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Archives |
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Tuesday ~ September 5th
Click on the photo to see pictures from my class with Andrea Guarino-Slemmons! |
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Thursday ~ September 7th
And finally, the winner of the "latest" riddle contest is... click here to find out.
I dug out my journal that I kept while mom & I traveled in Africa because I wasn't exactly sure where I was in the riddle contest photo when I first picked it (it's been 5 years now). It was great to read a bit about the trip & sort of transport myself back there - here's an excerpt from the first page:
I dreamt of Africa... this afternoon while napping at our lodge. I've been here only a day, but the images that surround me are so rich that they've delved into my subconscious mind.
Maasai women singing
Yesterday, after a horrifically long flight, we landed just outside Arusha at the Kilimanjaro airport. There, 2 men held up placards with our names on them. It was Omar & Ellie, our escort & our guide awaiting our arrival.
Ellie (our guide) & me in Tanzania ~ Sept 2001
After a quick glass of champagne by the van, we hopped in and drove off into the night. I searched the blackened landscape for nocturnal animals- I saw bats and a hare, but no lions yet. Within an hour we arrived at Novotel, our hotel & once inside I immediately felt awkward to be a foreigner, their accents harder to decipher than I thought, but I see such kindness in their eyes & that makes it all o.k.
Our room has 2 small beds, sparse furniture, slightly worn down, not terribly impressive but there is a sense that this radically different culture is trying to bring us the comforts of our homes & there is such a strangeness in that. Mom & I unload our luggage, this will be just an overnighter before we head off on safari to Ngorongoro Crater so no need to unpack too much. We head downstairs to the lounge for a drink. The lounge has an old British colonial flair, but with African touches - paintings of lions & elephant heads adorn the wall & mingle with the regal nature of the tables & chairs. We drink African beer & linger in a daze - are we really here? Are we really in Africa...
Momma cheetah & babies
That first night, I remember, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited & curious to see my surroundings in the light of day. The second I noticed a shift from dark to dawn in the room, I popped out of bed & ran to the window to look out. What a magical place!
I hope I get a chance to go back some day. |
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Sunday ~ September 10th
Ken, our Gold Panning Teacher
Did you know that...
Gold in its purest state, 24 karat, is generally considered too soft for use in jewelry? Because of this, it's often alloyed or mixed with other metals including copper, nickel & zinc, which increases its hardness & modifies its color. 18 karats refers to 18 parts gold & 6 parts other metals. Gee, I knew but I didn't know, you know what I mean?
I signed Chris & I up for a gold panning course as part of his birthday present back in July. The course was this past Friday night & all day yesterday. Ken, our instructor, has been gold panning throughout Alberta, B.C., the Yukon & Alaska for the last 30 years. He's been teaching for a decade or two as well & this course was his last one ever as he's retiring from it. I'm glad we got in just in time - we learnt so much. At the end of yesterday we had a "final exam" where we filled our pans full of gravel & sand, then Ken placed a small gold flake on top & we had 4 minutes to pan the whole thing down & try to find the flake. Amazingly enough, after a very crude & fast pan, my flake was there at the bottom sparkling away - fascinating!
We'll definitely be going out to test our new techniques, but we won't be striking it rich anytime soon as this river only holds small "flour" gold - little tiny flecks & speckles that collects with black sand that you eventually use mercury to extract. After lots of collecting, you might be able to combine it all to make a wee nugget. It's purely for the enjoyment at this stage... |
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Frankincense Pendants
Good day! Not much to report here except that it's a rainy, cool day, which might effect my golf lesson this afternoon. On a positive note, it's only supposed to get wetter & colder by the weekend, which is great weather for bead making - I just love to hug close to the flame & get lost in the bright heat when the conditions outside are less than favorable ~ looks like I'm going to have a productive week after all.
I made these beads above for my dear friend Tamye who is off to Salt Lake City today to enjoy some beneficial treats from Stampin' UP! - the company she works for. She's one of the most successful stamping recruiters in all of Canada & they are flying her down to Utah to celebrate. As well, she's on the advisory committee this year with 8 others & she's supposed to bring some of her favorite things to share. She decided she wanted to bring the other ladies pendants from the Bead Tree. I am extremely flattered that she considers my beads to be one of her favorite things. |
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Thursday ~ September 14th
This weekend, Chris & I are in search of a hot tub for our backyard. If you're wondering (ha!), our yard still looks as bad as it did in the last photo I showed here (August archives). Our contractor has disappeared & he's not answering his phone - no surprise as we originally thought this job would be completed in June... All he has to do now is frame the pad & pour the cement, something that could be done in a day or two, I'm told. How frustrating to think it might not be done at all this year. Ideally, it would be nice to have the garage up before the snow flies & the hot tub running for those cold, winter nights...but I'm not holding my breath.
As well, we are going to put all our overhead lines underground so to save us a little money, Chris has been digging the trench for it himself. In the process, he hit a huge pocket of sand (I'm sitting in the dug out part where the sand has been removed). It's pretty fun down there, like hanging out in a tomb or a tunnel - wondering what ancient goodies or sparkling minerals are waiting to be discovered... Well, I don't think we will find anything, but we are going to leave a tin can full of things from around the house down there ~ for sure a bead or two will make it into the can. |
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Saturday ~ September 16th
Cool links:
Canon Rock Version (thanks for the link Uncle B.) Hotel Fox (Room 506 is my favorite!) |
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Tuesday ~ September 19th
I'm working steady this week - thought I would show you a picture of my work station this morning. It's actually pretty clean as I just started on some more Alexandria beads. Prior to these, I made a whole bunch more of the "Frankincense" beads ~ *purdy*.
Not much else going on right now, except we did buy a hot tub! That's pretty exciting. However, it won't be delivered for 6 to 8 weeks. I guess this is good as we have to prep the area first (we're building it into our deck). And, I guess it's good too because I'm really hoping there will be more progress on our garage by then. I really don't want to stare out at this scene while soaking:
This is what the backyard looked like yesterday - those guys in the blue are from the gas company. They redirected our gas line so that the meter is outside. Yes, more upheaval then you can shake a stick at - and really, this is only a portion of our yard, it looks this bad everywhere. Chris has to keep reminding me that it's just a construction zone & one day it will be better. Still no word from our contractor - he's not answering his phone or returning our calls & it's been raining for a week, which I'm sure puts him behind even more. If he's not here within the next month it looks like we'll be waiting till spring - barf! |
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Thursday ~ September 21st
Here's the prize for the last contest winner, Tina. I shipped these boys off yesterday - hope you like them Tina! I've also started another contest that will probably run until the end of October. You can check it out here ~ good luck! |
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Monday ~ September 25th
I have a friend who reads people's auras. He sees all sorts of colors like green & pink & purple. He says anyone can do it. All it takes is forgetting everything you think you know & just looking. I've tried it & even though I haven't seen any colors yet, everyone I meet looks so beautiful when I stop knowing everything, that it's pretty hard to go back to the old way. ~ Brian Andreas |
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Tuesday ~ September 26th
Moon Rocks
An interesting snippet from Wickipedia about real Moon rocks:
"Moon rocks are currently considered priceless. In 1993, three small fragments weighing 0.2 g from Luna 16 were sold for US$442,500. In 2002 a safe was stolen from the Lunar Sample Building containing minute samples of lunar and martian material. The samples were recovered and, in 2003, NASA estimated the value of these samples for the court case at about $1 million for 285 g (10 oz.) of material.
A couple of hundred small samples were mounted and presented to national governments and U.S. governors. At least one of these was later stolen, sold and recovered. Other samples went to select museums, including the National Air and Space Museum, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, and to the visitor center at Kennedy Space Center where it is possible to "touch a piece of the moon", which is in fact a small moon rock concreted into a pillar in the center of a bank vault that visitors tour. NASA says that almost 295 kg (650 lb) of the original 382 kg (842 lb) of samples are still in pristine condition in the vault at Johnson Space Center. Some moon dust was collected by a Hasselblad employee when cleaning out one of the cameras after the mission." |
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Wednesday ~ September 27th
Yesterday was the perfect fall day. I went for a walk in the morning & was listening to my iPod. The song, "True Colors" by Cindy Lauper was playing, when I turned a corner & looked up to see this subtle rainbow arching across the sky. Right at that moment, Cindy sang, "You're beautiful, like a rainbow". O.k. I know, a bit corny but wow! And the funny thing was it hadn't been raining out so where that rainbow came from, well... it seemed like more than serendipitous moment. Shortly there after, Willie Nelson came on my iPod with, "The Rainbow Connection", at which point I just had to chuckle.
It was a fabulous walk; that wonderful, recognizable crispness in the air that seems to just appear right around the first days of autumn, accompanied with a mingling of smells ~ leaves decomposing, fresh dew on the grass, & ripening cranberries.
And the leaves are turning so fast! The birch are the most vibrant yellow which is such a lively distinction beside the permanent green of the pine & spruce trees. And the Amur Maples are red ~ instantly it seems they've swapped out their coats of deep green for a passionate red intensified by the changing blue of the sky.
Amur Maple leaves |
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Friday ~ September 29th
Poppies
Some new beads above, inspired by a print in a magazine. Mom & I have a show tomorrow so I've been working hard.
I've been watching season one of Boston Legal while making beads. Now that's a grand invention, TV shows on DVD. No commercials, no need to wait a whole week after a cliffhanger, it's all there for you. It is a little tricky to catch everything when your focus is almost constantly on the flame, but the dialogue on Boston Legal is witty & fun, so I'm still getting a lot out of it even just listening for the most part.
Chris & I are going to go canoeing this afternoon - it's just too darn beautiful right now along the river to miss the opportunity.
In case you're doing some serious surfing today, because it is Friday after all & we all know how hard it is to be overly productive the day before the weekend - check out The Cute Project, it's a lot like Cute Overload. |
