Grill Wrestling....Mosquitos on Parade....Sky Bubbles....

Hello all,

Best intentions to get back to my blog in a timely manner have gone by the wayside this month.  When you see all that I have to share with you this time, I think you'll understand. 

Thanks to all of you that took the time to leave your charming comments on my last post.  Much appreciated!

It goes without saying that my heart goes out to all who are suffering through this wicked weather and the aftermath.

It's been a busy three weeks, even more so than normal. You know when you don't hear much from me, that a, how is it you guys put it..."an epic post" is in store.  Hold on, here we go.......

Ever heard of Grill Wrestling?  Hmmm?  Not your usual Olympic sport?  Mr. Wonderful thought he'd give it a try.   

 

Yes, indeedy...

there he is trying to wrangle that grill out of the pool.

Why, you ask?

Because it jumped in there.

Or I should say, blew in there.

Hard to complain about that when just a few miles away,

 a tornado was devastating the town of Granbury.

Mr. Wonderful was complaining about the current (no joke)

as he tried to hold the grill.

Yes, I was laughing hysterically because

well, it was hysterical.

So there we are, late at night trying to lift the filled-with-water-

weighs-a-ton grill out of the still-too-cold-to-swim-pool in a raging current.

See, still funny!

 

Too bad the Mr.continues to insist on remaining faceless and nameless on my blog, eh?

Trust me, the look on his face was priceless.

 

and yes, he appreciated me grabbing the camera before jumping in to help.

 

So now that I've answered that question for you,

 what about mosquitoes on parade?  Eh? Eh?

 

Only in Texas....

 

 

 

 

another view of ick

 

 

 

 

ewwwwwwwww

 

Downtown Fort Worth.

We assume this was after being sprayed to try

and keep West Nile at bay.

 

or alien mosquitos.

not sure which.

 

Sky Bubbles? 

What are Sky Bubbles?

 

 

these are sky bubbles.....

 

 

 

And so it began.

This was our sky the day that the first of the Oklahoma City tornados hit.

Just 5 hours north, they were experiencing such a horrible nightmare.

It's amazing to me, what a difference a few hours can make.

I took these shots as the day progressed.

Yes, I am only showing you the highlights...

I have lots of very cool pictures of this sky..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one looks as if it's echoing the rooftops and treetops below.

 

 

 

 

Lightened up so you can see the texture

 

 

 

It's hard to see it in the photo here, but the clouds at the top of the picture,

were a glorious shade of Venetian Blue.

It was amazing.

 

And finally...

sunset

 

 

 

Mr. Wonderful said you guys wouldn't appreciate me showing

you all 379 pictures of the clouds,

but I think he's wrong.

 

Right?

 

 

We also had company.

If any of you have ever wondered who Melissa's Happy feet board is for

on my Pinterest...here's your answer....

 

 

 

 

Does this explain the unusual, er I mean wildly entertaining pins on there?

You bet it does!

 

 

And this picture explains all of the other pins on her board. 

You know the tasteful ones that aren't rat slippers.

 

Yup, she's a wonderful friend, so much fun and we had a blast!
So glad she came for a too-short-visit!
 

 

we saw these...

 

 

 

WOW!

 

 

 

WOWEE

 

 

inspired by these beauties, we went to our (now almost completely underwater)

 favorite fossil-hunting spot, where Melissa found a perfect little ammonite,

that just had to become a memento necklace for her...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some goodies from a previous road trip together in the mix too.

 

 

I got my garage work area mostly set up.

 

 

 

My fold forming vise and rolling mill

on the fantastic steel table Mr. Wonderful got for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Where I'll be soldering until the Mr. gets my ventilation system figured out

and installed.  Hahahaha as if that's going to happen!

as if soldering is going to happen out there in that Texas heat.

 

 

 

 

 

ok, so the lapidary area still needs some tweaking.

Lots of tweaking.

Notice the bags of fossils on the left just waiting to be prettified.

 

 

found the casting machine...

 

 

 

and promptly put it on a shelf.

 

 

 

 

Also found our dino egg.

we like to think so anyway.

It's not a concretion.  Not a geode.

So must be a dino egg.

Right guys?

 

 

 

 

 

and found my funky birch bark.

 

and Mr. Wonderful's very favorite thing

that I haul around and don't know what to do with...

 

 

 

 

 

The skeleton from our "skeleton tour" out west.

Surely I've mentioned this in a previous post....

Anyway, it grosses him out.

Maybe I should send it to Pipn who can carve amazement out of anything.

 

Even though it's hard to believe, I did manage to get a few things made too!

 

 

 

 

These are spoken for

 

Upcycled tin, torch fired enamel headpins, again on the simple drops.

 

 

 

 

 

a present for Melissa

 

 

 

 

 

Shocking as it is, the following things are already listed.

I KNOW!  What????

 

 

 

Gypsy Dreams

 

with Numinosity Kim's wonderful criffles,

stones and beads.

 

 

 

 

Calypso

(a custom order)

 

this was an alternate choice for her

 

 

 

 

 

Assymetrical Assemblage earrings

How's that for a catchy name?

 

 

 

 

 

Treasures of the Ancient Earth and Sea

 

Filled to the brim with Petra's Scorched Earth goodies

and fossils from one of our excursions, cleaned up and drilled.

 

 

 

 

Petra's wonderful crackled droplets on simple swirls

 

 

 

 

 

My Hand My Heart My Treasure, I Offer To You

 

Wee little hands holding some of our wee little fossils,

 hand dyed silk ribbon in delicious shades of Venetian blue and warm tan,

lustrous white keishi pearls in a hammered wire frame.

They remind me of a romantic adventure.

I love them. 

Told myself, well, they're a bit delicate, I should just keep them.

 

So if the warning about careful handling scares people off,

I will keep them.

After all, I tried to sell them. 

 

 

 

 

Rather delicate, so should be handled gently.....

These are not the earrings you want.....

Kidding.

(kind of)

As if I actually need another pair of earrings.

I don't.

 And therein, as the saying goes, lies the rub.

 

 

 

 

Turkoman Goes Modern series

These are a custom order.

Which then became these

 

 

 

 

so the loving couple part of the first pair will resurface again when I've made a mate for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another custom order.

Corals and light aquas with Petra's turquoise drops.

 

 

 

 

Turkoman Goes Modern Gypsy Moon Dance

 

 

 

 

 

I love the burst of colors on these

 

 

 

 

Rustic Gypsy Assemblage bracelet

 

A bezel set Kuchi coin, an iridescent light blue crystal

and a drilled copper teardrop that I ran through the rolling mill for texture

on an overwrapped hammered frame.

 

 

oh no no no,

I didn't forget...

here you go...

 

 

 

 

gorgeous perfection!

 

 

 

 

These are in a hypertufa pot I made back in Illinois with some friends.

The glass blobs are some of the things that fell off of the hypertufa pot I made.

I am not a master of hypertufa.

 

and a concrete fail from that same day that I have yet to fix...

 

 

 

 

 

This needs all sort of moss growing on it, don't you think?

 

 

and this folks is what you've been wondering about....

hoping for,

hanging on until....

finally

 

THE END!

 

since the length of this post was scary enough,

I'll leave you with a sweet animal picture 

 

 

 

 

 (from our own back yard!)



 

 

oh what am I thinking?

Couldn't resist!

 

 

 

I'll pick grill wrestling any day!

 



Be well, be happy till next time

 mahalo and aloha

(thanks and goodbye- Hawaiian)