Mangled Mess

My jewelry is in need of some serious help. I show you this picture first to calm your mind from the mess you are about to see.

Here is an overhead view of the chaos.

I got the wood carved leaf tray at an antique store. It's currently dusted in a coating of mineral powder foundation and needs a cleaning. Of course, that would require me to remove and reorganize the mess. The tray is perfect to hold trinkets on my bathroom counter. It's just kind of big, meaning lots of space to put things....and it doesn't help that the trinkets in my ownership have multiplied.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry to work. Usually just earrings and maybe a necklace. Weekends and special occasions, I wear more. I go through phases, though. For example, I was into big earrings for a while. And big bangle bracelets.

Most of my jewelry now takes on a western theme. Much of it is cheap, trendy costume jewelry from stores like Target. The rest are gifts from friends, family, or children I've taught over the years. But nothing fancy. No real pearls (what a shame.) No fancy diamonds. That is okay with me, I'm more funky than sophisticated. More rustic than elegant.

This venetian glass pendant?

It came in this little blue bag. A gift from a friend who recently traveled to Italy.

It didn't come with a chain, so I strung it on my favorite leather latigo string, which I got last summer at the feed store. Voila~ rustic elegance.

The chaos has overflown the wooden tray and spread to this wooden box. Or is that vice-versa?

Now, if you think it looks like I have a lot of jewelry, I don't even want to talk about my collection of these.

I feel utterly lost if I don't have at least 5 elastic hairbands in my line of sight at all times. I swear the black ones get up in the middle of the night and run away. I rarely have a black one on hand. I really should have called myself Pony Tail Girl.

Happy Friday everyone!

Bored With Trees?

I have a confession. I am bored with trees. There. I feel a little bit better. Where I live, there are a lot of trees. And they are mostly green. Most of the time.

Don't get me wrong, trees are wonderful, wonderful living things. They are beautiful, green, healthy pillars of nature and history.....if you have never listened to the song "Heart of the Wood" by Joey & Rory, do it now, I swear you will shed a tear. I'm so sorry, I could download that Play list thingy for you to listen to it on, but I'm not. I've had enough of a time loading photos these past few days, I'm not pushing my luck! But here is a link to a great YouTube video of the recording of that song.

I crave wide open spaces, I've said it before. Maybe in a past life, I lived on the open prairie, with endless land meeting the sky....maybe I crave what I once had, what feels like home, deep in my soul. Or, maybe I lived deep in the dark, damp forest, and now after one and a half lifetimes of it, I am just really, really, tired of it. Or, maybe I've taken too much Zyrtec this week and these thoughts are getting a little too....deep.

Truly, I love vast expansiveness. The blowing grasses, the sagebrush, the desert....I don't care, as long as I can look 50 feet in front of me without seeing nothin' but bark. Maybe it's the light. I love the light. Forests don't have enough light.

I suppose if I lived on the prairie, I'd crave the trees. Are you a dweller in the trees or a puff of wind across the open plains? Do you crave one or the other? Or am I just hungry for something else because it's not what I have? Isn't that how it always is.

The best of both worlds would be nice. Sparse, lofty pine forests for shade, sparkling creeks, all tucked amidst meadows of open prairie....is there such a place? Do you live there?

Know of any property for sale?