Patt with Two T's

 I'm still making things like a crazy woman, but I just added another show to the mix--actually TWO more in Dec, so I have to keep working.  I enjoy what I do, so it's not like a job; it's just that it's crunch time.  Last night I made some earrings, finished a Kumihimo necklace, wove another cocoon jacket to be finished later today, and then laid out beads for 5 bracelets and about 7 pairs of earrings.  Those await me later today or tonight.  Today I'm meeting my friend Judith at Happy Feet for a massage.   We're on our second card with them--for $100, we get 5 "foot" massages, though they really do the whole body.  If you're slow on math, that's a mere $20 per massage, not including tip.  This one is more for my mind than my body--calm down, slow down, breathe, enjoy the trip.  Last night we had Marianna over for pizza to celebrate her birthday.  My stepson Julian was also here--he eats here 3-4 nights a week since he returned t...

And now it's on to earrings...made  5 pairs last night and will continue to make more this week.  I have beautiful beads to use, so now's the time to get moving.  I've also been working on the Italian wire mesh and made one relatively simple necklace in red wih a glass heart pendant that's dynamic.  I need to get photos done so I can send them to Lily in Florence.   I kept trying to make something complicated with that mesh, but it speaks for itself, so to say, and don't really need fancy.  It's already interesting looking without my help.  Oh, as I was writing this, I thought, the whole point of writing a blog is to show what I'm doing or working on, so had to get up and take a picture of the necklace.  Then, of course, I had to take pictures of the other necklaces I've done recently..  I used to use our wood picnic table on the deck for photos since it really showed off the beadwork, but we had it stained and now it's too dark to work...

 I really want to keep up the blog, but really have to DO, not write since I have many projects in the works.  So here are some pictures of what's keeping me so busy: Hats and scarves Woven, felted purses.... And ornaments based on the knitted beads I've been doing...these are 2" in diameter with a styrofoam interior...

 We attempted to replicate our evening in Italy making ravioli in Sorrento.  We were pretty close considering we didn't eat till 9 pm....but we weren't trying for that part of the experience.  We did have 3 different fillings--cheese, meat, and squash--and many more ravioli than the three of us could eat at one sitting.  Matthew also made artichokes and eggplant parmigiana.  The pasta machine didn't want to knead the dough, so Julian got the honors.  Our finished product dusted with flour and ready for their 90 seconds of cooking time.  That's the only fast part of the process!

I decided to continue the blog when we returned from Italy, but haven't once sat down to write.  I now have so many distractions--knitting, weaving, jewelry projects, TV, phone, working in the sun--that keeps me from sitting and writing.  I will try to write at least once a week, which will also encourage me to add photos of what's happening and what I'm currently creating.  Oh, and so what have I given up today to write:  Pilates.  uh oh.  I'll get on the stairmaster downstairs before I shower so I at least do something aerobic this morning.  I gardened a little yesterday and also picked many pears from our tree.  We have about 4 varieties, but bartlett is my favorite.  They're crunchy and very flavorful.   This picture is for Ingrid--she gave me this plant 9 years ago from her garden in memory of my sister Marianne.  I planted a memorial bed for her with plants people had given me after she died, and this one surprises me e...

While in Italy, I wanted to check out the styles and especially the colors of fashion since they're the leaders and are often up to a year ahead of the US. Unfortunately, mostly what I saw as we window-shopped was black, brown, and variations of both. When I was in Paris in the mid 80's, I bought a lime green sweatshirt and no one had seen such a bright odd color before. A year later, it was all the rage at home. I did see lots of leggings, some of which were in leather and some had interesting gathers up the sides.   he last time I was in Italy, I focused my photo efforts on the many shoe stores I saw everywhere. This time, I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few from Naples that I thought were particularly cute—although note they're again mostly in black or brown or both together: Since there's no accounting for taste in any country, I found a shoe store that had the most gaudy, bright, unusual colored shoes in the Russian section of Naples. I tr...

Ah, travel...you either love it or hate it and sometimes, you get both emotions all on the same trip or even the same day. Matthew and I left Naples with plenty of time to get to the airport and start the long journey home. I checked around and saw no young kids, so I was pretty happy. It's a long flight—9 hours, and we had decided that on this trip, we'd both try sitting in aisle seats so we could get in and out easily. I often get stuck in the middle if there are 3 seats together, and I don't like that seat. So we get on and we have 2 seats in the aisle, sort of across from each other, and I have only one other seat next to me at the window A man about our age sits at that seat and Matthew makes some comment to him about sitting next to me, so he gets the idea that we're friendly, I guess. Before we're anywhere near taking off, he starts telling me he was on a five-day cruise in Croatia, is from Rancho Cordova, so his flying directly to Sacramento from Phily, has...