A Beaded Tapestry for My Granddaughter

This is a picture my latest beading project.The pink board is 9x12. In the center is a beading tapestry glued to the board. The tapestry has about 9000 beads all sewn by me one at a time. I made this for my granddaughter for her 7th birthday. An explanation of the colors is glued on the back. I picked up the board and the pink paint at Wal-Mart in the craft department.

It says " Your Mom, Dad and your bothers are always close by and you can count on them. They surround you. They are the green. Your Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, Great Uncles and Aunts adore you. They are the pink. Jesus loves you. He surrounds you and your family. He is the yellow. You will see that sometimes the pink vine is separated from the gold and sometimes they seem to run together. That's to remind you that even if sometimes it seems that we are very close and sometimes we are far away, either way we always love you very much. But, no matter what happens with anyone else, always know that Jesus is right there with you and He just loves the sound of your voice. Made for you with love from Grandma.

Isn't it all about what you expect?

If you expect the outside temperature to be 70 degrees and it is 50, you think it is unseasonably cold. But, if you expect the outside temperature to be 30 degrees and it is 50, you rejoice that it is unseasonably warm. So you see, its all in your expectations.

Is this where people get the idea to expect little so as not to be disappointed and be forced to adjust downward? I think might also be where this saying came from. "You might as well shoot for the moon because you're bound to land among the stars."

Ever tour a gold mine?

Yesterday we visited Oatman, AZ. If you have never been there, you must visit. Wild burros, that live in the hills, wander into town in hopes that tourists will feed them carrots. The savvy tourists come equipped with a bag of carrots. We got there mid morning and at first we saw only one burro, but by the time we had breakfast, many more burros were in the street. We fed them. They will actually eat carrots right out of your hand. They are soooo cute! They are tame enough that even the small children can feed them carrots. (They do ask that you not feed the baby burros because they might choke on the carrots.)

In the shops are the typical touristy things to buy. But besides the burros and the shops, the real attraction for Oatman is the Gold Mine Tour. They do tours all day long. You will go in a group into the gold mine, but its not scary, (if you are claustrophobic). They are very safety conscious.

At one point during the tour it was quite dark and as I looked to my side, I saw a man in a pair of glasses, (my husband has glasses) and the height was about the same as his. Who knew that the man beside me was not Richard? It was dark, and a little spooky so I did what wives do. I reached for his arm and said, "give me your hand."

With that, the person whose arm I grabbed for in the dark, darted ahead as if he'd been shot from a cannon. (Apparently, it was the other tall man with glasses in our group.) I was stunned, of course and turned around, by now it was a little lighter and I could see Richard. Of course I burst out in embarrassed laughter. Cousins, Donna and Galen were not far behind. She heard the fracas and knew instinctively what had happened. The four of us had another laugh when we exited the gold mine.

The gold mine tour was fascinating. They closed the mine, (I think in 1998), when Gold fell to $300 per ounce and it cost them $300 per ounce to mine it. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that is not a paying proposition and why they closed the mine. When it goes to $700, they will begin mining again and it is some over $600 at the moment. (I just checked and at this moment it is $646.40.) Our guide said they have a minimum of 10 years of gold still to mine. That will employ about 150 miners and be terrific for the economy of the Oatman area.

Oatman is a community unlike any other. Its a must see if you are anywhere near, and by the way, wear walking shoes.

my amulet purses

I just read that in ancient times, amulets were believed to keep evil away, even bring good luck. Certainly today we don't have those suspicions but they are just fun to wear. They take about a day to make.

my beading

This is my first beading "tapestry". It was fun to do and I will do more.

This is Richard's completed Buffalo

Not bad for his first try,huh? We think this is called 'carving in the round'.

A herd of carved buffalo- Richard's is in the back