Hands are so important.....

I am working in the shop on a daily basis but things have ground to a halt in the studio. I have injured the middle finger ( the BAD finger ) on my left hand and given myself tendonitis in my right lower arm. Such misery! I know, it is misery on a small scale and an inconvenience on a big scale but I have had to stop making everything and I can not even knit or crochet for the moment. My Diva yarn shop will be without samples for awhile. I always look for the silver lining and believe that everything happens for a reason so I am trying to look at all of this as a time for some kind of spiritual growth. I have been lucky to have sold so much jewelry in the last few months that I made more, lots more,  causing the tendonitis. Good for making a living, bad for the arm.

The middle finger thing is because I have osteoarthritis in the top joints of many of my fingers, caused by years of over use and I whacked this finger good a few weeks ago. This caused the joint to leak fluid that belongs inside - outside. The end result? It must be fixed and I will know more after seeing the hand surgeon on Monday.

So I can not knit while watching TV, can not make more jewelry to replace pieces sold in the shop, can barely type on this laptop and of course, no silver work!

Am I  a normal person who just sits and watches TV or reads? My hands are idle. Idleness does not make Lois happy. Sigh. I am whining but just for a moment. Bear with me. I am on a hand vacation!

“ Be DARING, be different, be anything 

that will assert

integrity of purpose 

and imaginative vision against

the play it safers, the creatures

of commonplace,

the slaves of ordinary. “

Cecil Barton

Found this in a sketchbook today and as I reread it, I was again reminded of how much I like the quote. 

It was astoundingly and miserably hot all day yesterday ( and today ) in Port Townsend and especially hot in my shop. Gallery walk was well attended and I did sell a small piece but it was all I could do to move away from the fan however briefly. Anyhow, imagine how surprised I was when I walked back to my car after eight and there was a woman on the sidewalk swallowing fire swords and knives! Talk about hot! It was the first time I had ever seen her downtown and she was great fun to watch even if a green Honda nearly ran me over at the intersection. What a wild saturday night downtown!

A slightly blurry photo but I liked her head gear.

The early morning visitor.

So the other morning as I snoozed peacefully under the bedroom ceiling fan, an obviously upset animal or bird started chirping in the swamp maple outside my window. I threw on my robe and headed out to find a tiny red squirrel in the low branches of the tree. He was very red-orange, with lovely big eyes and so horribly upset. I talked to him and as I did he calmed down and looked at me, climbed closer to me. When I would stop talking and turn to leave he would start up again. I wish I knew squirrel-speak so I could have understood why he was so upset and what I could have done to make it all better. In the 15 years we have lived here, I have never had a little red squirrel in my tree or at my house. I hope he shows up again - just maybe a little later in the day.

The moon is full and bright out tonight and I am sitting back, feeling pleased with what was accomplished in the studio. I also took some time out today, just for me and read our weekly newspaper through. ( Well, it was a whole hour to read so it was a break of sorts just for me. ) Life journeys and lessons come in so many forms, surprising, revealing with unexpected consequences. I have been allowing my mind to roam in the quiet of the studio without music or television and I have found a surprise in my journey.

A couple of years ago I wrote about the end of a long, long friendship. I was sad it had ended and could not see what could possibly come out of this abrupt, miserable ending but now, a couple of years on the other side and I see a brightness that was not there before, a completeness that was perhaps missing while I was in the midst of this friendship. I am closer now to my husband. We are sharing more, talking more and our friendship has deepened. Not having this female companion to fall back on has made my marriage richer.

I have also learned that what broke up this friendship was personal, between my friend and me. There were people who took sides. I never wanted someone to take a side, did not encourage it and indeed, when I said goodbye to this person and wished them well, I meant it. I just figured things would go on much as before and the only change would be that this particular friendship was ended and had run its course. Surprise. People left me, un-friended me, and went away. Each act was not exactly painful but like a scratch to the skin. A quick, sharp pain that lingered for a bit. Once again a couple of years later and I find that I treasure the people and friends in my life more than I ever thought possible and surprisingly, I don't miss these people. Perhaps it is the wisdom with being older, maybe the realization that life does not go on and on, the thought that all this could change and end on a nano second's notice. Whatever brought me here left much in it's wake and I am grateful.

You see, I have come out the other side of this journey, stronger, smarter. Happier, richer, more in love with all that is in my life today. Sometimes a journey is just that, a trip to the center of your being, a lesson in life, a passage to adulthood's wisdom. Life is a journey and a the trip is good.

Glass jewelry focal pieces made today.

Vintage lucite bracelets crafted for the shop.

It was a day of ahhh. I was off from work so I could spend time in the studio and catch up on a few things around home. Working intently in the studio, I made many new earrings, hangings and necklaces for the shop. Ever since I was a little girl, all I ever really wanted to do was make things and sell them. I am so blessed, so unbelievably lucky, to be able to do just that.

Anyhow, while creating away, Jake came out and wanted to have lunch with me IF he could drive his new car to our lunch spot. I didn't really want to leave but as a friend said last week, " anytime a teenager wants to spend time with you...." so off we went. A nice mexican lunch in the middle of the day. That child of mine can eat and he is not a cheap date either!

I managed to do two chores that have been staring me down in the house too. I washed, with the garden hose, the three tier rattan end table I use for colored pencils by " MY " chair in the living room. Then, because I was on a roll, I cleaned and polished my leather chair! As I sat in it this evening to begin the evening's projects, I thought, " ahhh, accomplished! "

Desk view.

My ahhh, clean and shiny leather chair and refreshed work table.

So the other night, I was up late, all by myself, rocking the living room with no one in it and no television on. The house was quiet and the camera beckoned. I thought I would take some new pictures of myself for Facebook, maybe change my profile picture, update my outlook on life and self. I snapped picture after picture and still could not capture the look I wanted. I was after a " this is what I looked like in high school " picture. It only took me about 40 shots to realize, really realize those days are gone and it is time to settle into the physical age I am. No big deal, I thought. I can do this. Then the realization hit me how much I look like my mother. I see her in my eyes, my nose, the set of my chin, the curve of my lip. All at once, I felt her around me, with me, watching with amusement as I looked for that slim, young girl of my youth. I could see the sparkle in her eye and the mirth on her face as she watched me struggle with acceptance. I always have believed that those who have left us are still with us. They make themselves known through signs or a sound, a movement or a scent. I had taken oodles of pictures that night and then as I felt my mom come so near to me, the pictures changed, orbs of light floated around me, light that had not been there before. I had not changed position or light source. So many orbs, spots of light and then I looked closer and saw my mom in those lights and the other family members and friends she brought with her. I was NOT alone in my living room. I was not alone, struggling to capture a long ago me. I was with family and they accepted me, wove around me and supported the me I am now. Here is a bit of the journey I took that night....

This is about the 28th picture I took.

Then an orb moves in.

More orbs come in.

I am surrounded in orbs.

So although I am not one to post pictures of myself, I wanted to show the changes as my family moved in. You can say it is a trick of lighting, a play of the camera but I choose to believe, choose to feel, that it was family that photographed with me that late evening.