Deaf to the Voice of Wisdom ?

It was definitely one of those "Oh Drat!" moments,  I had lost an earring and I wasn't even wearing earrings! 

 Those of us who make and sell jewelry are familiar with the standard,  black velvet  necklace display easels, they're not high-end but they're affordable and easy to transport as they neatly, fold flat.

Recently I fabricated a simple chain necklace and then fashioned a pair of cute matching earrings -- these I arranged upon a flat necklace easel and then - later in the week - I decided to bring some items to a small gallery that sells my work.

Well I think you can see where I'm going with this.  My brain told me I should either remove the jewelry from the easel or place easel, with it's jewelry attached, into a large clear plastic baggie, but did I listen to my own logic ?  Nooooo !  

Somewhere, between my home and the gallery (and back again)  one rebellious earring made its' escape.  Where it is I'm not sure, however I am fairly sure I will never see it again. 
Could I make another earring to match the orphaned one? Maybe, but getting the lengths of the headpins to match may be difficult as I didn't take notes as to how long I made the shorter headpins . . . nor do I have more of those lovely 8 mm gold filled, soldered jump-rings that attach the dangles to the earring hook . . . not to mention I don't have enough of the Swarovski 4mm, bi-cone Fire Opal Crystals.     So drat, Drat and DRAT !!!
Oh why don't I learn to, not just listen to the voice of wisdom, but to actually DO what it tells me I should ?

June GIVEAWAY at Cabin+cub

Cabin+cub is having a summery June giveaway . . . one of her pretty, handcrafted laser cut cameo brooches. A lovely, sweet little brooch that will look pretty with casual jeans and a T top, or a crisp, feminine, cotton sundress. (I could see this worn as a pendant on a cord or a chain - gorgeous ! http://cabinandcub.blogspot.com/2012/06/june-giveaway-win-laser-cut-cameo.html

Please take a second to check it out.  CABIN+CUB GIVEAWAY

A Goose That Couldn't Swim

Yesterday they came and took him away.   His was the last egg to hatch and therefore he was the smallest of the 4 little goslings.

At first all seemed well, safe and comfortable within their little nest, mama goose hovering above them and papa goose not far away. But soon we noticed that the littlest one seemed ... well different than it's siblings. While the others grazed happily, the littlest squatted in one place and nibbled at the grass seeds closest to him, always trying to keep his long, gosling neck tucked close to his small, fluffy body.

My husband and I soon realized the tiny runt had a problem -- our neighbors realized this too. We watched as the baby geese grew and the 3 older goslings soon sprouted tail feathers, followed by wing feathers and then the characteristic facial markings so familiar to Canadian Geese. Tiny Runt remained much smaller and still covered in it's fluff - not a sign of a tail feather in sight. Then one day I noticed he had great difficulty standing up. He had been resting, in his typical squatting position, on a slope of our neighbor's front yard.  As he stood, he wobbled, lost his balance and almost tumbled down the slope. Later, my husband told me he had witnessed the tiny gosling as it came close to drowning. It had been alone in our neighbors pond and suddenly became distressed and unable to stay afloat . . . a very strange thing for a water-bird. Suddenly, trying to help him, the Little Runt's parents and all his siblings were at his side. Miraculously they managed to get the wee one to shore. Needless to say he no longer held any desire to paddle about or enjoy the freedom of floating in the cool water of their pond.  My heart ached for the little fellow. 

Yesterday our neighbors called wildlife management and they sent someone out to check on the small gosling. The prognosis was the baby had a piece of his neck missing and it's thought that perhaps a hawk may have attacked the little fellow. Carefully the fluffy invalid was transported from his familiar pond to a wildlife veterinarian, we were all assured that they would do everything they could to help the little gosling and, hopefully, return him to his family. In the meantime momma goose has been distraught and seems to be constantly looking for her smallest baby. We pray he will be saved and returned before the summer is over.

Summer Snowbirds ... and some are not

Welcome to sunny southwest Florida where the snowbirds flock to flee the icy winds of northern winters and bask on our sugar white, sandy beaches. Then, when the humidity and heat show the slightest hints of climbing, they pack up and head north again.   We have, however, a couple of northern snowbirds that have chosen to stick around this summer; a pair of Canadian Geese.

Mom and pop geese built a nest on the tiny island in the middle of our neighbor's pond and proceeded to lay a clutch of 6 eggs.  For  many weeks mama goose sat patiently on her eggs and waited ... week after dreary long week, until finally her babies hatched. 

 Unfortunately only 4 of the eggs were viable but 4 out of 6 isn't too bad.  We've been enjoying watching the little fuzzy goslings grow and grow they do; very rapidly.  The parents have, so far, managed to protect their little ones from our local hawks and cats and dogs.  Now the only question is :  are the baby geese still considered Canadian or are they now native Floridian Geese ???

What a Difference a Couple of Years Make

Newly planted oak tree - Photo taken about 2 years ago

This past winter has been a mild one, fortunately, and our yard didn't suffered the consequences of freeze or frost damage like it did the winter of 2010.  So this Spring  everything plant in our yard has had an abundant flush of growth.

Over two years ago we planted 3 little oak trees, with hopes of someday enjoying their shade.  Of the three, the one photographed above almost died on us.  Poor little pathetic thing had turned brown and looked on the verge of dieing. I assumed it probably needed more water so drug the hose out to it and began soaking it . . . that's when I noticed the water was cascading rapidly down a hole and out of sight.  Seems the crew that planted the oak had left a huge, unfilled hole at the base of its roots.    Using a broomstick handle and the garden hose I tried to compact soil into the void and kept my fingers crossed that what I did would save the tree.

The photos below were taken just a few days ago. It is now much larger and fuller than the two other little oak trees and someday it will provide us with ample shade . . . looking forward to that when the temperatures hit a 100 !!!







FREE SHOP FOR LIFE GIVEAWAY from Handmade Artists Shop

Most of us jewelry makers and designers are familiar with Pearl's blog : A Beading Gem's Journal.
In today"s post Pearl is hosting a fantastic Giveaway for a

Free Shop for Life Giveaway from Handmade Artists Shop

 

To enter go to A Beading Gem's Journal by clicking HERE

 

Handmade Artists Shop is similar to Etsy only different in the respect that instead of charging a fee to list and a small commission on sales, Handmade Artists Shop offers a flat monthly fee of Not $20 for a premium package or $10 a month for a standard package but $5 dollars for their monthly fees with no listing charge and no commission when the items sells.  What a wonderful concept.  AND NOW GET THIS :  They are offering a giveaway of a lifetime free membership.

 

To check out their site :  CLICK HERE

 

And again to enter the giveaway  CLICK HERE

 

Dealing with the DNA Cards

photo above ... close to 30 years ago, me on the left in the blue; my taller cousin Annamaria on the right ... I don't think I need to mention that she also carries a lot more baggage on her top self than I do.

Looking  myself over, from head to toe, I began to wonder why the Master Creator never gave me a say in my choices or options as to what specific genes I would like to carry.  Why did it have to be such a blind potluck ?   Perhaps those perfect runway models are content with the genetic cards they were dealt but as for me I would have liked to have had some say in the matter.

Master Creator, "Okay now, how would you like to have your mother's varicose veins?"
Me, "I'd rather not, if you don't mind.  But thanks for asking."

Master Creator, "How do you feel about boobs?"
Me, "Well they would be nice.  What are my choices?"
Master Creator, "Well let's see now: you could either have small, teeny, tiny boobs like your grandmother Della, on your father's side; or you can have the more voluptuous breasts that your Italian mother and her side of the family possess."
Me,"Hmm, ample boobs or hardly-there boobs?  I, think I'll go with my mother's genes on that one, if you'd be so kind."

Master Creator, "How do you feel about height?  Your dad's tall,  six foot two, and so's most of his side of the family.  On the other hand, your mom is just pushing four feet ten and most of her clan is also short in stature."
Me, "Now that's a toughie.  Petite or tall?  Tall like the girl from Ipanema; being able to reach things without the aid of a step stool; being able to look over the head of that annoyingly tall person that always, always sits in front of me at the movie theaters?  You guessed it MC, tall it is!"

To be honest the Master Creator wouldn't have needed to personally ask my preferences just give me a check list of all my options so I could have checked off the ones I would have preferred.
Thin, fragile fingernails that chip easily or thick, healthy nails that can grow long and lovely?  Hum, no brainer that one !

Teeth: mother's large teeth that will require the extraction of 4 molars and then, later, the extraction of 4 wisdom teeth plus 4 or more years in orthodontics . . . or father's smaller teeth that will require very little in the way of extractions and orthodontic care?   Oh, gosh!  Let me see.  Geez, I'm not a big fan of pain and discomfort so guess I'll opt for my father's genomes on that one.

Yes the list could go on . . . and on;  but we all know that, unfortunately, we're not given the option of choosing the genomes of the body that will ultimately hold our souls.  Such a pity !

What's Up with Blogspot Word Verifications ???

Photo above ... Lunch in Lugano Switzerland. 

Me with the long hair and sunglasses, my baby daughter beside me in the gray skirt and my middle daughter across the table from us. Circa 1988

What is up with all of Google's word verifications on blogspot ?  I don't know if there's one on my blog but if there is, I want it gone.

I did a bit of blog reading and found so many blogs now have that double word smear ... er sorry, I mean verification.  Several times my comment was denied as my interpretation of the smudges ... excuse me ... the words ... was incorrect.  What a bother !  When did this take place and why has it taken place ?  Does anyone know? 
Oh and please ... PLEASE ... tell me my blog doesn't require them ... even if you have to lie to me, just tell me they're not really there.

post script ... The story I've been writting now stands at over 69,000 words and 120 pages.  It's close to being finished (excluding a few months for editing, rewriting and constant tweaking) but it still has a chapter or two left before everything's wrapped up.

A Blossoming Dream

Magnolia's aren't supposed to bloom in February but obviously no one told my little magnolia tree this small fact.  With warm winter weather its nature told it Spring had sprung and so it blossomed.

More importantly than this bit of trivial trivia is the fact that for the past few months I've been deep in contemplation.  I've been reevaluating myself, my life, my priorities ... what I want to do, what I want to accomplish.  Though I've come up with a few answers many questions still remain.

Perhaps in my heart, I knew all along I had to follow my dream no matter where it led me.  Perhaps I will simply find myself faced with a dead end street, but I'll never know unless I try.

For the past several days I've been working on a story ... a wanna be novel.    At times the story pours out of me so fast and furious I can scarcely keep up with it.  At other times I pause and wonder in what direction it will go next.

My story is far from finish and is yet in stages of rough draft.  It will need lots of fine tuning and rewriting.

Below ... for those of you who enjoy reading ... is a very small excerpt from one page of one chapter and admittedly not the most noteworthy.  I would love to hear your opinions so your comments are truly welcomed and encouraged :

Peppertree

Lora Leigh stared at the face in the mirror.  It hadn't changed much, perhaps more tired  with signs of discontent but it was still an attractive face.  Youthful enough for a 32 year old, smooth firm skin no visible wrinkles.  A pretty face graced with large turquoise blue eyes, a well defined lip and high cheek bones all framed by dark, chocolate brown hair.  She ran her fingers through her hair.  No signs of gray ... yet.  "Two years" she told herself " hard to believe it's been that long".  Today was her 32nd birthday  and the two year anniversary of her divorce from Matthew Tabor. 

It had been an amicable divorce based upon a terminology called incompatibility.  Who had initiated the divorce was debatable.  Perhaps it was Lora Leigh who had become bored with being home alone most of the time, while her CEO husband jetted off to corporate meetings in faraway lands.  Maybe Matthew had grown tired of the silence with little to discuss between them.  Dividing their assets seemed as simple as children dividing their haul of Halloween treats ... I'll let you have the Reese's peanut butter cups if I can have the Butterfingers bars.  So it was; you can have the BMW, I'll take the Mercedes. 

Lora Leigh wondered if they had ever had anything in common.  Maybe ... at the start ... at least it seemed that they had.  Had they somehow, over the years, changed... one of them ... both of them ... became different ?   

She took a last swipe of mascara across her lashes, applied a small amount of lip gloss and looked again at that familiar yet vaguely strange face peering back at her.   Today was a new day, a new beginning.  It had taken almost 2 years but the large house that she and Matthew owned had been sold,  much of the furniture had been auctioned off as neither she nor Matthew had any desire to keep any of it.  The furniture had been another matter of contention.   Lora Leigh had never liked it, it felt  too grand and pretentious for her taste.   It was Matthew's style, or so she had thought but then Matthew said there was none of it that he wanted.  Perhaps they never truly knew one another after all?   

 Matthew had collected his personal effects almost 2 years earlier,  all that remained now were a few cardboard boxes scattered throughout the house in neat little piles.  These belonged to Lora Leigh, the remnants of her life of having been Mrs. Matthew Tabor.  Soon these too would be gone, picked up by the movers and taken to her small condo.  Only the house, a shell of what used to be their home, would remain behind. Empty rooms filled with broken promises, dashed hopes and dreams unfulfilled.

Thoughtless Thursday

Little Rylee Jade - photo taken a couple of weeks ago on her first day home.

Have you ever sat down to write a letter to someone; you know you need to do it, you know you should ... must ... do it; but as you sit and look at the blank sheet of paper your mind is a blank? It may be a letter to dear, loving aunt Matilda who dotes on you, relishes your letters and to whom you've not corresponded with in far too long ... plus you really need to thank her for that thing-a-ma-bob that she sent you for your birthday ... have no idea what you'll ever do with it but it 's the thought that counts.

You begin to write; "Dearest Aunt Mattie - Hope you're fine. The weather here has been..." The words seem forced, contrived, so you crumple up that sheet of paper and start over again. Then you realize that though you adore auntie Mat, your heart and soul just are not in tune with your brain and it is impossible for you to write that much needed letter.

Well guess that has been me for some time now. Not just with blogging but with a number of other things as well. I've been playing an exasperating game of catch-up and find myself consistently falling behind. As they say; "The hurrier I go the behinder I get" !

Scattered across my work-table and desk-top are too many projects to count, all in differing stages of incompletion. Most are in need of an item such as a special focal item, a bead or beads, a certain size of jumpring or the right clasp. Frustrating! Annoying!
About the only thing I've completed in the last couple of weeks was a bird's nest necklace.  It was my first attempt at making a bird's nest. 

I found that my vast stash of beads was lacking in small oval, egg-shaped beads. The best I could come up with were these 8 mm x 6 mm oval, Dalmatian jasper beads.  Some eggs do have spots, don't they ?  

Once the nest was complete it needed a necklace, however all the chains in my supplies were either the wrong size or the wrong color.  This brass tone wire (called "Jeweler's Bronze")from Fire Mountain Gems is not the easiest to match, especially where chain is concerned.  And the color of the Dalmatian jasper was a pain to match with seed beads.  I now own at least half-a-dozen more tubes of seed beads, all in tones of beige or tan and not one of them is a dead ringer for the gray-beige background of the jasper.  I ended up settling on a
gold-lined cream.  Not perfect and in the photos it looks white but is really a soft cream-tone, very neutral.

It took several tries to finally come up with a combination of beads that complimented the bird's nest and that would fit through its bail (I should have used a larger mandrel to form the bail on). 
 Next problem was to find a clasp and, naturally, nothing that I had on hand matched.  A hook and eye clasp would have to be handmade out of 20 gauge wire of the same color; "Jeweler's Bronze".

So it's done; one project, out of far too many, that's finally complete.  Funny thing is that my first attempt at making a nest turned out fairly well though not perfect,  my second attempt however ... well let's just say it looks more like the wire in my wire scraps jar.

A New Arrival in 2012

My great-granddaughter, Rylee Jade, came into the world early Tuesday morning.  Weighing in at 5 lb 11 oz she is neither too big nor too small ... she is just right and truly beautiful.  New mother, Marci, is doing fine and very happy to be able to finally hold her lovely baby girl.  Our grandson is beaming with pride just like a typical proud daddy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Wishes to All for a most Happy New Year !

May your new year be blessed with good health and sprinkled generously with happiness.  May 2012 be a year abundant with peace and goodwill to all mankind.

To all I wish a joyful and prosperous 2012.

Joy to All and Blogger Headaches

I made this appliqued and embroidered felt door decoration back in the early 80's.  My little "Welcome Bear" had been boxed up for too long and I decided it was time for him to make an appearance.

Old ornament above is very simple but I loved how it looked when placed in front of a Christmas tree light bulb. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, the photo below is a little out of focus. :(

The Holiday Season and Blogger Headaches

I thought I had this season figured out, blogwise anyway.  I would do a few posts at a time and have them scheduled for publication on certain dates and then if comments  came in, I could quickly check my personal email address to moderate and visit their blogs in return.  Simple yes ?  Well for some unknown reason, after several years of receiving email notifications of comments needing moderation, Blogspot has stopped sending me these notifications.  Bummer ... now I must stop whatever I'm doing and check on my Blogspot dashboard frequently to see if there are any wonderful comments to acknowledge.

Today as I prepared this particular posting I notice that I'm having problems with the uploading of my photos.  I click on the ones I want to post and then when I return to the photo pop-up window all of my choices have been erased.  This is  supposed to the Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa season not April Fools !  :(
If anyone has suggestions on how to get my email notifications back please feel free to give them to me.  I've tried clearing out my cache, unchecking the "remember me" option box and then logging out, shutting my PC off and re-booting, I checked over my settings but couldn't find that anything had changed.  I also checked the blogger "help" section (but that was a couple of days ago so I might try"help" again to see if anything new has been discussed). 

Photo above ... another dated Christmas decoration, this one is from Hallmark.  The Bear's beary happy Christmas, with Mama Bear holding a cookie sheet of fresh baked cookies, Papa Bear hanging up the Christmas stocking on the fireplace mantel, little Missy Bear reading her book while little Junior Bear plays on the floor with his little toy boat.

Hope you are all enjoying a marvelous and happy Holiday ... and remember to leave some cookies for Santa. :)

Found Treasure ... Wonderful Blogs and Bloggers

For awhile now I've been a follower and reader of KJ's marvelous blog; KJs Beadacious Beads  at http://kjsbeadaciousbeads.blogspot.com/ .   I tend to follow many blogs but I do have my favorites,  KJ's blog is among those. 

On one of her recent posts KJ explored the problem of small bead storage, those tiny little seed beads that, when spilled, tend to go everywhere and  days or even weeks later we tend to find them lodged in nooks or crannies and sometimes just laying out brazenly in plain sight, right smack dab in the middle of the floor.  I find KJ's solution a great one as I have tried many different containers myself and have found many inferior, either their lids do not stay on (which ends up in those annoying spills) or they are too hard to open, or it is hard to see just what is inside of them. 

Photo above ... Though I have something remotely similar to KJ's solution mine are not individual, they all screw together with only one lid that goes onto the top container, a real pain when I want the beads in the center jar. KJ's containers each have their own lids, a real bonus.  Now I need to go out looking for them, they are made by Darice and Sears (in some locations) carry them.  I look forward to getting rid of this unit above (which is designed for pill storage) and get some with individual lids.

Fiber Optics - Tiny Tree but Amazing Lights!

Back when we lived in a small rental house John and I purchased a tabletop tree.  The box claimed it to be 4 feet tall but I'm not sure how they managed to get that measurement since the tree with stand is hardly more than 38" in height.  As artificial trees go it is okay but I doubt that anyone would mistake it for a real pine, however it is a fiber optic tree and its light display is very pretty, unfortunately it's also almost impossible to capture on camera ... especially with the flash on.  Below are a few very dark photos taken without flash in hopes that the colorful array of lights would show up. 

Photo above - really dark, can see the lights but not the tree.

Photo below - a bit lighter but the fiber optic lights are a bit blurred.  Now I understand why all the photos of fibre optic  trees on google search were blurry.

I've been trying to talk my hubby into allowing us to get a more substantial tree for next Christmas ... maybe a 6 or 7 footer.  John and I both love the effect of the ever changing colors cascading across the fiber optic filaments that  cover our little tree and would like the next, larger tree to also have this feature but tall fiber optic trees seem to be as scarce as hen's teeth.   We have close to a year to find one so  we  I will continue looking.

Hoping you are enjoying this special season.   Love and Goodwill to you all !

Happy Holidays !    Merry Christmas !

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas ...

This year, for the first time in many years,  I actually sprinkled some Christmas decorations around my house instead of just slapping up our tiny 38" fiber optic, plastic tree and calling it "done".  In so doing I must admit my blog was put on a back burner and left to simmer without much stirring.  However I accomplished a number of items on my "Christmas to do List", one of which was to install an address list and labeling program on my PC.  Naturally being techno-challenged I had to call on my hubby several dozen times and it took us both about 3 days to install it and figure out how to use it.  Then it took me another 3 days to type in my complete address list.  I could have addressed the envelopes by hand a lot quicker but it is finally done and next year should be a snap to run off address labels ... I hope !


Many years ago, when my girls where oh so very young and still believed in that wonderful, jolly old elf that rides through the sky on his  sleigh driven by magic reindeer, I began making fabulous beaded ornaments.  I would purchase the intricate kits from The Cracker Box . 
These lovely handmade ornaments were made at least 30 years ago and though they used to bless us with their beauty every Christmas, they have been stashed away for over 6 years now.  As I unwrapped them I decided they were going on display this year and even though our tiny (less than 4 foot tall) tree could not support them, I would find some way to showcase them. :)

Among a drape of faux garland they took center stage with my beloved photos of family.

Satin covered balls bedecked in crystals, sequins and silvery dress maker's pins  ... lots and lots of pins !

The one that took the longest to make was the Holiday Bell, it is completely covered in pearly white sequins, each held in place by a dress maker's pin ...  hundreds of pins !   If you'd like to check out Cracker Box  you can click on their links in this post or copy and paste their URL :  http://www.crackerboxkits.com/default.aspx?Cat_ID=1

How to win - or not - at Blogging

Another "draft" from years gone by - never published -  think I decided it was too down, too depressing ... perhaps too close to reality ! 


There are times when I wonder why I keep trying.

Trying to make a go of my etsy  shop.

Trying to attract readers to my blog.

Life itself can be trying.

A friend of mine just passed away, our wedding anniversaries were just days apart and we used to go out and celebrate together, but then time and distance separated us. It was different, easier when we lived in the same city. In the past 10 years I've lost touch with a number of people...some relatives...some friends. How and why are varied stories and much too long to go into.
I've learned that most people don't seem to really want to read a blog. They want to be razzle-dazzled with photos, slide shows, YouTube, games etc., etc. But words? No not words ! Words, no matter how long you labor over them, no matter how dear to your heart and soul they are...people don't have time for them. If you can't tweet them in 140 characters or less, forget it.

Guess I need to reassess my blog. Why is it that so many others get so many comments and mine so few ? Must I always be doing something, are all the blog readers out there only interested in giveaways? Has the land of Blog-dom turned totally commercialised ?

After reading through this I came to the conclusion that, if nothing else, I'm not a quitter, I've continued to muddle through even though I've yet to taste the sweetness of success. Maybe someday?  The bottom line, the morale of this is to not give up but to hold fast to your dream, even when it seems completely unobtainable.  Hope and dreams should never be allowed to die. :)

Give Me Elbow room

Finding hidden treasures in my old posts that were never posted.  Here is another piece I wrote back when my blog was just in its infancy and my followers numbered a big round zero. 

This post was originally written 2/13/2009 but never published.

I’ve always longed to live in the country, to have trees and natural vegetation as my neighbors. Living in tight clusters of homes where one’s neighbor is so close it feels as though one shares a common patio or garden. This may be fine for a lot of people however for myself I’ve always enjoyed a bit of freedom, cherished my elbow room.

Little less than two years  five years ago we, my husband John and I, lived in a small rental house in a close packed development, it was a temporary arrangement as we were in the process of building a small and unpretentious home. Having earlier purchased a parcel of land, close to 3 acres, in a semi-rural area, we envisioned a simple home, much like a farm house, something that would blend in with the smaller clapboard houses dotting the area. However the people who purchased the property adjacent to us were building a Floridian Mediterranean inspired house with paladin windows and barrel tile roof, very incongruent with the rural neighborhood. Theirs’ was a house you saw in every gated community from Miami to Naples and from Homestead to Tallahassee.

On the other side of this mini mansion sets the original homestead of the farmer who had subdivided this acreage, his was a humble house made of raw wood clapboards. Weathered and gray this homely little house sat low on the land, crouched under the large trees that attempted to protect it and fitted the landscape well. Trucks and tractors littered the farmer’s property...after all he is still a working farmer...had watermelons for sale just last summer...$3 apiece ! So, for myself, no mini mansion. I wanted to feel like I belonged here, a part of the area not apart from the area.

Every day that we lingered in our rental unit, I longed to be able to look outside a window, any window, and not view the wall of a neighboring home. Our patio practically butted up against the property line where a stark white fence divided the two backyards and afforded some privacy but also gave a foreboding sense of confinement. Nothing to look at as we sat out on the patio...only the bland white fence...not a tree, or a garden...hard to have a garden with little less than an 7 foot stripe of land between the patio and that imposing fence ! My only consolation was that it was not our home, it was only a rental and soon we could walk away from it.

When our small house was at last completed and we received our "Certificate of Occupancy" it was cause for celebration. John popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and we toasted our new home, our property, getting out of that claustrophobic neighborhood and most of all toasted having a view and some breathing space. Liberation! Viva la liberation !