Thinking Red'n'Green!

Today in NOTL:  A gorgeous day - sunny, breezy and cool with a high of 57F/14C.

Today is rosary-making day.  I got some lovely centerpieces from a nearby retreat center that will no longer be selling them, so was able to get really nice centerpieces at a bargain price (which is about the only price I can afford, lol).  It's a good thing, as Martha would say.  So today I'll be busy in that gentle, prayerful, peaceful way of rosary-making.

When I work on rosaries, I think of my dear Cousin Mickey.  He was my father's first cousin, and since my dad was an only child, very much like a brother to him and an uncle to us.  His wife was my mom's very good friend; I recall a Mardi Gras photo from the 30s or 40s of my mom, Cousin Clara, and one of their friends, three smiling clowns posing merrily for the camera.

Cousin Mickey and Clara had six children do my parents' five, a mix of girls and boys as opposed to our all-girl brood. When I was young, Mama and Dad would take us to visit and it was such fun. The older boy cousins would tease us, and we'd battle them alongside our girl cousins who were conveniently aged to befriend my elder sister and me.

The adults would play cards or cook or just chat - whatever they did was accompanied by the gales of laughter you hear when good friends get together.  We kids' bedtimes were forgotten, and we'd get to watch the late Saturday night horror movie.  I remember being terrified by The Blob, as my older cousins teased me mercilessly.

As much of a tease as my dad was - and he loved nothing better than teasing us - Cousin Mickey was his match.  I remember when my youngest cousin fell asleep on the sofa, rather than simply waking him, Cousin Mickey took a broomstraw and began tickling his upper lip.  We all smothered our laughs until Mom and Cousin Clara took pity on my cousin and made Cousin Mickey quit.

Devout Catholics, they sent their children, as did my parents, to the local Catholic school and were fixtures at Sunday masses and devotions.  Making rosaries was both a way for Cousin Mickey to share his faith and to create beauty.  I once saw his beads spread on the table, gorgeous sparkly crystals of many colors.  How they took my breath away!  He made my First Communion rosary, which I cherish even more today than I did as a first communicant.

As I string the beads, Cousin Micky comes to mind.  I remember his smiling teases and laughter and even as my eyes mist over I smile.  I hope he helps me now, as I make my rosaries.  It would be so like him to do so.

I'm late, I'm late!!

Today in NOTL:  Rainy, grey, and chilly, with a 4:30 p.m. temp of only 50F/10C...brr!

What a great day.  I finished the rosary for the friend of a friend.  OMG, it was sooo sparkly I had trouble focusing on my hail mary's as I worked!  I guess it might sound a bit...unreligious...to get off on the sparkle and beauty of rosary beads, but I figure, who made that beauty in the first place?  Or gave me the gift of sight to appreciate it?  Sackcloth and ashes...not for this girl.  Give me a bit of flash! ;)

I have enough beads to make both a pink rosary and a gorgeous golden one as well.  I'm going to do those next, and hopefully they'll find homes!

This is a rosary for a friend of Ms. C.G.  I love it - you can't tell, but it sparkles like nobody's business - those are aurora borealis turquoise crystals.  These are Swarovski, but I would like to try a differenct Czech maker sometime...

Friday.....

Today in NOTL:  Sunny, cool, and clear, with a high today of 61/16.  Gorgeous!

Sometimes you really need a weekend...and this is the weekend to have.  Goodness, it's just beautiful outside!

Today we'll be working on angels and pendants, I think.  We keep promising ourselves a day off, but there always seems to be more to do.  I think that's everyone's life, though!

The all-knowing 'THEY' say that our ancestors had more leisure time than we do, despite all the labor and time saving devices we use.  I can believe that.  We just heard someone speaking about the time it takes to check in each day - between email and instant messages and texts and social networks and so on, 'checking in' was a major time commitment!

When I get a call while a visitor is here or while I'm on the phone, I normally ignore it to continue with the visit or call, saying, 'That's why God made voicemail....' or whatever.  Folks usually chuckle and urge me to take the call but I rarely do.  My feeling is that, hello, I'm BUSY.  I'm not available, so leave a message.

From my observation, though, that's not the case with most people.  A text or phone call gets their instant attention, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard people say, "We can talk about this later..."  to a caller who has interrupted our visit or reading.  Clearly, the call wasn't urgent - so why the call, at all?

What happened to the ability to wait?  The ability to delay gratification - that is, to wait for what you want - is one of the strongest predictors for future success.   Maybe instead of being so available, we would help our loved ones more by stepping back, turning off the cellphone, and letting them wait a bit.  Who knows, perhaps they'll do more for themselves if we do - and maybe we'd get a little more leisure!

Whoohoo Wednesday!

Today in Notl:  A little cloudy, a little humid, a little cool, with a high today of 68F/20C.

 Well, so much happens so quickly around here.  For years, I have known that Deb is intuitive and have urged her to read for people.  She rarely does, I suspect partly from a desire not to compete with me and partly from the challenge of seeing herself as reader.  She has done readings at parties, etc, and both with me and for me on occasion, and she is very good.  I always felt that she just needed to find her niche, the particular way in which her gift would receive expression.

Well, an odd thing happened today.  I've been seeing Deb create the beautiful angel pendants she makes and heard her say things like, "This one wants to be a cellphone charm; it likes to have fun" or 'This one wants to be close to its person; I think I'll make it a necklace."

Finally, today, it hit me:  THIS is Deb's niche.  She works with the Angels as she makes each pendant, then she listens to them as she decides how to use them...I asked her if she could use the pendants to get information from Angels, and she got quiet, and - bingo!

She was a little surprised, but yup, she hears the angels speak through the pendants.  "Yes, but what is it I'm doing?" she asked.  "It's not the same as the readings you do, where people bring their questions and so on..."

We got quiet and invited the Angels to give us more information and they did.  Deborah's niche is Angel Amulet Readings.  The word 'amulet' comes from the Latin and means something that gives protection, and Angels certainly do that.  In a flash, we understood.  Clients will choose their angel, then in a short, 15-minute reading Deborah will share the message that angel brings them.  The client will receive the angel they chose on a simple black cord knot so they can wear it or hang it in their homes or cars.  Cost is $45 and includes the blessed amulet and cord.
Like my readings, Angel Amulet readings will be available by phone.

Rainy Tuesday

Today in NOTL:  Raining, with the 11 a.m. temp a chilly 59F/15C.  It should get to a still-cool 66F/19C.

The news is filled with stories of people being really nasty, crimes and scandals and who knows, and that can make it hard to keep a happy outlook.  And then, sometimes, you run across a story like this one.  What a lovely story!

Today I will be working on the Etsy shop, I think.  Got to upload pendants...maybe a few aceos.  Step one: download the photos Deb took!  She took over a hundred shots of angel pendants, watercolour pendants, and bracelets - now to work with them!

Some People!

Today in NOTL:  Gorgeous day!  At noon, we're just about at our high of 63F/17C, with breeezes and clouds.  Rain later...and showers of yellow leaves till then!

Some people ... are just too sweet for words!  Yesterday, someone posted a rude comment to something I'd said online.  I hadn't realized that, as I'd left the site to do other work. This happens occasionally; the worldwide web is a biiiiig place and you get all kinds, and some are 'trolls' who seemingly delight in being ugly, rather like bullies who are spoiling for a fight.

Suddenly, my yahoo Instant Messenger popped up: a friend was concerned.  Then the telephone rang: it was another friend, calling long distance to make sure I was ok.  When I went to the site, there was a private message waiting for me, expressing sympathy for the rudeness directed toward me, and other messages doing the same.  

I was bowled away by it all.  How fortunate am I, that people who've never met me in person care enough to go out of their way to express their affection and concern for me!  Amazing!

I guess it all goes to show that even the ugly parts of life bring us a gift, if we will only see it.

Yay!

Today in NOTL:  A cloudy, chilly morning, with 10:30 a.m. temps of 63C/17F, though we're told it will warm up to an outrageous 77F/25C, but I am not convinced.

A shower of small yellow leaves drifted past my window just now.  I love Autumn in Niagara!

So I finished the books I enjoyed and plowed through a couple that were less delightful.  I don't know, as soon as I read something like, "Rowan Stilthurst Mountebank, Viscount Hartsleigh tossed the document scornfully to the floor and glared at the young woman standing before him," well, I just want to start banging my head against the wall.  Sigh.  I have very little patience for historical romance, bodice-rippers and such. 

From my observation, the writers of this kind of fiction have a great struggle before them: how to make their heroes both swoon-worthy and desirable despite their forceful disregard of milady's wishes.  I don't know, such books are full of this kind of thing: 'His strong body blocked the door, her one means of escape.  Evelyn tried to get past him, but he caught her arm in a crushing hold and pulled her body against his.  She struggled to free herself, but he grabbed her hair, forcing her head back.  "I will have you," he growled. "Your stubborn refusal will only make things go the harder for you."  She twisted in his hold, but his hungry mouth found hers and plundered it mercilessly....'  I dunno, I read that and think, 'Good grief, that's assault." 

But women buy it and so do some men, go figure.  Anyway, I have a raft of these to read, so who knows?  Maybe I'll end up writing a bodice-ripper of my own. 

What I **did** love and love a lot was the first book in the Jan Karon Mitford series.  Rats, that there was only the one in the box.  I am anxious to get the rest of the series - along with everything Jan Karon ever wrote.

In other news, Deb is taking pics today of the pendants, hooray!  I'll post as soon as I get them.