Saturday in Port Townsend

Nola and I spent last Saturday in Port Townsend, one of my favorite places.

The reason we went was that Wynwoods Bead Gallery (http://www.wynwoods.com/) was having their once a year 30% off sale and neither of us has the will power to miss that! We rather mosied over at a gentle pace, not arriving until almost 11 AM. Our first stop was THE bead store, the best bead store I have ever found---anywhere. There were big bins and piles of beads in every color you can imagine. Some were sparkly, some were matte, some were big and there were some teeny tiny ones, too. I bought some (okay, many!) of each but I did have a very specific colorway in mind and, for once, I stuck to it. I spent a small fortune but not nearly as much as Nonie. She is the professional bead buyer of our duo and I would not even dream of trying to keep up with her bead purchasing prowess. I can't begin to mention all the beads Nonie bought, but a few of my favorite purchases are shown below.



After THE Bead Store, we headed to our other favorite spot in PT---Edge to Edge. Joan (on the left)and Eve (on the right) are shown above and you can see some of the fabulous wool felt they sell behind Eve. I always find wonderful things at Edge to Edge, and I don't even sew! But if you twisted my arm (Ouch! Okay, okay, UNCLE!!!) I'd admit that the best reason we so love to visit the shop is the conversations we always have. Joan is a kindred soul and I so enjoy chatting with her and Eve is warm and interesting and they both have wonderful senses of humor---my kind of women. I'm sure Nonie and I bored the stuffing out of them both with a detailed rundown of our summer trip to South America. We even had pictures....I'm sorry, Joan. I apologize, Eve. You should just tell us to be quiet!

I found a beautiful old photo album at the little used book shop I tend to haunt while in Port

Townsend. It's a beauty and in very good condition, considering its age. Beautiful grey blue velvet cover with celluloid flowers, lovely brass clasp and most of the pages were perfect with only a very few tears. Even the gilt edging is in fine condition. Now I just have to wait for the perfect use for it. I'm sure it will come to me in time!

We had a nice lunch and then decided that we really should drive out to Fort Worden and check out the beach. We can't stay away. It's siren song calls to us and lures us out there. It was breezy and the tide was pretty high when we got there, so it wasn't a very long visit, but a fine time, none the less. Nonie got the sticks she wanted for her art project and I found enough little bits of this and that to drag home. There is a piece of kelp on the back of the Aga at the cabin drying even now.

I was reading the blogs of some of my friends and acquaintances earlier this evening and came across a new post by LK Ludwig on her blog (http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/). LK got the advance copy of her book, Nature Journals, yesterday and there is a wonderful photo of her cradling the book in her arms. I can not begin to imagine how excited, thrilled, giddy and just plain ol' proud she must feel to be able to hold her dream made real. I congratulate her and wish her huge sales when the book becomes available in January. I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon way back last summer! Maybe I will be able to get her to sign my copy when I see her next spring at ArtFest.