Thursday, April 16, 2020

We're All Ears at Home


Home Sweet Home Sign
Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash

My home is in Delaware and due to the Coronavirus Disease the State has a mandatory order to stay-at-home and shelter in place, except to leave for essential work or activities. Automobiles with out-of- state plates are being stopped by the police. Unless the drivers have an essential work or activity in the state they are not permitted here.  The reason for this is that the southern portion of the state has beaches and there are many who would like to come to their second homes here or just enjoy the beaches. Living in the small beach town of Lewes the idea of lots of tourists entering the area is very scary.  Our hospitals are not equipped to handle the load of large possible cases the tourists could add.  The beaches have been closed to even the locals because large crowds were gathering.  I am glad.  I believe it is necessary.  We all must be doing our part. I just wish everyone would abide by the recommendations so that that we can all come together once again and that our economy will heal.

deck with hummingbird feeders
my deck with hummingbird feeders

In the meantime, I have much more "free time" which I have been trying to use wisely.  It is easy to do nothing or just do fun things!  I am trying to use some self discipline and do some cleaning and yard work each day.  I like yard work much more than cleaning.  I am appreciating my half acre of land more than ever each year due to increased summer traffic to my area and now due to this virus.

During these stressful times, I find it therapeutic to spend some time appreciating the plants and birds in my yard.  I am trying to attract hummingbirds.  I have my feeders out and I am hoping to see some.

hummingbird feeder
hummingbird feeder

I had a few hummingbirds last year so I am hopeful that I will get more this year.

waterlilly

My favorite part of my backyard is a water feature with water lillies and gold fish.  This is a photo from last year of one of the lillies.  We divided the lillies this month and the flowers are just establishing themselves.  Our goldfish survived the winter and are enjoying swimming around. In another month, the pond should be filled with lillies.  I look forward to sitting on my deck with my goldfish, lillies and hummingbirds all summer.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Earrings by BayMoonDesign
Ruby Throated Hummingbird Earrings by BayMoonDesign

I snagged these hummingbird components made by Grubbi ceramics.  They reminded me of my love of hummingbirds.  When thinking about a design for a pair of earrings I knew that I wanted to keep the earrings light for the wearer for that reason I didn't want to use chain. I also decided to focus on the colors of the Ruby throated hummingbird.  It dawned on me that I had a bit of green 1mm round leather from Plessmann Endless Leather that I used on a bracelet and blogged about previously.  The main reason I was drawn to this company is because I recalled their wide selection and large choice in leather cords. They have more than 2000 different leather cords online. I absolutely love the colors they carry.  I am so glad that I kept the green leather scraps left from the bracelet. The color is perfect.

back of earring component and parts
back of earring component and parts
The leather is very light weight and I started on the front of the earring and ran both ends through to the back where I then made a square knot. I applied a few drops of Super Glue to make the knot permanent. I added the component to ear wires with two jump rings. I thought about adding three dangles to the bottom, but I wanted a simpler and light weight design so I decided to snip two outer wires off.   I pulled in the colors of the bird by adding ruby colored pearls and pink Czech beads.  I love this pair of earrings that were inspired by the backyard of my home.  I hope that you are safe and finding your home a place of love, comfort, security.

This is a blog hop so I am looking forward to seeing what others were inspired to create.   Pop on over to the Earrings Everyday blog HERE to see what everyone else was inspired to make!




9 comments:

  1. I have been in lockdown for nearly 25 days and I really like staying at home and working from home. It has been a relief after 5.5 years at a fulltime job. So I hate the phrase stuck at home as well. Your idea of using leather cord is inspired and new.

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    1. Being an introvert, I really don't mind being at home! I have had a lot of meeting and events canceled which has given me more "free time". I consider this a plus. I know that if I were still working, I would welcome working from home.
      The leather really was perfect for the earrings!

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  2. What a beautiful yard you have! And, I bet that water feature is lovely too, especially when the flowers bloom. They've closed the beaches down here too, though I do think some locals are sneaking down there. Your earrings are pretty cool! The addition of the leather is so interesting. And, I like how you altered the charms to make them your own!

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  3. Thank you! My yard is 35 years old so we have had some time to work on it! It use to be a pile of weeds! Our water feature is my favorite part of the yard.
    The leather really worked out well. I thought I was pretty adventurous cutting the extra wires off. I think less is usually best!

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  4. That water feature sounds awesome. I have a huge yard and would love something like that! Do the fish stay in the pond all winter or do you move them inside? We have a few hummingbirds that visit. My SIL has about a dozen feeders she puts in these trees just off her front porch (very shady, I wonder if they like that vs the hot sun of my deck?) and gets like 30 hummingbirds at a time! It is crazy! They buzz around her while she loads the feeders each day! It is quite a sight (and sound!). The earrings are great. Super components and a great use of the leather cord! Thanks for playing along with me. Enjoy the day! Erin

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    1. Your SIL is fortunate. I don't have too much success with the hummingbirds. I change things up each year hoping to find something that works for the birds. Our fish winter over in our pond successfully.

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  5. You really made the charms your own to keep your design simple! Great job adding the leather cord - it works wonderfully well with the nature themed focal components. I love that you have a water body in your backyard. I hope you enjoy it, and that you get some hummingbird visitors too!

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  6. Lovely hummingbird component and I love the green leather and the beads you chose to go with them. We, too, have hummies to watch. They love our bottlebrush.

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  7. Those are lovely earrings... and your deck with lilies and goldfish sounds heavenly!

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