South sea pearls

I had a few of the pearls I bought in Komodo left, so inspired by these

and spotting these for sale,

I found a reel of this

and started to thread them together

to make this.

8.12 am

I heard about the Cultural Olympic event of “ringing in” the start of the Olympics and thought I’d join in the fun.  I had a meeting starting at 9am this morning though, so would likely be getting my things together to set off for Gloucester around that time.  Never mind, I had a clever idea.  I’d set the alarm on my iphone to go off at 8.12am and then, wherever I happened to be, I’d be participating in the whole affair.

I set the alarm to make the bells sound rather than the usual marimba setting which I am used to.  Well, it seemed to be the most appropriate one.

As I manoeuvred my car out of the garage, the bells started to ring.  Yay!  I wound down the window to listen out for any other local campanologists, but heard nothing – but my iphone chiming away, of course.

I drove out of the village and down the hill, thinking that it might have been a good idea to have taken the phone out of my bag before setting off.  Because, you know what happened ten minutes later?

The bells rang again.

Fortunately, by this time, I was in a line of cars waiting to turn right, so I was able to rummage in my bag and find my phone.  But I didn’t have time to hit “snooze” at this point and the bells continued for a while.

From there, every ten minutes, those ******* bells rang out, until I reached Gloucester and was finally able to turn the thing off.

Of course, whilst driving I hadn’t noticed that if I’d simply been able to slide that bottom button across, all would have been peaceful again. 

Pah!

Distractions

I’m procrastinating today.

I’m lucky enough to have the luxury of a day at home and of course, if I want to fritter such precious free time away doing not very much, I guess I can.  Even so, I feel as though I ought really to be sorting out one or two of the piles which have gathered in my studio over the last few days.

It’s Albert Sidney’s fault.  I know he looks as though he’s sitting on the beach there in his flat cap, causing no bother, with Auntie Vi looking restless and Phyllis maybe wishing she were elsewhere.  However, my Great Grandad is actually proving to be quite a distraction around here right now.

I can’t really lay the blame on my Great Grandmother Alice, who sadly died when Phyllis was born.  I really don’t know a great deal about her, because the variations in spelling her name (Furniss, Furnes, Furness) and large number of people with that name in the area of Warwickshire/Northamptonshire where she was born meant that I couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

Until I received an email whilst I was on holiday, that is. 

This email led to a conversation with another Ancestry user who had come across my Great Grandparents’ names as witnesses at Alice’s sister’s wedding.  There was more, too, because another sister had married the groom’s brother.  Suddenly, my family tree has grown another little branch and when I added details, someone else noticed a link with their family…

Suddenly, I have a whole new raft of rellies and a couple more family trees to work out.  Not only that, but there is a possible link elsewhere in the trees, because I spotted another family name in there, too.  It’s not easy, though, and I realise that I need to take my time, take it slowly, don’t get too excited and rush at it and make mistakes.  I’ve discovered the hard way that with Ancestry, there is no “undo” button when I accidentally save information to the wrong person.

So, Albert Sidney, if only you could just put down your pipe and step out from that photograph to tell me a few details about your lovely wife and her family, you could save me a little trouble and let me get on with tidying my studio.

You know that’s what I’d really rather be doing ;-)

Journal bling

One of the first tasks on arriving home is to complete my journal, binding it properly and tieing off all the loose ends.  I know that, if I don’t get on with it right away, it will sit there until the memories have faded and I’ve forgotten the little details which bring it to life.

I like to gather a little bling along the way, so that when the finished book sits on my shelf, it’s easily recognisable.  Identifying the cheap geegaws in trashy souvenir shops is all part of the fun.

On here is a brass luggage tag from the railroad at Promontory.  When I caught sight of the name Thomas on it, I knew it had to be there.

I’d picked up a few rocks at Zion, which were so very fragile and which I felt sure would crumble to dust.  Well, so far, they have almost crumbled – but not quite!  There is still a little of that chocolate wafer biscuit formation in that Tim Holtz glass bottle we found to contain it. 

Sitting there alongside is a sweet  little yellow phone charm given to me by a group of young Korean women, to say thanks for taking their photo at Bryce Canyon.  I fixed it to my camera strap for a while, until I took a few photos which unintentionally featured it in the corner!

The two remaining trinkets are a luggage tag from Mount Rushmore and a steel bookmark from Taliesin West, featuring a quote from Frank Lloyd Wright in that unmistakeable font.

There was one further piece of bling in the form of a small dreamcatcher, from the Grand Canyon.  I thought it would work well on there with a couple of feathers, but sadly, it’s too big and elaborate. 

So that is that.  Another trip gathered in and finished.  Here’s to the next one!

Before we leave

We didn’t need to check out of the hotel till lunchtime which gave us a couple of hours to investigate a phenomenon which has surfaced during the last few days.

The. American. Girl. Doll.

For those who haven’t come across this before, let me explain.  There is a store selling these dolls very close to our hotel here in Chicago and throughout our stay, we’ve noticed many, many people (usually women) carrying these huge bags full of merchandise.  Frequently, they are accompanied by one or more little girls who are carrying at least one of these dolls, sometimes in a papoose or carrier (which Mary helpfully labelled “a casket”).

This morning, we decided to step inside and see what it’s all about.

To begin with, we were in the area of the store which offered the “historical dolls” – characters with a background based on American history and whose story included bravery, diligence and the pioneer spirit.  Their accessories revealed interesting facets of life in the old days; there were mangles on the washing machines and old fashioned household implements such as our mothers might have used.  Perhaps this wasn’t altogether a bad thing, then, if girls were to read about and learn their history by means of such wholesome characters?

We felt a little uneasy about the paper slips which were there on each display, which “helpfully” had a barcode and purchase details for collectors to take away (and presumably add to a wish list), not to mention the cost of these items.

Two dolls with a basic handful of accessories cost $244 – we’re not talking pocket money items here, clearly.

Here is Molly, a girl of the 1940s with her brave friend Emily, who has left war-torn England behind to stay in the USA, bringing with her a ration book, a faux sixpence and a cardigan, amongst other things.

Oh, and did you know you can buy their outfits to wear yourself?  Well, if you’re small enough, of course!

Our real misgivings began when we took the escalator to the second floor, where the real business was going on.  Here, the contemporary dolls were on display, including the doll of the year, who brings with her a whole back story of facing up to the challenge of getting behind with her reading, but ultimately, learning that by taking it a step at a time, she can overcome the setback, just as with her gymnastics training.  Again, what’s up with that?  Well…

A hair salon for your doll?  Where she can be dressed in a robe and sat in a chair to be primped and coiffed?   At a cost, of course.

What about having her ears pierced?  So that she can begin a huge collection of earrings, available for purchase throughout the store?

Of course, these girls might encounter a little difficulty at times and need some medical attention.  No problem, for here is the hospital where they can undergo surgery – dressed appropriately in surgical gown and so on, of course.

They might even be fitted with a hearing aid or dental retainer.  Seeing a small girl in a wheelchair with her doll, my unkind thoughts about the marketing of these things was silenced…and yet…

there is something creepy about having a doll made in an exact likeness, don’t you think?

Leaving the dolls and their American Girls to take tea together in the beautifully decorated cafe, whilst their dear Papas queued to pay for all the goodies, we beat a retreat, overhearing a comment from one of them as we did.

“I could have had another kid cheaper than this”.

The funniest thing of all?

My hero left carrying a bag!