some things...

...why is it that sometimes you see something and you know you don't "need" it, but you just have to "have" it? That's the case with this little copper Whale! He's just adorable and totally, undeniably, irresistible! Plus, he's teeny tiny, so he's not taking up a whole lot of room [unlike his "real" Whale ancestors]. So I saw him for the first time yesterday at the thrift store. He was sitting in the glass case all alone [or so I thought]. I decided I didn't "need" him, so I didn't get him. But over the course of the evening, I thought about him time and time again. And when I woke up this morning, I was thinking of him still. I decided after lunch I would go back to the thrift store and see if he was still there and, if so, I would get him. While I'm thinking this, my phone rang and it was my friend Paula. She was at the thrift store and saw him and thought of me, so she called to tell me about him and his "friends". Friends! So I rushed right over there and there he was, in the very same place on the shelf, all alone. But, on the next shelf down, hidden in the back, were six more! *sigh* ~ so $20 later, I came home with seven little Whales!

One of the ones I got today happened to be exactly like one I already had:this little Whale was given to me by my boss when I was pregnant with Broc [over 30 years ago]. And the large wooden one is actually a box that my father-in-law made for me 28years ago! So now I have a whole little "pod" of Whales and they are all breaching quite happily in my curio cabinet. It's a happy day, indeed!
Happy Thursday!!

xo, ♥, & peace ~ Kathy

"A treasure of memories is a very special happiness." ~ Margaret Lindsey

Mushrooms, mosses & happiness...

...well, it's been hard, but I finally decided that one of my "friends" just wasn't worth my time and energy anymore. Sorry I didn't post Friday, or yesterday, but I've been a little upset and not much in my usual "happy mode". After much soul searching and wracking my brain to try and figure out this person and try to go back in time and think if there was possibly anything that I ever did to make them upset, I realized that I never did anything but be very helpful, very generous and very kind. This person just chooses not to be happy and it's not my fault. I'm tired of seeing their sour puss face and their attitude towards me. It's as though they get pissed off because I'm happy. So I've sent their negative energies into my crystals and out of my worries and my life. Like Wayne told me "Kathy, you need to realize that you are one of the best friends anybody could possibly have and if someone doesn't appreciate that and recognize that, it's their own fault they are not your friend" ~ and it's 100% true. Thank you Wayne, for being my best friend ever! Besides, I'm almost 50 years old...I don't have time for negative energies in my life anymore. I'll stick to my "true friends" from now on! Thanks ya'll!!

So now to the important business at hand...Suzy #2 was the winner and now proud owner of these awesome earrings:Congratulations, Suzy!! ~ Enjoy!!

We've gotten so much rain lately...the mushrooms and mosses are exploding everywhere around here. Where we live [Transylvania County] is considered a "temperate rainforest" and it's sure proving to live up to that claim! I love all of the different mushrooms though. A whole family of these gorgeous yellow ones are growing under one of our baby pine trees. I love the color!! So bright & cheery!and the mosses are going crazy now, too! This is my favorite! It's called "British Soldier" ~ appropriately named :)

So I'm off to go see if I can find where the Robins made their new nest...I'm pretty certain they have more little babies somewhere close. Have a wonderful day and thanks for always reading my ramblings and supporting my work. You're the best!!!

♥ & peace always ~

"Buried deep in the maze of commonplace, the pearl of true happiness lies. And he who rejoices in little things, finds the pathway that leads to the prize." ~ Lucy M. Thompson

and the winner is...[insert drum roll here]...

...#1 - Linda!! Congratulations, Linda!! Send me an e-mail with your mailing address, so I can get these awesome earrings on their way to you. I hope you enjoy them!!! And thank you so much everybody, for leaving such sweet comments. I love ya'll!!

And these are just so flippin cute! I must, must, must give a pair of them away. You know the drill...leave a comment on this post and Lita will be picking the winner Friday! Good luck!! I named them "60's Flower Child" ~ perfect! And, of course, they are for sale in the shop if you don't win and really must have a pair, or two. They are for certain my new favorites!!

There were so many beautiful shells littering the beach that I picked up a whole bag of them! Now they are added to my vast "collection". I have so many of them, though, I'll never use them all. So, for the whole month of August, I'm including one in every single order from my Etsy shop. I'll be making little pendants out of a few and they will be randomly included, so you may just get a shell surprise in your package...you never know.I fell in love with this cute little elf that was on my Mary Engelbreit calendar. So I put her at the top of my blog...she's watching over things for me.

Welp, I gotta go figure out what I'm fixing for dinner, besides a huge salad. Do you ever have those days where you just feel the need to eat lettuce and lots of lettuce? I'm having one of those days today. I think I'll get Wayne to grill some Salmon and have some potatoes, sliced thin and baked in the oven with olive oil. Yep, I think that's my menu for this evening. Hope you have a wonderful evening, too!!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them." ~ Rose F. Kennedy

I love books & beads & furry things...

...as long as I can remember, I've loved books. My favorite days at school were the ones when the "Book-mobile" would come and we could check out books from the mobile library. My other favorite days were the ones that you could actually buy books. I remember bringing home the booklet and begging my daddy for at least 2 or more books. He usually let me get all the ones I wanted. And when Broc was little, he loved books too, and still does. I think he's worse than me when it comes to loving books. But you know, he and I both grew up in times where there were only 3 channels on the T.V. [in fact, when Broc was little we didn't have a T.V. at all] and we had no video games, VCR's or DVD's and certainly no computers or cell phones. So basically, all we had were books and Saturday morning cartoons. Makes me wonder how many kids still love books these days.

And honestly...how many craft books do I really need! I just love to look at them. Have I ever created anything from any of them? NO. Have I have been inspired by any of them? Maybe. Do I love each and every one of them? YES!! And then there's the "Feng Shui" books?!?I was reading the "K.I.S.S." one a few years ago on the beach and a huge wave came and soaked both me and the book....maybe it was "Feng Shui", or maybe it was Karma!! Hee hee, either way, the book has sand embedded in the pages now. And will I ever part with these books? NO. So over the years, I've accumulated quite a number of books and Wayne just built me some new shelves to house them. And it looks as though I have plenty of room for more!
So before I went to the beach, I ordered some new findings and beads. I just fell in love with these recycled glass beads. They are the color of the sea and just beautiful! These little earrings are the first things I made with them. I named them "Sea Glass" and I'm giving away a pair on this blog!! All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post and tell me the name of your favorite book ever! That's it! Ozzy will pick the winner Monday morning. Good luck! And, of course, these are in the shop if you don't win them and still must have a pair.

hee hee ~ I just had to share this with ya'll. Ozzy & Lita's first time at the beach. Ozzy absolutely loved it!! Lita, on the other hand, did not. In fact, she hated the sand and insisted on sitting in Wayne's beach chair. She's is such a little prissy pot!

Welp, I still have some organizing to do and books to put away and jewelry to make and cloths to fold and things to dust...I need more hours in my day. Good luck winning the earrings and have a most wonderful of Thursdays!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you, and you will be surprised what a happy life you will live." ~ Charles M. Schwab

Beaches, beads & blessings...

...my favorite things! We had an awesome time at the beach! I never realized how beautiful the Atlantic coast was! It's my new favorite place. Although the Gulf of Mexico is gorgeous, with it's sugar white sands and coke bottle greenish/blue colored water, the Atlantic coast is nice, flat and walkable. And, you can ride bikes close to the shore! And the shells were everywhere. I picked up as much as I could carry and lugged them home to admire for years to come. This one is my favorite, though:I love how the coral was starting to form around it. The house we rented had gorgeous black granite counter tops in the kitchen, which made a great background for photographs. Now I'm on a mission to find a piece of granite to use for my jewelry photos.Our timing was perfect! We had a gorgeous full moon that we danced to the light of on the beach! This is a picture of Anne & Mike, admiring the moonlight. I'm so glad they were able to take a few days off and come join us. Of course, Anne insisted on cooking for us, so it was like having our own private chef while we were there! She's awesome! And Wayne's brother and his wife also came down from Boston and stayed the week with us. It was so good to see them and visit. We had a great time!

So on our last day there we drove in to Charleston, SC and visited the old "Slave Market". Way back when, the port of Charleston is where all of the slaves were brought in and sold. It was sad an creepy, but historical none-the-less. The market is now brimming with artists and vendors selling things from hot sauce to antique dolls. It reminded me a lot of the "French Market" in New Orleans and made me a little home sick. But the best part, without even knowing or realizing it, we parked less than a block from a huge bead store!"Black Market Minerals" on Market Street in downtown Charleston. Needless to say, I was in heaven! And Wayne just shook his head in disbelief. So after I drug him around shopping all afternoon, we enjoyed our last sunset on the beach together, hand in hand & played footsie in the sand:so bye bye beach, until we meet again!

You know, when I think about my life and how easy and laid back it is and how many wonderful friends I have, I realize how truly blessed I am. I have a wonderful life, a wonderful husband, a terrific son and lots of great friends. I'm doing what I love and living a life I had once only dreamed of ~ Life is good ~ thanks for being a part of my life and reading my ramblings.

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now. In the absence of your judgment, everything would be fine. As you begin to eliminate your need for perfection in all areas of your life, you'll begin to discover the perfection in life itself." ~ Richard Carlson