It was a dark and stormy night

Oh, wait, that's a different story.

But this one is nearly as trite; I'm still trying to solve the mystery of the 2mm crystals that went missing when we moved. Today I realized that they have company; the beads I used in making my mother's Christmas gift are also missing. Now, I didn't post that one to my blog until after we'd moved . . . and I'm fairly certain I didn't finish it until after we'd moved . . . but I'm not sure. I know I worked on it here, but that may have been while I was waiting on workmen to get things finished. Anyway, those beads are missing, too.

I've looked in all the places that I usually put beads, but no luck.

It's a mystery, all right.

Easier than what?

A young woman of my acquaintance asked, "Does it get any easier to get everything done?" and my reply was one word, "Nope."

I'm a fast writer, I always have been. Writer's block has rarely been a problem for me; I sit down, I write. I edit. I rewrite. I edit some more. Rewrite some more. Do a little more editing. Sooner or later, I'm done. It's as good as I'm going to make it. Sometimes I'm simply out of time, other times I'm actually satisfied.

For now.

I've been known to rewrite and edit days, and even years, later. But is it getting any easier? Nope. It's the same, actually. Not easier, not harder. It takes the same amount of time and effort that it always has.

I'm writing three blogs now, and my tutorials. Two of the blogs are intended to be updated daily, and one is updated whenever I finish a piece of jewelry. On one of the blogs I'm accepting articles from others and acting as editor, publisher and writer; the other two are mine alone.

It isn't the largest volume of writing I've ever done, but it's daily. And no, it doesn't get any easier; but it doesn't get any harder, either.

I might have a point here, but I'll be switched if I know what it is. For now, that's good enough.

Bling ring

After my fast and furious spate of tutorial writing a week or two ago, I entered something of a dry spell.

No ideas, nothing much happening; the beads were still and silent. So I headed for the garden.

That's not a bad thing; there's plenty to do out there, and it's nice to get out into the sunshine from time to time. But yesterday it all came pouring back. I was making a clasp for my long-term project, and the idea for this ring popped into my head. I made a first stab at it last night, then woke up this morning with the whole thing in my head, as neat and tidy as you please.

So I pulled out the wire, set up my camera, and put it together, taking photos at every turn. There's a new tut in my Etsy tonight! I could not stop until I finished it.

Garden notes

Today, my garden suddenly began to look like a garden. We've done just enough to make it look cultivated; we are beginning to impose order on it. Today is the first day that I wanted to take a photo; unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. It was one of those rare June days when the fog didn't lift; in fact, the fog turned out to be clouds and we had a little bit of rain.

Not a lot; this is California, and it is June. But it was coming down hard enough to drive me back in the house, and it kept me from taking out my camera. Perhaps tomorrow!

Running around

Town, that is. I had some errands to run today, but I ended up not getting to most of them. My first stop was a local hardware store, where they had thoughtfully put a wooden chaise longue in their outdoor display area. We'd been talking about acquiring some outdoor furniture, and this one was exactly what we'd been looking for.

At a very good price.

So I went in and ordered two; found some very nice pads, and even remembered to get what I'd actually come for. A very good start, right?

But when I went around to the pick up area, the boxes were too big to fit in the jeep. "Never mind," I said, "I'll just run home and come back with the van." Which I did.

I got the boxes home, and discovered that one of the chairs was broken. So back I went; they took it away and loaded up another one. By then, of course, I had just enough time to get to my daughter's school to pick her up.

Oh, well, I'll just have to go out tomorrow for the soap and the air pump. Life's an adventure.