Last summer....I bought some silver wire and then Vivian and I bought a few handfulls of gemstones. Remember the trip to Texas? Buc-ee's? I mentioned it in the blog.

Saturday night, I decided to freehand wrapping a couple stones.

Didn't seem to difficult. So I decided to try something a bit more elaborate Sunday morning. A five strand braid.

It was a tad bit more detailed and I might add....time consuming.

Maybe a little more practice would have been helpful....maybe not! It took a little time to figure out how to wrap a fairly even wire braid around an uneven rock and make it look somewhat even again.

I took my time. I think it turned out half decent for a learning experience.

Funny how digital cameras tend to wash out color. I flipped it over to show the back.
Same spot as the picture of front. Same light. It is rose quartz. Looked white in last picture.

So now have a new little batch of tools.
Going to be doing more of this. It does not bother my back and it keeps the mind occupied. I actually enjoy it.

We stopped on the way out yesterday to watch some of the Chinese boat races.

Interesting! I had never seen anything QUITE like it. Unless a canoe race counts ;-)

Was all set up to paint the van this weekend. It rained yesterday. Was sunny and nice today. But...it is raining now. I guess the van will turn white when the van turns white.

It is just as well. I have had a very rough week as far as my back is concerned. I would like to avoid having many more days like I had this week. 'Nuf said!

This month starts the thinning out of unused worldly possessions. I will not get rid of everything in storage. I have things like chamber reamers for a series of rifle cartridges I designed. One of a kind reloading dies. A few rifles I will not part with. Piles of reloading and gunsmithing/stock making tools. Actually, I sold over 40 guns all together. Every one had been customised in one way or another. I sold them for pennies on the dollar. It is like everything else. Spend all you want modifying something. In the end...it is only worth what someone else will pay you for it.

I can tell you that one rifle had over $2,500 in parts added to it. I did the stock. The cold rust bluing, well..lots of things. I never added up what the labor would have been to pay someone to do it. That was just one gun. Suffice to say. I have been away from shooting and hunting so long now that it matters little.


Will I ever get back into guns again? Not likely unless it becomes necessary to hunt for subsistance or to defend myself. I rest confident that I can shoot just fine with any gun I have. Repair said gun if needed and put food on the table with that same gun.

So....not getting rid of all my unused stuff ;-) Certainly not parting with any more tools. If you have no tools...you have to pay someone else to fix your stuff. I like fixing my own stuff.