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November <                                                                                                   >January

Thursday ~ December 1st

Christmas Shopping...

                   Chaos Theory for Dummies by Deborah Tilley

Wow, it's already December!  I better get cracking on my Christmas shopping, you too?  If you live in Edmonton & want to buy an extraordinary piece of art, consider going down to the Alberta Craft Council right away!  There, in the Discovery Gallery you can view Deb Tilley's Fibre Optic Show, an incredible display of art quilts that will knock your socks off!  Accompanying her show is the Aurora Borealis Fireflies show called "Drawn to the Flame: 1000 Glass Beads from Alberta".  The Aurora Borealis Fireflies is a lampwork group I belong to & we get together once a month to discuss all things glass beads.  You'll be able to see some fantastic glass art jewelry & a lot of the pieces are for sale!  For more information, visit the Alberta Craft Council website here.  Both shows end December 3rd (that's this Saturday) so get down there quick!  Deb also works at Earthly Goods, one of Canada's best quilting stores; if you know any quilters, this place would be great for signing them up for a class or picking up some goodies for under the tree - check out their website here.  And though I've mentioned this gift idea on the contest page, it's worth mentioning again.  Check out the "Winter Adoption" program at World Wildlife Fund & in Canada at WWF.  Delivery is very prompt!  And if you're surfing the web for more gift ideas, I love this lady's products & this store is tres cool!  Happy Shopping!

Warning!  Cat story below...

                  Photo compliments of Sensitive Light

I know it's in their nature for cats to hunt & kill what they catch.  This year, I had a problem with Maggie (my cat) stalking birds.  Originally, I thought her obsession with them would prove fruitless because she's not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you know what I mean & she's not very fast either, heck I've seen her chase a butterfly around the yard for 1/2 an hour with no success.  But, then something happened.  Perhaps there was a batch of dim-witted birds that came around or maybe after hours & hours of lost opportunities, Maggie figured out some bird-killing trick because all of a sudden she brought a chickadee into the house, dead.  At the time I thought, oh she probably found a dead chickadee ~ there's no way she could have caught it. A month later she brought a sparrow into the house, alive!  As she was jogging down into her lair (the basement) with the bird in her mouth, she accidentally released it & it flew out the door!  That was a close call, but I still thought it was some kind of fluke.  But this fall, I saw her batting around a black lump outside & when I went out to investigate, I saw a small little junco lying on the grass, newly dead.  It really, really sucked & at that point I had to admit to myself that perhaps Maggie has become good at catching birds.

Since, I've been trying to figure out how I can prevent Maggie from killing the birds that come into our yard & I know a lot of you might be thinking, 'why don't you just not let her out?'  (After all, we already had a problem with that $400 vet bill for the infection she got after a cat came into our yard & scratched her).  This seems like a reasonable option, but she could drive the most laid-back & indifferent person mad!  She will meow & meow for hours on end, with no sign of letting up until you finally crack & let her out, so that doesn't work.  I did, however, stumble onto a really great site that has some excellent tips on how to deter cats so I thought I would share them with you incase you have the same problem, either with your own cat(s) or with your neighbor's cat(s).  Here's what the BBC Science & Nature website recommends:

• Avoid putting your bird feeders near low trees or bushes, as cats find the cover a useful place from which to ambush visitors.

• If you have a wooden bird table, put obstructions on the pole. These are sometimes called 'baffles' and you can buy them from wildlife suppliers as they're also used to deter squirrels.

• Think carefully about where you site nest boxes. Could a cat reach vulnerable chicks which have just left the nest?

• A good way of preventing cats from catching birds can be to attract more birds into your garden. The more eyes there are keeping watch, the less chance a cat has of making a kill.

• Attach multiple bells to your cat's collar. One may not make a difference as cats can learn to move without letting it sound.

• Some owners say their cats have learned to stalk animals even whilst wearing multiple bells. The BTO found that a sonic device emitting a regular signal more than halved the number of birds caught. Make sure the collar has a quick release mechanism to help prevent injury if it gets caught on something.

• If possible, keep your cat in at night. It is also recommended to keep your cat indoors when birds are most vulnerable: sunset and sunrise are the times when cats kill most wildlife, especially during March-July and December-January. Also after bad weather, such as rain or a cold spell, to allow birds to come out and feed.

• Planting prickly bushes around the periphery of the garden may deter cats from entering the garden.

• Lion dung in flowerbeds is thought to work very well, and scares cats away. Usually only obtainable from zoos and wildlife parks.

Saturday ~ December 10th

I'm back!

8 hours of frustration, 7 phone calls to my web server, 6 cursing rants, 5 phone calls to Microsoft, 4 Advils, 3 hours of "tinkering", 2 moments of sheer panic & 1 moment of utter joy later, I am back!  Yes!  You see, I wasn't able to publish my website for a full week & neither Microsoft nor my web server were taking ownership for the problem, but for some reason, someone on their end (I'm sure it was my web server) fixed whatever was causing the problem & voila ~ I'm so ecstatic to be able to update again!

So, this week I made beads, lots & lots of beads & that's pretty much all I'll be doing until we leave for Tucson, with the exception of going to a few Christmas parties.  Above, you can see some of the beads I made this week - I'll be continuing to make beads from the most popular sets of 2005 - such as Aegean Artifacts, Marrakech, Princess Sadie, Spellbound & Lollipop.  There will be a couple of new styles too - but, with the holidays & what not, I only have 5 working weeks left, so I'm left with a big time crunch that doesn't give me a lot of freedom for experimenting...     

There were a few things I was going to mention through the week like we finally had our first "real" snowfall of the year back on December 5th & it looked like this:

Pretty dreary, huh?  Well, it's since melted as we've had a batch of warm weather come through & this warm weather is supposed to last for the next few days until the temperatures drop again, so I'm definitely going to try to get out for a couple of walks & enjoy it while it lasts. 

Here's another picture I wanted to share: 

I really love this photo of Maggie & Nu.  They found the 2 spots in the room with sunshine streaking through & they planted themselves just so to bath in the warmth.  

Also, I've been reading quite a bit lately and can recommend some great books for stocking stuffers.  These are the books I've read recently ~

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

A Perfect Night To Go To China by David Gilmour

and now I'm reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Kidd

All of these books are good, but I would definitely recommend A Million Little Pieces which is probably the best book I've read since Life of Pi or The DaVinci Code.  It's such a gripping read.  When you leave it, you just can't stop thinking about it.  I read it 3 books ago & it's still so fresh in my memory - fantastic book.  I think next on that list, I'm liking The Secret Life of Bees - though I'm not finished it yet, it's such a heart wrenching yet charming book ~ many bittersweet qualities to it.  Then, The Time Traveler's Wife.  This book has a very interesting premise (a guy actually time travels), which was hard to get into at first, but once I did, it was quite thought provoking.  It's a book I still think about as well.  Daughter of Fortune is beautifully written but it moves a little slower then the others.  Still the character development is fantastic & it takes place during the Gold Rush, which is such an fascinating time in our history.  My mom lent me A Perfect Night To Go To China because she loved it so much, but I don't know, I didn't get into it like she did.  It's a fast read so there's no big commitment, but I found the writing a little contrived and I was confused at times because of the dream sequences, but I think the author does that on purpose...  I also read it right after A Million Little Pieces & I think any book would have been a let down after reading that.  If you can recommend any good books, please feel free to email me at carrie@beadtree.net.  I would love to hear from you. 

Tonight, Chris' band "The Swill Kings" are playing!  I'm so excited but first I must make more beads.  Thanks so much for visiting - have a great weekend.

Monday ~ December 12th

Had a super weekend! The Swill Kings (Chris' band) were great ~ they had the whole place up & dancing.  They're playing again January 6th at the Sidetrack Cafe here in Edmonton, so if you're around you should come & check them out! 

On Sunday, Chris, mom & I went for brunch & then we went to a park to feed the birds.  Can you spot the chickadee on mom's hand?  It was such a warm, beautiful day.

Last night a bunch of us girls got together to watch the Survivor finale.  We have a pool where we pick a Survivor name out of a hat & put in a couple bucks each week for that person until they win or get voted out.  Well, my mom & I went in on Danni & she WON, so we won over 300 hundred bucks!  And then of course mom refused to take her portion of the money, so nice. 

Making beads today - lots & lots of beads! 

Tuesday ~ December 13th

Working hard...

Saturday ~ December 17th

Generosity...

On Tuesday night I went to my monthly meeting with the Aurora Borealis Fireflies (Edmonton's lampwork artist group).  To celebrate the season we had a potluck & exchanged Secret Santa gifts.  Kimberley Barrett, one of the gals in the group, offered to host the party & there must have been 20 or 25 of us.  Kimberley is both an amazing potter & bead maker.  When we arrived, there were rows of beautiful handmade cups on the kitchen island.  Kimberley told us we each got to pick one as our very own to take home!  After dinner we were treated to a half dozen desserts that she made, including a rum cake, chocolate bark, a lemon cake & these wonderful cranberry squares.  When we were leaving she handed each of us a little gift bag.  At home, I opened it to find a sweet Christmas tree ornament & a most spectacular shallow bowl with a little poem about putting your roly-poly beads in it.  So I tried it out: 

Works just perfect! What a wonderful night surrounded by talented & funny ladies & thanks to Kimberley's generosity, it was that much more special.    

Sunday ~ December 18th

                                    Sugar Plums

These little darlings remind me of candy.  I've been working on them all week & now it's time to hand them over to Judes & move on.  I don't know how much I'll get done this coming week as there's so much going on.  I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet!  I also have a dreaded dentist appointment on Wednesday because my tooth chipped & I'm getting a new crown put on.  There's also a lot of movies out right now that I want to see including, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Family Stone & Memoirs of a Geisha.  I'm not sure if I want to see King Kong though ~ haave any of you seen King Kong yet - can you recommend it? 

I just finished The Secret Life of Bees - boy was that a beautiful book!  I think I'll crack open Memoirs of a Geisha next.  I read it once before, a long, long time ago & I remember really liking it.  I think it will be worth a second read.

I'll keep posting what I'm making.  Hope you all are enjoying the holidays!

Tuesday ~ December 20th

Counting my lucky stars...

                       Deb's Magical Moon & Stars

I was over at my friend Deb's house a little while back & there these were, sitting in a bowl, radiating with all their glam & charm.  I was entranced.  Deb, who I've mentioned before because she is an amazing quilt artist with a grand understanding of color, beauty, pattern & whimsy, had made these years before & they, along with feather boas & beautiful glass ornaments, decorate her house during the holidays. Judy & I went to her house again last night to visit & drink Pomegranate martini's & Deb had made me my very own star! 

                            Tada!  My Lucky Star

How lucky am I!  I am so thrilled to have this beautiful work of art, which will no doubt hang in my studio & remind me of all the wonderful new friends I've encountered & the compassion & generosity that has filled my life this year.  I am a lucky, lucky girl!

Friday ~ December 23rd

                           Courtesy of Cute Overload

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday ~ December 28th

                              Boxing Day Bonfire

Well the last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of family, friends & food.  I'm a little tired so I'm spending the day sorting things out & relaxing a bit.  Hope you've been having a wonderful week.