homecoming, pt. II

I'm back to Seattle after a week in Boise with my family, and it feels like I've only just arrived here from SB again. Part of that was coming home to a house still exactly as I'd left it - the boy didn't exactly finish unpacking those last boxes, and things are still untidy, the curtains not hemmed, the rug hasn't arrived, etc. etc. So, I'm tired, but doggedly keeping at it, while trying to not lose track of my own personal summer goals.

It's mid-July, and the way I figure, I have two weeks to get the soil prepped and an overwintering/late-fall-harvest vegetable garden in the ground. Things like chard and kale and carrots should go in, and I want to do a bit of research to see what else I might manage. So perhaps there will be some gardening posts in the next few weeks - there's certainly plenty to do: paths to weed, dead plants to dig up (and replace?), pruning to do, and plants to move. Plus, one shrub, whose name will come to me, seems to have contracted some kind of blight while I was away, so that's going to demand immediate attention - probably research tonight and action tomorrow.

In the meantime, let me share with you a first project done in the new home, a kind of freeform organic choker. It's not for me, and I'm waiting for some feedback (and would love yours, too - there's still time for me to make changes!) before I settle on it - I'm frequently insecure when crafting for others, I find it very difficult. Anyhow, the necklace is actually hand-cut leather, treated with resin to make it stiffer (and more like vinyl - I realize that I've kind of defeated the purpose of using natural fibers). It's linked together and spangled with glass, freshwater pearl, and semiprecious stone beads, using both silver and base metals.