Slacking ...

I have just realized that I haven't done a blog post since before I went on vacation.  Oops... I'd like to say I've been busy working hard since I got back, but I've also been visiting with friends, both new and old but newly found.

Vacation was a very restful week on Prince Edward Island, which is beautiful and quiet - just what I needed.  Lots of farmland (with some very tame foxes) and gorgeous beaches with the coolest looking rocks.  I even found some sea glass.  I did have a brief encounter with the Canadian health care system, which was brief and relatively inexpensive and painless.  I have no complaints there and the out of pocket expenses were probably not much more than I would spend here with copays and deductibles.

I got to hear a lot of people speaking French and even listened to a bit of French radio.  I'm pleased to say that I understood a good part of it.  Unfortunately, I chickened out and didn't dare to speak French to the family in the camper right behind us.  I spent a lot of time just reading (Under the Dome by Stephen King, which I highly recommend - the best I've read by him in a long time).

They have lots of wind turbines (not windmills as my son informed me - they are not grinding anything).  There has been a lot of talk about wind farms here so I was quite curious.  These things are absolutely huge and there are several wind farms on PEI.  We saw one that had at least 50 turbines.

I can honestly say that I found them graceful in the way they turned and I didn't think they took away from the beautiful vistas at all.   At the large wind farm, we got out and listened, because there has been lots of talk around here about how noisy they are.  To me, they sounded much like wind in the trees with an occasional mechanical humming - much less loud than the traffic on the road in front of my house.  I know there are some that will disagree with me, but I didn't see any problem at all with them.

And now back to work.  Here's a sneak peek at what's on my bench right now.  I have 48 grams of clay in various forms drying right now, including pieces for some more sea urchin stuff and some sand dollar pieces as well.  Willow pendants have been selling well so I am making a couple more of those.  I don't have very many bracelets in inventory right now, so I have plans for some.  I hope to work on some copper clay this weekend, but I also may be visiting with some friends.  I haven't spent time with friends in so long and it's delightful to have a bit of a social life again.  Also, I have just ordered some new bronze clay which I am excited to try.  Hopefully, I will have some finished projects to post soon, but I also have some socializing to do.  You know what they say about all work and no play...

Back and Forward

This past weekend I had a phenomenal time at the Belfast Arts in the Park.  On Saturday it rained for a bit in the afternoon but it didn't stop the people from coming out.  Sunday was a different story.  It rained all day, but I was surprised at the number of people who ventured out anyway.

I changed my booth setup a bit, removing a couple of tables and using some old louvered closet doors as makeshift walls on which I hung flat neckforms.  I was very pleased with the look.  The "wall" contained my beaded jewelry and the tables my PMC and silver pieces.

This week, I will be taking some much needed time off.  I will be leaving my Etsy shop open for browsing and purchasing but items won't be shipped until July 22.  Have a wonderful week.  I will leave you here with a picture of Daisy, the very cute and well behaved dog who belonged to the booth directly behind me (in fact, in the photos of my booth she is asleep under the umbrella that is under the tree).