Retired. Are you going to? When are you? I hear it now on an almost daily basis. I will be 60 this November and although I do not think I have yet shouted it from the rooftops or written it in spray paint on the sidewalks; everyone seems to know it. Is it the gray hair that is putting out the 60 message? Is it the ever thickening waistline? Hmpf. I don't know but how can anyone ask about my retirement when I have never felt like I was working? I love what I do even on the days I am cranky. I like making stuff and selling the stuff I make. It is all I ever wanted to do when I grew up. I would tell people I would be a movie star or an artist when I grew up and look at me now - I am both. I am the star of my dog and pony show, the entertainment for the customers who walk in my shop door, the laugh of their day, the kindness that greets them in a stage presentation on the sales floor. I am the artist who makes the jewelry, crafts the things that people purchase. I do it all in an art way; from merchandising to display to little decorated tags. Whoever said make a job doing something you love and you'll never work a day in your life was absolutely right! I play. I chat. I smile. I create. I design. I dream. I make stuff. I sell stuff and I love it. Retire? No, I am not thinking of it!

My oldest son and me at the place we began.

It is ever so softly raining right now and I am enjoying it so much. I like the quietness, the coolness and the feeling of solitude the rain imparts to me. So far this summer, business has been quiet and giving me some time to try new things. I have done one event, one craft show and soon, one big festival. I head up to Sequim this weekend for one of the biggest Lavender Festivals in the US. I was invited to do the show by the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club so my beads and I will hit the road and set up a booth there.

I love the purples of lavender and the scent delights me. I am looking forward to a few days away from the shop, doing something a bit different. Until I return, here are some around the Lois world pictures.

Tomorrow is my mother's birthday. She would have been 87 if only she were still here with us. She has been gone since 2008. In those eight years, I have missed her fiercely. She was my person to call when something exciting happened in my life or some event came along or I won an award or an election or something like that. No one was quite as astounded by my life as my mom. No one gave the kind of advice she gave me.

I should have recorded her voice. I miss that. I should have more pictures. I miss those. I should have been a more attentive daughter. I missed that.

The world is a bit crazy right now. At least the world that exists outside my front door. The flower beds are wild with growth, the fruit trees are full and lush with beautiful green leaves and many, many buds, birds sing loud songs as soon as the dawn approaches and the deer quietly walk through the lavender beds nibbling here and there on everything that is growing.

The daylight lasts long into the evening and I find myself quietly knitting while I wait for sleep to call me into the bedroom. Quiet times beckon me and soothe me, resting me until the next day awakens.

I love spring and dread the heat of summer. I am hoping Mother Nature will be kind and keep the temperatures at a level that makes me really love summer.

 For now, this early evening moment, I am going to be thankful for all the blooms around the neighborhood.

Reading blogs late into the evening, well before I go to sleep, is a past time that I enjoy even if it is slightly voyeuristic. It can however, irritate me if someone has not posted on their blog in eons and now, I fear, I am in that same annoying little category! It has been a long time since I posted and as I write this my eyes and hands and brain are being betrayed by sleep. Sleep is calling me and I am just slightly nodding off here and then jerking awake to write more. Once again, I am going to escape from writing much and just post a few pictures. I swear, I am gonna start writing earlier in the evenings!

The studio.

Front yard.

New dichroic cabs for the store.

Side yard with a rain squall approaching.


Sweet dreams. 

I truly meant to post

 pictures from Tucson but life sometimes gets in the path of things you want to accomplish and fills your days with what you NEED to accomplish. Here are a few photos from the gem shows'

This girl made her annual foray into Tucson for the gem shows last week. It was a weird year, not being a vendor down there after selling in the shows for 22 years. It felt so odd not to work even though I filled in at a friend's booth for a few hours. I had time, lots of time to shop nearly every day until I was worn out from walking and carrying and talking and my brain felt over used and over stimulated making decisions and seeing so many beautiful things.

There was sadness in the air down there as the shows are changing. There are less customers and fewer vendors. Large open spaces in several shows filled with chairs and not sellers.

The desert though is beautiful. Rich and warm and almost inviting. The cactus just beginning to bloom. Female cardinals jumping in the branches of bushes, singing.Grassy areas were green, dormant areas rich golds and browns. The sky so blue, the clouds so white, the air so fresh - I found a picnic bench in a park. Just sitting. Thinking. Contemplating.

Tomorrow, after a shop day, I'll post pictures of my day in the park and then we'll talk stones and gems.

Sweet dreams.