Catching up

I can't believe it has been two months since my last blog, and it wasn't even about beads.  To tell the truth, I was not feeling too creative this winter. Have been focusing on other things.  I had a birthday in January and had to get a new driver's license, with a new picture. I am no raving beauty, but that pix was HORRIBLE!   I am getting older, and with age comes certain changes in the body ... that I know I have to deal with.  And I have not been dealing with the changes too well.   However, that picture acted as a catalyst.

     I hauled our butts down to weight watchers the day after my birthday ... have been tracking and eating right now for the last several months.  Right away I noticed that I have more energy and some of the aches are gone.  I have lost 9 pounds and my hubby a bit over 20.  Sometimes it doesn't seem fair that he is losing it so fast, but he pointed out that he has a lot more to lose than I do.  He is also becoming a walking champ.  We bought fitbits, and he is determined to get in his 10,000 steps a day.  He has gone from couch potato to someone who is searching the Internet for walking trails. His best find is a lovely 2.5 mile trail in Des Moines that ends at the waterfront. An easy walk for me as it is mostly downhill.  I even bought a good pair of walking shoes!

Des Moines trail in February. Dig that blue sky

Des Moines Trail

Pier at Des Moines Waterfront

View at Des Moines Waterfront.  Vashon Island in the distance.

Catification

You know you have too many cats when you download 250 pictures from your camera, and they are ALL pix of your cats.

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to "Too Many Cats" ... ?

Quinn trying to find some space at the foot of the bed

How many cats can fit in one laundry basket?

Two is decidedly more comfortable.

Newest Underfeet (Domino and Beaker) helping Dad pay the bills.

Zinger and Quinn vying for a bit of winter sun.

Back Yard View

Had to share.

We are currently looking for a new house.  Today's trip took us to Ocean Shores, Washington.  While looking at a possible new home, I happened to look out the back window and saw this:

Apparently the deer are very tame and wander freely all over the town.  We saw more as we were leaving.
     If we get a home there, I will have to figure out how to upcycle deer poop.  I once saw paper that was made from recycled Elephant poo .... I wonder .............

Changes in the future?

There are changes afoot at the Penguin Float.  I have never been entirely happy with my house.  I outgrew it quickly, once I started exploring my artistic side.  What started as a tiny hobby in the corner of the garage is threatening to take over the entire house.  To be honest, it probably would have if Lord Opuson did not have such a strong foot.  As it is, I have a "studio" ( once was the second bedroom) full of shelves crammed with my "must have" art paraphernalia. And what does not fit on the shelves, has found a "temporary" home on the floor.
    And I have expanded into the bed room.  My excuse is that there is not enough light in the studio to bead (and there really isn't). I have 3 full shelves of books, 12 shoe boxes of beads (Opuson counted them this morning) and 3 tool cases of findings stacked against the wall at the foot of the bed.

I want to start exploring enameling and PMC, not to mention fused glass.  I have yet to use the kiln I won over a year ago - no real place to set up.

I NEED MORE ROOM.

OK, maybe need is a little too strong a word.  I would like more room. 
I am also looking at retirement in the not to distant future - several years away, but still needs to be planned for.
I do not want to retire in my current house.  So, this morning we visited the bank to start the whole process.  House hunting will begin in earnest. just have to decide WHERE I want to live.  Since I will no longer be tied to a job that limits my living area, the possibilities are wide open.  I am finally getting excited about retirement. 
   Of course, this means that I will probably not be able to pursue any creative outlets once we start the process in earnest.  Not only a new home to fix up, but we have major work to do here to get it ready to sell.  Busy times ahead.

Quinn's opinion of moving. 

What's in a name?

Has anyone read Sage Bray's article in the latest issue of  "The Polymer Arts" Magazine?  The article about naming your work, that is.  Sage is a very prolific writer, so there are many articles she has authored.
    She makes several very valid points about the subject.  I know that as an artist, this is something that I should be doing .... but it is HARD. I tried doing it for some time back, and finally gave up as I ran out of descriptive words.
    Sage supplied some good advice on how to come up with names, so I proceeded to give them a try as I have been struggling to find a suitable word to call my newest obsession.  "Tile" earrings is really not a good name.  Tiles are more flat, these are shaped like little bricks (thank you, word association).
  The light bulb appeared over my head - hence "Bricka" Earrings are born.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks at work and around the domicile, so I have only created a few Bricka's.  Luckily this technique caters itself to working 10 minutes here and there .... there are a lot of steps that need drying time between them

Latest pictures also include a prop - trying to add a bit of interest to my pretty bla photos.  I have noticed that most of the pictures I pin on Pinterest have interesting backgrounds.

4 Hears

Waiting for Spring 

Full Circle

Poppy 

Morning Cuppa

Dots and Hearts

Sealed with xoxox

My Underfeet make me Smile

This is the first time this has happened, or at least it is the first time I have seen it happen.  All 5 Underfeet were lined up at the bottom of the bed, with no hissing or growling, scratching or clawing. It was totally uncanny.
   Amber has been getting a "calming down" med in her food for a while now, and we believe that was a major contributor to the situation. Normally they are busy trying to push each other out of the way to be closer to daddy (they LOVE Lord Opuson) - maybe because he is cuddlier than mommy.

From Left to Right: Amber, Zinger, Quinn, Tofur, and Rue
 (hubbie's foot thrown in free of charge)

More ear tiles

Like I said in my last post, I had more mini domino tiles in process.
This time I glued bigger rhinestones to the side holes. These guys had better silver backings than the ones I previously used.  You can see them reflect the light  in this collage.