Intentional Stones

Lovely Laurel Highlands

(Sunrise over the Laurel Highlands.  I never see this hour of the morning.  It was worth it)

These past couple of weeks I've done something entirely new.  Two shows in the Laurel Highlands during leaf peeping season.

This means a lot of driving.  I know, these places are only a little more than an hour from home, but arriving there without my family, they seem forever away.  Setting up in little towns, Bedford and Ligonier, in the chill of mid fall was something different. 

Bedford was a family effort.  Adam and I drove out and set up while the kids hung out at home with a friend.  Saturday morning, when I took this photo, I set out eerily early, long before the sun was up, and launched the jewelry shop amidst the crowds in summer-like heat!  The family joined me on Sunday to help break down.  Persephone wanted to help watch the tent and to wander the fair and to eat all the food.  And they let me go do the same.  I definitely want to go back next year.  Maybe I can participate in both weekends of the Bedford Fall Foliage Festival!

Just as I got home on Sunday, I got a text from my friend AR asking what I would be doing the next weekend.  She found us a little spot at Fort Ligonier Days!!!  I wondered if Adam would forgive me causing this craziness two weekends in a row. 

We set up inside the new bead shop started by Andrew a month ago, Allegory Gallery on the main street of Bedford, PA.  (This is my dream shop, Andrew Thornton has beautiful beads and artwork in the front and Laura of Second Chance Books has used books and childrens books in the back)

It was kind of quiet for the type of weekend we'd been expecting, but the weather was lovely on Sunday and we set up outside.  I made a big point of trying to get people into the shop.  And we loved the people of Ligoiner and the costumes of the festival!  I also got to spend more time with Maria of Lost Marbles.  (funny, her marbles don't seem so lost!  or maybe it's in comparison with me) 

Anyway, it was lovely to meet so many people and have so much fun.  Now it's time to get ready for the holidays.  And it was great and very very positive to have these experiences now.

-Simbelmynë

Art Abroad in West Virginia

I'm giddy to announce that I, Simbelmynë, will be at The 16th Annual Cheat Festival with all of the Intentional Stones jewelry!  The festival takes place on Saturday, May 1st, and we'll be arriving in time for the race on Friday, April 30th. 

We will be participating in the Art Market, juried by the Arts Council of Preston County.  Our very first juried art show. 

While this will be our first visit to this particular area of West Virginia, we've been stunned by the beauty of the New River Gorge and we've been eager to explore more of the state.  The festival benefits the Friends of the Cheat a group dedicated to the mission to "restore, preserve and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat River Watershed." 

And my family and I will be supporting our friends in the Cheat Canyon Kayak Race, taking place on Friday evening before the festival.  See who loves this race on facebook.

I cannot wait to see you there!

-Simbelmynë

Sometimes it's an offering

I lost my favorite piece. 

Fortunately, I wrote up and photographed how to make it as I was creating it, just because it was a good design and I wanted to make more.  I'm part way through making a second and I have another of the stone from my personal piece to remake it, better, stronger, and impossible to lose.

Even in a place like this.

Hiking up this beautiful, but gentle mountain provided a fun thrill for a weekend. Mt Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia and the source of the Snowy River. It's got skiing, fun attractions for the kids, interesting environmental and geological features, and perfect accessibility. It's clear that it's popularity has inspired the park managers to work to keep it beautiful, and provide awesome hiking paths without damaging the fragile ecosystem. The paths are boardwalks spanning the long long way up the mountain, through marsh, over the river, and even over show that lasts all the way through the height of summer.  It's a showcase of the amazing things we found in Australia, friendliness with fun, well cared for and approachable wilderness, and near to our home there.

Walking back I looked everywhere to find the pendant.  As you can see, there was no hope. 

But thinking about it, the Andalusite cage wrap was part of me, my design and a stone that spoke directly to me.   Maybe, leaving it in Australia will mean I will be a little bit more welcome if I ever decide to come back.  Maybe I have become a little bit a part of Australia as it has become a part of me.

-Simbelmynë

Revisiting Politics

While the Parliament building in Canberra is one of my favorite memories, the kids had enough of it the second time around. So I made every attempt to keep them busy while my in-laws got the chance to see the fantastic architecture and art.

And then we headed to the other side of the lawn to the Old Parliament building.  I thought we'd only be making a quick round of the houses, and running back home.  But it turns out that an old, used building, where the kids can explore and touch everything is much, much more fun. 

And, it turns out, the adults liked to play too:

This is a plastic version of the original, made to match it's size and weight.

The mace is the symbol of the power of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Sometimes old school is the most fun.

How did we almost miss that?

We saw the parliament, we hiked, we enjoyed the museums of the capital.  But we never walked next door to the Botanical Gardens.

One thing I've found, living in wonderful places, Like Northern Virginia, one wrong turn away from the National Mall, is that living in places that are interesting desensitizes you to the high value of your surroundings.

One place to see the widest variety of gum trees.  Greenhouses full of flowers from all over the continent.  Artificial ran forest, walks through the canopy, and sunlight through the leaves.  And a perfect chance to share memories of the beauty of our opportunity to live abroad.

I've learned that sometimes the coolest things are right around the corner.

I'm deeply grateful for guests who make me want to show off the interesting things around my area.

Showing off

You don't really realize how far away you feel until you finally get visitors.  Adam's parents, luckily, could join us for one of our last weeks in Australia. 

Work still needed Adam, so we decided to show them as many of the wondrous places we'd found in our time in Canberra and the areas near Sydney.

We certainly didn't have enough time at Fitzroy Falls the first time.

The creatures obliged with lots of appearances. The male lyrebird hid in the underbrush and refused to pose.  But the little lizards were enjoying the nice day. 

And having the grandparents around made the children especially enjoy the hike. 

The Creepies and the Crawlies

They just make them bigger and nastier in Australia.


These guys are really very friendly and eat the flies, still I invited her to reside in the back garden, rather than poised to jump on my head as I entered the kitchen.

Everything is poisonous in Australia- Snakes, Starfish, Ticks...
Yeah, you heard me right- Ticks.
This mom who generally avoids insect repellant because of the repelling things it contains was at the chemist finding the best, least awful product that would keep away the Paralysis Tick. Not generally very harmful, but the bite can be nasty if you don't find the tick immediately. Havoc got to find out. Poor guy.  But they can stop a dog's heart if left alone for several days.  

The snails in our garden had me fascinated. How many creatures move slowly enough that you can observe their behavior between evening chores?
For such slow creatures, they were quite busy. Each morning, there was little sign of them except for the slime trails glistening in the sun. And we had to race to get our mail before they ate whatever piece had the misfortune to be on top.

I'd hoped that the blue tongued skink who dropped in for a visit would stick around to dine on the snail buffet, but we only saw him once. If the hundreds of snails we had weren't appealing enough, what is?

I have a picture of the roach that climbed out of a brush pile and into our house, but I don't feel like showing them to you with all these friendly creatures.  Ewwww.

Havoc, who's normally very cautious, was victim to the Bullants as well

Yeah, the normal ant bite hurts, but imagine it came with a lasting sting.

Be careful around the ants, these and another type-JackJumpers, can cause a severe allergic reaction, like a bee sting.

Ow! Listen to your Mom next time!

Havoc's favorite crawling creature of all time is the crab.  So much of Australia that we visited is coastal, that we were able to find crabs on several trips- in the swamp, at the beach, in little tidal lakes.  

It was a small consolation with all his friends and his beloved pet hermit crab left behind in Pittsburgh, but it made him smile every time we found some. 

-Simbelmynë

ps.  The final 6 weeks in Australia were spent almost entirely in travel.  At the rate of one travel entry per week, this will go on forever.  And not that I'm reluctant to draw out my memories, I'm really enjoying that, actually, but I'm thinking in terms of keeping the trips coherent.  So, I think I will write up each trip over a weekend, break it into the appropriate number of posts, and deluge you with lots and lot of blog entries during the week-travel, jewelry, love sharing...  How do yinz feel about that?

Enjoy the ride!

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Fair!

Everything comes out in the springtime. Bugs, flowers, neighbors....

We got an invite for the Spring Fair at our neighbor's school- a small, private, Waldorf based grammar school-Orana. We'd been friendly with them, but only had one opportunity to socialize, Persephone's Birthday, and I was delighted that they remembered us!

My expectations weren't all that high, though. School fairs to me are more of a flashy, fundraising affair. I think of ping pong ball games that result in a short lived goldfish coming home, or a ferris wheel in a hot, dusty parking lot.

This one broke all my preconceptions!

Of course, there was fundraising. But it was in the form of a wonderful arts and crafts fair, and delicious food vendors, lots of them. They even had an idea I'd love to use if I'm ever organizing events again. For $10, you could buy a paper flower with eight petals marked each for a different vendor. For example ice cream cone, slice of pizza, lucky dip (grab bag), etc. You could buy each of these things separately, but if you bought the flower and used all the petals, you could save a lot of money. The kids hand made the flowers, it was a nice touch to see how much they were involved in their school.

The different school organizations danced, sang, demonstrated their interests and generally entertained us all. And in the wonderful open plan campus it was a very pleasant way to spend our afternoon. I left wishing we could attend the school. Too bad the semester was almost over!

I left thinking harder than ever about home schooling, educational philosophy and community. I will be looking harder at the philosophy behind this school. Those of you keeping up with me on Twitter and Facebook know that we've decided to give brick and mortar school a try for this semester. It's possible that visiting this campus, a place I would have loved to go to school with a child-centered philosophy, outdoor campus and nurturing environment, influenced this decision. It will be interesting to see how entering into the school community effects our link to our neighborhood and friends in Pittsburgh.

-Simbelmynë

Counting Words

I've been jealous.

Jealous of other people's talents in crafting. Mina's in particular. It's the talent of writing.

This probably goes way back to high school, where the "coolest" teacher taught creative writing. I could not possibly pile that upon my elective art, science and french classes. I've never been particularly confident in my writing skills, beyond the simple formulas of essay writing, that is. But the seed was planted. I wished I could write.

A few years ago, I vicariously became aware of the broad possibilities of the internet through creative writing. Specifically I watched Mina's world open up through the relationships she developed through LiveJournal.com and the challenge of National Novel Writing Month.

Write 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days. Sounds simple, eh? It's a creative challenge. There are a lot of people who do it, successfully and unsuccessfully and they're all OK afterwards. Not like a marathon where you could destroy your knees or have a heart attack. (Yes, I'm chicken about running.)

So, naturally, I took it on myself. For a couple of years I tried. The first year, I managed 1500 words in the first couple of days. And then my story just petered out. The second time, two years later, I managed 3000 on a semi-autobiographical fiction that dragged me down like cement shoes. Self preservation took me away from that one.

Then I called out to my crafting friends and we formed National Craft Making Month and I focused my energy in my own area instead of working from jealousy. I've done this for two years now and it's been fabulous-creative, productive, and I'm building new friendships out of it. So I thought I'd try writing another novel.

And lo, the change in me!

I let go of any presupposition that the novel would be good. In fact, it's working title was "Cathy's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Novel" (apologies to Judith Viorst) and I just wrote up a daydream story I've been telling myself before bed for years. And it went, and went, and went, for 15 days and 25,000 words!

Alas, the holiday season began and my commitment to make online sales work for my jewelry pulled me away from writing. So the novel is sitting in a file waiting for me to have time. I'm excited about finishing it, almost as much as my other crafting projects.

I'm not sure if the difference in perspective comes from two years of successfully completing my own crafting challenge, continuous blogging or simply from looking at writing as another crafting project. It could be all three. Next year I will finish, I know I'll be able to.  Isn't that crazy?

Do you NaNo? And has it changed you?

In this new year, as part of my crafting initiative, I am looking to challenge myself daily once again. I may even write about it on the Crafting Month group, and of course, here.  Good things come of it.

-Simbelmynë