Assorted Things

A very bright white chicken bead is available now in my etsy shop. It hardly compares to this absolutely gorgeous, HUGE, grey chicken we saw at the county fair last week. Wow.

And there's my spaghetti squash. It took the red ribbon... It came in second... Out of two... Lol. And my Sombrero Sock Monkey took a blue ribbon, but it was the only item in its category.

Have you ever seen a box full of half dollars? No? Well now you have. It is very heavy. :-)

Baby Horned Lizard

They are about 5 inches long as adults, but in late summer when the eggs hatch, we find babies. This one may be about a month old already and twice as big as he was as a newborn. Babies are every bit as armored and spiked and dinosaur-like as the grown ups. Rumor has it that these lizards squirt red liquid from their eyes when they are threatened. We have caught and handled quit a few of them and never had one squirt. We've decided it would take the pressure of a dog's jaw or something to make one of these guys panic.

Let Me At Him

Jack wants this toad real bad. Jack is at the end of his chain and he's being low and still, hoping the toad moves just a little closer...

Sparkling Bones

I finally have some more bone beads in the etsy shop. They are listed by color. And speaking of color, don't you love that light purple glass? It's Effetre/Morreti 081 Dark Lavender. My camera pops the pink a tad too much, but you really can see both pink and blue in the glass, at the same time. A very pretty purple.

Family Pet's 15 Minutes

Our dog, Jack, was on Dennis Miller's home page today. How's that for "making it"?

Personal Ads for Beads

Bachelors beads are back! This harvest season my etsy shop will offer a brand new crop (>snort<) of available gents of the glass pumpkin bead persuasion. It is my pleasure to introduce Max and Frank. As with last year's bachelors, all guy beads can be optionally made into zipper pull/purse personalizers before shipment for a small extra fee, and each bachelor bead is packaged with a copy of his unique Personal Ad write-up -- as appears in his etsy listing -- making him extra desirable for gifting.

Mouse Bead

One of my customers requested a mouse bead and this is the little cutie that came about. (She also requested a frog, but that result was too obnoxious to show! and i've got to go back to the torch to redeem myself.)

Good Wildlife Week

And a nice trio of fern motif beads for a customer.

It might be the time of year, but whatever the reason, we've had some really nice wildlife moments lately. This gorgeous big bird is hanging out in our back yard. It is a redtailed hawk and he's probably using our trees as a perch to spot prey in the agricultural fields beyond our fence. We had been moving very slowly and quietly around him for the last few days in order not to scare him off. Well, he was sitting on the fence in the heat this afternoon, hence the spread wings, i think, and we just walked right up to him and our gesticulations and speech didn't seem to phase him in the least. He watched everything, and when those eyes turn on you, boy is it scary.

At dusk a few days ago we saw a great horned owl, and at dusk this eve we saw a grey fox. We poured water down a hole and found a green cicada larva (we put him back), and under a rock this gaudy centipede.

Rumply Rope Beads

...or something... i don't know what to call them. I can imagine something organic being used as spacers (agate, wood, horn) between them for a bracelet. These are in the shop now.

It Will Be Alright

The bleak economy seems to be striking my bead sales particularly hard for the past several weeks, and i had been considering options, such as Pizza Hut hostess, when all of a sudden the consumer comes through and takes some beads off my hands. No restaurant evening shifts needed just yet. Thank you so much, my customers.

I have listed several owl beads, and a bead i'm really quite fond of--this newborn snake coiled on a bead. I've been working on a set of spiral-wrapped beads (which i will photo and show tomorrow), but something about the pattern and tactile nature of the shallow ridges really appeals to me. This snake bead is one of those new beads but transformed into hatchling snake with a tiny head and pointy tail. I'm quite mesmerized. This bead is in my etsy shop now.

Trying Owls

oh boy, i really tried not to jump on the owl band wagon, i did. But when you have a little niece that is owl crazy, you have to think of owls often. So i tried some owl beads. The were born in order, l. to r. I'm not happy with any of the wings and tails, and one of my kids pointed out kindly that "not all owls have ears, you know," and one of the beaks fell off. But i do like some of the eyes, and feathers, and colors. I shall persevere.

And this is our sweet new little guinea pig. Her name is Sudsy, and she is the nicest soft colors of white, cream, and dark grey.

Toothy Sock Monkey Smiles

A series of toothy sock monkey beads will be entering my shop soon. Please meet "Wesley," first on the scene.

Goldfish Bead

"Girls Who Keep Goldfish"

by Jazz Butcher

Girls who keep goldfish
Interest me strangely
Girls who keep goldfish
Fascinate my mind
What are they doing here?
Why are they here at all?
Chorus:

Hey I'd like to know - Those fish are awful small (x2)
Goldfish are silent under the water
Girls who keep goldfish
Are sometimes quite loud
Is there a reason?
Should it happen at all?

Chorus

Goldfish or Mondays are life as it should be
Goldfish are grateful for sun and for food
Is there a secret?
Oh is there a secret at all?

Chorus (x2)