Turkeys in the Trees

I took Sagan out in the late afternoon, the day after the snowstorm, and noticed how pretty the moon was so I had to get a snappy.

I was just sort of scanning the sky and trees, killing time till the sunset, when I noticed these huge lumps at the tops of the trees at the end of the street.  While I have heard that turkeys roost in trees at night, I've never actually seen it.  

These are some pretty big birds....the flock that roams around my neighbourhood. 

I walked back to the house and then decided to glance up into the trees behind my house.  Shocked to see them in the trees there too and I have to admit, it was a little weird and disconcerting for some reason.  They are just sooooo big.

Still killing time waiting for the sunset.

I know I posted this last year but I keep trying to get a shot that looks like this.  Unfortunately I think this is a drawing or painting and not a real photo.  I also realized that this is probably sunrise, not sunset.  I just can't get the snow and trees to look more blue at sunset.  

But it still looks pretty anyway.

I loved the rainbow reflections too.

Hopefully by the time this publishes, a lot of the snow will be washed away.

Goodies!!!!!

I enter a lot of giveaways on blogs and Facebook and every now and then I hit a lucky streak.  I recently won a strand of beads from Happy Mango Beads .  

Instead of breaking them up to use in separate projects, I decided to string them all into one necklace.

Then I won this awesome strand of Christmas themed bracelet beads from Krafty Max Originals, also on Facebook.

That moment you walk into your fave store and overhear them 

discussing your comment on Facebook

My fave shop in town posed a question on Facebook:  "What do you collect?"  I commented, "the question is really what don't I collect?  Marbles, beach glass, beaded purses, postcards, glass of all kinds, craft supplies...shall I go on?"  The day it snowed, I walked down to that shop and as I opened the door, I heard a woman telling her colleague, "We asked what do people collect and this one person commented, 'what don't I collect' and she listed all the stuff she likes!"  I said, 'That was me! I'm Joanne!'  We all had a good laugh.  

So what did I find this day?  A jar of marbles with a cute store label on it.

A mason jar full of beach glass.  Since I won't use my own stash for crafts, I have to purchase it.

Not too bad!

This bag used to have velour or velvet on it, as you can still see it around the microbeaded designs.  It was really reasonably priced at I think $10.

A ruby red 'chicken in a basket' and a pretty cut glass pyramid that turns all colours depending on the light.

Then my dear sisterfriend Jaime's mom asked me if I would give a home to a vintage German shepherd figurine that she had and I was happy to!

I was given these books by author Pamela Foster in appreciation for using a comment I left on her blog, Wounded Warrior Wife, for her book.  I have read both and they are excellent reads.  Ms. Foster married a a man who suffers horribly from PTSD from his service in Vietnam in the mid-60s.  He takes her on a wild ride through life and as a result, she has done and seen some amazing things, all the while trying to survive her husband's PTSD symptoms and triggers.  

A few months ago I treated myself to this amazing beadwork hairpiece.  The price was so reasonable and I know how much work went into it.

Then Butterflies of Cape Cod posted some butterfly wing pendants they had available on Small Business Saturday.  I was dying to get the Madagascar Sunset Moth one so I jetted down there.  I asked if they'd sold any of my jewelry and she had $79 to give me! I was so excited because now I could also get a Blue Morpho butterfly pendant too!!!!  These are real wings, harvested from insects that have already passed away naturally.

Russell & I stopped by McDermott's Glass Studio and they had a bargain table outside, which contained 2 large marbles that aren't quite perfect.  One is a beautiful cobalt blue.  It's so dark it looks black.

And another unusual marble with a hole in one side where you can see inside.

It, too, is very dark but in the bright light there are lots of cool colours in it.

Recently I was looking around for some Victorian house design stitching patterns.  I didn't mention it to anyone, so imagine my utter surprise to receive this in the mail from my dear friend Debby out in Washington! Along with pretty window crystals to add beads to!!!!!!!!!

But the absolute BEST gift of all, that my sweet amazing man got me...and us....is a generator!!  We fell bass ackwards into a really good deal on a Champion brand one and I am so relieved that we don't have to cope with a multi day power outage this year.  As long as I can have a space heater, a light and the fridge plugged in, that's all I need.  It kind of looks like this one I snagged off the internet.

How lucky and blessed am I?!  VERY!!!!!!

Marbles

Back in the early 70s, my elementary school used to hold an annual Marble Tournament.  I never participated in it, but I did play with friends at recess.  I never liked to play for keepsies because I didn't want to lose any of my small bag of them.  When I made my First Holy Communion, my aunt & uncle in New York gave me a rather large collection of marbles as a gift.  Although I didn't really pursue collecting them till I was an adult, I hung onto those marbles and never, ever used them to play. 

I have a very modest collection now, including this awesome solitaire game I scored up in Port Angeles, WA on the way to Victoria.

A maple syrup jar full of pee wees.

I have quite a few jars, glasses and vases with these more common machine mades from the 50s to the 70s.

Sulphides are among the most expensive of the antiques.  I own four of them.  This one is the best of the four and cost me about $250 off ebay.

Antique onion skin

Smaller German swirls and onionskins

Contemporary art marbles are also among my faves.

Several years ago I scored a very large and amazing collection of marbles off ebay for cheap on Christmas Day.  It included some of these unusual pieces.  

More antique onionskins and German swirls.

I made those 6 marbles on the clam shell (the flat one is half of an amber sulphide I got off ebay) in a class at The Bead Factory in Tacoma.  Mine don't really roll, so much as wobble.  

If anyone out there has a collection of marbles they don't want anymore, I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands!  ;-)