Celebrating Week 26~Blogger's Choice!

Sally's prompt this week? Pick your own prompt! I love it! Not only does it give her a well-deserved week off...it gives us a mid-year (exactly) chance to do our own thing.

I decided to go back to the roots....my word of the year: 

Here's what I've explored this week.....

In the early part of the week, I took a short 2 day trip down to Syracuse, NY; it was partially a business trip and partially a pleasure trip. I had time to take my time driving (to protect my spine), to see some things I probably would not have otherwise, and to do a bit of shopping. The Finger Lakes region is absolutely beautiful, it was a nice 2 days weather-wise, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

(Both of the above are pictures from my cellphone, so apologies for the quality). 

When I got back home, I did some messing around  exploration and devised this:

The original work table is fairly high (a decent height for standing or sitting to work), but working on my jewelry was not happening, because I am unable to sit for longer than a half hour, and the strain on my neck was too great to work off the top of this table, standing.....but with a little experimentation, this works! 

So I did some beading exploration of a motif which you may recognize....

(These are WIPs)

And explored a new (to me) technique which I've been wanting to try for quite a while now!

First result:

Byzantine

Second result:

Helm's Weave

At last, I feel as though I've had a really productive, satisfying week!

Hope you have all had the same! See the other bloggers choices HERE

Focus on Life Wk 25~You Are......

First, I'd like to thank everyone for their good thoughts last week. I was not able to get around to all the blogs, as I would have liked to...but you have no idea how much I appreciate all the good wishes. Thank you all! 

The sciatica is considerably better...I have to stick to my half hour/up/down schedule, or I'm in trouble...but I've been able to come off one of the meds, and reduce the other one considerably, so I'm very happy about that. 

And this week's prompt from Sally could NOT have been more appropriate...how DOES she know??

It was:

"This week give yourself the positive reinforcement that you deserve..take a moment to think about who YOU are, what makes you a wonderful person. Finish this statement: You are........."

I am strong. And sometimes I have the opportunity to prove it to myself. :-)

Please take the opportunity to see how the others see themselves.....HERE

Focus on Life Wk 24~Green

This last week has not been pretty for me...like many others, I have a bad back which causes me grief every now and again. This week, for the second time in my life, I've been hit with brutal sciatica. If you've never suffered sciatica...think of the time when you went outside in the cold to shovel snow or play, and froze your fingers or toes a bit...you know the pain that hits when you go inside and they warm up? Sciatica is like that....only 24/7, and it runs down your side from ribs to toes generally. It is impossible to describe how debilitating it is if you've never suffered. 

I now have the pain somewhat under control with lots of anti-inflammatories and pain killers. Unfortunately, one of the mandates for recovery is not remaining in any one position (sitting, standing, laying down) for longer than half an hour at a time; so I set an alarm and am a slave to its ring. 

It's not very conducive to getting ANYthing accomplished! But.....Sally said "We are going green for this week's photo!" and I took that as an invitation to a walk in the park a few days back, with my camera. It had rained about half an hour previous to my wander.....can you see the water cupped in those Hosta leaves? 

The iris were a bit past their prime, but still beautiful!

And although I have NO idea what this is, I think it's very cool-looking!

This little fellow joined me as well

It was very serene and beautiful, and just the thing to offer me a bit of peace for a few minutes:

Thanks Sally! It was just what I needed, how did you know?

 Be sure to see what the other participants have discovered in their green worlds this week as well!

Focus on Life~Week 23

"Typography" is the focus of our Focus on Life segment this week. Sally's prompt says:

"The power of the written or typed word can be more powerful than you thought! The style and appearance of printed matter has an effect on how we view items, websites, businesses, book titles, and the list goes on and on. <snip> This week, focus on the printed word and see what the words are saying to you!"

As I was driving on the highway this past week, enjoying the day and thinking about our prompt, I saw a perfect example of how typography affects us...a single letter that is recognized around the world for a particular thing, no matter what language is used. 

Let me start with a little hint....M.


Need more? How about this....M



More still?.....Now I think you'll get it.....

Click here  to see what the other participants discovered!