Odds and ends

Recently a beadweaver out there in bloglandia wrote about copper lined light amethyst beads.  They are also one of my favorites.  I thought that the Czech hank I bought was just copper lined crystal AB and I have not been able to track them down again, but this tidbit of info has given me hope.  Here is a little sample of a corset stitch (from Kate McKinnon - you can find a link to directions for a cuff made with this stitch on her blog.) using my favs with silver 15/0 one-cuts.

The pollen is so thick you can taste it.  I'm desperately waiting for rain to clear the air.  If you have never been in a pine forest in the spring, it is a messy place.  I can stand outside and watch the pollen spewing from the pine trees.  It is as if they have a misting attachment.  One of the trees near the front of the house is home to a huge and very active beehive.  Every year they go crazy at this time; the bees go into hyperdrive and it really is amazing how loud they are as they fly about.  I wonder what pine honey tastes like.

We back up to acres and acres of woods and swamp

After I took this picture I painted the front door.  To the right of the house you can see they entrance to the courtyard - brick pillars topped by balls.  This is where I have taken many necklace pictures.  Bead Soup blog hoppers frequently commented that they liked the antique bust I used.  Well, it wasn't a bust, it was the top to the column.

and the bees

Yesterday after I took pictures of the Medina Bird, I took some photos of the yard.  The camellias are still blooming, the azaleas have gone crazy, and the wisteria is in full bloom.  I love the wisteria when it is flowering, but really it is a weed here in the yard.  We spend hours x 100 trying to get it out of the other shrubs and bushes.  Yet for a few brief weeks it is lovely.

I found a bee busy pollinating the azaleas.  Papi swears that the azaleas change colors each year, but after eight years I am not convinced.  Who really knows what the bees do because the pollen is so thick here that car washes advertise: Is your car really yellow?  You can see some of the powdery film still on the leaves below, but that is really nothing because it is what is left after a day of torrential downpours.