New Neutral - mauve pink?

I was wearing this broad collar at the Bead Society meeting on Sunday and was surprised to have a couple of the members comment on it. They agreed that the mauvey, old tyme pink was sort of a neutral that could go with a lot of other colors. We shared it around and yes, it did look good with different colored outfits other than mine. Then I had a hard time getting it back as it is a comfortable necklace to wear and you tend to forget that you have it on.

It's a color that seems to show up quite frequently in my personal beadwork.
Here it is in bead crochet. Funny thing is that I keep saying that I don't like pink.

Elm Ave Update

I'm beginning to believe that this house is water witched.

The original drain system didn't leave us high and dry... one big rain and we had damp basement walls again. So back came the guys with the big equipment. They cut a hole in the floor and found lots of clay under the foundation. We now have another drain line and I have more lawn to rake out and get grass to grow. At least we're mainly in a sand hill and it's not hard digging.

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Something is moving forward. My son does great work. Both in taking things apart and putting them back together. What to do with a chimney foundation that could possibly still leak? Build a garden implement shed! Brilliant - it puts a roof over the old foundation and gives me a place to hang up my shovels. We'll also be replacing the nasty old composition siding with cedar shakes. At least this small part this year.

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Not too much inside progress as a month of keeping up with the ditch diggers, moving plants, putting them back, raking out yards of soil and re-planting grass has taken up a lot of time.

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Time is getting short if we're to get moved in before snow and time to leave for AZ. I'm also ready to get back to beading and the respite has left me ready to start creating again.

Portland Maine

It was raining yesterday and the work to the Elm Ave house was outside wall work. So we decided to run errands and ended up in Portland Maine on the waterfront. It's been a few years since I've been up there and the old charm has disappeared. It's been gentrified and is so upscale now. It was still a good afternoon to wander around.

Walked into one kitchen store and saw something that amazed me.... over 20 stainless containers of olive oil, vinegars and other oils.... all set up for tasting!

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Yes Mam, my innards are getting a bit rusty, I'll take a shot of that there extrey virgin oil over there!

In Bisbee AZ there is a telephone pole that has hundreds of acorns studding the pole. The Acorn woodpeckers use it as a storage pantry.

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In Maine I saw a pole with years of staples covering the surface. The urban use is for presenting information.

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How many years does it take to get this many staples on a telephone pole?

It's just such a neat graphic when you take the background away.

The sun is not out today, but the weather report says only a small chance of rain. I'm tired of being damp. So hopefully my son and helpers will be able to get the back kitchen wall rebuilt today.

Memory - it's lanyard!

Oh, to have the memory of a 7 yr old again ..... kids don't seem to forget anything. Especially if you tell them you will do something.

I woke up this morning with the right word for my paper lariats this morning. The word I should have been using is lanyard!

"Lanyard can also refer to Scoubidou, ( also called Gimp, Scoubi, Scoobie, Boondoggle, or Lanyard). It is a plaiting and knotting craft, originally aimed at children, which originated in France, where it became a fad in the late 1950s. Scoubidou-making is a popular pastime at summer camps for children, often employed to keep the children busy and occupied for hours."
(source: Wikipedia)

Yep... it was Girl Scout Camp and I was easily amused for hours in 1957 or 1958. I guess I'm making the square knot with my paper.