A Memory Tree

This month two years ago a friend of our family's passed away.

We didn't know him all that well, but he was a good friend and mentor to Number One Son, especially during his university years.  I think that if we had known him for longer we would have become life-long friends.

He was a gardener, so when he passed we planted a tree for him, and now every August it blooms beautifully in our garden.  It's small yet, but really is becoming stunning!

I can't count how many trees I have planted as memorials for people and pets.  Past and present gardens are full of trees and shrubs with sweet memories.

We raise a cup of British tea to Ray.

To See a World in a Grain of Sand

Lilac dawn on Pohara Beach

I often talk about my early morning walks with a group of women friends - we usually meet before sunrise and walk Pohara Beach for an hour, chattering away and waking the neighbours as we go.

However, as occasionally happens with the group, there has been only one walker for a couple of days - ME!

While I love to walk and natter, I also relish the quiet time alone with just me and the beach - especially as the mornings are becoming lighter and spring is definitely in the air.

So I got to thinking about a poem by William Blake "Auguries of Innocence"

"To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour..."

Which is my roundabout way of explaining that I see so much on my walks on the beach - it's the same beach every day, but different.  That whole world changes - those grains of sand and every sunrise and change of tide brings a whole new swag of treasures.

Whoa!  There are so many life analogies here!

Anyhow, here's some of what the camera and I saw this beautiful spring morning...

An unusual black scallop shell

Tidal lines in the dawn

Oh, something moved!  It's a sandhopper and he's transparent!

There's colour and texture in this cockle shell - it reminds me of cockling with the kids - squeels of delight as they find them in the sand of the shallows with their feet!

A gull's head skeleton

Two horse mussel shells locked together - I love the shiny bits on the ends

there were a few transparent horse mussel shells today - I wonder if they are albinos?

This one is HUGE!

Some little blue lipped mussel shells - you can eat these but there are green lipped mussel farms in the Bay - they're the best ones to eat

Poor old gummy shark - I wonder what happened to him?

Lovely texture in this wee cockle shell

Not so many crab shells today - sometimes there are loads of them!

Oh this is a nice one

This one's been kicking around for a while - I love the worm holes in it

Turret shells - I once made a path of these and collected them by the sackful.  The path glowed in the moonlight!

Oh, that's a pretty one!

Haha!  I tried to photograph a fishing shag...and this is what I got :)

The Skinny on Bead Maintenance

There are a couple of questions I’m often asked…

How do I store my beads?...  How do I care for  them?

Answers…

I don’t really look after my beads at all!  They get dumped into a toilet bag and stuffed in a drawer.  When I want to wear something I rummage through the bag and haul out a handfuls to search.

I do this for a couple of reasons – the first and most significant is because I am  lazy and not all that tidy.  But the second  is because I need to know how sturdy the beads are, especially when I began making them.  So I figure that if I’m harder on them than almost anybody else would  be, then I know what to expect from them.  It’s an ideal excuse for being messy, don’t you think?

If they get dirty – and they do get makeup and even food (spaghetti sauce is my usual culprit) on them occasionally – I have been known to put them  into the cutlery container in the dishwasher (with a compartment to themselves) and run them through a normal cycle with the plates.   I don’t really recommend this for you – it’s hard on the jewelers wire they’re strung on – the beads cope really well, but the wire can take a hammering. 

If you’re worried about them being grubby you’re welcome to send them back to me and for the cost of the postage I will clean them for you in an ultrasonic cleaner.  I’m also really happy to re-string beads for you if you’ve had a disaster :( 

I am not a dainty girl - I understand that things happen!

***

 

Do I wear things out of the stock that’s for sale?

Never! I think that the things we wear take on our energy (and vice versa), and while I have put my intention into making the piece, it is not necessarily mine to wear.  While I love to recycle almost anything, I think that when you  purchase something you should know that it has a history – perhaps that history is a mystery, but if you buy something new it should be new!

***

  

I keep my earrings and brooches in a separate box – purely because I can’t find them if they’re rattling with all of the other beads in the bag.

How do you store your beads?

Avocado Green and Guacamole

I live in the land of avocados!

They grow abundantly here and over the past ten years lots of people seem have to cottoned onto this, so we have a constant, abundant and cheap supply of green goodness almost all year round.

I love them - I cold eat them for lunch almost every day on grainy toast and make guacamole at least once a week.  I like to eat it just with carrot sticks rather than a packet of toast or crackers, though I can do the carbs - I just try to avoid them mostly for snacks.  I find they stick to my hips - the carbs, that is.

We have a little vege stall up the road that we call on regularly - we get all sorts of fabulous goodies there, but my most regular purchase is the avos...

Oh, my word, yes!  They are "heavenly delicious"!

I make guacamole by mashing them with an equal quantity of cottage cheese, a clove (or two if you're not expecting company) of crushed garlic, the juice of a lemon, salt, pepper and something hot - I alternate between dry mustard powder, wasabi paste, chilli or a current favourite is horseradish paste.

This was a monster batch that the two of us still managed to scoff.

I'm always surprised when I see avocado green in any colour chart - it never looks like the colour of nice avocadoes to me - it's always way too dark.

The Avocado Green in my glass is a lovely colour, but doesn't look like avocado flesh at all...

Nor does our 70's avocado green bathroom suite - soon to be gracing the recycling centre!

A Week of Change

It has been an odd week, with the cancellation of our trip South - we have been given the gift of time - something that always seems to be in short supply lately, but feel a small sense of deflation - there will be no exciting trip, no meeting old and new friends and fellow bead lovers.

We will be home for Princess illy's eye surgery, which is a relief - but wont get to visit with Number One Son, The Engineer on our travels.

It's a week of mixed emotions...

However, I've still been busily finishing and cataloging new work and will put a whole lot onto the website over the next few days.  There's a Black and White Sampler coming that I'm really intrigued with...

I'm fascinated in the strength of colours that come through in this series - some are soft and some are strong...and of course, black and white is the strongest contrast of all...It would be fun to do one in pink and orange...maybe that's next??

There's also a Flow set coming that I was very intrigued with - a set using the transparency of black to combine it with purple, using silvered ivory (yes, ivory glass mixed with sterling silver) and lots of transparent glass - another one of my current favourites...

These beads feel silken and luscious to touch!

I've also been having fun taking photos using my extensive collection of old domestic crystal glass (Webb & Corbett is my favourite, though I love Waterford and Stuart too).

I took lots of photos on crystal of The Helen Drop Earrings and loaded them onto the website - there are so many colourways in this design that I only have a few made up at any time - if there is a colourway that you fancy that's not there, please just ask me!

Black and Crystal Aurora Borealis Helen Drop Earrings $40

I've also launched the new Facebook Page properly and have put a couple of beads on at a greatly reduced price for those who are interested - it seems a nice way to reward people who follow my work.  There's also a Giveaway on the page for Likers - I'll do the draw at the end of the month.

I'm also about to register on a blogging course - eek!  I feel quite challenged by this stuff, but as I've said before, I love technology and want to learn as much as I can.  I want to make the most of this gift of time and stir my grey matter a little!  The course is taught by Liv Lane, who uses a lot of guest tutors to teach their particular areas of expertise, one of whom is my old friend Andrea Schroeder of www.creativedreamincubator.com 

 It's going to be a fun week!