I Was Afraid This Would Happen

**Yawn** This is the best picture I could find of "boring".

I started this blog a few months ago under protest. My friend, Tina, said that my friends and customers would enjoy reading about my thoughts, my life and my jewelry making endeavors. I wondered who would want to read about my boring life, and how in the world would I ever come up with things to write about? I started out fine, telling you about my work and the co-op galleries and my lack of work and a weekend trip and other stuff as it came along. Now, it's happened. There's nothing to talk about. It's just the same-old-same-old.

I follow several blogs and get frustrated sometimes when my favorite people go for DAYS without blogging. Now I understand. There comes a point where there's just nothing. Nothing cool to take a picture of and show you... no new work to brag about... I'm even finding Facebook boring. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a blog break for awhile and not feel guilty about it. If there's something that you out there in blogsville want to know about me, leave a comment. I'll be back when something exciting happens.

Observations On Summer's Waning

I can feel the end of summer coming on. It was acutally chilly last night and I had to close my bedroom window. The garden looks tired, and I'm tired of dealing with it. I don't have too many things that bloom this time of year and all the flowers that are finished need to be dead-headed and cleaned up. The tomatoes blighted and the beans are finished. Everything looks over-grown. It will almost be a relief when the first frost comes (in as soon as a month from now) and I can cut everything back to the ground, spread out new mulch, and wait for the cycle to come around again.

The kids started public school over a week ago, and classes started at the University today. That always lends an air of finality to summer and causes a lull in tourism here. Business in the galleries slows down (which is not good considering that sales were not all that great during the summer this year). They'll be back in October to look at the leaves from perches on the ridges, and we'll have the usual Holiday rush. Then we all hibernate for the winter and nothing happens. Even though we have ski resorts here, the people that come to ski usually don't go shopping. They spend their money on lift tickets, hotels and food. Usually this time of year makes me sad because I LOVE summer. But this year it doesn't seem so bad. I'm actually looking forward to the seasonal changes coming up.

I've noticed that I'm becoming a person who doesn't get so riled up about things that I used to be passionate about. I just don't want to deal with the drama any more and my life is so much smoother and happier since I decided to let go of some things. (Go figure!) There are just too many important things to concentrate on and the small stuff gets in the way. This recession as caused me to re-think a lot of things and to do without some things. I realized that I really don't miss them. I think one reason that our co-op gallery members get along so well is that the majority of us believe that things are running smoothly and no one wants to muddy the waters. It's obvious that the ones who want to change things, or complain, haven't embraced the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" attitude. And, if enough of us want to make a change, I can go with the flow. No more digging in my heels and being obstinate. It doesn't sound good to say that "I just don't care", but that's the way it is sometimes. I find myself saying "whatever", but not with the eye rolls that teenagers do when using that statement. Is that stupid, or am I finally getting older and wiser?

Now I'm Underwhelmed

Last week I reported that I had way too much to do and I was feeling overwhelmed. Well, it just goes to show you that, with time, all things get better. I spent the next few days plodding through that list of things to do and finally finished almost everything. I even managed to cook the green bean dish and enjoy my time at Watauga Lake with my friends. It's always so relaxing and I love riding on Carlos' boat! And, the things that remain on the list will get done eventually.

This is the new design I was excited about. Can you guess what it is? Hint: Anyone who listened to music before it was all on CDs might recognize it. It was made out of plastic. Look at the one below, and maybe the hole in the middle will help you figure it out.

Leave me a comment if you know what it is.

Overwhelmed and Frustrated

My non-artist friends and family think that my lifestyle consists of playing around in my studio all day and leisurly going through life. Not quite sipping tea and eating bon-bons, but close. I wish! Here's the list of things I have to do in the next couple of days:

1. Load up the stinky trash and recycling stuff and take it to the dump/recycling place.

2. Unload the dishwasher, re-load it with the stuff in the sink and run it again.

3. Do a bunch of paperwork/bookkeeping.

4. Get 6 or 7 pieces of jewelry ready to replace what one of my galleries sold last month.

5. Email a customer about a check that she says has been in the mail for two weeks that I still don't have.

6. Email a customer about a repair of a beaded necklace that I made over 10 years ago.

7. Figure out what to cook for a covered dish thing this weekend.

8. Go to the grocery store and buy the stuff for the covered dish thing. (Which is a big deal, because I live 10 miles from the nearest store -- not like running down the street. And, the college students are moving back in this weekend, so there's no such thing as a quick trip to the store.)

9. Cook the covered dish thing. And I don't like to cook.

10. Place an order for supplies that I've been putting off hoping that silver prices would come down some, but now I'm out of things that are critical.

11. Take photos of new work.

12. Update my Etsy site with new work.

13. Pull the almost foot-high weeds in my garden.

14. Pick green beans before they go to seed. (Hey! I'll make something with green beans for the covered dish thing!)

15. Make a Doctor appointment so I can get my prescription refilled.

16. Order some business cards. I'm out of them, too. But, I have to take the pictures first.

17. Clean the cat litter box. (Why won't he go outside?)

18. Vacuum the carpet before it turns to compost, and generally tidy up my house.

19. Etc. etc. etc.

But, what I'd really like to be doing is working on a new design I've thought of. I can't get it out of my head, but I feel guilty letting my long to-do list wait any longer. Some of you will recognize the shape - it depends on if you're as old as I am, or not. Maybe later this afternoon. At least I got the blog updated! Thank God it's not always like this.

Etsy Treasury Featuring My Sunflower Necklace

Lori Magno created a lovely Etsy Treasury called "Will It Go Round In Circles?" and featured my fine silver sunflower necklace. Check it out!

Step Right Up... Get Your Kate McKinnon Stuff Here!

Kate McKinnon, an extremely talented artist and author is in the process of downsizing and, while culling through her things, has started what she calls the "Soul Clearing Sale. It's divided into two sections: Components, Materials and Collectible Beads and Jewelry, Kits and Classes. She's giving away, selling or trading things that she no longer needs or wants. New work will be added every day until the sale ends on August 20. Here are a couple of the things she's put up for sale so far:

Fine Silver Stacking Ring Set - $50.00

Freeform Ring with Two Delights $35.00

So, let's go shopping and help her in her quest to live smaller!

Whew!

It's hot. This is one of the few days each year that I wish I had air conditioning. It's 87 degrees both outside and inside, which is really hot for this part of the world. I guess I shouldn't complain too much, since the summer so far has been extremely pleasant, and I know there are a lot of people out there that have it way worse. (Texas, for example.) I guess I'm either a wimp, or it's all relative. I just don't handle the heat very well. Makes me sleepy.... I think I'll go lay on the couch under the ceiling fan... *yawn*