Excessive Summer Heat and a Passed Out Cat

It's been extremely hot here this past month. Triple digits for days in a row. I know that it was just the Dog Days of Summer, but this is unusual. We've been breaking records left and right.

I've been spending a lot of time indoors sorting beads and taking pictures of beads. And counting beads and listing beads. I've even been dreaming in beads ~ 1000 pixel squares of beads.

Althea's been doing what a cat should be doing to help pass the Dog Days of Summer. Sleeping everywhere and anywhere she can squeeze or sneak into. As my mom used to say "She's living the life of Riley".

Until next time.....

BlackStar Times Two

So, today I got around to opening my second Etsy shop. I've been toying with the idea since V2. My second shop is named BlackStar Beads and it's strictly for deStash of my overload of vintage beads, findings and costume jewelry parts. I'm listing items slowly but surely. It's a strange feeling; having two shops. I've been selling some of my deStash in my original shop, but wasn't happy with the arrangement. Thus the change. Only problem is, I miss the cat. She's running the jewelry shop. Hope she can handle it. Stop by and say hi: http://www.blackstarbeads.etsy.com. Until next time.....

For the Love of Wood

I have always been in love with wood ~ trees, beads, furniture, doors, window, trim, siding, barns, firewood......you get the picture.

I've spent a good part of my life living in the woods. I find comfort being surrounded by trees- listening to the wind blow through the pines or watching the leaves turn a bright orange in the fall. I just couldn't imagine my life without trees in it. My farm was in a holler, down the creek from Kelly Holler:*Kelly Holler is in middle Tennessee, once owned by Miss Kelly. She was different than most locals in that part of the country. She made moonshine. She birthed babies. She liked hippies. She was a wonderful woman. But when I went past her house, in the dark, alone, for some reason I ran through the dense woods mangled with knotted grapevine. This necklace reminds me of Kelly Holler. It can be found in my Etsy shop.*

Our land at Crystal Lake is on the top of a mountain. We have a small, spring fed, ice cold lake in the middle of 17 acres of trees. Chestnut oaks grow up on the mountain. They are huge beautiful trees with giant arms - perfect for hanging a porch swing. Their color in the fall is breathtaking. When I zip open the tent on a crisp autumn morning and the sun is just starting to peak over the treeline, the color of those trees is blinding.
Autumn is just around the corner. It won't be long until I will be sitting next to the campfire, smelling the smoke from the firewood of the fallen trees and gazing upon the biggest and brightest trees in Tennessee. Until next time.....

Chiggers

I have my first batch of chigger bites for the summer. If you've ever had them, then you know how itchy I am. That's OK though. I'm not complaining. We went down to Crystal Lake for a couple of days. I knew that I would come home with them. At least I didn't bring ticks back too.

I love that place and can't wait until I can live up on that mountain permanently. Until next time.....

Christmas in July

Prompted by Sunday Avatar Day on Etsy, I decided to give it one more try. I bought these antlers two years ago because I had plans of making a holiday card with the new cat's picture on it. Well, Althea would not cooperate. When she did leave the antlers on long enough for me to get a picture, she looked pissed as hell. Not exactly what I was looking for.

But yesterday, while she was passed out cold on a hot summer's day, I was able to get a shot of her with them on before she woke up enough to figure out what was going on.

Having Althea in the house is like having Christmas every day. Thirteen years ago today, we had to say goodbye to #1. #1 was a long haired, white cat too. But that's where the similarity ended. She was a country cat. She was independent and she loved fresh corn. She used to love corn season. I'd shuck an ear for me and one for her and we'd both sit in the shade and eat. This week I'll be harvesting corn. Somewhere in that cornfield, I hope to see the ghost of a cat.

Until next time......