pretty things

On the way home from Mass this evening, DH asked me if the diet was making me crazy yet. I was happy that he even had to ask. No, the diet (low iodine diet, or LID) isn't making me crazy, but I still have just about no patience these days. It's a combination of three things: 1) the pending trip to Houston and the inherent (possible) horrors it will provoke 2) being on the diet and having to be much more mindful of what I eat than I usually am and 3) this persistent sinus infection that is making me feel like crap. I started on Levaquin yesterday, let's hope it knocks the infection out soon.

Anyway, one thing I did last week was put out all the pretty things I bought back East. Each one of them gives me a feeling of "home" even though home is definitely in AZ and not MA anymore -- "home" will always be near the beach. So:

These are my North Country Wind Bells, aka buoy bells. They are heavy, and not at all wind-chime-y sounding. One day last week, DS1 lay outside on the grass just listening to the bells: They sound so peaceful, he said. And they do, making me think of waves crashing and fog rolling in, but the sound of the buoy bells telling anyone out there exactly where they are.

This is my beach-in-a-bowl. There's sand from our favorite beach, and real sea shells, and glass sea shells, and my beautiful starfish from Pairpoint Glass Works. The bowl was an absolutely steal at IKEA.














I have new artwork, too. This one is tiny, and I'm not sure where it's permanent home will be. This scene is so far from the reality of life in the SouthWest, the type of thing I looked out my windows and saw during the winter months of the first 30 years of my life. It fills a hole I didn't know existed until I saw this tiny print (yes, it's really a notecard) at the gift shop at Old Newgate Prison.



This one isn't new at all. My mother bought it years ago from the Collector's Guild; it hung in my bedroom. And now it's hanging in my bedroom again. I've always loved the colors and the composition, with its dreamy river and ethereal trees. I don't know how to describe the technique other than to say that some of the foliage looks like it was stamped or printed from some intricate lace. I tried to find some information online about the artist (Rivera), but couldn't find anything... but it doesn't matter. I love this work for both nostalgic and contemporary reasons.

Last but certainly not least, my birthday present from my sister J. It's a gorgeous cultured pearl necklace with peridot chips.

It's so unlike anything else I own, but it's perfect. I wanted earrings to go with it, but no dice at Ice, where she had ordered it from... so I had my friend Lisa Maynard restring the necklace for me, harvesting the last two pearls and using them to make earrings. Here's the ensemble:
I promised J I'd take a picture of me wearing it, so she can see how absolutely smashing it is (scar? what scar?). She says peridots are for luck, and I must wear it to Houston. I will.