Yumiko’s Neighborhood

Copper bracelet

This is not my first foray into bracelets, but I think it's my first big-link item and I guess it's acceptable.  I'm not sure how much I like it - i may or may not keep it in its present state.  There's too little on the chain.

Copper earrings

Refurbbed ring

The other day  there were 2 jewelry stands at school, selling the usual costume/'junk' pieces.  I found a couple dollar-bin things to part out, as well as this awesome ring for $4!  The original "stone" popped out that day but being the veteran of cheap jewelry that I am, I saw this as an opportunity to make it into something cooler.  So on goes the Bead for Life bead, as well as some bone-looking rounds and amber seeds.  Nothing valuable, breakable, or irreplaceable.

Action shot

Good craft move!  If it wasn't for the bra strap showing, I'd call this my dust jacket shot ;)

All right, so I've been at the nursing home for a year now, (NOT as a resident!) and have decided to take my vacation. Ahhhhh.. I've never actually taken paid time off from work. I could get used to this.

So far My Honey and I have  taken the twins to the Children's Museum, followed by a relaxing lunch at El Senor Sol and a quick trip to the REI for mittens. I know doesn't sound too exciting, but I had fun. The next day we took a bike ride to a nearby pond and hung out for a little bit, and then went on to a playground and just let the boys have at it while we lay in the shade on some nice cool grass. Again, not exciting, but I enjoyed it immensely. I have some pictures to share, but they aren't very good. I had to use my camera phone as our camera still isn't repaired or replaced yet. (Long story, to be remedied soon.)

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Ouside the Children's Museum

Landgon and Trevor as firemen

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Langdon dressed as a worm

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Trevor dresses as an ant

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Langdon tries his hand as a vet

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Trevor climbs aboard a tennis shoe wearing tree

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Kev and the boys playing in the pond.

Marco polo earrings

"There are visions, there are memories
There are echoes of thundering hooves
There are fires, there is laughter
There's the sound of a thousand doves"

-"Night Ride Across the Caucasus", Loreen McKennitt

ln a weird way, I feel I owe Ms. McKennitt a percentage of all sales :)  Don't ask me how, but her music has transmuted into art for me!  These earrings are simple and charming, but I'm not sold on the mixed metals here.  I need more antiqued brass findings, so they may have to be shelved for the moment.

We are the emerald earrings

"Gaze into our depths: we are the Emerald,
Everlasting and leafy, like the soul of the oceans,
Where perfumes roam through the warm night,
And flows the wave of the great angels of the wind."

-"Gaze into our depths: we are the Emerald", Charles van Lergerghe

Poetry also works in this process!  Especially the Symbolists, since I have no clue what they were talking about....

Nile earrings

Next we have these Nile earrings - pretty easy to trace their influence!  I was lucky to find 2 of the little "lotus" beads that top the rectangles. 

Amphora earrings

Before I go any further, 'They' are my teenage children. :-)

Obviously, today is Sept 11. Our nation is reflecting upon the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I have discussed this a lot over the last week, with friends, family, and even some people I don't really know.

The attacks are our generations' Kennedy asasination. Ask anyone, they remember where they were when the towers fell, just as my Mom remembers where she was when she heard the news about JFK.

I remember I was in the middle of a messy divorce from my first husband and had taken the first job I could that had the possibility of paying the bills. Yup, I was selling used cars. (Please don't judge...) I had gotten in my car to head for work and ripped my hose. I didn't have a pair so I stopped at the grocery store a couple blocks from home. Of course on the two minute drive I was hearing a story of the Pentagon being hit by a plane. ????

When I went in the store everyone was in a state of panic, convinced the world was coming to an end. I called home as soon as I made it back to the car and told my Mom, (she was babysitting,) not to let the kids watch TV, just put in a movie and go to my room and turn on the news.

I arrived at work just in time to see the first tower up in smoke. We just sat there, staring, and before long we watched as the second plane hit.

I still remember the silence as we stared at each other when the towers collapsed, the look in my coworkers' eyes. I don't think I've ever experienced such stillness, and I hope I never will again.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I drove a group to Bonfils to donate, called everyone I could think of, for no reason than to try regain some sense of normalcy, and basically tried to keep from thinking it was time to grab the kids, Mom and the dog to head for the hills.

We've come a long way in eight years, but that's a memory that will remain fresh for many more to come.

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