A Much Needed Vacation

Finally ready to get back in the swing of things. We had a wonderful 10 days away from work. It is always hard to get back in the groove. We stayed at my Mom's house and helped her with odd jobs that needed to be done, went out to dinner. My sister and her boyfriend came over, they cooked us dinner. My brother and his wife had us over for brunch. If it is starting to sound like all we did was eat you just about got it.
Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and while we were down there we took him out for lunch...........get the picture.

Oh but the highlight of our trip was the children. They change so much between visits.
My Sister's two youngest came to see us as they are
both in their twenty's with jobs and partners. We were
so pleased that they would take the time to be with us.
We didn't get to see her oldest son who has a 10 yr. old
and a two year old. Missed them.

My brother's oldest daughter has just
had her forth and it was the first time
we got to see her. She is getting ready to
crawl..Next time we see her she will be
walking and talking.....It is so sad to only get
to see them once or twice a year. Their beautiful
red headed daughter came over to see us too.
She had just returned from a trip to Washington state.

My brother's son and his wife just had
their second baby and and we were
lucky enough to see him when he was
brand new. And boy is he cute.

These pictures were taken around
my Mom's home. It is a beautiful
place to just sit and do nothing.

Abby a Gift From the Sea

A gift from the sea, the earth and me.

In my quest

to make lots of jewelry

I have found that the most beautiful things come from Mother Earth. Sea and stone and butterfly's. Have a beautiful weekend.

And lets not forget the tragic day eight years ago when our country was under attack. The lives that were lost and the Hero's that saved so many. And those today that serve our Country in distant places so that we can remain a free nation under God. DIANE

Lazy Afternoon

I have been on a Jewelry Kick lately. My old art light burnt out and I had to buy a new one. I up graded to a bigger model with a nice big magnifying glass attached. It took me a while to get the hang of it. You know how your work space is set up and everything has a place. Well this light has a larger base and a bigger (longer) light head. So after bumping my head a few times I moved everything around and set it on my right instead of in front of me. I am learning to move the magnifying glass to suit my back. I still catch myself looking over it but all in all it is much better. Really helps on the beading.

The bottom picture is a collage I did of my grandmother. I took a lot of pictures to see which set-up compliments the jewelry and which detracts. I probably took 100 pictures of several pieces of jewelry I made. Thank goodness for digital pictures.

Last time we were in town I bought a external hard drive to store all my pictures on. Get this......It is one tera bite. I had never heard of it either. Can't really understand how much a gig is...Tee...don't you just love talking computer language??? Anyway 1 TB is equal to 1000 GB. Lucky for us BEST BUY has very helpful young people that will talk slow and try and get you to understand...The boxes are also giving more information. This one tells me it will hold 285,000 JPG's...LOTS OF PICTURES.

I haven't decided if I want to remove from my computer all the files. Might speed up my pc a little or take a chance on loosing all my pictures if my pc crashes. Humm.....I almost never back up my files. baddddd.

Well I guess I will get with my lazy day and throw in a load of wash and head for my messy art table and sort out some beads that have been getting stirred up with a big stick or some Mad Artist.....................Have a creative day. DIANE

Fall is in the Air

Fall is in the air this morning and the temperature is down to about 40. I love when the weather starts changing. We had a wonderful summer, very pleasant temperatures not too hot. Mostly I guess we just appreciate it more after all the smoke last summer and the fires. I feel bad about the So. California fires. Hopefully they will get a little cooler temp. today and maybe even a little moisture.

The flowers here were purchased from the little flower shop here in town. My friend owns it and does such lovely work. I love having flowers in my house, so every now and then I have her make me something. She knows my moods and I told her I wanted something WILD, FREE AND COLORFUL. I think she captured my mood well.

These are the two quilts I bought at the QUILT AUCTION. The one below is called the Underground Railroad, the work is perfection. All the points match and there are many of them. The machine quilting is so fine and detailed.

Have a beautiful first day of September.........DIANE