I'm stuffed...

If you know me on Facebook you will know that the past two weekends my sweet husband Dave has made Frogmore Stew. If you've never had this, you MUST try it!! It's LOVELY!!! Seriously. Potatoes, corn, kielbasa, shrimp, onions.. shrimp... it's heaven. A quick google search brought me this blog first thing: Seaside Style (which I now think I will subscribe to) it gives a quick recipe for the Stew... which is not really a STEW at all.. I'm thinking of making either corn bread or biscuits next time to dip in the broth... We just cover the kitchen table with newspapers and dig in!!

Now that I'm done rambling about the delights of food.... I'm BACK! LOL I am going to try to at least do a weekly blog post until it gets colder.. then I'll have more time and will blog more often. 

Friday's will now be known as "Gluten Free Friday's" in honor of my dear, dear friend Jilly-Bean!!! She has a wonderful blog you really should check out!!! The Pink Cowgirl   Not only does she do amazing things with food to make it gluten free and beautiful.. she is also a pretty rockin chick!! She does Cowboy Racing and even does Pony Express rides!! We talk to each other on an almost daily basis and I consider her a sister from another mother! :D
So I will share her blog and some of the recipes there on Friday, or find other recipes or GF ideas to share with everyone!

To get up to speed with what I've been doing... hmmm... working at the bead store.. trying to create new pieces here and there.. lately I've been making the popular wrap bracelet a lot.. they are just so fun to wear!

 This is one of my recent designs, it's a mottled red & white sea glass with copper spacers. The second one is a leopard print bead and grey cat eye. I think it's my second favorite!! My absolute favorite is my tiger eye wrap.. tiger eye is my favorite stone... I call it my soul stone! I just can't see a piece without wanting to touch it and hold it and feel the warmth of the stone!! I'm obsessed!! LOL

And I also have been doing a bit of chain maille.. this is the Dragon Scale weave.. NOT For beginners! LOL Unless you are like me and get completely OCD about fine, fiddly weaving with tiny little jump rings! I simply LOVE the way it looks and feels though. I have worn it almost every day since I finished it!

I've also been running and have ran two 5ks so far this summer. I'm really enjoying it!!! My first was back in June, then we did one in July and I ran a better time! Yay! We have two scheduled this month, on the 18th we are doing our first Trail Run 5k.. which promises to be interesting to say the least! We hiked the trail today and it was a bit more rugged than I expected... I'll keep ya posted on how that goes! Then on the 26th we are doing the Race to the Rock at Chimney Rock State Park. I'm just looking to finish this one respectably.. it's uphill ... again, it should be interesting!

I find that I'm becoming quite addicted to running.. I never thought I would enjoy it so much! I know I have my husband and my two besty's: Jill & Melissa to thank for motivating me! And of course, my sister! She will call me every morning and tell me to go run, even if she doesn't join me!! :) :)  Sometimes I listen.. sometimes I turn the phone off ;) lol

Well that's my little update for now... I'll be back soon with more creations and running stories!! 

Say hello and goodbye to my pups!! Here they are all loaded up and ready to go hiking today! They LOVE it as much as I do!!

Happy Trails!!

Ramblings

Hello again!

Well it's been fairly quiet around here... extremely HOT though... the past weekend we have been hovering around 105 and HUMID. UGH. But we are starting to cool a bit now.. only in the low 90s.. still humid but more bearable.

I've mostly been trying to finish up projects that have been laying around for a while so I can feel good about creating something NEW!  So this week I have been able to finish up a third Nefertiti necklace, two wrap bracelets, a pair of earrings for the shop, and I've been working on my chain maille bracelet. I LOVE this bracelet!!! It's the Dragon Scale technique.. I have about 8-9 hours in it already and it's a little over half finished! Definitely have a great respect for the medieval armorers!! This is about 1/4 finished in this picture.

Since we were off work yesterday, we decided to go for a hike. The DuPont State Forest is only about an hour away from us. We recently started going there after living so close for all these years! It's a beautiful place with miles and miles of trails... hopefully one day I can say I've seen it all!! (maybe?)

 David and our 'children' on top of the smaller mountain, at a trail crossing. I really need to have my camera out all the time on these hikes! This entire area was rock with patches of low growing evergreen and tall grasses, and then here and there were some stubby pine trees. It was very cool and odd looking at the same time. The rock is worn smooth from hikers, mountain bikers and weather. Beautiful views of the surrounding mountains as well! We met some mountain bikers at the top and they asked us to snap a pic of them and then returned the favor! It's nice because we rarely have pictures of the two of us together on these hikes!

 This is coming off the rock and heading back into the tree line..

 Beautiful ferns were everywhere.. it was cool but still slightly humid down in the trees....

 The mountain laurel is still in full bloom and just beautiful!!

And there's our trail!! I simply love the MapMyRun app!!!

So that's how I've been spending my time these days, well, that and running and working out! My weight loss has slowed down with just running so I've started adding in strength training to build muscle and burn more fat!

Thanks for following my little blog :) I love reading when people post in the comments! It makes me feel loved ;)  I am going to try to kick it up and post more often!

Have a great day!!!

In Memory............

Today is a sad post, I learned yesterday that a dear friend's cousin was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Saturday. My heart goes out to her and her family this week as he is returned home and laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Rest In Peace, Niall Coti-Spears

Project 5 Reveal!

So once again, I have neglected my blog for some time... but one sure way to get a blog post is for Karyn at Releases By Rufydoof to have a Reveal Day!!!

Project 5 included two patterns from Helena Tang-Lim at Manek Manek Beads. Echoes of Nefertiti and we were also able to purchase a pattern called 4 Leaf Clover cuff at a reduced rate once we showed that we worked on it. I have never purchased a pattern before and I have to say that I WILL be purchasing more of Helena's in the future. They are so well written and just work up so smoothly and the finished product is just lovely!!

I ended up with two versions of Nefertiti, and I'm currently working on a third! I will have to post pictures of that once it actually starts to be more than a pile of beads on my mat :)

Here is my first version, I just love the blue Tilas! I used Purple Zebra Jasper coins, they have a slightly rounded edge that does tend to let the fan slip around it.. I believe it's more of a 'too much tension' issue... which is present in the majority of my work ;)  I found the 4mm bicones in my stash and I think they are just perfect! I did have some issues with the toggle bar but I know what I did wrong and will fix it on my next one! :) 

 This is the second version I made, I'm not particularly keen on the bicones.. they are a bit too blue for the coppery purples of the rest of the necklace. Once I restock my stringing wire, I will change these out for another smokier blue crystal.

And here is one of the 4 Leaf Clover cuffs I worked up. I had my boss pick colors for me because I knew I would just go to black or greens.... this worked up SO nicely!! I just love the components and have been dreaming up other ways to use them..... I have one half finished in black pearls with a purple lined blue seed... but I left it at work yesterday! I will have to post a finished picture later in the week!

Thank you once again, Karyn and Helena for the WONDERFUL projects this month! I am eagerly awaiting our next challenge!!!

I've been busy.....

I've sadly neglected my little blog for the past few ... months...  But here I am back again and hopefully can keep it going better :) At least a post a week maybe???

I've started running & exercising more.. this takes a lot of my spare time! Well.. that and the beading! So... where should I start? I think I've blogged once about SlimKicker and MapMyRun so I will post about beading today... :D  Because beading is FUN!

As you all know, I'm part of Beading Babes! This was founded by Karyn of Releases by Rufydoof and is now going totally wild on Facebook! Our small group has expanded to over 100 members I believe! While I do miss the small group and knowing everyone a little better, the larger group has really started to inspire me more in different color choices and styles! So it's All Good :D

Our latest pattern is 4-Leaf Clover Cuff & Echoes of Nefertiti, both created by Helena Lang-Tim at Manek-Manek. I have long looked at her patterns in awe.. they appear so incredibly intricate and detailed! And they are! BUT!! Helena has written out some of the best patterns I've seen! They are SO easy to follow that the project just grows from your bead mat!!
I see myself purchasing more of her tutorials in the future!

I have a sneak peek of one of the elements from Echos... I'm not quite finished with the whole project yet.. and I already have several new color choices to make more of them! It really is a terrific piece!

 The stone is a swirling grey Jasper of some sort.. something I found while wandering around Obsessions while I should have been was working....
Here is a sneak peek of the other pattern, 4-Leaf Clover cuff.. This worked up so quickly! And again, Helena's pattern was SO easy to follow! I will be making this in other colors as well!

So there is my recent beading story! I have about 8 projects on my table right now that REALLY need finishing up... So if you find something you think is totally awesome and needs to be made please send it to me right away so I can start another! just tuck it away and show me later! :D

Time to feed the ponies and get ready for a day of work! Hopefully my next blog post will be in a few days instead of weeks :)

Happy Beading, Happy Running!!

18 years ago....

I married my husband, David. It's hard to believe it's been 18 years!! Time truly flies!!

 

The first and last time I had my nails done!!

So to celebrate this year, I told my husband I had a whole weekend planned of 'fun' things to do! He raised his eyebrow and listened patiently..... and then agreed! LOVE HIM! :D  So, Friday night we went to the movies to see The Avengers.. can you say FUN!??!? We are both total comic nerds and are just loving all the great movies Marvel is putting out right now. FINALLY the FX people have managed to bring to life all those great artistic works from the comic books we love!!  lol  So what a fun night we had! Ate a nice tasty meal at Ruby Tuesday and then ran up to the cinema and really were blown away by a great movie!! 

We had planned to attend a symphony yesterday but ended up just spending the day at home. But today we did follow through on my final plans! We took our two young pups and drove out to South Mountains State Park. It's about 45 minutes away and just gorgeous!

 

It was overcast this morning but turned out to be a lovely day. This is my attempt to not take the picture through a somewhat dirty windscreen! The trails at South Mountain are well maintained and just a joy to walk on. They do get quite strenuous!! The most popular trail is the one we hiked today. It follows the river up the mountain to the high falls.. a great treat once you've climbed All. Those. Stairs. 

 Some down stairs early on the trail.....

 Crossing the river.......

 UP stairs..... one of several flights before you reach the overlook at the falls

 The falls!! I can't remember how high the drop is... it's really a beautiful sight. We didn't stay here long , there were people there and another dog that our pups were too excited to meet, we wanted to keep peace, so after a little sniffing around we moved on ....

 UP even more stairs!!! There are 3 more looooooong flights to reach the top of the falls... then you get a nice gradual climb back down to the bottom...  I truly enjoyed my anniversary hike today!! My husband did too and we plan to take a hike each Monday now! We live in the Western North Carolina foothills.. we literally can hike a new trail every week and not hike the same place twice in a year at least!!

But now I am quite tired and need to get some shut-eye.. Oh, did I mention that after our 5.5 mile hike, I ended up doing our normal walk routine with my sister this evening? Tack on another 2.1 miles! LOL All in all, a really great day!

I said I needed sleep.... but as I sit here I see a little pile of beads calling my name..... we shall see........

 

Silent Sunday

Holeee Meow!! AND Beading Babes Reveal!

HOLEEE MEOW!!!! Ok.. got that out of the way.... So as you might or might not know.. I have been working out lately and really watching my diet and trying to get in shape. When I worked 6 days a week at the barn I didn't NEED a gym!!  But now I do... so I'm trying!  I love SlimKicker and MapMyRun and all of my online buddies that keep me motivated! I also LOVE my boss!!! She has really helped me stay motivated and we are helping each other get in shape! Carving the Goddess we call it D

 Except we WILL have arms :D
So... along with us walking each day at our homes, we have started going to a 'free gym'... basically this personal trainer runs classes out of an old high school gym in the area for a $1 a class.... not bad, huh?
Well he KICKS YOUR BUTT!!! Seriously!!! I love it!! LOL But it is rather hard to move around much afterwards..... today was our second time going... I thought I would have improved over last week's visit.... Well, let's say I didn't die... but wow. My thighs are screaming, my calves are crying, my lungs are aching, my shoulders.. oh my shoulders!!!!! But it's all for a good cause right?? RIGHT????

Ok... so enough of that.... Let's get on to why we are all here... The Beading Babes Reveal!!!   We had THREE wonderful projects to do this month! WOW!! One was a new pattern contributed by Nancy Dale. What a great gift!!  Well... I would like to say I did all three.... but I did not.. I barely squeaked in with one of the projects. But I did make TWO versions of it!
These great Paisley Drop earrings are just so fun and work up quite quickly. I absolutely love them! I see me making them in many different colors and beads in the near future! I love what the other ladies in the group have done with this as well!

Speaking of the ladies in the group... we have a Facebook Page and our group is growing daily!!! Karyn has really outdone herself running this group and keeping us all organized and excited each month!!!

So now I have to drag myself off this chair and see to my night chores on the farm end of things... Speaking of, I have to share this picture of my 'dragon' playing surrogate mother to one of my peeps that hatched in the freeze we had last weekend.

Thankfully the peep is doing well and is back with mother and siblings before going to it's new home this weekend!

See you all next blog post!!!

Silent Sunday

Thursday Ramblings

Hello again!

Well I had planned to blog daily the past two weeks since it's my big return to internet land.... but I've just been busy and really trying to do tons of things all at once.
Working on a schedule though to set time to plan for this blog and make my posts more regular. I really enjoy it and my mini army of minions dedicated followers :D

That being said, today's post will probably just be short and sweet unless I really do get rambling!

I've been running and working out lately. Trying to be fit and healthy again .. I would really love to wear an actual swimsuit to the beach this year instead of shorts and a t-shirt! Plus I just miss the energy I had when we were regular gym-goers! It still amazes me how you can do a strenous workout and be panting for breath at the end and then 30 minutes later you are BUZZING with energy and looking for things to do!!

 

If you are online and looking for ways to motivate yourself, here are a few I've tried lately that I simply LOVE!!  SlimKicker is a fun online and iPhone app program I've just joined through a friend's recommendations. It's fairly simple to use and provides me with a LOT of accountability. You basically log in your stats and it gives you a diet guideline.. not foods, but calories, carbs, sugars, etc... then each day you log in your food intake and it tracks it for you and even gives you tips on healthier choices! You can also log in any exercises you do. You get points for everything you log in and this helps you level up... you can set your own reward for the Levels. My Level 3 reward is a new pair of running shoes. :D  Try it out!! Look for me under the Friends tab: LittleBear 

I've also been using MapMyRun for iPhone (and Android too!) It tracks your workouts for you, you can just Record a workout, like a run or walk or bicycle ride... and it shows your map and tracks your distance and time via GPS. I LOVE this! The new update even has a voice every mile that reads out your distance, time and average.

AND I'm also still creating things with beads! Since that is what this IS all about after all! :D  Kate, my sister and I are looking into possibly having a booth in TWO WEEKS (!!) at MayFest ... we're hammering out details and I'll keep you posted on that! In the meantime we are working on making more inventory! Not only do we want to do this booth but I really NEED to get my Etsy store up and running!

Ok.. once again this short and sweet post turned into a ramble!! It's time to get ready for work and walk the pups one more time before they get crated :) 

Planning a special post for Friday so be sure to drop back in and say Hey!

Silent Sunday

I'm BAAAAACK!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!
Just a quick hello and update!

I'm FINALLY back online again!!!! This time I think it will be easier to STAY online... I'm finally getting the feeling of not completely sinking into a deep pit.... both financially and mentally.... it's a nice feeling :D

I don't know where to start on an update.. so I'm just gonna run with this real quick as I have a million and one things to do OUTSIDE as well as inside today!

Let's see........... I have tons of great beading projects I've been working on.. some finished some still progressing... LOVING my embroidered piece but I'm gonna save the details on that for when it's finished :)

It involves Tiger Eye. My all time Favorite Stone.....

I have new peeps!!! Beautiful, tiny and adorable balls of fluff!!! So far only 4 but more are still in several nests around the farm!

I am still totally in love with my job!!! Seriously... I work in a BEAD SHOP. Can it BE any better than this? Yes it can... because I have the best boss ever and we have SO much fun every single day!! I keep thinking I'll wake up one day and be stuck in some horrible job I hate.....  I love the feeling that my opinions and thoughts actually matter and that people look to ME for advice and information.... REALLY!?!??! ME!??!?!?! wow. It's so uplifting and humbling at the same time.

And our totally fun beading group Beading Babes was featured in a small spot in Beadwork Magazine! How cool is that!??! Karyn is just AWESOME for putting this all together and keeping us motivated with fun new projects. All the ladies in the group have been great sharing info and advice on Facebook and on their own blogs. I am thrilled to be a part of it all!

The only other major life change recently is the purchase of a new mattress.. OH. EM. GEE. what the heck took us so long to do this!??!??! It's HEAVENLY! Last night I fell asleep and STAYED asleep.. without clutching the edge of the bed to keep from rolling into the middle! hahahaha! Ok.. so that was a bit exaggerated.... but not the pure joy of a decent night's sleep! YAY!!!

So now I have to go to farm chores... the grass isn't going to mow itself!! Although I am seriously considering fencing the entire yard and turning the horses out..........................................

so thank you all for still being here while my blog went silent..... I hope to keep you better entertained henceforth!!

Hello..

It's been a while since I've posted.. mostly because I currently do not have internet connection at home. :( Boo. I'm still catching up on my bills from the past 6 months unemployment.. in all the fuss and juggling to keep the phones on and the horses fed AND try to save a bit for a car down-payment... I TOTALLY forgot to pay my internet... for TWO months. DOH!!!

So this is just a quick Hello before I clock in to work today... I hope to get up and running online again within the next week... Thank you for keeping me in mind!!!

Beading Babes Reveal!

I totally missed my Silent Sunday post... so here is Miss Cheyenne... the cause of that... she went through the fence on Saturday night around 10:30 pm... so I spent most of Sunday repairing a fence and treating wounds... nothing too major thank goodness!!!

Well we had two projects and extra time this month.... and I managed to get one project finished... I swear the Ravishing Rosettes pattern was hiding from me ... at least parts of it were!! Here is what I accomplished... I really like the pattern and the colors but I totally missed several steps!! I WILL be reworking this in the future though!

As you can see.. I'm missing one part altogether and it is curving in the complete wrong direction!! Ah well.. back to the beading board with it!
This is the Runway of Pearls bracelet that was our second project... I really liked the bracelet! But as I was adding the embellishment I noticed it was getting shorter.... and shorter... I ended up with it almost 2 inches too short!! So, I stared at it for a while.... and then came up with this idea... which my wonderful boss helped me wire up.. (wire and I don't get along too well right now)

This bracelet called for embellishing both sides but as it was shrinking as I went along, I ended up only embellishing the one side.. but it still turned out fairly well.. at least I think so!

I can't wait to see what the other Babes have worked up with this challenge!!!

Just a favor I ask of you....

I just wanted to ask my followers to visit one more blog... take a moment of your day to say Hello and give a virtual hug to a friend of mine from Facebook. We have never met face to face... and probably never will.. I have always enjoyed her sense of humor and been thankful for her 'chicken advice' ... and now she is losing her husband to emphysema...  she started this blog this week to help herself cope with the dramatic changes she is going through... If you have a moment, just stop in and say hello... share experiences if you have them.. just give some encouragement to a stranger... You will feel better and I know she will too ...

Click this link:
 http://watchingmylovedie.wordpress.com/

Silent Sunday

Time Flies!!

So, I had a blog post ready to go on Monday but evidently I never finished it and posted it! It's been one of those weeks!
I don't know if I've mentioned it (hahaha! YES I HAVE)  but I seriously LOVE my job at Obsessions!  It's not even 'work'... well it IS.. especially when I'm having to pack up and account for a trunk show of GORGEOUS stones... see? Even the paperwork is fun!!
I am working on a few projects, mostly getting things ready to teach at the shop next month :) We are doing a 'Back to Basics' course over the next few months to teach some basic stitching and I have a few patterns to teach that go along with the initial stitching class. Should be great fun and introduce some new ideas to our students!!
The sun is shining a bit longer every day and I can't tell you how happy this makes me!!
LOVE this picture I found online:

I'm so excited to start working in the garden!! I layered cardboard scraps under my compost this winter and it honestly looks like I won't even be using the noisy, smelly, noisy, noisy, noisy tiller this year! Did I mention it's kind of noisy? The first few years I felt I HAD to use it, good old Carolina red clay takes some time to get to a workable stage... but I have really decent soil this year! Thank you to my chickens :D

They have really made such a difference in the garden plot! Great fertilizers and great job of keeping the soil nice and loose! I highly recommend them! :D  Although I do think they will not be quite so pleased when I have to keep them OUT of their favorite digging spots.

What are your garden plans this year? Going all out and doing a huge garden or just containers on the back porch? Trying any new veggies?

Silent Sunday

It's been a few days...

.. since I've posted here! I've just been outside as much as possible enjoying the lovely weather we have been having... and I've also been working! YAY ME!  I don't know if I've mentioned it yet... but I LOVE my job! I really do!! Just too much fun to call it work. :D

This will just be a quick post since it's getting late and I need some sleep!!   

We have had two days this week of gorgeous sun and 60* weather! I absolutely LOVE it!! I am so ready for Spring and to be done with Winter!! Even though we have had a mild winter this season, I'm tired of the dark and gloomy days and the cold. I don't like cold. 
I can't wait to start working in my garden again! I long for the sweet taste of fresh baby greens and watching the little sprouts poke through the dirt and be continually amazed how a tiny seed can make such delicious food!!!
This is an older picture, but I did see this little guy poking his head out of the roots of the maple tree by our driveway :) Daffodils always make me happy!

Well, I gotta crash for the night, so I'll leave you with a few pictures of my late, lamented bulb garden which the chickens decided would make a nicer dust bath....