Mi Soon Come!

There probably won't be any new posts until I finish a project in Sav. (Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland) I start this week installing a point of sale/inventory management system for a retail electronics store. Once the installation and system setup is finished, staff training starts. Hopefully the project will be finished in two weeks.


It is about a two and a half hour drive from home to Sav. If you right click the image and open it in a new window you can see the route. We live about 15 minutes from Junction (in the lower right corner of the map). Follow the orange line from Junction, thru Top Hill, Southfield, Pedro Cross, Newell, Watchwell, Williamsfield, Pondside, Fullerswood, Black River, Hodges, Crawford, Scott's Cove, Whitehouse, Culloden, Auchindown, Belmont, Bluefields, Ferris Cross, Dunbar's Corner and finally into Sav.

Normally, I would go alone, do the work and return home. No problem! Now, my husband has to drive me there, wait while I do the work and then drive me home. Not fun for him! I will be so glad when I can drive again. I have been driving around in the back yard, but am not sure I can manage the challenging Jamaican road conditions alone just yet. Especially since I am still on crutches! Thank you, Jah, for a husband who will help me when I need his help.

Until I return, please pray for our safety as we travel back and forth between home and Sav over the next few weeks. Nuh vex tru mi nuh get unnu comments posted quik-quik. Mi soon come! (Don't be upset if I am tardy getting your comments posted. I will soon be back!)

Pearls Netted In Black

This is a set commissioned by Nurse M, the surgeon's wife. It is faux pearls netted in opaque black seed beads. The jump ring and earwires are 14ktgf.

Her original set was done in gold with bronze accent points. She liked it enough to order a set done in black and another to be done in bronze.

Earth Hour 2009 - March 28th

This is a light map that shows how much light is being beamed into space from earth. It is scary to see Jamaica burning so brightly. What a shame that we waste electricity. It hurts our environment and reduces the quality of life we are bequeathing to our children and grandchildren.

Tonight we have a chance to make a difference.Please, I am asking each of you to turn off your lights tonight between 8:30pm and 9:30pm in a show of unity with others who love and want to protect our Mother Earth.

Southwest Sparkle

The colour combination of turquoise and orange evokes images of the American Southwest. It makes me think of the turquoise and silver jewelry made by Native American Navajo tribal artisans.


This bracelet was stitched with the N'debele stitch using silver-lined clear, turquoise and orange seed beads. One side of the N'debele tube is an embellishment of the turquoise and orange seed beads. The toggle is ladder and netting stitches covering two clear acrylic buttons. The closure loop is peyote stitched with a row of orange beads blanket stitched along the edge for added stength.

Our First Date

Those of you who have been with me on the recovery road know that I have been celebrating a series of firsts.

Sunday we went on our first date. (No, the evening at Taino Cove was an outing for Mom, not a date!) After so many years together it is important to me that he still court me, woo me, date me, and romance me. OK, call it feminine ego if you must, but it is important to me!

We went to MarBlue in Calabash Bay, Treasure Beach for drinks and dinner.



Now to appreciate what a gift this was to me, you would have to understand my husband's reluctance to try new places to eat. You would think a man who owned a restaurant for so many years would be more adventurous in his dining, but he latches on to a place and we go there over and over and over again. To me, no matter how great the place, if you go too often, it looses it's appeal.

Well, it seems our favorite haunts are not wheelchair/walker accessable. So, this was my chance. I called MarBlue and spoke with Andrea, who with her husband, Axel own and operate the award-winning boutique resort.

After being assured that access would not be a problem, I made dinner reservations. I enjoy eating good food, but am by no means a foodie. All I can tell you is that I understand the many awards they have won! Delicious food, attentive service (without being smothering or cloying), romantic ambiance, soothing ocean view and gracious hosts make MarBlue a wonderful place for a first date with a man you have loved for 29 years!

Thanks, Andrea and Axel, for a lovely evening and a delicious meal. Nuff RAS-pect to Weston, also.

Thank you, Jah, for the gift of a husband who knows what is important to me!

Seven Stitches

Like many beaded pieces, I started this with one direction in mind and ended up following the beading muse to a totally different and unintended destination.

A one-, two- and three-drop peyote seed bead and bugle bead bracelet was what I started. Fifteen or so rows into it, I realized that since I was using bugle beads, which are notorious for cutting threads, I should have doubled the thread. Instead of undoing it, I rolled it into a tube and it became the bail around the one tortoise shell ring that was left after this piece was finished.

The tube alone lacked something, so I kept beading. One thing led to another and it became a pendant using ladder, brick, and flat N’debele stitches. I wanted the chain to be made of the same beads, but I didn’t want it to be boring. The center piece of the chain is tubular N’debele that transitions to a spiral rope stitch. The transition point is covered with tubes of one- and two-drop peyote.

A magnetic clasp is hidden in a tube of ladder-stitched bugle beads with N’debele spears on each side.

Are You Smarter Than Your Right Foot?

This was sent to me by a beloved uncle who lives in America.

It originated from the office of an orthopaedic surgeon.

This is a mind-boggler. You will keep trying again and again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's hard-wired in your brain!


1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand.



Your foot will change direction. There's nothing you can do about it!

You and I both know how useless it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you haven't already done so.

Small Victories

Since breaking my ankle in November, I have had to swallow my pride along with my independence and rely on others to do things for me that I used to do for myself. It has been humbling in the extreme.

I have grimaced, winced, sung and prayed my way thru my therapy sessions to regain my range of motion, endurance, strength and balance. I need to get back up on my feet again!

I am giving thanks for small victories.

This has been a week of “firsts” for me. First unassisted shower. First time I could make up the bed in the morning. First time I could wash my own clothes. First time I could brew a pot of coffee for our morning coffee time.

Granted, each endeavor left me weak, sweaty, and trembling. But I am doing what I couldn’t do last week.

Thank you, Jah, for the gift of healing you are giving me each day.

My First Beaded Piece

This is the first beaded piece I ever completed. It is a peyote stitch amulet bag done in silver-lined clear and gold size 6 beads with size 10 gold seed bead embellishments. The King Tut charm is a gold-toned metal. The pyramid is off-centered, because I hadn't yet learned the importance of using odd-count peyote to center a design.


In this piece I can see all the mistakes a self-taught, new beader would make. When I place it by a newly beaded piece, I can also see my growth as a beader, if only in mastering certain stitches.

When I first started beading, I didn't finish anything. I would begin a project, brimming with enthusiasm! Then reality, tangled threads, lack of experience, frustration, and life would intrude. I would cut the piece up, pull out fragments of Nymo or Silamide from the beads, rebag the beads, awaiting my next foray into beading frustration. Remember, back then we didn't have a loving, supportive internet beading community I could turn to for help.

I am so thankful that I didn't let the rough start turn me away from beading. It has been such a blessing to me over these past few years.