Pioneer Day, 2010

It's Pioneer Day in Paso Robles, where the slogan is, "Leave your pocketbook at home."

That's because everything you want is free today; if what you want is a parade and a bowl full of baked beans. You can have a pot or a kettle full of beans if you bring your own pot or kettle - no charge - and the parade lasted for two hours this year, so that should be plenty of entertainment to satisfy anyone.

In the parade we had tractors, horses, kids, roller derby, more tractors, marching bands, scouts, lodges, shriners and more tractors. There were so many people in the parade, it was amazing that there was anyone left to watch it. I think the whole town turned out, however, and the sidewalks were packed. We found some nice seats on the curb and had a wonderful time.

After the festivities, we decided to indulge in a visit to a winery; that wasn't free, but the tasting fee was applied to our purchase, so now we have some lovely new wines to enjoy at home.

I always do things the hard way

It's a funny thing about designing; the first time I do something, it's like pulling teeth. No matter where I start, I always manage to find the hardest way to do it.

Take this little bit of beading.

I'm quite sure that I have found the most difficult and stupid way to assemble it; I will definitely not do it that way again. Can we say tangled thread, bits sliding off and a general mess, not once, but several times? However, by the time I've tinkered with it a few dozen times, I am quite sure that I will magically hit on a simple way to assemble it that is completely unknown to me right now.

How do I know this?

Because it happens every time. The instructions I write up skip all the stupid bits; they make it look easy. But actually, I go through quite a lot of beading contortions before I figure out an easy way to do something. I always seem to start the hard way; I don't know why that is, but it is what it is.

Cue Tina Turner . . . only backwards. I start rough, but I finish nice and easy.

I'm a Bead Maven!

Something very exciting has happened; I've been asked to join a wonderful group of fabulous bead weavers and teachers for a joint venture.

We're just in the very beginning stages so far, so I have no concrete details to give you yet, but the ideas that have been floating around are fabulous.

You can find all of the Bead Mavens on Facebook and on our blog. We'll be updating you there as things happen; with this group, things are sure to happen fast!

I can't wait to see what the future brings; I have a feeling it's going to be an exciting year.

Shining sky

I took this photo last night, but it was such an interesting night, I didn't get a chance to unload it and make a blog post.

After this beautiful bright early evening sky, we had a wonderful, far off thunder and lightning storm; we sat on our porch half the night and watched the show.

Apparently, it poured down rain about 15-20 miles south of us; we didn't get a drop. But it sure was a gorgeous show; great long forks of lightning lit up the sky and the thunder rumbled like bowling balls hitting the pins. We stayed out way past our bed time, enjoying it.

We loved thunderstorms when we lived in New York, but we didn't appreciate them the way we do now. They're rare here; in New York, they are as common as dirt.

Funny how much more important that makes taking the time to enjoy it.

Bead porn

You knew it existed.

Did you think it would be like this?

Even I am shocked. I've unpacked all my lampwork beads and put them in a drawer (no, I will not tell you which drawer, that is a state secret) and now I can pore over them, raggedly mumbling, "my presiousssss . . ." for hours on end.

And, since I can see them easily and often, I may even use some. Actually, I figure I'm going to have to use some, or the drawer will fill up and I won't be able to buy any more.

We all know what a tragedy that would be.

As you can see, they are neatly organized; I string them on pipe cleaners and attach a tag at the end with the artist's name on it. When I have a card, I punch a hole in that and use it. They're not organized by color or anything, but that's okay. When I use lampwork, I usually start with the lampwork beads and match other beads to it.

Now, where shall I start?