Bead Soup 7th year - 3rd reveal by Dita Basu

 My bead soup is ready. 

The auspicious day cometh

This is the 3rd and final reveal of the Bead Soup Party - 7th year that our Lori Anderson had organized.

In this party what happens is: 

We sign up for the party, then the organizer Lori, matches us individually with another willing beader
 ( any where from the world) and we send each other beads- actually we must send one focal piece and a clasp and some beads.  Then comes the revealing day when we show off what we did with the sent beads, 


The ingredients that I received  were rich and yummy I hope my bead soup  is not too bland, or too  spicy.  You taste it and tell me.

In my previous post I showed you what  my partner Iveth had  sent me.

What I had sent her?  Iveth wrote a wonderful post  and  you may want to   pay a visit to her blog  after you are done with mine. She wrote a beautiful post on it.

My challenge:

 The focal  that Iveth sent was so pretty I wanted to keep it just the way it is,  with a pretty organza  ribbon or a bronze chain.

 But bronze chain or the ribbon? Take your pick  - said  the inner chef in me.

Hold on...I must make some thing with it. I can't just hang it with a ribbon and say that's it! - I say.

 How about knitting with some wire of the same bronze accent?  I love to do wire knit things...that's kind of my style.  But, nope! I did not have the right shade wire.

So I took a trip to my neighborhood bead store and got some antique bronze wire
 ( Soft Flex brand 26 g ).

Would it be just the plain wire knitting or speckled  with some color? Plain  broth or some spices added, m'lady? - she interrupts.

Some spices of course-  I shout.

Which ones m'lady?  whines the inner chef again in a bland voice.

Cheer up, boring you!- I holler.  Can't you see I am trying to match the colors of the  focal? I make a big mess sprinkling all kinds of beads on the bead mat.

My inner critique does not like it.  She has to clean it up later.

 Some thing blue, some thing... why of course, Iveth  had already sent me those beautiful turquoise beads.  But it needs another color to give  the oomph.

Pearls.

 I hunt through my pearl box.  Nope...these are not the right shade.

I yank out the car again from the garage.  Another trip to Just Bead It  store and I found  the very  right shade of dyed antique bronze  fresh water pearls that I was dreaming of.

Now I have them all ready.

Time to string them all up.

 But  in what design m'lady?

Here is what I came up with.

I turn to my inner chef.  She is the harshest critique I have ever seen.  But she did not pout or make faces.

I  make a couple of earrings too.

Here it is all.

 I put it on around my neck.

Not too bad, I kind of like it. Do you have some suggestions?


Blue is my favorite color.  Thank you Iveth.

 And THANK YOU  Lori,  for arranging  this big event with over 400 participants for the last seven years for us.  This my fourth time and I enjoyed it so  very much.  Again, my heart felt thanks for you, Lori

 Dear reader, please do visit all the other blogs of the  bead soup participants and see what they have cooked up.

Focus on life - Taking a Walk

This week's topic is Taking a Walk - part of  the 52 week journal commitment I had taken with Sally Russick and many other bloggers.

But, "I am late! ..I am late"  - I scurry like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  All the other ones are ahead, I have fallen behind, way, way behind.  This post was supposed to be done last Saturday!  I am three whole days late.

That's my story.  In the walk of life too I do feel I am falling behind.  But why?  What's the hurry?

Any way, it was my birthday last Saturday.  I did take a walk.  I won't tell you where yet, let me see if you can guess.  Well number one clue is it is close to my home in California.

Now let's look at the pictures.

This is the first shot as I got down from the car.   Walked a few steps and

 this is what I see.  Do you think it is a lake, or a river or the ocean?

On my right there is a Yatch house.  Occasionally I can hear the chimes of a bell from the Light House,  may be?  Sea gulls swoop by...some come closer and make silly noises.


If I look down, close to my feet a beautiful bush of pink flowers say, -  Hello!  Are they straw flower,  lavender of a pink variety...I don't know.

I take a few steps going clockwise

Lots of  boats.

I see birds flying above.  Canadian geese migrating.  Checking out this place?

And more flowers close to me, beneath me, sometimes, on my path. So humble, so beautiful.

I feel  blessed to be part of this Earth, so blessed to be born...so blessed to be able to take a simple walk today.  I feel like kneeling down and hugging the soil with my two arms, the air, the sky, all my loved ones who are part of my life in this  long  journey.

I felt as if  Mother Earth couldn't help smiling,   seeing me so emotional all on a sudden, and  whispered "Happy Birthday" through the murmurous leaves.

                                                          *   *    *     *    *

By the way, if you are still curious about the place - it is Berkeley Marina.  I see the bay as the waterfront,  the faint line of the San Francisco city and  the Gate bridge on the Pacific Ocean and on the other side is the Berkeley - Oakland Hills with the Campanile Tower of the Berkeley University.


 I could not capture everything I had seen and wished, because it was an amazingly dazzling day and you know what happens when you want to take pictures at those times, you can  hardly see anything through the lens.

  Right?

Or is it just me?

So it was a great surprise to me too, until I found some shade, some darkness to see how I did photo shooting.

Please do visit the other bloggers and see what they had captured on their walks. I am on my way.