matter. Rick thinks he'll be finished painting today. Then there are no more excuses - I have to make the curtains. Well actually... Mom's sewing machine is in the shop, so I can't use it yet. But I do have an ancient black iron singer in a rounded wooden carrying case. It's beautiful, and can sew through plywood... I'll get it out today and see if it still works, and if I can remember how to thread it and wind the weird oblong bobbins... I guess I can come up with excuses not to sew, but that won't get the darn curtains in the windows, now will it? Here are some pictures of the progress so far... The main area is sort of a celery green, the bathroom, bedroom, and "bunkhouse" (behind the bathroom door) are the deeper sage green, and the slide-out, which contains the dinette and sofa, ...

I was going to write something else today, but this it too good not to share. Thank you Eric from Switzerland, for sending it to me! Dare you not to laugh!

We've been sorting through our music, trying to get it all condensed down to a travel version of our favorite stuff. We still have records, and the turntable required to play them, but of course those can't go along for the ride. We'll hope they survive a year in storage, while we listen to CD versions of old favorites and new things too. We seem to have something of a theme song for the moment - Van Morrison's "Bright Side Of The Road", from the "Into The Music" album. We have it on vinyl, but also bought it on CD. We need it. It keeps us encouraged when we start to feel overwhelmed by the amount of work and pressure we've willingly signed up for. Last night we started taking all the inserts out of all the CD cases, and stuffing them into little pockets in a big CD binder. What a great way to save space, and as it turns out, it's also easier to flip through and see what we have. We're grouping them into genres like Girl Singers, World M...

I don't have pictures yet, but we did great in Santa Fe on Wednesday. Found all sorts of things we need for the trailer, and had fun in the process. Isn't that what it's all about? Get the job done, have some fun? Throw in a tasty beverage at quitting time, and it's a day well spent. We're spending a lot of time out there in the driveway, looking at the new paint job, draping various fabrics all over the furniture. I'm a little bit shy about sharing my current decorating tastes with you. This stuff should not go together, but I love it anyway. You'll see, soon enough. And it doesn't really matter if you love it or hate it, as long as Rick and I love it. After all, it's our little home. I guess what confuses me about what we're choosing is that it's not at all like anything we live with now. The colors are much more earthy than I usually go for. I have a theory though... I think we're gravitating toward these grounded tones because we...

I have to be quick today. We're going to Santa Fe for some things we need for the trailer. Can't shop in Taos. There's nothing here to buy, unless you're a tourist wanting a t-shirt or a piece of art. Well, there's Walmart, but we don't go there. Ever. I hear we can park our "rig" for the night at Walmart parking lots though. We'll be looking for all the free parking we can get, once we get out there... Thank-you everyone who sent encouragement about Miss Lucy. We took both dogs to a party at D&T's last night. They did really well. Even Lucy. Our friends are very good dog people, and I so appreciate their willingness to help us socialize our dear beast. I'm taking my Cesar Milan book along for the ride today, to learn how to be a better Pack Leader. I was discouraged yesterday, but I'm hopeful today, and I've never been a quitter. Back tomorrow with an update on Trailer Decor...

Lucy is a skittery dog. She's afraid of things like thunder and fireworks. She hides under the table and whimpers when things go boom. She's also a suspicious girl, and generally doesn't like anyone but us. She's OK with most women, but is snappish with kids and men. She particularly dislikes small boys. We don't know why. Could have been something that happened at the shelter, but we'll never know. I'm always nervous about her when friends come over, afraid someone will reach out to pet her and get bitten. Rick has always said there's no way she'd actually bite someone. I've never been too sure about that. Of course we want to take the dogs along on our gypsy adventure. They're part of the family, as anyone who has pets knows. Heidi is easy. She's compact and friendly and no trouble at all, except for cutting her nails, which she absolutely won't let us do. I guess being a sorority girl, she prefers a professional pedicure. Lucy, on ...

Happy Monday! Today we start a new Blog-Bead-Give-Away! Here are The Rules: To enter, post your answer to the question below as a comment to this post. One entry per person per week. You must post your own entry directly to the blog - I can't do it for you. Sorry! You must sign your FIRST AND LAST NAME at the bottom of your entry. (It was too confusing the way I did it last week.) Anonymous or incomplete entries will be "canned". That's it! It's free to enter, and I'll post the winner here on Saturday. The winner will be chosen by random drawing. Good Luck! This week's question... What is your favorite comfort food? (Mine is homemade mac & cheese. I'm making it for dinner tonight.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, May 8th We have a WINNER!!! April Nottingham, please contact me by email with your mailing address, so I can send your bead off to you! Thanks everyone, for all your great responses. I loved hearing about your favorite foods combined with some favor...

This is the view from my shower. So nice to see the tulips and daffies in bloom. It's nothing compared to the S kagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington, but it's a bumper drop for New Mexico. Good thing I took a picture yesterday... today is rainy here, probably snowy in the mountains. Springtime in the Rockies, or anywhere near them, is kind of schizophrenic. It's OK. We're making progress on the trailer renovations, and all roads lead to Someplace New. Rain or no rain, I'm feeling pretty darn positive. Think I'll go make some beads. They always come out best when I'm happy. ~~~ We have a winner for the Bead Give-Away... Bonnie P! Please contact me!

As promised... Even though I plan to (very carefully) make beads in the trailer, with a torch and kiln and molten glass, I'm concerned about having real candles around for soft light in the evenings. I know that sounds silly. But at night, after the studio is packed away and it's time to relax, I want to have a tasty beverage or two and lounge about without worrying about catching the curtains on fire. I'm looking into solar candles, but haven't found anything I like much. Some of the lanterns are pretty nice, and could be used indoors or out. And there's also the option of rechargeable battery operated candles. I've seen them used in restaurants and I think they look pretty good. I found a good selection here at BatteryOperatedCandles.net . Of course you can Google-about on your own too. If you find something good, post it here in the comments for us, won't you? And now, concluding the Light portion of our program, here's the Fluffy segment... Meet our ...