March 2006

Morning, it's still sunny here, I'm opening the gallery today, but my be able to work in the garden and keep an eye on the door, of course then if I do get customers I'll be covered in mud! Yesterday going accross the border the American customs officer was giving me a harder time than usual, and then coming back the Canadian guy came right out and asked me what was in the box on my back seat... Actually it was empty... I'd taken my sons lava lamp to Saint John in it months ago and decided that I wanted the box back... tha's how far it got. It is now in the house! (My car is often referred to as a dumpster on wheels....) Tomorrow is April first!

March 30 (Thurs) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GORD AKA THE WM.....

I had a beautiful dream...before I woke up... that I had put down a chunk of...on a stem

Still sunny, found a yellow crocus blooming yesterday, may even plant my bulbs tomorrow if it's still nice...I spent quite awhile yesterday afternoon trying to book a plane ticket on line... I tried all of the cheap ticket providers, they all had the same base ticket price, It was just the tax and service charge that varied... and the winner of the cheap ticket contest was booking the ticket directly through the airline (DELTA)... they charge $10.30 for tax etc.... the so called cheap ticket pervayors started at $25 and went to $47 for taxes and the privledge of booking through them and not directly through the airline..... What a deal!!!! (The real rip off though is when I checked that ticket 6 weeks ago it was $38 cheaper!) Keep forgetting to mention that the pictures of NS, Boston and Grand Manan are now on the site... Go to Photos and then More pics on the pull down menu....(The pictures from Boston and CT are a bit sparse someone left her memory card in the reader beside the computer at home..... so all I had was internal memory....ooops) Off to Calais for the day...

March 29 (Wed) I had a beautiful dream...before I woke up... and had put down

I found this in my mailbox this morning, The word up obviously was found wanting as a clue!!!!

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this …

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the
> proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP , you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP . When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........... Time to shut UP .....! Oh...one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P

My excitement over the last couple of days might have been the phone call from the credit card company telling me that my CC had been compromised! I guess I used it somewhere where they were collecting numbers and reusing them... I chopped up my card, but since the CC company won't tell me the name of the business I might go back there again! The weather here is still sunny.... SPRING!!! YES.....

March 28 (Tues) ...before I woke up... and put it down

I'm thinking that that will be a very useful word.... I'm actually in SJ this morning but brought the word with me so that everyone could gnash their teeth over their breakfast coffee and yes yours still sort of works with down, but it's not the right answer!

It's a lovely sunny day here, yesterday I spent a couple of hours cleaning out my flower gardens, I found 3 irises in bloom (tiny little 6 inch ones), and lots of green shoots poking through the ground...

March 27 (Mon) NEW MB!!!! (last answer is PIN)

...before I woke up...

Think I've used that word before....! Sunny morning, I'm thinking spring, lawns are still really brown, they were green until that icky cold weather the end of feb! I have decided to be open weekends until Easter.... Guess that means I need to clean up and get organized, think we will put something higher in the middle of the gallery I have a coffee table there now and people (including me, especially me?) keep backing into it! I have pedestals in SK that we abandoned, when we were filling the Uhaul... thought those things were suppose to expand to fit the load....that I think we'll pick up in June.. off to make beads! I found my Missing Links... thanks to everyone who looked, if anyone else wants OLD pages use my.yahoo as your search engine and click on the word 'cache' lite blue/grey, you can also check out the more pages like this, most of my site was there! I even showed up on a Glacier Skiing site, but the best one was my post on heated toilet seats from Japn last spring shows up on a site called Cheap-Seats!

Load my site (offline) if loads without forcing you to be online, click on the About me page... if you get a page that has the mug shot of me taken last month, we're in business! Right click on this page, click on view source save it as a txt document (or html) and email it to me.... Other page is my LINKS page, I got some of these back last night but not all of them....Do the same thing for this page, one of my family of Puffins will immediatly take wing and fly to you .... (Multiple replies will result in all the names being put in my trusty 4 cup pyrex measuring cup and drawing for a winner).

I was listening to Paul Harvey News yesterday, and his "Punch Line" was about bottled water, there was a 'taste test done in CA (I think) between bottled water and tap water.... The tasters preferred the tap water ..... (actually I think most bottled water tastes really flat, I don't buy it...) Then Mr Harvey went on to say that the bottled water co. Evian declined to be interviewed about the results of the taste test.....and then he wondered if any of the buying public had ever noticed that Evian spelled backwards was NIAVE......

Will be starting a new MB on Monday.... Mom says she can't see Coco on this page... I can see her so I know she's here, Can everyone else see Coco on this page? Not sure why she isn't on Mom's computer! Yesterday was really windy and it started to rain every time I went outside boo hiss, so far today is sunny! Spent yesterday doing a mega spread sheet to reconcile my business income tax... Income tax is always so depressing, if you make money you have to pay the government... that's depressing, however if your expenses are way more than your income that's really depressing... so I see it as a loose loose situation... How about they banish income tax. the world would be a much happier place and just think of all the spare time we'd have, if we weren't wasting it trying to figure out creative ways to avoid paying the government money!

While we were in Saint John I delivered my Clematis window/panel, Decided yesterday that while I was on a roll that I should get the next one started.... G always cuts the zinc (frame), so I asked him to cut it... he wanted to know the measurements... I said you must have them written down somewhere.... welll no..... so I had to phone and get Jim to measure the window.... and got told that they were really looking forward to all of it's friends and neighbours arriving! (The other 4 panels are morning glory (current project), tulip, wild rose and Iris, all flowers that they grow in their garden)

March 23 (Thurs) The... ball boy put ....his head up the hole beside the worm looking for the money....in the fold

Today is overcast and the ground is wet so it must have rained over night! I redrew last night for Paddy, he's off to Florida with his frozen beer and his beer mug, wonder if the beer will thaw out in Florida? Tuesday night we went to the Mikado in Saint John, It was put on by a professional touring company from New York, I saw it done by an amateur group years ago in a school gym... We got there about 20 minutes before 'curtain' the actors got there 25 minutes before curtain...(Their bus had just arrived from NY!) It started late. They made us stand around in the lobby not sure why, Maybe they had to get the Orchestra settled in before they let us in! Lots of rumours flying round the lobby.... I thought it was really good, although it was hard to understand what was being sung a lot of the time!

I stuffed a couple of my gum ball machines yesterday... got seed beads all over the place, the only assorted beads I could find have really crappy quality control, so at least 10% of them were too big and would get stuck half way in, those ones usually ended up on the floor when I tried to remove them, and then I dropped a whole bunch of them.... Will try and take their picture today but it's really dull out so not sure if it will work!

March 21 Happy first day of spring... The TV was saying it was yesterday I thought it was/is the 21st change of plan... I've just been told that we have a ferry to catch, I thought we were leaving at noon! SO PADDY will stay unclaimed until tomorrow evening! I have a number of volunteers to adopt Paddy, so he will not be an Orphan living in foster care! Gotta go!

March 20 (Mon) The... boy put ....his head up the hole looking for the money....in the fold

I'm back .... Grand Manan is a pretty Island, lots of rock beaches and much flatter than Deer Island, the road winds along the coast but most of the inhabited part of the island is fairly flat, much more sociable to ride a bike there than here! As for the curling, Gord would prefer I didn't mention that! Their final game they were playing agains 4 brother in laws, one was to drunk to even stand up (he quit after2 ends) two of them were both drunk and high, (they were so relaxed that they played very well!) and the skip was sober... They quit after 6 ends, with a very lopsided score! We already had our reservation to get off the island, we had made it assuming that G would be curling yesterday... so we watched the game instead! Then went and collected beach glass near the ferry compound... I have a pocket full of Rice Krispie size beach glass. I was attempting to make gum ball machines last week... some actually worked, may try one with a big hole so I can stick my beach glass in... I'm currently trying to figure out how to make them so they stand up after they are wired, need to buy some gum ball coloured seed beads too.... Saturday they didn't curl until 4 pm, so we went to another little Island off the coast of Grand Manan, (White Head, tiny ferry only held 8 cars and really exposed in a gale!) I knew someone that lived there! We also walked out to the Swallow Tail Lighthouse, (very scenic!) I have some pictures of it will try and get some up later! There was a Lobster supper Saturday night too, the lobster was cold though, I like mine hot with lots of melted butter! The most interesting thing about the weekend though was the fact that there was 87 male curlers and their 'male coaches or spares' me and a 18 year old girl who was playing lead for her father because someone on his team was sick! After the dinner Saturday night the teams are all suppose to stand up and tell gross jokes....the grosser the better! I guess it's a weekend to get away from wives etc... If G plays next year I'll be back... Maybe I started a trend..... Noticed that the bar was open yesterday too, they never were in SK on the Sunday at Bonspiels!

While I was in Boston last week, my Hotel included Breakfast, You got to order Ala Carte to a value of $12.10 .... Lots of fun adding up items, of course tight wad didn't want to pay extra! Second day I thought about waffles, bacon and coffee, but that came to $12.30... so back to the menu!

Tonight is the night that Paddy gets 'assigned' a new home.... It's sunny at the momment, I did make beads yesterday but they were for orders not playing with new techniques.... We did a number of 'reduced' beads in the class, not sure if they will work with a concentrator... but, I do have a bunch of reducing frit and now I actually know how to use it... I'll see if I like any of it! One of the parcels waiting for me when I got home had s.steel belly button 'rings/bars' in it... I actually traded a couple of beads for these, they have a ring that you are suppose to hang beads etc off, I think the bars are quite heavy enough without anything hanging off of them, and can't imagine sticking them through my poor belly button, gack! Will see what I come up with! (But I won't be modeling them!)

I'm home, no thanks to Greyhound.... You'd think with computers they would know how many people have tickets for a bus....There was a group of about 20 Oriental girls going from New York to Portland via Boston, the bus arrived in Boston they decided that it wasn't big enough for all the people waiting and those continuing on, it took them an hour to find another bus.. still wasn' big enough, I got on just barely, but 15 minutes before my bus was due to leave an almost empty bus went to Protland.... Why didn't they hold that bus and move the group of girls onto it??? Then all of us would have got on the Bus to Bangor without wating around for over an hour! On Monday in Boston I went to see the glass flowers at the Peabody/Harvard museum, They were made as scientific specimens almost 100 years ago, actually it was hard to remember that they are actually glass while I was looking at them! One museum a day is enough! Wandered around Cambridge for awhile then went back into Boston. Got to watch a dodge van go up in smoke while the fire department chopped it up with a chain saw....

The workshop in CT, Kate is a wonderful instructor, if she teaches anywhere near you TAKE HER CLASS! She was using a neat little torch from 'Whale', I may have to get one! We used mini CC's in the class, I actually like my minors better. We didn't actually get to make an electroformed bead that part of the class was a demo. Kate demoed a ton of little beads using diff techniques and applications of metal foils and leafs and enamels, then we got to try them, I took one of my beads out of the annealer and looked at it and thought someone must have borrowed one of my mandrels... I don't remember making this ugly bead.... Yea it was mine, copper leaf over yellow enamel, very much a case of the dif in colour between hot and cold beads! For some reason the pigmentation in enamels doesn't react with metals, copper on yellow glass gives all sorts of reaction rings yet there is no reaction between copper and yellow enamel! The Friday before the class I walked around Branford, it was a gorgeous day warm and sunny, so I was wearing thongs, I guess my big toes haven't built up their summer calouses yet, boy did I get pretty blisters! Branford has 5 different Main streets, which makes finding places lots of fun, N Main, S, E , W and then just plain Main..... I had my holy clogs with me too though, so had back up footware to walk to class on Saturday morning, It was still nice on Saturday, I got rides after that....

March 12 (Sun) The... boy put ....his head up in the....fold

Well, the cat's away, so to speak, so here's my chance at a moment of fame, glory, or ridicule, depending on how you take this. Actually, realizing that the cat WILL come back and deal with any indiscretions by U NO HOO, I'll have to keep it down

Not much excitement that she's missing around here, except for a near-gorgeous day today - +15C with lots of sun. A bit too much wind, but what the hey! In case you're wondering, I was given express instructions not to mess with multi-bon, so, sorry no new clues.

What I have been doing is an overhaul of the website. No, you don't see any changes yet. I know better than to put up a revised site without her express approval. I can see myself 'fixing the mess you made of my site without my permission'. So, until said approval is in hand, you won't see any change. So you may never see any change. In which case, why did I do all this work????

We'll see....You can expect the Boss to be back in control Wednesday

March 8 (Wed) The... boy put ....his head up in the.....fold

You have a week to think about the answer to that! You can still send in an answer everyday if you want and if you get it right I'll give you the ballots... but I won't tell you which of your guesses was right!

I was asked this morning if I used tape when I'm travelling too... basically no, however if I'm flying I usually only take one suitcase and then find a box to use as my second peice of luggage coming home .... that gets taped!!!! Still haven't started to pack beyond my tools... Keep looking at the long range forcast for Boston... They now have it raining on Monday... , don't want rain, so I am putting in a formal request now, that you move the rain one day either way... Thank you! Need to go pack... don't know if I'll have access to a computer again until next Wednesday...

Still sunny, went grocery shopping yesterday... (that involves a ferry ride off of the island, really a nice day for a boat ride!) and made some beads, and continued packing things that need to be shipped before I leave...I just love packing things!... Mom figures I should have bought shares in some tape company I use so much of it.... but better an overtaped parcel than an empty Global Express envelope... for all you americans reading this, those things rip really easily and should have lots of tape on the ends!

March 5 (Sunny Sunday) The dew settled on the tree that had been cut up during the snow storm, while the dancing blue & white lights produced a dotted pattern on the phone, that was sitting beside the ink-jet printer on the bottom shelf in a puddle of water with an old time-piece, at the former bus office....

I finished the panel!!!! Actually it still needs it's final cleaning... but it's done..... One down four to go! Forgot to post the bracelet (my gift) yesterday, pic is on the other computer.... So you will see it later!
Was almost as warm outside yesterday as it was in that stupid basement 37 and sunny outside 41 and damp inside.... Think I will start a new MB tomorrow... then you'll have three clues when I leave for 6 days.... So today is your last chance to guess this one!

March 4 (Saturday) The dew settled on the tree that had been cut up during the snow storm, while the dancing blue & white lights produced a dotted pattern on the phone, that was sitting beside the ink-jet printer on the bottom shelf in a puddle of water with an old time-piece, at the former bus office....

Still morning barely.... I started doing other things and forgot to update..... Was sunny earlier but starting to cloud over.. probably snow again.... I got a gift in the mail yesterday will scan it and stick it on my home page later.... I got the makings of a little neck bag in the mail last week... I had to transfer the seed beads from the hanks they came on onto the "thread" that you knit with.... Luckily I was sitting on a hard wood floor when I did it... I might have succesfully transfer 80%.... Picked the rest up off of the floor... I have cast it on and started knitting (1.25mm needles) ... Saving the rest for the bus trip to Boston next week.... Got the flower part/centre of the window done yesterday...
Still have two borders to do... then I can solder and putty... Of course the week I finally force myself to work in the dungeon, on that panel just happens to be the coldest week of the entire winter... yesterday it was a balmy 41 (5 C) down there, and yes I'm whining....... Hope to finish today... Might even putty it! Oh yea this is suppose to be a bead site, I made a few yesterday... They were size tests (for bead-pen, keychains), they are all ugly and will not be posted, but they do fit!

March 3 The dew settled on the tree that had been cut up during the snow storm, while the dancing blue & white lights produced a dotted pattern on the phone, that was sitting beside the ink-jet printer on the bottom shelf in a puddle of water with an old time-piece, at the former bus office....

Today is sunny... yesterday was suppose to get sunny but the snow just started falling faster and harder yesterday afternoon..... I drove home from SJ and got here about 1... roads on the mainland where fine until I hit the salt... then it was sticky slush... my favorite driving conditions....DI was packed snow.... As soon as I got home I locked myself in the dungeon... 41 degrees ..... progress is being made, trying to get the window at least soldered before I leave for CT next Thursday..... The wool store was open on Wednesday... (everything is now 50% off... I'll miss that store the . owner is a really nice lady!). I now have 40 balls of wool to make hats and mitts with...It's actually the felting that takes the time not the knitting... I can do that anywhere! I tried the washing machine in SJ ... It' seems to have a very short agitate cycle and the centre goes round rather than back and forth... so not great! The pair of mitts I did ended up short and fat... I did stretch them out to a better hand shape.... but then I had to bring them home wet.... Also bought some yarn to make Stuart a scarf neon orange neon green and dark charcoal... the first two colours were his choice the last one was mine... ( I need something I can look at without being blinded while I'm knitting!)

March 1 The dew settled on the tree that had been cut up during the snow storm, while the dancing blue & white lights produced a dotted pattern on the phone, that was sitting beside the ink-jet printer on the bottom shelf in a puddle of water with an old time-piece, at the former bus office....

A new month ... 8 days until I leave for my class in CT, finally got around to booking my Motel in Branford CT this morning, I had to snicker when I noticed the province below New Brunswick in the pull down list New Foundland... sorry folks that's all one word...it's Newfoundland.....! Anyway I get three nights in Branford for the same price as 1 in Boston...... On a similar topic.. I tried to phone Amtrak a couple of weeks ago and got Julie an atomated voice... I finally hung up on Julie ... because I wanted to ask a question about booking a train from Boston to New Haven..... Anyway Julie is a real person! She was on Jeopardy last night.. she didn't win... guess they didn't understand her answers!