Repose

Repose : n.
1. The act of resting or the state of being at rest.
2. Freedom from worry; peace of mind.
3. Calmness; tranquility.

I was reading a book recently and in it, they used the word repose a couple of times. What a great old word - rarely used nowadays, and straight away, I knew I had to make a necklace entitled "repose".


So this hand sculpted necklace of a chair, is a wearable reminder to take a rest, forget your worries and find a sense of calmness...


It would make a lovely gift for yourself or a friend or a family member who needs to find freedom from their worries....."repose".


I've put it in on a 24 inch chain. I have never used this length before - but it seems right for this piece...a length where you can hold the chair and it then serves as a tactile reminder as well as visual reminder to find some repose.....

Hmmm.... as I've just written this, I've realized someone who could do with this necklace as a reminder....Guess I'll have to make another one now......

Chill the champagne - it's picnic time!

A friend of mine in England asked me to make a picnic basket charm as a gift for someone. They had previously bought this person a real picnic basket and so thought the charm would be a nice accompaniment!


So I made a basket that will go on a jump ring so it can be attached to a charm bracelet...or worn as a necklace....as they decide. I left one side of the basket open a little - encouraging you to peek inside and see what is there...


The weather is hot here - and I had a picnic yesterday - so maybe it's time for you to chill that bottle of something, pack up some delicious food in a picnic basket, pick up a blanket to sit on and head outside!

Have a good one - and hope the rain stays off!

A little bit of color....

So I'm reading about and experimenting with color .....Color is such a big part of my life - if you came to my house, you'd see it instantly. We have a lot of color going on...from our bright turquoise sofas to orange lamps to.....color, color everywhere......And so I sort of feel restricted with silver sometimes, because it's silver and isn't these bright happy colors....! And I know lots of people incorporate color into their work...but not in ways that I want to! Problem is, I'm not sure how I want to - but know it's just not the typical ways.....


Tonight we joined some friends in Sonoma for the farmer's market-come-town party and had a picnic and listened and danced to the music and...... The farmer's market is held on Tuesday nights in the plaza and once a month- it becomes a big party with lots of people picnicking there and having a good time. After eating our picnic, we wandered through the stalls and all this color was shouting out at me - which is where the photos come from....


I guess I'll be experimenting with color for a while yet.....and in the meantime, enjoying it everywhere else but in my silver!

Have a color-full day!

Anyone can be feminine.....

One of my customers asked if my "anyone" figure could be more feminine for a necklace she wanted. I said that "anyone" was designed to be either male or female but I would give it a try. So I made a skirt for anyone - but then "she" looked like a doll so decided against it......

On a couple of other occasions when someone has wanted a girl and a boy together with some distinction between them, I've just changed the hat and made it a little wider brimmed.


So this time, I did my usual hat adaptation but rather than just widening the brim, I also added a couple of flowers.


Hope you think she looks like a girl now! "Anyone can be feminine......."

Sunday's spotlight - Not going to cut off an ear this year

By guest blogger Pete.

During the months from Autumn to Spring I am an active member of an art group that meets together every Monday afternoon. I am one of a minority in that group who take the summer months off - optimistically so that we can enjoy to the full the good weather that one naturally associates with the summer. A telephone call a couple of weeks ago informed me that the group will be starting the autumn term on September 7th.


I decided after that telephone call that I would like to try my hand at computer painting. This is not something that I can do very easily at the group meetings so I thought I'd have a go at home. I was pleasantly pleased and not a little surprised by some of the pictures I managed to produce on the computer and have included them as the photos for this blog. I don't think I can count this as "art" in the conventional meaning of the word but it was very enjoyable. I don't think, for a second, that I'd get the same results by manual painting that I have achieved on the computer.

But moving on from art to another of my favourite things....... If I had to choose just one sport out of the innumerable on offer then I know that my choice would be cricket. I'm far too much of a coward even to begin to try and explain the game of cricket to you. I don't think it is a game that can be explained. You've either got to watch it quite regularly or have played it for some time.


At the present moment the "Ashes" series is being placed out in this country. The "Ashes" is the top International cricket series between Australia and England. At the turn of the 20th century English cricket was supreme and the England team defeated all comers. When they lost their first match to the Australians some wit took one of the stumps (wickets), cremated it and put it in an urn. He then put an advert in a well know national newspaper regretting the death of English cricket. That same urn with the ashes of the stump in it is played for every time England and Australia play a series of games with each other - thus the name "Ashes Series".


I know that some of you will be terribly disappointed that I am writing this so early in the week that I can't tell you the result of that 3rd Test Match. The reason for my early blog writing is that my elder daughter and her family are coming to Lincoln for a few days this week and spare time to write the blog might be minimal. The chances are that I'll keep you in touch with that visit next week.

Why not watch a cricket Test Match. They last for only five days!!!!

What wondrous life is this I lead!

What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine, and curious peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.
-Andrew Marvell

I love this poem by Andrew Marvell. Once upon a time I used to read quite a lot of his poetry...and this one just sums up our harvest life at Birdland.

And today at Birdland, it was the day of the nectarine.


We have two nectarine trees and the earlier one produces smaller, white/green nectarines that we enjoyed a couple of months ago...but the second tree has big red nectarines that we adore! It's been nearly 2 months since the first tree ripened and we've been watching and checking for ripeness of the other tree for a while now - the nectarines went red quite a while ago but have been slower than usual in ripening.


John went out today however and has had his eye on this one large nectarine for a while. We need to too as there is big competition between ourselves, the birds, the racoons, the oppossums, the skunks...and who knows who else. Anyhow - John picked this massive nectarine today and we ate it while it was still warm from the afternoon sun. To say it was perfect seems an understatement!


And look at how many more we have to pick....and I'm only here for a week before I head east. Guess I'll be eating lots of nectarines between now and next Saturday.


"Oh dear"...I hear you cry... "Poor Ruth"!!! Thanks for the sympathy - I'll think of you too, as I relish in my "wondrous life". Better still, why not pop round and share some of our bounty...

Taking the first step

............

Mentor - hands necklace

More hands! I just finished another commission yesterday for a friend who wanted two hands, one reaching, one supporting.....


When I finished it, it felt like a mentor relationship between the two hands - the hands weren't clinging or even reaching for each other but more like just touching with the top hand providing support and guidance as and when needed. It seemed more like knowing someone was there.....


But maybe you see it differently....

Let me know.

Cufflinks - for men AND women

Here are some new cuff links. They utilize the traditional hinge style post that swivels once it's through the cuff and holds it in place.


And maybe not many men wear cuff links nowadays in the US - but the numbers seem to be increasing in the UK. I've made a few pairs before - and they've all sold in England. It seems that it is becoming more popular with younger guys there, who are wearing them on everyday shirts rather than just formal shirts....

But another angle I'd love to get moving is cuff links for women. I made some women's cuff links for a commission - and just thought it was a great idea. You can buy ladies blouses with cuffs for cuff links now - or you could even adapt a blouse/shirt you already have.


This pair is quite subdued in design. As it was my first pair with the hinge back, I kept it simple - sort of just about what my husband could cope with wearing. He does like plain! Nothing flashy for him! But now I like how these have turned out - so the field is open....so long as I can find people who want to wear cuff links!!!


So get out there! Get the man in your life to wear French cuff shirts - or you wear them instead and adorn yourselves with cuff links! Happy to do commissions. Let's start a cuff link movement!

High Vantage point

Look who's got a good vantage point today perched on top of our big willow tree! It's a great blue heron. He must have good eye sight if he's looking for frogs from there!!

"Remember the little things" bracelet in Bead Dreams new publication

My "remember the little things" bracelet is shown in a new publication put out by Bead and Button Magazine that shows all the winners in this year's Bead Dreams 2009 competition.


The publication is available as a pdf download from their website for a small charge or free of charge if you are subscriber. Look in the "metal clay" section to see my bracelet.


To see the bracelet in more detail, click on the photo above or check this previous blog post and remind yourself of the little things that should be part of each day. Gosh, those birdies are busy!

Bird's nest in the vines

We've found a couple of birds' nests in our grape vines this weekend - had never seen any before actually in the vines. Good job the birds left this first one, as it is now full of grapes! No room for birds!


The second one we found is just adorable and has a tiny little egg in it. When I first saw it, I wondered if the egg was actually a grape as it is exactly the same size as our grapes are right now - but I picked it up and it is definitely an egg - but an unhatched and unsuccessful egg.


The egg has a really delicate blue hint to it and so we tried to figure out what bird had built the nest and laid the egg.


As you can see the nest is very cup shaped so with this bit on info and knowing it was a tiny bird from the size of the egg and that one we see in and around the vineyard....we finally figured that it is an American Goldfinch nest. We often see the goldfinches in the garden and they frequently come and bathe in our fountain.


The American Goldfinches make nests that are so dense and thick that they can actually hold water - and in some places, it has been known that baby goldfinches can actually drown in their nests after heavy rainfalls, as the nest is so well made! Amazing that a tiny bird like that can create something water-tight from a few twigs. I also found out they are known as "wild canaries". Of course!


Here's a snippet of the goldfinch's song, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Anyhow - it's lovely to see the eggs and nests and grapes all together.....And maybe only birds that lay eggs the size of grapes build nests in grape vines? Good camouflage....?

Sunday's spotlight - Let it snow, let it snow!

By guest blogger Pete.

You can tell that all the school children are on holiday. At the beginning of this month we had a really hot spell. I remember it well. It was the time Pam and I took week's break in Suffolk. Everyone began to think that the weather forecasters' promise of August bringing barbecue weather was right on the mark.


Now, as I write August begins on Saturday and so we are in the last days of July. Guess what! Yesterday it rained "cats and dog" all day. My mother-in-law would have said that it rained " stair rods". When it wasn't just raining we had hailstones thrown in for good measure. We have a flat roofed conservatory added onto our home and sitting out there in the rain and hail is quite deafening.

Okay!. I know it's not August yet (as I write this..)....however the aforementioned forecasters on T.V are getting increasingly redder in the face everyday. One of today's tabloids asked where the barbecue weather promised had got to. We had a workman (I use the word lightly!) come to us yesterday to fix something outside the conservatory . No. I didn't feel sorry for him having to work outside in the rain. He was an awkward, miserable, unhelpful,critical, arrogant, etc, etc, specimen. Just the sort of chap you'd like to represent your company -if you've got one! I suggested to him that he cheer up - after all he could be in Skegness with 5 young children staying in a"Bed and Breakfast".


I don't think it can be much worse than having children to entertain in Skegness when it rains UNLESS it is having children to entertain in Mablethorpe (a few miles up the coast) when it's raining. When our daughters were MUCH younger than they are now we, not knowing what Mablethorpe was like, booked a week's self catering holiday there. On arrival we discovered that the flat we had rented covered the ground floor (1st floor) and the 3rd floor!

When the children went to bed we either had to go to bed as well or take it in regular turns to climb two flights of stairs to check on them. I've never been back to Mablethorpe for more that two hours since that time. The town smelled of a mixture of fish and chips with seaside rock thrown in for good measure. The main street through the town was covered in fish and chip paper "to boot". If there is one good thing about Mablethorpe it is its beach. It's absolutely perfect for kite flying and, on a hot day, great for children of all ages.


Skegness is Lincolnshire's primary holiday seaside resort. Folk from many parts of the Midlands come here in the summer for a week or two. The promenade is looking more than a little battle weary now. Over the past four years or so there have been 2 very bad fires, which destroyed some of the seaside front buildings. Ambitious plans are being submitted to renovate the area but if the present rate of progress is maintained then 5 year olds now will be 25 before it is finished.


We pay an annual visit to Skegness - in January. On a cold dry day there is something great in taking a brisk walk along the beach followed by a hot meal before the journey home.
Keep on hoping for the sun in the UK. It's all around us and must pay a return visit soon.

Life's a hoot! - owl necklace

We came home the other night - around 7.30pm so still light - and a big bird flew over the car as we came through the gate. I guessed it was an owl, but then he perched on one of the electricity poles and it was clear to see it was a great horned owl. It was so great to see him and be able to watch him for a while.

We drove into the garage and I quickly picked up my camera - but when I went back out to take his photo, he flew away. Just a handsome looking bird though. The photo is courtesy AP. Next time, I'll get one!



We sometimes hear them hooting at night time in the woods - such a distinctive sound - but this wonderful creature just sat and looked down at us. Here's what they sound like:




Now of course, this sighting meant I had to make an owl! So here is "life's a hoot" - he is a small great horned owl! Either a charm or for a necklace. I want to make a bigger one now.....