Inside Scoop

New goodies coming to the Loft early next week!

I'll be listing some new Amethyst for all those February babies, Garnet, Prehnite, Scapolite and Smoky Quartz. And possibly some Iolite and Peridot if I don't decide to keep them all to myself ;).

Hope everyone has a great weekend! For us it's all about repairing our smaller chicken coop that was damaged in the wind storm a couple of weeks ago. Even though it's raining today - kind of a light drizzle - that's much easier to work out in than 20 degree weather! It should be nearing 60 degrees here today... guess old man winter is taking a vacation after a hard couple of weeks of work ;).

Working Away..

I've been a bit lax in my blog postings since Christmas so I'm going to get back at it! But it's not from being lazy I can assure you ;).

If you've visited my jewelry shop lately you'll have noticed that I have been busy listing some new work including these little sparklies - my "Potion" earrings. I plan on offering them in Amethyst too for all those February babies! Obviously I've been inspired by the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday as most of my new work is centered around reds and pinks. If pink and red isn't your thing not to worry I have some Moonstone and Labradorite danglies coming this week as well!

It's been pretty calm around here on the little farm the last few days, which is how I like it, and which is quite the opposite of how the new year started out. First Buster, the rescued pony across the street, busted out and wrecked havoc around here. Every horse in the neighborhood (and there are quite a few) including mine were all bent out of shape at the site of him running up and down their fence line. So I spent an entire Sunday afternoon in the rain trying to chase him down and he wasn't having any part of it. Finally Mr. Norman and his son were able to corral him at 10 o'clock at night using their truck. I think this episode of spending the day out in the cold rain led up to me catching the flu for several days and causing me to miss my gem show =(. And finally this past week we had some major winds from a cold front that came through and completely destroyed my chicken coops and took the top out of one of our trees. Dan and I spent the entire day this past Friday re-building the coops. Luckily none of my little chick-a-loos were hurt but I'm sure it gave them a good scare!

Now maybe, just maybe, things have calmed down for good! Hope your new year is less "interesting" than mine! =)

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's 2009 is starting out wonderfully! Me? I've been super duper lazy the past couple of days and it felt really good after all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I spent the day on the sofa with Dan (who has been sick with that nasty cold bug that seems to be getting everyone around) watching TV. Something I never, ever do. I have the hardest time just sitting still for any length of time. So to keep my hands a bit busy I finished approximately 10 crossword puzzles out of probably 200 in this huge book my mom gave for me Christmas. I did get up to fix us some lunch which was not collard greens and black-eyed peas, both of which I can not force myself to put in my mouth. I'll take my chances with the boiled shrimp and artichoke dip we had instead ;). If you're not familiar with the practice of eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's day it's probably because it was a tradition that was started in the south. From what I was told you eat it in rememberance of tough times and it is suppose to bring wealth and good luck the coming year. The peas represent coins and the collards paper money and although I'd love to have more of each I just can't bring myself to stomach peas and collards - yuck! My grandmother has jokingly said that I must not be a true southern girl since I don't eat collards or really like grits ;).

Today I plan on getting off the sofa and working on some new ideas I have for a few pieces that hopefully I can have listed by the end of next week. Tuesday I'll be in North Carolina for the gem show and then Wednesday and Thursday I'll be organizing, photographing and listing all my new goodies. And if you've left me requests for the gem show be sure to check back Tuesday night or Wednesday morning for a list of all the goodies I found and will be listing!

Happy 2009 everyone and thank you all for a wonderful 2008! =)

Weekly Scoop

I've been a bit lax in my posting the last couple days but I assure you it's not because I'm lounging around sipping away on my hot cocoa ;). And it's been 70 degrees the last 2 days and again today so not exactly hot cocoa weather - at this rate I'm going to have to will that big o' tub of hot cocoa to someone.

I've been busy retrieving cat toys ;), making and packing several last minute orders I've received, making trips to the PO, taking care of all the "kids", cleaning this house from top to bottom because I can't function properly if things aren't clean and trying to wrap up some last minute prepartions for Christmas next week. I can't believe it's almost here! "Slow as Christmas" is absolutely inapplicable these days - I swear it gets here faster and faster every year! Aside from that I have Dan's school's graduation tonight and the staff Christmas party get together afterwards at Depalma's - yummy Italian food! That always makes for a good time because we do the White Elephant gift exchange where everyone brings a gift valued around $10 and you draw numbers, choose a gift or steal a gift from someone else based on your draw. We ended up with a bird feeder last year - which I loved - but someone else ended up with a used candle. The year before we had some sort of musical snowman that played the piano... shhh! Don't tell anyone but I have no idea where that thing is now. Hopefully I'll have good news on gift front to share tomorrow. And now that I've reminded myself I need to get in there and wrap our gift for the party... I can't tell you what it is because someone might read this that will be there tonight and ruin the surprise! ;) And I need to go get cracking on two more orders that have to go out first thing in the morning too!

Hope you're about ready for the big day next week! Happy Thursday! =)

Rain, rain

I would say go away but the lakes around here need it! I love the rain but this is a little excessive. We've had nearly 5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours and we're forecast to get another 1 to 2 inches today. So it's no wonder Oglethorpe county is in a flood watch.

Thank goodness my rain boots come almost up to my knees because I've needed it on my daily treks to the barn. At least the geese are having a blast!

Hope you're enjoying decent weather and if not be careful out there!

Ummm...

Who is this and why is he wearing my crown AND giving me a dirty look?!

It is cloudy, rainy and we're under a tornado watch until 3pm today so I let the little chick-a-loos out for a bit before the really nasty stuff gets here. Chick Pea, who you might recognize from my custom item listings in my little shop, doesn't seem to remember Mr. Toad who she has "met" several times before. I think it's the dirty look that's throwing her off ;).

Hopefully none of us will have to duck in the closet today but we could very well get washed away! It's pouring!

Hope you're staying dry and cozy! =)

Me, some wire, a hammer, pretty gemstones...

Several pairs of pliers, 3 cats, a snoring dog and 2 chirping chicks. That pretty much sums up my day in the studio today=). The "sale" continues to keep us busy (and by us I mean me, the cats, the dog and the chicks) although they aren't really much help but they sure are cute to look at and I guess they did keep my lap warm ;).

Hope your "Cyber" Monday went well whether that means lots of sales for your online business or finding that perfect gift for someone special! =)

Busy Bee

I've been a busy little bee today - or more like a little elf up in my studio working away! The first day of my first official sale was pretty successful and I've still got a few pending orders to take care of before I can call it night. But it seems as though all my planning is paying off! And it was a cold, rainy day so it was the perfect setting to work away in my warm little upstairs studio. Glad I had some work to keep me busy! Here's to hoping tomorrow brings more of the same!

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday! =)

It's a Beautiful Day

Bright, clear blue skies - the perfect back drop to the plump little yellow berries on my China Berry tree. It's too bad I don't feel up to enjoying it. I think I'm trying to come down with the flu or a cold =(. So instead of enjoying the beautiful weather outside I think I'm going to curl up in my big chair next to the window and enjoy it inside with a couple of books, a big glass of orange juice and a bottle of Nyquil. And hopefully nip this thing in the bud - I've got pecan pies to make tomorrow gosh darn it! And I'm trying to get several new pieces listed in my jewelry shop before this weekend. I refuse to be sick!
Hope you're enjoying lovely weather!

Daily Scoop - Wednesday

It is down right cold here today! In the 20's which is unheard of this time of year so I had to dig out my big wooly socks and flannel pj's last night and I've already had 2 huge cups of hot coffee this morning. But I have to admit I love it! I'll take the cold over the sweltering heat of the summer any day. You can always put more clothes on but there's only so many you can take off without having someone call the police on you ;).

Today is errand day for me. I've got to head into town to the feed store to pick up horse feed, chicken feed and a salt block. Stop by our little post office, say hi to Andrea and get some packages on their way (thank you!=) and pick up some packaging to wrap my mom's birthday gift which is Monday (happy early birthday mom!). Oh and go trade my cell phone in which I think may be older than me ;). I'm crossing my fingers my old truck will crank in this cold! It's been awhile since either one of us has had to deal with temperatures this cold!

Another little tid bit you might be interested in - because what could be more interesting than our weather and my errands ;) - is that I am contemplating running after Thanksgiving sales in my little shops. I very very rarely run sales so this may be my first "official" sale ever. I'll have another posting here early next week with the details.. until then I hope you're staying warm!

A (breakfast) Room with a View

It has finally stopped raining here after 3 days. Although I quite enjoy the rain it puts a bit of a damper (pun intended ;) on my schedule of photographing some of my new work. So I should finally be able to get my Silent Night earrings listed on Monday barring any other unforecasted surprises from Mother Nature.
But today the sky is blue and the sun is peaking through white fluffy clouds and I think it's a great day for some pancakes, eggs and coffee. So come join us. I've saved you a seat right across from the window =).

Daily Scoop - Friday

After quite a few loud Journey and REM songs, two huge glasses of iced tea, a basket of fried pickles and some chips and queso you are looking at the Thursday night World of Wings Trivia champions! So my wealth of useless knowledge helped to pay off in the form of a $50 gift certificate... looks like more fried pickles and iced tea coming soon. We had to battle it out against "Your Momma" and "The Buttery Elvis's" or should that be Elvi? ;) but we ended up pulling out the win by 24 points. The other 6 teams didn't pose much of a threat... those college kids are gonna have to study up on their useless facts before next time ;).

Oddly enough one of the questions was "what is the Moh's scale used to measure?". I wouldn't really classify that as useless knowledge since it measures the hardness of minerals and that little tid bit of information comes in quite handy to me almost on a daily basis!

Another random question was "if bovine refers to cattle what does ovine refer to?"... of course everyone at the table turns to me for the answer (they're all city folk ;)... if you don't know it I'll let you guess or you can cheat and see the answer in the comment section below =).

It's another cold, rainy day here - perfect for staying indoors and getting the creative juices flowing, my coffee is gone and the "kids" are waiting on their breakfast so until next time...
Happy Friday everyone!

Daily Scoop - Thursday

Today is one of those rainy, cloudy, lazy days that I really enjoy. Except I can't be lazy. But that's ok because these are the perfect days to sit up in my studio and create and not feel guilty for not being outdoors. But before I can do that I've got to make a run to our little post office, order some packaging supplies, finish up the earrings for the Silent Night Collection I'm debuting this week, polish up the bracelet and necklace in the same collection and hopefully get them photographed and listed this afternoon. I'm going to need the cooperation of the weather though to get my photos done - I'll have to see what Mother Nature says about my request ;). And then later this evening it's out to meet Dan and some of his co-workers for a birthday dinner and trivia. I usually do pretty well at trivia because apparently I'm full of useless information - did you know that a group of geese on the ground is a gaggle and a group of geese in the air is a skein? See. I have no idea how or why I know that.

Enjoy your day!