Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Get your green on!

To those who are Irish, and those who wish they were!

One of my favorite Irish blessings -

"May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be always at your back,
may the sun shine warm upon your face,
may the rain fall soft upon your fields,
and, until we meet again,
may the Lord hold you in the palm of his hand."

Lost in cumputerland!

Handmade carnelian bracelet

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There's a commercial that says "your life is in your computer". Sad to say it's true - so true. Life has come to the point that most people do just about everything on the computer. We shop, find restaurants, even find doctors on the computer. We keep records, pictures, music on our computers. I have a huge folder of jokes sent to me by friends - just about the whole world is on a person's computer. It's just life!

Our hard drive wore out a while ago, so after some investigation we decided that the best thing would be to just get a new computer, since the one we had was pretty outdated. We had to nurse the old one along. It was like an old car on it's last leg. We could receive and send email, and do a little browsing, but that was about it. This weekend we set up the new computer. That was easy. What is taking for-ever is transferring our lives from one computer to the next. It's a good thing we have a resident computer wizard or we'd be dead!

There's more to life than a computer screen, for sure, but we spent the better part of the weekend trying to figure out how to transfer the endless files, bookmarks, pictures etc. We aren't even close to being finished. I can see that this will be an ongoing project for some time!

I haven't been able to process pictures or work on my web site for quite a while. I hope to get to that soon. The last time we had to replace a computer was five years ago and we lost everything - but then we as a society, and we personally, didn't have so much information on our computers. I hate to see what it's like in another five years!

In the meantime, we'll just keep plugging away.

Ahhh - there IS life away from cyberspace!

Handmade gemstone necklace - express yourself!

Handmade sugilite charm necklace
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Handmade lapis and flower sugilite necklace
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I would guess that people have been wearing necklaces probably from the time early man found a way to tie a knot.

A necklace can make a statement, whether you are wearing a small pendant, or a big chunky bunch of rocks. It's one of the first things people notice.

I'm not a real "out there" sort of person in terms of wanting to be noticed, but I've seen some necklaces that are gorgeous and huge and definite conversation starters. I appreciate the artistry of such necklaces, and of course I adore the gems. A single gemstone on a silver chain, or on leather, is also a wonderful addition to any outfit - exquisite simplicity.

One of my favorite necklaces of all time was one I saw in a gallery here in Sonoma. It was made of smooth gray pebbles probably found on a beach and drilled and wired together, rosary style, on antiqued metal. It wasn't something you see every day, and it was more of an artistic statement than it was wearable art. Maybe the reason I liked it was because I love the beach and spend half of my time there picking up stones and shells. I'd wear such a necklace once in a while if I owned it. But then I really like gemstones that are close to their natural state and maybe a little funky, even though I realize most people don't. I live in California, after all. We're all a bit strange here.

Necklaces are keepsakes too. I have necklaces and other jewelry given to me decades ago. I may not wear the jewelry at the moment, but I remember where each piece came from or who gave it to me and the occasion. That's one reason jewelry is such a nice gift - small remembrances of your life. Kind of like snapshots.

I betcha the first necklace ever worn was a beautiful little stone tied around the neck of a pretty neanderthal woman!