block island...being there

i have been doing a lot of shows recently. 

it sure has been testing my metal. it is not fun to be so absurdly fragile feeling. 

as reported, i went to Block Island last weekend. 

many many many 

flies in that ointment. 

i had ferry reservations for friday. 

the show was on for saturday and sunday. 

my return reservations on the ferry were for tuesday. 

i had housing reserved for saturday and sunday nights. 

needless to say, things were not lining up just right in my mind and in reality. 

when i arrived on friday, i had gotten to the ferry on a wing and a prayer. 

last or next to last to get on the boarding line. 

i was thrilled i made it. 

obviously, one needs to accept quirks in ones own personality. 

that is if you don't want to wind up in the hospital. 

the kind with 24 hr. therapy coverage. 

anyways,,,

i arrived, saw my cohorts in crime, set up my tent almost all by myself for the first time, 

and ate half of my friend anne's sandwich for dinner. 

i wound up most luckily, being taken in by anne and pam, 

my partners in crime to stay in the room that they had for all of their stay. 

we shared it with pam's 10 year old, vivacious daughter maddie. 

both anne and pam had gotten a little behind with making stuff for their tents at the show, so we all stayed up for a while and put stuff together. 

they used a table and i used my lap with trays and boxes. just as i might at home. 

we are all using many of the same components to create jewelry, 

yet nothing comes out even remotely the same way. 

and the highlight of this later night work session was that i rarely spend time

fabricating things with my creative peers. 

this was superbly enjoyable. 

backing up to the time at dusk where we were finishing set-up, 

i had leaned down to pick up some soup maddie had left on the ground. 

i stood up into the bottom of a low hanging tree branch. 

not that it was enough, i bent down again, 

and yup...

smacked my little head all over again on the same branch. 

i can't believe that i gave myself a double knot on my noggin !

i actually think i saw stars after that. 

a week later, i have recovered adequately to not wince when i wash my hair. 

saturday, we went to the big shew and set up our displays of things. 

it was sunny and warm. 

this was one of my two tables with a slew of new earrings and some fresh necklaces. 

i do have a few large statement necklaces that are composed of many strandings of varied beads, pearls and other goods. 

folks were very shocked that i had put so many together for each necklace. they were convinced it was a lot of necklaces together for display. 

such incredulity over my madness. 

but you get a lot when you go with me on one of my journeys. 

plain and simple. just go with it. 

these pieces looked over mike's paintings as a backdrop. 

pretty dang nice for me. 

there were lots of bracelets and necklaces on beaded chains, vintage enamel and silver chains. 

embellished with flowers too. 

something for every colorista. 

it was well attended...but not as profitable for all as it had been last year. 

some folks were a little disappointed, however i could not have been happier for the extremely talented mike bryce. 

he had huge financial success to go with his laid back style and incredible paintings. 

he deserved every nickel he earned and then more so. 

and he worked like crazy the entire time he was there. 

not that the rest of us did not work like crazy, but some things were a little out of our control. 

like the weather, heat, and crowds. 

at the end of the day, anne, pam, and 4 other folks that they knew, along with maddie and I, went out to dinner. 

we did italian. 

now i have cooked many a meal and whined on about it more than my fair share here. 

i was pretty surprised about how much food cost for simple things only a few miles away from our state shoreline.

a plate of pasta with clam sauce, was $18. 

no salad with it, no bread, no nothing. 

and i ordered a glass of unpretentious chardonnay. 

4 oz. were $8.

i could not believe how much it all cost. 

anyways, it was swell to have a waitress deal with our food needs and just chow down after a fairly tiring day. 

we did get a call at 6:40 am to see what had happened to our tents. 

that is another modestly long story ... for later i fear. 

i enjoyed our sweet little waitress and her stories of how she was from BI and going to school for art therapy in So. California. 

and i insisted that she come to the show the next day if she had some time. 

since i am hopping all over the place on a timeline, forgive me. 

i will go back and show you some of the lovely folks that showed up and snagged some flowery jewels from me, or just modeled some. 

for unknown reasons, other sweet gals' pics are unwilling to get uploaded. 

perhaps this is the heavens suggesting that i go to sleep now. 

tomorrow promises to offer more interesting challenges. 

so i bid you good night  and adieu until the morning light returns. 

xoxo. 

W.