Sunday, July 27, 2008

Thunderstorms, Beads and Banana Peppers

"Partly cloudy with a 30% chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s with a heat index over 100. High UV index."

Pretty much our daily standard from the weather guys. Ahhh... summer at the Gulf. This is the time of year I don't feel guilty at all about staying inside on what appears to be a pretty day. I went out a little while ago to let little red dog stretch her legs and all she wanted to do was flop down in the sun and pant. Sometimes I wonder about her choices. I stayed out there about 10 minutes and couldn't breathe for the humidity - so back in I came. By the way, I don't recommend sitting down on a metal mesh bench in the backyard in July when you are wearing shorts. Enough said. Now the thunder is starting to roll and the sky to the north is going dark gray. Here comes that 30%.

The vegetable garden seems to be having a hot weather rally. I've gotten six banana peppers this week and there are at least half a dozen green bell peppers almost ready. I'd like to leave them until they turn red but I don't think the birds will let me. Who'd have thought mockingbirds liked bell peppers? The Blue Lake beans were starting to fade, so I pulled them up and planted a couple dozen more seed-beans. Barring unforeseen natural events (I'm not even going to think the H word), I should have fresh green beans again in September.
Speaking of the H word, taller half was safe and sound at a dock somewhere in western Louisiana when Dolly started kicking up the Gulf. So, naturally, the company decides to send them to Galveston/Houston to the dry docks. He said it was a little rough on the way over there - duh, but that the waves had calmed down by the next day. Meanwhile my car is sitting in East Armpit, Louisiana at a dock at the end of a dirt road somewhere near the Gulf around Atchafalaya Bay. Let's all hope it is safe from raccoons and squalls. Then again, I could use a new car...

Last week I cleaned up the workroom, so today I decided to mess it up again. As usual, my eyes were bigger then my storage capacity when I placed my last order with Fire Mountain. I bought these really nice fancy marble beads, Russian serpentine beads and red jasper discs inscribed with Chinese characters. The marble has colors ranging from ivory to red-brown and each bead is pretty heavy so I'll probably use them as focal beads instead of making a necklace out of several at one time. Combining them with freshwater pearls - I have some in a soft mauve and some peach color - will make a cool necklace. A little primitive, a little refined. I thought about a bracelet, but it would be very clunky to wear and probably smash anything it came into contact with. I am impressed by the look of the Russian serpentine. I have never seen in it except in photographs. It really does have the look of snakeskin. Not for sure yet what I'll make with them - the weight is good, so necklaces, bracelets and earrings are all a possibility. For a contrast, I 'm going to try pairing them with jet black crystals. I love the red jasper discs. Supposedly the characters are the Chinese symbols for Life, Longevity, Luck, etc. I think maybe I'll check that out before wearing anything I make with them. I'd hate to be walking around cursing in Chinese.

2 comments:

Lemon Shortbread said...

Ooh those pink beads are so pretty! Oh and the chinese characters the top left one is longeivity, the other 2 can be used together to form 'love' or if just using one of them alone, the bottom left one is 'love' and the other is 'love relationship/kinship'.

Julie said...

Thanks for the translations Lemon Shortbread! Now I can quit worrying.