Feature on "Mustard and Sage" Blog

I discovered tonight that I was featured on a beautiful blog called Mustard and Sage. It's even based right here in North Carolina--Durham to be exact (GO DUKE!!). The owner, Meghan, has a feature called "Friday Finds" of which I was this past Friday! How cool is that?!! I was very honored and thrilled to find this. Thank you so much Meghan! I really appreciate your choosing me to feature. It certainly made my week!

Etsy Front Page and Another Crazy Hair Day!!

Wow! I was on the front page of Etsy today (well, not me but my earrings)! I totally wasn't expecting it but was very happy nonetheless! The creator of the list turned out to be one of the 'Etsy gods' (as Cindy of Starry Designs likes to call them). heymichelle (aka reconstructionist) is an Etsy admin as well as an Etsy seller herself. I wasn't quite sure who to thank as there was no curator listed on the front page. I found out later via Flickr that she had curated the list.

During the few minutes my earrings were on the front page they acquired an additional 85 views and my shop received 35 new hearts!! So today was a really unexpectedly good day! Thank you very much Michelle!

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And on the home front, this week is "Spirit Week" at Kevin's school. Many of you will recall "Crazy Hair Day" from the last school year. Well, we did it again this past Tuesday. Kevin wanted to do the same thing to his hair this year as we did the last so I happily obliged.

He had so much fun and wore his crazy hair proudly!!
(And this time he didn't end up with chickenpox!!!
He actually hasn't missed a day of school yet this year due to illness! Yay!!
Now watch me jinx him...)

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And lastly, here are just a few new things which have yet to be listed in my shop. I'll get them in there eventually, I promise!

On the top row from left to right are: 1) fuschia/maroon freshwater potato pearl and goldfill earrings with vintage brass filigree that I recycled from a pair of earrings I've had since high school (1979 or thereabouts); 2) labradorite bicone linear earrings in sterling; 3) rhodolite garnet marquise briolettes in oxidized sterling. On the bottom row are: 1) lustrous light pink freshwater rice/oval pearls in sterling; 2) goldfill hammered hoops with pink amethyst faceted rectangles; 3) hammered hoops by themselves which I have decided to carry in my shop. They will also be available in shiny sterling as well as oxidized sterling (and possibly even solid 18k and 14k gold). All hoops are lightly hammered.

Christmas is coming and my shop is so very bare. The way my eyes have been behaving lately I don't know how full my shop will be approaching the season, but I'll do my best to have something for everyone. If anyone has suggestions regarding what they might like to see, please do let me know and I will try to accommodate.

That's it for now. I hope everyone is having a good fall or spring (depending on where you are of course)!

Until next time....

Pina Coladas and Other Stuff

I'm back! And yep, I've been a really bad girl. It's been almost two months since I've written anything here and I'm sure you've all given up on me by now. I've just been laying low, doing things around the house as well as making some jewelry. But I decided I could no longer sit and look at the computer for as long as I used to and it's been much better for my eyes. I was starting to get headaches and neck cramps from sitting here. It's actually been a nice change not to be at the computer for so long at a time. And my eyes just aren't what they used to be so I've been giving them a break. Well, I thought it was about time I let you all know I'm still alive and tell you what's been going on.

When I last wrote, Kevin and I were leaving the mountains and coming home to Charlotte, then going to Myrtle Beach for a week on vacation. Even though Myrtle Beach is a bit more touristy than I like, we did have a great time. (I'm not a real big fan of sand though either). Kevin had so much fun boogie-boarding in the surf. He swam in every pool possible, walked on the beach, played at the waterpark and went to the aquarium. But I think he had the most fun on his boogie board.


There was lots of yummy seafood and some really good sweet tea, but I must say my favorite part of the entire trip was Drunken Jack's 'Ultimate Pina Colada'. Drunken Jack's is a restaurant down in Murrell's Inlet where we went to eat one night. Their Pina Coladas are like milkshakes! They are sooooo good! The best I've ever had. The restaurant sits right on the inlet too and has a beautiful view. There's also a great legend attached to this place that you have to read about. I highly recommend Drunken Jack's. The food was great too but I'll never forget those Pina Coladas! Overall we had a really fun time on our trip.


Kevin has now been in first grade for a little over a month and he absolutely LOVES it! He's having a great time and is making new friends. He likes his teacher a lot which is always good. He's also getting pretty big now (it never ceases to amaze me just how big he's gotten). He's one of the tallest in his class (so he tells me). He's already been in love and has written notes back and forth with a little girl in his class. Friday he told me she broke up with him. I asked him if he was upset. He said "no, not really." I said that breaking up didn't mean they couldn't still be friends. Friends are forever. (I got married under the teacher's desk in first grade and got divorced in gym class in second grade, and that little boy and I are still good friends to this day.)


Kevin is also now a Tiger Cub. He joined Cub Scouts last month and is having a great time. He went on his first camping trip overnight and thoroughly enjoyed it. He's learned the salute, the pledge, and all kinds of other things. They'll be going camping again in a couple of weeks and he's really looking forward to that. Oh, and he's so very proud of his uniform.


We took our canoe out on Mountain Island Lake one weekend a few weeks ago. It was Kevin's first time ever in a canoe. I hadn't been in years (and boy did I get sore), but I really want to go more often though, I enjoy it so much.


Our canoe has three rows of seats and Kevin sat in the middle on top of the built-in cooler. It was a beautiful day. The sky was such a bright blue. We took a little picnic lunch and ate it in the boat in shade of some trees at the edge of the lake. Kevin really enjoyed being on the lake and seeing all the motorboats, canoers and kayakers. He said that when he grew up he was going to go canoeing every Sunday. It was definitely fun.



As for me, I'm tired. Tired all the time. Even when I do get as much sleep as I can possibly get, I'm still tired. I keep telling myself it's just the seasons changing and it's like my body is preparing to hibernate or something, but I suppose I'll have to go get checked out. One of my dear Etsy friends told me it could be my thyroid which is easily be treated with a pill. I guess there's no excuse for me not to go to the doctor. It's just that they can never find my veins when they try to get blood and I end up bruised and sore for at least a week afterwards. I don't look forward to them blowing my vein each time (and in each arm). I'll have to drink a gallon of water just so they can find my vein. I hate that. But I'm tired of being tired.

I say that I've been doing things around the house, but truth be told I just can't figure out what needs to be done. My concentration is off and it's like I'm going around in circles. It's not a bipolar feeling, of not being able to concentrate, having my head go in ten different directions at once. And it's not really a depressive state either, although it's more of a depressive state than bipolar. But having experienced both to their fullest extent, this doesn't really fit into either category. This is just tired. Plain and simple tired. Sometimes I ache all over, especially my neck. Sometimes I have a headache. Sometimes my vision is sort of blurry but then I attribute that to getting old and looking at the computer too much. My IBS has been acting up a lot recently and I haven't really changed my diet and don't feel that stressed which always triggers it. Perhaps it's just all the turmoil over the economy and the daily stress from hearing about the frigging $700,000,000,000 'bailout' over and over again (that's a lot of zeros). Or maybe it really is that I'm just getting old. We'll see.

I have mustered up enough energy to make some new jewelry for my shop even though I'm still tired (and working on the pictures takes its toll). Anyway, here are some new things you can find in my shop.






Lots of earrings as you can see. The following two necklaces are not in my shop yet but will be soon. Both are hand knotted freshwater pearls with brass filigree pendants. They're a little different from what I normally make, but I loved the look of the pearls with the brass and just had to make them. Keep an eye out for them in my shop as well as other new pieces still to come!




Well, that's about it for now. I hope everyone is well and coping all right with the state of the economy these days. We've had a hard time finding gas around here lately due to hurricane Ike. I refused to wait in line for gas and luckily I didn't have to. I don't really drive that much when I'm here in Charlotte (it's a good thing too), but I finally had to get some gas one day last week. I crossed my fingers and found a station nearby that had some gas. I got in without having to wait in a line. As I pulled up to the pump, my fuel level alarm went off. I'd gone about as far as I could on fumes.

Take care all. Until next time.....

Goodbye Mountains, Hello Beach

Gone are the Blue Ridge Mountains. I've left them behind (for now). They've been replaced by the skinny little trees that are few and far between in this ever expanding urban sprawl that's Charlotte. The peace and quite of the country has been exchanged for the sounds of the city. Gosh, how I hated to leave.

the Phoenix as seen from Mt. Jefferson

I went outside last night and got my crying over with. I sat listening to the crickets and the owls. I heard the deer on the hill behind mom's house snort the alarm when he got a whiff of me. I listened to the peace and quiet and just took in the cool night air. The moon peeked out of the clouds and shined a slight ray of hope.

looking toward Tennessee from Mt. Jefferson

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On a lighter note, the Ola Belle Reed Festival was this past weekend in Lansing. It started Friday night and went through Sunday. I spent a large part of the day Saturday packing our things to get ready to leave. The ball field where the festival takes place is right below mom's house and the music echoes up the valley. It makes for a great cheap seat. We heard quite a bit of good music from the yard Friday night, listening to it echo off the hillsides.

view from mom's yard

late night on the stage (zoomed in)

It was a good time. The bands were terrific and Kevin had great fun dancing in the dark!

Then the night ended with fireworks!

I'll post more pictures of the festival when I get the chance. We're getting up tomorrow and heading out for Myrtle Beach. (Just got here and now we're going to turn around and leave again!) Kevin is going to enjoy it. I'll try to as well (as long as it doesn't rain). I'm not a sand person though, but I do like to watch Kevin having a good time. There's a chance of rain every day we're going to be there, so I'm sure we'll be visiting the aquarium.

And while we're at the beach, good ol' Barney gets to stay in the mountains a couple more weeks. Lucky dog. I left him with mom so she could babysit him while we were gone. He loves her. Thanks mom!

The good thing is, we get to go back to the mountains and get him in two weeks! Yay!

Well, we'll see you in Myrtle Beach! Keep your fingers crossed that Hurricane Fay doesn't come our way!

Until next time....

Goodnight Moon

goodnight moon, originally uploaded by msbellee.

Last night was the Perseids meteor shower. It was a very cold night but that made for perfectly beautiful skies...except for one thing: the moon. It was so, so bright and lit up the entire night sky. It's not even a full moon yet but I couldn't believe how bright it was.

Here in the mountains you can see so many more stars than most anywhere else I know. There are street lights that mar some of the viewing, but there's still plenty of dark sky to be had if you know where to go and how to do it.

Kevin and I went out to the yard with our blankets and pillows and laid down on the grass behind my mom's house to view the show. And it was awesome! We were only out there for about 45 minutes but during that time we saw at least 10 meteors and some of them streaked across the entire sky! Kevin said, "I'll never forget this." I just smiled. We also saw at least 10 planes, one of which I believe was a military jet, it was so low and so fast. We saw about 5 satellites (tiny moving points of faint white light that make no noise and have no blinking lights), and a few bats flying around. We heard a screech owl and a hoot owl, but the most incredible thing was the moon. It competed with the meteor shower for the most brilliant sight in the sky. You didn't even need a flashlight to see your way in the dark, it was so bright.

I've never been able to take a picture of the moon before. But I thought I'd give it a shot since it was soooooo bright. I got my tripod and set it up in the edge of the yard where no trees blocked the view. Then I used my self-timer to release the shutter to prevent any external movement to the camera. I used manual setting and fiddled around with the shutter and aperture settings until I could see the moon pretty clearly in the LCD. I kept the ISO on 80 to cut down on noise, although there is still noise in the pics. (That's one of the main reasons I want a DSLR, so I can shoot in low light with a higher ISO for less noise.) After it was all set up I gave it a shot and was thrilled with the results! I still want a DSLR so I can get an even better shot, but I think I did pretty good for this camera! (Anyone care to contribute to my DSLR fund?? Go to my shop where I'm having a sale!! :) )

After Kevin saw the pictures, he told me "you should be proud, mommy!" I asked him why. He said, "you can see all the craters on the moon." I thought that was cool, but he's easily impressed! He's getting into photography too and I'm really glad he is. It's teaching him to see the world in a different way which I believe can only be a good thing. He looks for the unusual and different things now. He's appreciating little things and seeing things that others don't always notice, like bumble bees sleeping on the flowers at dusk, or toads that are camoflauged in gravel, and the tiniest little insects that might otherwise get stepped on. Instead, we take a picture of them and then let them be.

We've shared and done a lot together while being in the mountains this summer. The meteor shower was really fun and I'm glad I could share it with him. We did it last year and the before, but this year I think he'll remember it (I hope). We lay there together under the blanket on the cold, cold ground, looking up at the stars and saying "Wow, did you see that one?!"

It's the little things....

Until next time....

End of Summer Sale

Hi everyone!

I'm running an "End of Summer" sale in my Etsy shop! Lots of beautiful handmade items at lower prices (some as much as $10 off!). So stop by and see if there's something calling your name!

I hope everyone is having a good summer. This is our last week in the mountains. We'll be sad to leave the beauty and the fresh air (and Granny). Then school starts August 25 when Kevin begins 1st grade! Gosh, how time flies....

Take care everyone!

Until next time.....