Beading

My bead friend Judith from Beadline (www.beadline.com) came through town this weekend and we beaded while Mark painted. Judith worked on this cuff that has one side with stretch and also on her crochet necklace using DMC Metallic threads.

I worked on Pearls by the Sea by Bev Herman of No Easy Beads (www.noeasybeads.com) and on a cuff bracelet based on the one in Bead and Button in Feburary or March.

I've decided to add a 6th week to my rotation - beading. Every 6th week I get to bead and not be guilty about being off rotation ;)

Sunroom

Mark spent his weekend working on the sunroom. Here are some pictures. The ceiling is a pastel pink color and the walls are a little lighter than they look in the pictures.

This is the window treatment - paper pleated shades - less than $5 each which was what we needed for the room with 9 windows.

This is a wall niche - we took out the fire traps (aka wall heaters) and built niches there - the inside is painted metallic silver which picks up the floor at the right angle.

This is the front door. The step and knobs are also metallic silver.
The other wall niche.

On my Soapbox

OK, I rarely get on my soapbox here, but I'm going to do it now.

(AHEM)

If you have pets, PLEASE spay or neuter them! Unless you are a responsible breeder, there is NO reason to keep them "intact". Seriously. A heat cycle does not calm down a female anything. Dogs don't need to get it out of their system. Just go ahead and have it done, ok? If you can't afford it, check with the humane society or the local animal shelters - often they have low or no cost programs.

If you have an abundance of feral animals near your home, please consider a catch/fix/release program. Contact your animal shelter or humane society again. The first step to solving a feral animal problem is to cut off the creation of further feral animals.

If you see a stray in your neighborhood and you can't take it in, FIND an animal shelter. Don't just let it wander around thinking somebody else will take care of it. You will wind up either (a) finding it dead in the road one day or (b) with a litter of stray animals, which may then turn into the feral animal problem I mentioned above.

NEVER bring an animal into your home without first having a vet check it out. Many diseases that spread between pets have NO VISABLE SIGN. Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling a stray animal.

So, what got me on my soapbox?

Peepers has been fixed. She is approximately 8 months old, and has already given birth to a litter of kittens. This made me sad, but it also made me angry. She's fine after her surgery, and will be going back to mom's house tonight. My mother is giving her a good home and lots of love.

OK - so it's been way too long

Things have been going very well and I love my new job!! I have been rotating through my projects approximately 10 hours at a time and will take progress pictures soon. I also should have some bead photos and sunroom photos after the long weekend. My friend Judith from http://www.beadline.com is coming to visit for two days and my husband is going to finish the sunroom painting while we bead. Good trade to me!

My latest pictures are of my mother's new kitten - Peepers. She's about 7 or 8 months old and is being given her shots and fixed today. She's so sweet and very ladylike. Oh, and quite photogenic!