Thursday, March 17, 2011
Where has the time gone???
wow.....talk about losing focus. how did this happen? it's been MONTHS since the last post and all i'm doing now is bemoaning that instead of saying something smart. it's been a busy time. we had a lovely chrismukkah with family and then january and cold cold weather, snuffiness and snow. a trip to tucson for me with judith where it was colder than imaginable, the hotel lost heat and hot water for several days and then home again and not feeling so good.
then ending up in the hospital for an entire week and finding that i had a RARE pneumonia and was an interesting case, and now home and recovering and doing really really well except for not sleeping so well. hopefully that will improve, but in the mean time i look pretty weary.
then ending up in the hospital for an entire week and finding that i had a RARE pneumonia and was an interesting case, and now home and recovering and doing really really well except for not sleeping so well. hopefully that will improve, but in the mean time i look pretty weary.
Labels: hospital, judith, months between posts, pneumonia, tucson
Friday, February 15, 2008
Home again....this time from tucson
i'm back from my week in tucson and trying to catch up on sleep. we were on the go from the time we arrived to when we got on the plane. this year the motel actually had rooms for us, two rooms even. that is two steps up from 2007 for starters. we had to wait a couple of hours for the rooms to be cleaned, but it happened and they were ready when we returned from a quick shopping trip. we had nearly an hour to shop at one of the shows before it closed. not bad! judith conned me into my first purchase in that brief foray.....actually 2 purchases. one a silk purse for me and the other a gift for someone. both were pleasing and so it all started quite well!
the next morning after a fairly lousy night's sleep we headed for downtown and were able to find parking in the hotel arizona ramp which is handily close to everything in that area. we discovered later that it was also considerably cheaper than the parking lots next to the other show tents. the treat for the first morning was the opening day of the german lapidarists from the idar-oberstein area. beautiful and unusual work that is a joy to behold! i restrained myself and made no purchases, just enjoyed looking and watching as others made their choices. eye candy to the max!!
the next morning we started seeing friends and talking over the things we'd seen and what they'd seen and deciding on where to look for the best deals and material. that's one of the fun parts....seeing friends. judith and i look for different things, but i enjoy looking at the things she is buying, enjoying them vicariously since i have no need for stones any more.
i found several things for gifts and some things for liz and of course things to use in my own work. one dealer was ridding himself of his strands of small cabochon beads in various gem materials and i got some of those, and in fact did buy a couple of cabs in interesting material.
we went to a pearl dealer and i ended up with a strand of gray keshi and even showed my pearl collar to the owner. he asked if i would send an image of whatever i make with HIS pearls. said he'd never seen anyone use pearls the way i did and he's been in the business for 50 years. my friend lee picked me up one morning after i'd driven judith to the show of the day and parked the car. we then drove to see our friend kay and her house which was new to me. it is lovely, and bright with color on the walls, in paintings and textiles. lovely southwestern hues and catch the light and make for a very cheery home. we had sandwiches on the patio and sat in the sun which was a delight after the deep freeze back home. i managed to get a bit more sun than needed and had a red neck (not a political statement) and face for several days. that night we went to dinner with friends at poca cosa and that was great. everything was delicious, altho the sea bass was overcooked. ah well....otherwise a delight.
judith found some great things for a client and other things that she had on her list for her studio. always searching for the goodies. i found a jacket, well SHE found the jacket and finally talked me into buying it. i love the color and it fits well. her last comment was 'jini, your aunt wants you to have it!' now i really couldn't fight that one.....i know lee would have agreed! :) i bought a bunch of beads from my favorite bead person there, and will probably call her to get a few more hanks in a couple of colors that were sadly depleted. i also spoke with the woman from a wonderful bead shop in fort townsend, wa, and will be receiving some gray seed beads in the mail from her. she said she somehow ended up with a great selection in that color, and that is exactly the color i was hunting. she offered me a deal if i just accepted her sending me one hank or tube of each gray she had in stock....i said YES. we had dinner two different nights with mike and mary at sweet tomatoes and that was fun. i don't get to visit with them very often so that was especially enjoyable. this restaurant is mostly salad stuff and that was just what i wanted. yum.
on saturday evening, we left the shows early so we could see our friend steff and then make a quick stop at the obsidian gallery. had a quick bite of cheese and greeted a few friends then headed to lee and bill's for dinner. it was a lovely evening. excellent food and conversation. they are such great hosts!!
the trip home went well after a delayed departure from the motel. we did make it in time, but not without a bit of anxiety on my part. i worried about getting the car turned in, getting boarding passes and checking luggage. i claimed one of j's three and carried on two of mine so we didn't have to do a last minute mailing stop. it all worked! whew.
it's good to be home, although predictably i have a cold after being in the recirculated, germ laden air on the plane. i drank lots of water, washed my hands, but i guess i am just too prone to colds and stuff to get off scott free!
i haven't added one bead to the piece i'm making since being here, BUT, the wash is done! i have the first draft of the eulogy completed and spent most of yesterday afternoon choosing pictures to use for the slide show. that feels good, although i will probably do a bit of editing on both before i am done.
the next morning after a fairly lousy night's sleep we headed for downtown and were able to find parking in the hotel arizona ramp which is handily close to everything in that area. we discovered later that it was also considerably cheaper than the parking lots next to the other show tents. the treat for the first morning was the opening day of the german lapidarists from the idar-oberstein area. beautiful and unusual work that is a joy to behold! i restrained myself and made no purchases, just enjoyed looking and watching as others made their choices. eye candy to the max!!
the next morning we started seeing friends and talking over the things we'd seen and what they'd seen and deciding on where to look for the best deals and material. that's one of the fun parts....seeing friends. judith and i look for different things, but i enjoy looking at the things she is buying, enjoying them vicariously since i have no need for stones any more.
i found several things for gifts and some things for liz and of course things to use in my own work. one dealer was ridding himself of his strands of small cabochon beads in various gem materials and i got some of those, and in fact did buy a couple of cabs in interesting material.
we went to a pearl dealer and i ended up with a strand of gray keshi and even showed my pearl collar to the owner. he asked if i would send an image of whatever i make with HIS pearls. said he'd never seen anyone use pearls the way i did and he's been in the business for 50 years. my friend lee picked me up one morning after i'd driven judith to the show of the day and parked the car. we then drove to see our friend kay and her house which was new to me. it is lovely, and bright with color on the walls, in paintings and textiles. lovely southwestern hues and catch the light and make for a very cheery home. we had sandwiches on the patio and sat in the sun which was a delight after the deep freeze back home. i managed to get a bit more sun than needed and had a red neck (not a political statement) and face for several days. that night we went to dinner with friends at poca cosa and that was great. everything was delicious, altho the sea bass was overcooked. ah well....otherwise a delight.
judith found some great things for a client and other things that she had on her list for her studio. always searching for the goodies. i found a jacket, well SHE found the jacket and finally talked me into buying it. i love the color and it fits well. her last comment was 'jini, your aunt wants you to have it!' now i really couldn't fight that one.....i know lee would have agreed! :) i bought a bunch of beads from my favorite bead person there, and will probably call her to get a few more hanks in a couple of colors that were sadly depleted. i also spoke with the woman from a wonderful bead shop in fort townsend, wa, and will be receiving some gray seed beads in the mail from her. she said she somehow ended up with a great selection in that color, and that is exactly the color i was hunting. she offered me a deal if i just accepted her sending me one hank or tube of each gray she had in stock....i said YES. we had dinner two different nights with mike and mary at sweet tomatoes and that was fun. i don't get to visit with them very often so that was especially enjoyable. this restaurant is mostly salad stuff and that was just what i wanted. yum.
on saturday evening, we left the shows early so we could see our friend steff and then make a quick stop at the obsidian gallery. had a quick bite of cheese and greeted a few friends then headed to lee and bill's for dinner. it was a lovely evening. excellent food and conversation. they are such great hosts!!
the trip home went well after a delayed departure from the motel. we did make it in time, but not without a bit of anxiety on my part. i worried about getting the car turned in, getting boarding passes and checking luggage. i claimed one of j's three and carried on two of mine so we didn't have to do a last minute mailing stop. it all worked! whew.
it's good to be home, although predictably i have a cold after being in the recirculated, germ laden air on the plane. i drank lots of water, washed my hands, but i guess i am just too prone to colds and stuff to get off scott free!
i haven't added one bead to the piece i'm making since being here, BUT, the wash is done! i have the first draft of the eulogy completed and spent most of yesterday afternoon choosing pictures to use for the slide show. that feels good, although i will probably do a bit of editing on both before i am done.
Labels: beads, friends, gems, pearls, tucson
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Tucson Gem Show
just back from a week in tucson. it was a bit wild in the arrangement area, but otherwise a good trip. it's hard to explain to someone if they haven't been there. it's so big, so vast, so spread-out, so stimulating that it just grabs you and gets you filled with ideas and makes you eager to get back to creativity. there is every kind of gem, fossil, rock and tchotsky you can or maybe can't imagine. i love it.
the other great part is seeing old friends and meeting new ones.....going out to dinner etc. every day we would meet up with someone and had lots of good conversations. i felt so much more secure about driving this year.....last year i felt overwhelmed a lot of the time. this time things that totally baffled me in '06 were just a snap. whew. we had a lovely evening with good friends lee, bill and shush.....and i didn't need to call for help this time. drove right to their house. yea!
i got some black coral and some stick pearls and various flavors of briolettes, some yummy seed beads and a gorgeous beaded east indian belt. i have been sketching collars this evening, and probably need to get to it.
i talked to susan this evening, and they will probably come by some time this weekend. it will be good to see them and show them the finished product.
Labels: tucson
