Havin' a heat wave!

This quote was taken from our local news station's website.......

"All time record heat suffocated most of western Washington on Wednesday. It was an historic day weather-wise. SeaTac hit 103 - the hottest day ever recorded since records were kept starting at the Federal Building downtown in 1891 - 118 years! Other all time records that fell were: 96 degrees in Bellingham; Vancouver 107, Olympia tied its all time record of 104. Schoolnet sites were even warmer: Winlock reported 110, and Sammamish, Redmond and Monroe all recorded highs of 107."

It's a bit cooler today, thank goodness! This is the first day I've worn makeup all week. There really was no point in seeing a middle aged woman with makeup melting down her face... We hit the pool yesterday afternoon and it was a life saver. Another saving grace is AC in the bedroom. Wish we had it all through the house but we would only need it a few days a year. Most people around here don't have it at all. And if it was your plan to purchase an AC unit after the heat wave hit....forget it!

I did manage to get a few beads made this week. They are in my Etsy store, (unless they've been sold).

4 months old almost.....

Linkoln Log. That's the nickname he's been given. It will probably stick with him the rest of his life. The things we do to our kids. (I didn't have anything to do with it :-).....)
What a Sweetie he is.

SO THANKFUL.....

My house is painted, and, for having amazing, talented sons who come when I call.... Thanks Guys!

My husband and are are the type of folk who don't pay people to do things for us that we can do for ourselves. I'm talking about home projects. We enjoy home maintenance and gardening and my husband is obsessed with lawns, (but that's a different story). It seems we always have a project going. Well, I think I mentioned painting my house in an earlier post. I decided to paint the house with a brush. Yep, I know. What the heck was I thinking! I've done all the painting on the inside of my house. Every room, (but not all at once). I guess I thought it would be just like painting the inside....NOT!!!! It took 4 days to paint one side of the house and a week to paint our tiny little golf cart shed. Hubby and I decided it was time to enlist some help. On Monday morning I called my youngest son and asked him if he would spray my house for me. He said "sure! Is it ready to go today?" When I told him it was he said that he would be over as soon as he finished up what he had to do for the day. He works for a drywall company and business is slow right now with the poor economy. Well, he showed up at 12:30 and was finished painting my house at 5:00. That's 4-1/2 hours to paint an entire house, (minus one side), and that included masking and taping everything off and the cleanup afterwards! I am so grateful that all I had left to paint was the trim and I now can put that project behind me. My son made a few extra bucks from Mom and Dad and saved me weeks of work.
One of the other projects on my husbands list was repairing a rotten facia board on the side of our house. He fretted and fretted over how to fix this board because it was sort of an awkward situation. He even discussed it with the guys on the cul-de-sac but I don't think they were much help. He finally decided to call our middle son, a carpenter-framer-all around build-it kind of guy, (who is out of work currently, also because of the poor economy), and pay him to do the job. After all the fretting my husband did it only took my son about 20 minutes to fix it. When all else fails, hire a professional! I have a third son, the oldest who is also in the construction business, and very good at what he does. It will be his turn for the next project. He is trying to stay busy building decks for people.

Now, to get back to the business of beads and jewelry. I've got a few in the kiln right now and I'm making some more tomorrow. Actually, I'm going to try to be at the torch for the rest of the week but with the temperatures soaring into the 90's, (and possibly 100's according to the
weatherman), that may be a challenge......

Peace Baby!

I have lots of new things in my Etsy shop this week.

Painting our house taking forever. I'm enjoying being out in the sunshine and I do like to paint but I'm asking myself if I want to spend the ENTIRE summer with a paintbrush in my hand. Hubby is offering his help so I know he wants it to be done and over with too. He's not as patient as I am. Maybe I will look into some help to speed things up a bit. There is plenty around if I just ask. My son actually does some house painting and I have a neighbor who would help if I asked him. We will see......

My son and daughter-in-law are coming for dinner tonight and bringing our grandbaby. I can't wait to see him. It's been too long.

Bead Mojo....

"Circus Act" earrings

I've spent a few days away from beadmaking and it's always a challenge getting that forward momentum back. It's even more of a challenge for me when the weather is not so great. After a glorious 4th of July weekend with lots of sun and just-right temperatures we have had clouds and a little rain this week. I couldn't seem to get anything accomplished. Thankfully the sun returned yesterday afternoon and I suddenly had energy again. Today is beautiful and I will be busy painting. Beads for this week were almost a total loss but I did get some earrings made for a special gallery order and I have an idea for a sweet bracelet design.



"Art By The Bay" starts today here on the island. If you are close and would like to check out this free event go here for details. I'll be going with a friend tomorrow. This is a show I used to participate in but the unpredictable weather made it a little too costly for me. Two years ago, which was the last show I participated in, a wind storm came during the night and destroyed my tent and most of my jewelry displays. I take my merchandise home with me at night so thankfully I didn't lose any jewelry. This year the weather is supposed to be great and I'm so happy for the artist's that are participating because it will bring loads of people.

hAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!1

Whoo hooo! Hubby just found out he's off for the rest of the week! So we get a 4 day weekend. Yay!!!!!! Of course it will be spent working around the house. I've started the painting and it will be slow going because I'm doing the whole thing with a brush. I kind of enjoy it. Standing in the sun just painting away. My mind is free to wander from here to there. It's really quiet in the neighborhood because most everyone is gone for the holiday weekend. We are expecting great weather too. Unusual really. It seems there's usually rain in the forcast for the 4th of July weekend but I think we may get lucky this year.I hope you have some great plans for your holiday weekend............ENJOY!