Visitation

Today is Our Lady's Visitation. Mary went to see her cousin, Elizabeth, during her pregnancy with Our Lord and when Elizabeth was pregnant with Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. Elizabeth was so filled with the Holy Spirit at the sight of Mary her child leaped in her womb, she uttered part of our beloved Hail Mary and Mary spoke what we know as the "Magnificat." Infant John was filled with the Holy Spirit, and according to the Gospel of Luke, was cleansed of original sin and born without sin. What a place to hold in our faith's history! Only John would have been right to baptize our Lord, who humbled Himself to even be baptized! Blessings to all on this holy day.

Upcoming Topics

Some of the topics I will be covering in the near future are the fleur de lis and why it is my shop's logo, favorite saints, and some of my favorite gemstones. I'm a big fan of symbolism and attributed meanings and will likely devote some space to Christian symbols. I'll post them one at a time, of course, as I'm able to do justice to the topic. More later! It's almost June, wow.

How To - Know about Wire & Silver

I use jewelry wire to make my rosaries, either sterling or bronze. I use a modern sterling silver wire called Argentium. It is a bit more expensive, but it has an added alloy that greatly inhibits tarnishing. It's very nice. Further discussion of the types of silver is below.

Wire's diameter is measured in "gauges." An example of a very heavy wire is 8g. "g" stands for gauge. An example of a very fine wire is 30g. The higher the number the finer the wire. It's typical to find the gauges in increments of 2, for example, 16g, 18g, 20g, 22g, and so on. Sometimes wire can be found in odd gauges, such as 19g or 21g, which I do use occasionally. Industrial wire is measured the same way.

I don't like to use finer than 20g wire (if silver) in the rosaries. That way I know it's strong. Most gemstone beads take 20g with no problem. Organic stones like coral and pearls usually won't take anything heavier than 22g, so I order fine wire in a "hard" temper for maximum sturdiness. Bronze wire is very strong. Likewise, I use 20g when the beads allow. In bronze, I never use anything other than half-hard and it has good natural strength in almost any gauge. That's one reason bronze is such a favorite with me.

Wire is offered in variable "tempers" or degrees of hardness or softness. Customary tempers are "hard," "half-hard," and "dead soft." Ordinarily, half-hard is typical for 20 to 21 gauge and heavier. Hardness is determined by how many times the wire is drawn through drawplates. The more times it's drawn, the harder the wire. Half-hard means it's been drawn half the number of times it takes to achieve "hard." Half-hard allows for flexibility so that the wire can be most conveniently worked by hand. I order hard wire in the finer gauges (coral and pearls) so that once assembled, the wire is a bit more rigid and won't "bend out" if tugged on. Each temper has its particular uses as I've already described a bit. Dead soft is often used in elaborate wirewrapping applications because it is so flexible and maleable, but half-hard wire may be easily wrapped in "rosary turns," which is the familiar loop under which the wire is coiled a few times.

"Fine Silver" is available in addition to "sterling" and "Argentium." One advantage to both fine silver and Argentium is that they can be soldered without additional solder wire or paste. It fuses to itself in other words. Sterling silver means it is 92.5% silver and 7.5% alloy, usually copper. (Oxidation of the copper in sterling is what causes the tarnish.) You'll often see "925" stamped on the back of sterling pieces and that indicates the sterling standard of 92.5% pure. "925" and "Sterling" hallmarks are commonly used by manufacturers in the U.S. Countries generally have their own hallmarks for purity markings. Fine silver is a 99.9% silver ratio. Argentium is sterling with the addition of germanium in place of some of the copper. As it retains its 92.5% purity, it remains "sterling."

From Wikipedia: Silver occurs naturally in its pure, free form (native silver), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a by-product of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining. Silver has long been valued as a precious metal, and it is used to make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware, utensils (hence the term silverware), and currency coin.

Home Again

I spent most of this week in St. Louis. It was a good trip and I stayed in Union Station. The Great Hall is so beautiful. I had been there years ago and that Hall was my only memory. Seeing it again, I know why. Fabulous. The Cardinals were playing Houston, but I didn't get to go to a game. Too bad, I love baseball.

Mother's Day

It's a wonder-full day. Today we honor our mothers, as if we needed a special day! Many of us are blessed to have an adored mom, I know I am. She's been a rock all my life, and now I'm pretty sure she looks to us as her rocks. We lost my Dad last Father's Day and, I'd heard people say how a death doesn't get easier, it gets harder...and I am finding that to be true. My mom says that...how she sure does miss him. So, come Father's Day, I'm sure to be melancholy, but right now, I want to honor Mom. I'm so thankful we still have her. I don't take a day for granted. She's 83...I think. It's funny, when Dad was alive, I always knew instantly how old both of them were. For some reason, I could always remember Daddy was born in 1924 and Mom was 3 years younger. So let's see, Dad would be 86 now, so that makes Mom, yep, 83.

Today, being Mother's Day, I can't help but be grateful I found Our Blessed Mother albeit late in life. I took a class on Mary on a lark several years ago from Sister Mary Ellen Doyle. She's so lively. I loved being around her. I started this out musing about our life's mothers, but knew I was also thinking of our Mary, too...the ultimate Mom. It just occurred to me, that, as Catholics, we have many "Mother's Days" that honor Our Lady. We should call them ALL Mother's Day.

I have felt lucky to be Catholic since the day I discovered Catholicism. I felt like I had come home. Maybe it's my Irish ancestry, although my Irish family was not part of the Church. My granddad died when I was too young to appreciate him. I would liked to have known him better, for a number of reasons, but especially because he was agnostic, and I don't understand that. He certainly had a hard life and worked alone to support a large family. He married my grandmother, I think, when she was 15. What makes someone agnostic? Had something terrible happened in his life that made him question God's existence? Did he come from a Catholic background? I do know he was a good man and that he loved me. I remember he would always say yes to me if I asked something of him...not to take advantage or anything like that, but just to build me up. I can't recall his voice. They called him "DD" for Daniel Dulaine Harper. My grandmother was not nearly so nice, and could cut you like a knife with words, a true opposite of Grandpa...but he was the agnostic and my grandmother was church-going. Go figure.

But, I honor her today, too, because she gave me my beloved Mom. I know that she truly shaped my mom, who had a job since she was 13 years old, worked a lifetime, and has now been retired a lifetime. My mom was a woman ahead of her time. When i was growing up, I always thought my friends felt sorry for me because my mom was working instead of being at home. But, my mom sacrificed a lot, and nothing was more important than our family. Any time away from work was wholly family's. When she took vacation, she spent two weeks every summer at home, not traveling to sightsee, but to just spend at home. She was religious about those two weeks, and we enjoyed a higher standard of living than kids I grew up with because Mom was out there, working in a man's world, doing her male boss' job instead of being promoted herself...long before women's equality in the workplace. She ran the computer room for payroll at Keesler Air Force Base, back when a computer filled a room, not sat on a desktop. She would get calls in the middle of the night to fix some problem while her boss slept all night. Everybody knew Mom was the one who kept things going. I was always very proud of her. She's been tough because of it all. She grew up poor and never wanted to be hungry again. I remember my parents told me that they had decided early on in their marriage that no matter what they didn't have, they would always eat good. What a contrast to today's world. My folks were from Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation." Someday I'll read that book. Today, I celebrate them. There were such heroes from that time. It's painful to think there are too many people in this world who do not know that! I know...we have heroes today, too, I'm not taking anything from them, just celebrating the selflessness of my parents. My mom and dad were married almost 61 years when Daddy died last summer. I haven't lived that long yet...and a marriage that long is a milestone I will never know.

Do you think being Catholic can be in the genes? I was so surprised to feel like I was back to my roots when I converted at 26 years old. Certainly I was raised in the Methodist church, mostly of my own initiative. Mom wanted me to be exposed to church when I was little and made sure I at least went to Vacation Bible School in the summers. They were some of my best memories. She was actually Baptist, but didn't attend services but once in a while and she'd take me with her. I remember one time dressing all up for Easter, and I was a little girl with a hat. I remember that hat like it was yesterday. The only other time I can remember her being in church was when I was young, our neighborhood Methodist church, in which I was active all by myself, was dedicating the new sanctuary. Mom made Dad go to church because I just begged and begged for them to go. That's the only time I remember him being in church, but she made him go. And, I will say, my parents are both faithful people, they simply didn't go to church. Ever. As a matter of fact, I spent my dad's last night with him and he was suffering terribly. It will always comfort me that in his delirium he said, "Jesus loves me." A simple statement of fact. Jesus loves me. And so He does.

Saturday Morning

Good morning...I'm waiting for the cable man to come to fix pay-per-view. Sumtings wong. Then, I'm going shoe shopping...hooray! I have to travel for work Monday and I'm not taking off my well-loved shoes for anybody. So, hopefully I don't get blisters from new shoes! I do have to do some walking. Pray for good weather. I have waited for years to have a work reason to travel to St. Louis and finally, it's here. I had a good reason...I had lifelong friends there that I adore and only get to see rarely. And, about a year ago, they MOVED! That's not the luck of the Irish! What happened!? So, if I disappear for a week...I do have an iPhone now, so I'll see if I can post while I'm gone. At least I can keep up with my e-mail and entertain myself a little. By the way, the "posted" time must be Pacific...I'm in Eastern so it's about 3 hours off! I'll try to figure out if I can edit this. I intend to have a great Mother's Day weekend! Same to out there!

Read an Article

I just read an Etsy article about branding your items. It was a great article, but have to wonder a couple of things about the rosaries. They did talk about how difficult it is to brand jewelry, but that is a little different than something for prayer. I think I could stamp a fleur de lis into the back of the crucifix, but that doesn't really tell where to find me later. Then, I wonder if branding somehow would distract from the purpose of the rosary. Maybe "15P"...have to put some more thought into this.

Walking

I walked two miles after work. Felt great. Then my beautiful daughter went to get Chinese take out. Hooray! It's been a good day and now I want to work on my website. I'm still trying to figure out how to fix the browser problem. I did manage to build a real sitemap though. That felt good. Now I need to re-publish and make sure everything is okay before I do any trial and error coding fixes.

I'm thinking I smell brownies cooking...hmmm. Maybe the website can wait.

Good Morning

It's a beautiful morning and the purple martins are singing like a Disney movie. Off to the doctor and bank.

I Wish

We've been talking about children who have dreams of what they want to do when they grow up. Did you have a dream? My dream was to grow up, get married, and be a mom. Reality dictated otherwise, although I did fulfill that, three times. Now, I have the idea that retirement (from federal service) will be when life begins. That's sad. I know, I know, life is meant to be the journey. I have far too many regrets. It's un-natural. I haven't been a bad person, but I certainly have created pain for others. I imagine that goes with the territory of being human and fallen. My brain knows this, but my psyche doesn't absorb it. I wish, I wish, I wish. I'll finish with what I started, "Did you have a dream?"

iPhone Safari

I have a new iPhone and am really enjoying it. But, my website doesn't display right in its Safari operating system. I have Googled, searched, everything, and can't find anything that works. What's happening is that the top border is not wrapping the navigation links, so the border is gigantically wide and I can't fix it! Grrr, as my daughter says.

Ready, Set, Go

Today is my first post. I don't have any expectation of followers, but I'm going to consider this therapy. It's a Sunday afternoon and too windy to be outside, but I like being on the computer anyway. I certainly have household things I need to be doing, and since my husband is grouchy, I'll probably lay this project down for a while. It's true, I am neglecting things, but the computer consumes me...happily I should say. I have spent a lot of time revamping my website lately and I think I'm finally happy with it. The template for this blog is reminiscent of it as a matter of fact. Why am I so into brown lately? It's soothing my need for elegance somehow. Seems classic. Well, more later, duty calls. Welcome, if you've found me! Please stay a while and contribute.