Solstice, and Huge Thanks

Moth on Gaillardia, my backyard garden, June 2010

(Never forget this.)

First, I must offer grateful and humble thanks to the many Bead Soup Party visitors who have left such wonderful comments about the jewelry I showed in my previous post. Major credit goes to Bead Soup partner Wanda, whose gorgeous selection of ceramic and other beads and that amazing copper focal provided the artistic "bones" of the piece. I forgot to take pictures of Wanda's beads before I started, and I also forgot to mention that Wanda had also sent me a beautiful blue agate slice... Not surprisingly that was the first piece Maggie (my daughter) snatched from the box, and I wirewrapped it for her so she could put it on her... ornament? She says it's not a necklace; in any case, I'll take pictures of what she created with Wanda's other beads and post those tomorrow.

Thanks to this online gathering, I'm feeling the urge to make jewelry more often lately, so this blog might actually become more balanced again! (I might even pull my glass out and put together some mosaics, too... we'll see...) I'm a total goner with the photography, though; it was my first true love and I'm so happy to be able to do it again (I was finally able to replace my trusty Konica-Minolta point-and-shoot with its tragically scratched lens). Of the various things I do, photography seems to come most naturally; perhaps it's because I've been doing it for 16 years, but it also... fits. I've also learned, however, that stretching and challenging and pushing oneself to try new things is a great growing experience; this Bead Soup Party has really shown me that, and I'm so happy to be part of it. We have all week to see everyone's amazing creations; go here to see the participants -- talk about awesome talent and creativity -- and show them all some love!

I bid you all a very good solstice and a wonderful summer. I hardly celebrated today; I drove my dad to Albuquerque so we could visit my mom in the hospital. She'll be there all week, probably, but we're hoping the docs and nurses get her into good shape to come home and hang out with us and the kids for some summertime fun next week. She's starting a new round of chemo tomorrow; the news this morning was not good, but it moderated as the day went on and there are still a few options to try. Just another reminder to live as much in the moment as possible; "someday" really is now.