Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A whirlwind of travel

It's been a whirlwind around here, three big trips back to back, but then it was me who threw an 8 day cruise into the middle of a busy calendar.

The cruise was certainly a delight.  It was more sailing then doing, with only one day in the Bahamas during which we snorkeled, a favorite activity and then wandered the streets of Nassau finding a couple of little havens to enjoy the gentle breeze and the obligatory conch fritters!  Coco Cay which was a private beach island had to be passed up due to weather and the Cape Canaveral port was a tad underwhelming, but we still managed some fun at Sonny's Barbecue pit (those who know me well just spit out their coffee!)

The skies were big and dramatic and the reflection on the seas was magically beautiful.


We celebrated the 30th anniversary of our first date while we on the water, together with dear friends, that was nice.  This was or pre-dinner champagne, napkins a gift from friend Susan which I brought along because I always like a touch of home.


 I enjoyed a cocktail or two, this one was a muddled cucumber, with simple syrup and gin, delightfully refreshing.


I bent and hammered wire, riveted and painted metal while on the ship.  That was fun but I'm not sure it will make it into a permanent habit.

I also created a new design which is 95% complete and waiting for the last bit of design innovation to present itself.

Our room steward, Nelson was fascinated with the beads, so much so that he asked if there were any books on the subject…..why yes, one or two!  He looked me up on Amazon and reports that he will purchase both books to learn from.  I left him a bit of a bead stash, some thread and needles and instructions to please email me with his creations.  I hope he does!  I love to encourage beadwork whenever an interest is shown, but I especially love encouraging a man, I guess because it is somewhat out of our norm.


I also found it wonderful that there were a fair number of younger gals on this cruise, like 30's young.  It is nice to see an interest in handcrafts.  I met the lovely Erin Seigel for the first time and was enchanted with the delightful Kashmira.


 It was a great group of beaders, including Katinka and Mom Inge who came from Sweden.  I love that through the love of beads I get to meet so many interesting folks.  A big thanks to Heather Powers who puts this cruise together every year.

The studio is a huge cluttery mess which makes me crazy but with three large back to back engagements that is what happens.  I am almost ready to fly to Kentucky tomorrow morning so I may get to spend some picking up time today.  It would be nice to come back to a clean studio so I can begin serious Bead and Button prep with a clean slate, we'll see.


2 comments:

Rita said...

You have the life! Probably nothing better than to travel, bead, and meet people. Sounds like a wonderful time!

Patty said...

Heavenly! Your cucumber and gin cocktail sounds delicious, and you were so kind to mentor your steward like that. I hope one day to take a bead cruise - thanks for sharing Marcia.