Bead curtain continued...

 Really, I added more although you can hardly tell...taking a break for a while now, as I'm using the desk for a different project.

The bead curtain grows

I have 4 more strands ready to add to these...

Foxy bead necklace

Alternating purple and green wood beads with a clay fox head bead.

Zooing on my own

Everyone was gone, but I wanted to go to the behind the scenes at the zoo and I have no problem doing stuff on my own so I went! (the only thing I will not do by myself is go to restaurants. I have to have someone to protect me from possibly predatory waiters who might TALK TO ME)

You could walk all the way to the south side and look at the behind the scenes - vehicles, train, and greenhouses.
This was all the tropical plants they bring out for the dinosaur exhibits.

They said the amaryllis are for an Easter event. Why don't my amaryllis look like this? 

The tour of the bear dens, moose, and wolf yard was the BEST. It was led by the zoo's librarian. Librarians do it better.

Then I wandered around the zoo a little. The prairie dogs were out!

The accompanying peacock was looking very stylish

clever duck

Then I went shopping and bought tea canisters, spiral notebooks, tea, and I went to the mall (something I hate doing) and got another piercing and bought a puzzle at Barnes and Nobles and then stopped at the fancy grocery store to buy olives, petit fours, plums, and watermelon water.

Retail therapy

I always thought retail therapy was stupid. But then I realized I've been doing it wrong. First, find the things you actually want to buy (hint - for me that is NOT shoes). Second, don't feel guilty. If you're going to get it, get it. It's no fun if you spend the whole trip worrying and picking bits and pieces because it's too expensive. Wouldn't do it all the time of course (there's my thrifty nature panicking again) but I feel a lot better now...

Throat Soother for me, in anticipation of many colds to come. Fox Trot, which has mint and chamomile and smells soothing. Strawberry truffle, because it smelled good. And lots of almond and chai for my tea of the month club for my mom and sister.

Mmmm. Watermelon water, Texas grapefruit, winter plums, two kinds of granola, avocados, a really good honey crisp apple, and tasty grapes. I got some olives, bread, and cheese too.

LOTS of seed beads for my bead curtain. I love the way they feel all silky and slushy in my hands. I am going to need a lot of strands to finish my curtain.

Having figured out you can get mats in whatever color you want and cut to size, I purchased a mat for a poster I got at ALA. Yes, I know most people put frames around them. Until about a month ago I always thought of these as "the affordable frames in pretty colors" until I had a sudden realization...I see no reason to change that viewpoint.

There is a small Joanns where I live, but it's....not very good. I like to go to the BIG one with lots of options. I got solid blue to go with a yellow print that I'm making into a quilt, and some others just because. Also two skirt patterns. I haven't made clothes in years, maybe I will try again...

A closer look - I love this fabric with cats and flowers, makes me think of Miyazaki for some reason. I'm thinking of using the solid red as an underskirt and the print on top with the skirt pattern I got.

Winter is the time for hair cuts

I cut off about 10 inches, got the blue from last August redyed, and added a layer of purple. Lovely.

Painted Pots

I painted a whole set of pots to add to my bedroom garden. They're drying here - that's not where they will stay.