Grandma Emily: Memories and Thanks Blog Hop

My Grandma Emily lives in a very dear nook in my heart.  I say nook because that is where most of our private talks were held, in her ruffley-curtained cozy breakfast nook that offered a glorious view of my Grandpop's prize winning rose garden.  She always served up wisdom, oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies, and a big hug.  Grandma Emily had time for just me when others did not, and she influenced my creativity through her own arts, intricate crocheted lace and down home family style cooking, Portuguese style!

Grandpop constructed a smoke house on their property and walking home from school promised those spicy, smokey aromas of linguisa, and if we were really lucky that day, Portuguese sweet bread shaped into doves.  Living with my grandparents were the most loving and unforgettable years of my childhood.  You never knew what wacky thing would happen, like the time I ran into her huge kitchen and observed a large stockpot with chicken legs sprouting from the top... ACK!  Those chickens lived in our backyard!

Grandma Emily taught me to cook, bake, and keep house. She also instilled in me a deep reverence and faith in God and the Virgin Mary. She prayed her rosary every day, and taught me the importance of positive thinking and treating everyone I met with respect and kindness. 

Toward the end of her 89 years, my grandmother quit cooking and crocheting, but found time to create beautiful rosaries for others.  I have her last handmade rosary, the one she died with.  It was entwined in her hands, she prayed until the end. 

In honor of Grandma Emily, I created a simple but significant necklace that I hope she would be proud to wear.  An antiqued bronze cross displaying the Virgin is the focal, accented by vintage Czech cathedral beads in her favorite color, red. I created a copper nest to remind me of her cozy kitchen nook, and added a copper charm that I hand stamped in Latin: Sancta Maria.  Grandma enjoyed a little bling from time to time, so I added vintage Swarovski rhinestones for our sparkly fun times. Thanks, Grandma!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my Grandma Emily and her tremendous influence in my life.  A big thanks to Lori Anderson for this creative and memorable blog hop.  You can hop on over to more Thanks and Memories here!

Roadrunners and New Stuff

Have I told you about the crazy roadrunners that live in the hood?  They strut and wag their very long tail feathers while stretching their necks in contorted positions, searching for that tasty little bird egg, or those prehistoric looking locusts that scare me back into the house from my garden chores. 

It's true.  When I was a teenager, my prankster Uncle Zem would find a juicy, ripe green grasshopper and proceed to chase me with it, all around our property, while my mother locked all the doors and peered nervously out the kitchen window.  Gee...thanks Mom!  I resorted to uprooting a dried up sticker bush (we lived in the Nevada desert) to defend myself with the sticky, sharp spikes.  Didn't work...and I remember the horned toad incident...it was placed in my hair unbeknownst to me until it squirmed its way around my head.  Good times. Really.

But back to the roadrunner...I got some good shots this time after that rascally dinosaur-looking bird chased the doves and quail around the mulberry bush, then high-tailed it into the safety of a pine tree. There is never a dull moment in the Palac household.  Walter woke me the other night to the scene of a lovely skunk eating bird seed in our front yard...we named her Daisy and she is quite beautiful, and didn't leave a calling card, bless her stinky little heart.

This week I decided to create something a bit different from my usual reporte, apothecary bottles with vintage Swarovski bling and dried flowers from my garden, lavendar buds and marigold petals.

I added a shimmering silk dupioni ribbon and a few sparkly pink and green tourmalines to the lavendar buds.

I added an oxidized copper ball chain and some glowing amber stones to the marigold petals.

 

I recently purchased some gorgeous fuscia moonstone nuggets and created a simple necklace perfect for the holidays.

Even Santa's reindeer enjoy bling during the holidays, all available in my Etsy shop!  Happy Creating!