DZI and Delight

Two wonderful things happened today. First of all I had my birthday lunch with Marlene, a fellow November girl. We had a fabulous Parisian style lunch at Sweet Laurette's in uptown Port Townsend. We enjoyed a late morning breakfast followed by a dessert that was a torte for two called " chocolate
oblivion ". Rich, small and dark, the torte was heaven on a fork. I say again, " Damn you, Marlene! "
"  Damn you for introducing me to such sin! "

Marlene and what is left of our dessert.

The second wonderful thing that happened today needs a background story. I have a customer that has been using beads from her lifetime collection and making necklaces. She has been donating the necklaces and brings them to me for advice, pricing help and the names of the beads. Last week she showed me a necklace made of beads that she purchased in Asia in 1970. I told her that I thought she had some real D'ZI beads from Tibet. These are precious beads and can be hundreds of years old. They are inscribed with special markings that have spiritual meanings to Tibetans. I have never been lucky enough to see a real one let alone hold one. I referred my customer to Robert Liu of Ornament magazine, who referred her on to a dealer in Bellevue who viewed her beads and said they were worth
$ 2000.00 each! When my customer came in this afternoon to tell me this, I was so excited for her! I also felt special just to have been able to identify the beads for her and then be correct about them. Is that a bead story come true or what?
All in all as I sit here in my comfy living room leather chair on this snowy, rainy and hailing evening; I can reflect back on the day and say it was good. It was fun. It was companionship and history and chocolate all rolled into one birthday celebration day.
 pronounced Zee) is a Tibetan 
AAl in allword to describe a patterned agate bead of mainly cylindrical or tabular shape called "Heaven's Bead" in Chinese. Such beads were etched black-and-white or brown-and-white, with symbols comprised of circles, ovals, square, waves stripes, lines and various other symbolic patterns. To the Tibetans, each of these symbols represents a specific meaning. They are precious possession to the Tibetan, with so many fascinating stories of its mystical power attributed to it.