*** Hello!Welcome to my website.Thank you for stopping by.My name is Catherine Steele and I make beautiful glass beads!!Every one is made with tremendous care and I'm very proud of every bead I sell.All my beads are properly kiln annealed for lasting durability.I post beads often so do stop by and see what's new. ***
More coming soon!
July 24th,
Well, the new bead thing hasn't really gone so good. I had some really great ideas, then not much really worked out. Then I had some really cool beads, but I felt too many bits were coming off for me to sell them so I pitched them. Ugh! Very disheartening. I will keep working on it, if every so slowly.
I'm liking the new vampire books I started. I'm reading the second book now. I'm not too crazy about murder mysteries. I think those types of plots are just WAY over done. I like the more creative plot lines, but still these books are good (NOT as good as Twilight, of course!). The other book I was reading (The Thirteenth Tale) started off really good but then it kept going on and on about the cosmic connection between twins. Being an identical twin myself, I thought it was really over done to the point of liking the book. There were other issues with the book I didn't like, but the twin thing is what really got me to stop reading it. The book was a best seller so I'm sure more people will like it than not. But that book was definitely not for me.
This kids have been on the laptop a lot this summer. It is not connected to the internet. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving them unattended with internet access. They love to do image searches and some of those images that come up in innocent searches are anything BUT innocent (even with the safe search on). They also love to download all kinds of crap. Well, keeping that laptop off the internet is just the way to go in my opinion. So what they have been doing on the laptop is playing with a 3D gaming program where you can create 3D worlds and characters. They have learned so much on that program. I have no idea how it works and they often get frustrated with problems they don't understand and I can't help them (and I don't want to learn either, because it would take days and days and I hate learning new computer programs, especially ones I really don't care about). The kids are also doing tons of reading. They go through about 4 books a week! I never read like that when I was a kid.
Last week or so, I harvested my garlic. Here is a picture of half of them. I think they turned out really well! I realize they aren't pretty....I'll cut the roots off after they have completely dried.
Here is a wide shot of my garden. It's very green and lush. It's been HOT and muggy/wet lately. I'm sure the garden loves it. I don't however.
Here is a picture of my onions. They are doing much better then I thought they would.
Ryan's white strawberries are slowly coming in. I think they taste terrible. Only a very tiny hint of strawberry taste. They taste similar to a berry, but with a soapy kind of taste and a bitter after taste. Icky.... Ryan like them, so I guess that's all that matters.
My green beans are also ready, so I have been picking/processing them every other day. Not my favorite way to spend a few hours, but I do want the beans.
Well, it's over...I finished reading all the Twilight books. There were days I didn't read any thing from the book I was on, just trying to prolong the inevitable. I feel kinda sad. I was (and still am) attached to those characters. I've never had this happen before...become emotionally attached to characters in books, especially to characters I KNOW are "not real". It makes me think "was the joy I felt reading these books, worth the fall when it's over?" I guess.... I'm fighting the urge to reread them. I'll try to make it until at least winter...next summer would be better though. Oh, I did go see Eclipse last week...by myself and it was awesome! Not as good as the book, but still great! I love seeing these books on the big screen. It gives them a whole new dimension.
Today I went to the library, to try to get into a new book series. I tried reading a couple books I bought at the book fair, but I just couldn't get into them. One book, a character died and I just didn't care. Yeah...I gave up on that book. You should care when a character dies, right? lol Anyway, the book I got at the library was Dead Until Dark. It's a vampire series and I really hope I love it, because I need to think about something other than Twilight.
Another book I plan to get tomorrow at a different library, is The Thirteenth Tale. I'm hoping this is a good book too! I'm tired of wall-bangers!
I did get those raspberries I wanted to pick. The amazing thing was, I was able to get them picked (with Craig and Ryan's help) and canned in one day! That was nice. I still need blueberries. I'm thinking of buying those already picked. That's kinda cheating, but picking blueberries takes FOREVER and I would just rather pay more for the already picked ones. Yeah...sounds like a good idea. I'll just make a few more beads to make up for the cost!
My garden is dong pretty good. Okra is dying. Oh well... Weeds are totally under control and I'm eating as much from it as possible.
Regarding beads....I've decided to concentrate on making new stuff. I know you all love all my "old" stuff, but it's just not exciting anymore and I need to be excited again about making beads. I get the most enjoyment when I have a great idea and make it happen in glass. Sometimes it can take DAYS to get just one design right, but to me the point of making beads is to enjoy it. So, look for some new stuff from me in the future!
Oh dear... I've let this chat thing go too long. I'm still around! I hope I still have bead customers when I finally post beads again! I've been busy with canning these last few days. I still have more picking/canning/freezing to do yet. I just did all my cherries and I think tomorrow we are going to pick the raspberries. Blueberries are in season too, so I'll have to get some of them soon. I don't REALLY want to do all the food processing stuff, but I really want to have them, so I've just been doing it.
Well, I've done a lot LESS torching than I thought I would so far this summer. I kinda feel guilty about it, but at the same time, I have been having a great time OUT of my basement studio.
I guess I should admit to something that has taken over my life lately. I never thought it would, but it has. I started to read the Twilight saga books and man, I can't get enough of them! When I'm not reading them, I"m thinking about them. It's really quite pathetic, I realize. Most books people recommend are real wall-bangers, in my opinion (you know the ones...you start reading it only to find out it's SO awful you fling it across the room and it's the wall...LOL). I haven't really loved a book(s) in over 10 years! I'm on book 3 now and I'm sure I'll finish it in a weeks time (I try not to consume the books too fast). It will be sad when it's over. So far, the first book is my ultimate favorite!
Torching has been a bit slow lately. I've just been busy doing other stuff and have allowed myself to just get distracted. My whole family is home for the summer. It's like an endless Saturday!!
Well, my strawberries were finally ready to pick on June 13th. I was watching them for a week, thinking, tomorrow they will be ready and then the next day they really weren't' ready, and so it went on like that for a week. The thing about my June bearing strawberries is they are planted too close together, so the center plants are not getting enough space/light. The berries either are small or they rot. It's really quite a mess. Now, it might have been better if we received less rain. It has been pretty wet lately. STILL! I'm going to re-do that bed come July and give the plants lots of space, so I don't have these issues next summer. I have picked lots of strawberries even with all the problems. Mostly from the side plants. I think it's close to 20 quarts? I'm not exactly sure. I want about 50-60 lbs by the end of the summer. Which is about 45 quarts or so..I think...well, it's around there.
Sorry for the long silence on my chat page.I have just not taken the time to sit here
and type out all that I’ve been doing and thinking about.I lounge around in the morning for about an
hour drinking my tea and doing whatever and then I start my day and just get
too busy to do an update.And, any kind
of computer work is just such a DRAG.I’m glad I don't have to do it all the time…I would go cRaZy.
And for all the bead buyers out there, I will be updating very soon. I should have more beads (especially ocean related) coming soon, as I'll have more time to torch in the coming weeks.
You know what happened yesterday?Huh??Do ya???I finished putting out all the plants and
planting all the seeds in my garden!!!YES!!!Now a garden is never really “done” until
winter, but it’s done enough to say it’s DONE.Our last frost date isn’t until tomorrow and I have it all out there already.We’ve had such a beautiful May.The temps have been in the 70’s to 80’s for
at least a week now, and still forecasted (you know, forecasted is NOT a word...it should be, so I'm leaving in here!) for the next week.It’s been so nice!
Here are some pictures of my garden….
In all the paths I laid down newspaper and grass
clippings.Since I don’t get any
newspapers, I had to go dump-diving for them at our local recycle center.Now that sounds way more fun than it
actually is!I’ll be glad when I don’t
have to do THAT any more.I didn’t quite
have enough grass/paper to finish the whole garden.Next time Craig mows though, I should be done with the whole
newspaper thing.
In most areas where I planted seeds/have plants, I put
down leaf mulch.I raked up all the shredded
leaves I had spread out real thick in the garden last fall.Again…I didn’t have lots of leaves for the
garden, so last fall I went “curbside-shopping” for bagged leaves.Yeah….again…not
as fun as it sounds.I got lots of the
leaves with my kids in the car with me. They kept saying “this just feels so wrong”…lol.Well, it did feel awkward, but I really
wanted the leaves. The kids had fun though, and every time I went they wanted to go, so it must not have been that bad.
Here is a picture I took yesterday of my peas, garlic and onions. They are really coming along nicely.
Here is my herb garden. I extended it out about 12 inches and laid down weed block in the path and under the rocks. The weeds were a pain last year, so I thought it was worth the investment. Last year I had much more variety in this little garden, but found some of the plants I didn't use or were just butt-ugly (sorry chamomile). I have thyme (don't really use it...but it came back from last year so I left it), garlic chives, reg. chives, parsley, green onions, oregano and basil. The basil is still really too small to see. I have 8 plants of it though! LOVE basil!! And then some flowers. (I stood precariously on the railing of my deck to get this picture!!)
Here is my strawberry patch. You can't tell from this picture because it's too far away, but they are covered with flowers and green berries. Last year, I only got berries from the ever-bearing plants, but they produced 25 lbs of berries!! I might have too many plants this year. We have been eating strawberries about every 3 days for months now (trying to finish them up before the new ones come in) and Emily is just tired of eating them ....how is that even possible??!! and Ryan can't eat any because he's allergic. I'm not tired of them yet and neither is Craig! It will be interesting to see how many berries we get from all my plants. Oh...notice the white strawberry plants? Still alive and doing okay. They are small plants and I doubt they will produce many berries this year. I guess next year Ryan will have berries.
Remember last year I inoculated logs with Shittake mushroom spawn? Well, I went out a few days or so ago and checked on my logs (I left them in the woods for a year). It's about time to stimulate a harvest. Here is what I found.... Notice the mushrooms growing out of one of the logs!!!
So, yesterday I brought the logs to the house and cut off the mushrooms and put them in a bowl in the fridge. I was waiting for Craig to be inside before I fixed them. Well, after 15 minutes in the fridge, I noticed in the bottom of the bowl there were a ton of bugs! Nasty!!! I soaked the mushrooms in some water to flush out any more bugs and then I sliced the mushroom and really looked to be sure all the bugs were gone. They looked clean...though I was thinking of bug poop, but I pushed the thought from my mind. I fried them up with some butter, added some salt and pepper and split them with Craig. They were GREAT! I've never had Shittake mushrooms before. I can understand why they are the most popular mushroom to grow in the world. Yum, yum!! I'll be happy when more mushrooms grow.
I soaked the logs in water for 24 hours and then placed them under a bush, right by our garden hose (I need to keep them wet while the mushrooms grow). This is a great spot for these logs. Native mushrooms grow here all the time.
Today I did a lot of baking. I do a lot of baking in general, actually. You know I use a 10 lb bag of flour every week! Anyway, one of the yummy things I baked today was a raspberry pie! Homemade crust and home canned raspberries :o) We'll start eating it tomorrow!!
