Sick Dog

Coltrane and his hedgie

I've been absent from everything for over a week because Coltrane is sick.  To make a longish story short, our local vet did not know what was wrong with him and made an appointment for us at The University of Florida Vet School's Small Animal Hospital.  We were in Gainesville, Florida last Wednesday and Thursday.  Coltrane was seen by a neurologist and got every possible test from CT scans to MRI's to a spinal tap.  I think my dog got more attentive care than I have ever received. 

He has some as yet unknown brain disease.  It may be an infection or it may be inflammatory/autoimmune.  The initial results from the spinal tap did not reveal the cause so we are waiting for more results this coming week.  Right now he is being treated for another possibility - thiamine deficiency.

The little guy is in sorry shape, but we have had some glimmers of hope.  Yesterday he played with us.  He had no interest or even enough balance and awareness to do this all week.  I have a couple little dreams - to see Coltrane play with his toys again and to take him for a well-visit to the UF vet school.  Still, some of the results we are waiting for could be deadly.  My mom put it well when she said, "it is kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop as you do the best with the shoe you have."

La Primavera

I have been reading and grading and driving back and forth to work, and during this time spring has sprung.  There were quite a few false starts this year.  The pine pollen went crazy with the balmy temps in January and the hard freezes continued all the way until just recently. 

what is this?

Now, however, I think the season is flowing out across the fields as it was intended to be.  We have had beautiful warm days reaching into the 80's in the afternoons and chilly mornings and nights.  The last of the camellias still in bloom and azaleas have opened.  Any day the clematis growing on a trellis in the courtyard will have salad plate size blooms.  The yellow red roses, chives, mint, oregano, and thyme are going full strength.  I saw a gerbera daisy too, but they seem to come and go all year whenever they please.

it takes a village

I have a little family of Carolina wrens living on the porch.  The parents built a next of pine straw with a bit of corgi hair for comfort.  They planted themselves on the highest of the corner shelves behind an ugly menorah that is composed of nine rotund people standing hip to hip and holding up their arms.  When the eggs hatched I could hear the babies peeping.  For a few days I watched two parents fly in and out of the porch with insects.  Finally curiosity got the better of me and I dragged a chair over to peek into the nest.  The babies were not alone.  I don't know whether the big bird in the nest or I was more shocked at the moment of discovery.   The next day I got my camera and invaded the bird space again.  This time the babies were unattended and I got some pictures of the four babies with their mouths gaping.  They even peeped at me as if I might have some tasty morsels for them.

feed me

hello babies

Dutch treat

Take a look at the kit my husband bought for my Valentine's Day gift.  This is what I'm working on right now.

from Petersen Beadwear

This gorgeous Sweet Pea Butterfly necklace is a kit from Huib Petersen.  Petersen is one of the handful of men I've run across who are working in beadweaving.  And he is also originally from the Netherlands where I lived for a year as an exchange student, and from where my paternal grandmother's family comes.  It is a small country, but throughout the last 30 years I've made an amazing number of Dutch connections in all facets of my life. But that is another story.

For a long time I felt that making pieces from kits was somehow "cheating."  Then I realized that it was really more like taking a workshop via paper.  Here I am in little Quitman, Georgia.  Where the Georgia governor may come to toss a skillet, but few workshops are held anywhere near here.  I've looked into driving four hours to Atlanta, but they always seem to fall on a day when I absolutely cannot miss work or have to be some place else.

I had such a great time and learned so much from making the Gingko Leaf Necklace by Diane Fitzgerald that I thought I would give another kit a try.  Even if you aren't interested in buying a kit, take a look at all the flora and fauna in Petersen's work.  It is really spectacular.  Petersen also has his Daisy Chain necklace in the April 2012 Bead & Button.

Think Spring Earrings: pink and bronze

sterling silver hand forged earwires, sari silk, white cinnabar, copper, bronze Japanese seed beads

More earrings with Russian leaves.  We had a killer storm yesterday so these photos were taken inside.  You may be able to catch a little of the pinky-red glow that the bronze beads give off.  They look great in the light. I'm starting to like repeating designs.  I have another pair with white cinnabar and deep red Delica leaves.

Cherry Blossom Cuff

The peach blossoms are in full swing here in South Georgia.  Although the farmers were wishing for at least 70 more chill hours to keep them from blossoming too early, there is no fighting with Mother Nature.  The Japanese magnolias have finished, but the camellias keep on going and going.  This week the first azaleas popped open in mass (a few wayward blooms have been opening here and there since January).  Soon the yard will be a riot of spring color. And of course I continue stitching flowers and more flowers.

no matter what I did I could not get the text I added to the collage to appear here

This lovely pattern is from Lorelai's Beads Shop.  She also has a blog, and a DeWanda shop.  There are a few more patterns in the DeWanda shop than in the Etsy shop so you might want to check out both.  I actually purchased from the DeWanda shop because I found it first.  

I changed the colors in the pattern slightly from what the original suggested.  The background was to be a crystal ab, but I wanted an opaque background to I used opaque light gold (DB335).  Most of the colors in the flower I also switched out - trading transparent for opaque - so that the flowers would stand out against the background.  But a glance at the pattern and you see that the overall effect is not much different.

sayuri collection cherry blossom peyote pattern

I took the picture earlier this week on a day when the sun was actually shining and we had no rain.  Since then I've finished the toggles.  I wanted to put some great textured polished stone buttons on to close the cuff.  They were fairly small and mimicked the texture of bark, but I dropped one on the stone floor in the kitchen and it broke.  I did have more, but I started thinking about how many times I drop jewelry and decided that toggles were safer. 

I've also made earrings with white cinnabar, sari silk, and a red Russian leaf.  These are very similar to Think Spring.  Every time wear these I get asked to make another pair.  I'd better get stitching because I've got my eye on some fancy schmancy gemstone beads.  

Songbeads: a plea to blogger bloggers everywhere

Songbeads: a plea to blogger bloggers everywhere

source

Please read Rebecca's message [link above] and turn off your captcha codes. I want to read and comment on your blogs, but I've been having a hard time proving I'm not a robot!

Suburban Girl Design Team Seeks New Members

Suburban Girl Studio is looking for three more design team members.  The first challenge will be using this great orange ceramic blossom, Bloom & Grow.  Click the link below to read about the challenge and sign up.

Suburban Girl Design Team Seeks New Members