Hello again! I know, I’ve been absent for a couple of months here at my blog. Where have I been, you ask? I’ve been walking. Everyday. Seriously. After getting hit with a bad cold in early March (thanks Kiddo!!) that knocked me down in a BAD way, I’ve rebounded!

I don’t know how many of you readers know this, but, I’ll share. I have both Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Because of the RA I have to take a medication that suppresses my immune system, so, any bug that comes my way, literally knocks me out for weeks on end. Which in turn causes my RA to flare which knocks me out for a few more weeks. I know it’s a sob story, but I also know I’m not the only one who lives with this disease, so I figured I’d share.

So, I’ve rebounded, in a big way. My RA is finally feeling like it’s under control. For the first time in, oh, a dozen years or so, I feel like I’m in control of my body instead of it controlling me. I’m walking every day now. I started out at about a mile a day, which took me about an hour to walk. Now, as of today, I’m at THREE miles a day and doing it in about an hour and 15 minutes. With all of the walking, I’ve lost around 34lbs as well. A year ago I had trouble walking from one end of my house to the other, I dreaded getting up in the morning, and getting up off the couch was painful. I never dreamed I’d be where I am now!

In the mean time, I’ve been busy in the jewelry world. I participated in an arts and crafts street fair in San Juan Bautista a few weeks ago. My first California show! I was happy, I didn’t go in the hole for it, and made a  little extra cash to buy more beads. So, all in all, not bad. I shared the   booth with my good friend and beading buddy, Ashley. That made the days extra fun!

I’ve been making a few new things as well. Focusing on quality over quantity, mainly, and finding it hard to sit inside at the bead table with the wonderful Spring weather we’ve been having. This is my current favorite. It was inspired by traditional tribal jewelry from the American Southwest, Tibetian jewelry,  and old tribal Persian jewelry. The lapis pendant started it’s life as a necklace with lots of other lapis on it, it’s one of those Afghani imports that are all over the place these days. I added some coral, more lapis, carnelian, anad turquoise to the bell dangles that were already there. I also included a little brass stamping, just for the heck of it. The necklace features the same stones, along with some great vintage red glass beads that have a great textural feel to them.

It makes a great sound when it’s worn and is an absolute attention grabber! I made a couple coordinating bracelets and earrings to go with it, but they were gone before I could get pictures of them!

I’ll be working on getting all of my other new goodies photographed and listed soon. Between walks of course!

So, what have you been up to this Spring?

Blessings.
Peace.
Joy

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