Roger Bean Fine Art

Our dear friend, Roger Bean, has opened an Etsy shop:  Roger Bean Fine Art

Please feel free to visit his site and see the gorgeous paintings he creates.  Roger was born in Scotland and his family immigrated to the United States when he was just seven years old.  His father was an international business man and his mother was a homemaker.  Both parents were natural born painters as Roger and his younger brother are as well.  His brother works for Hallmark under a different name.

Roger joined the Navy upon graduation.  After six years or so he was honorably discharged and studied at Cal Poly to be an architect, where he met and became lifelong friends with one of the sons of a famous jelly and jam company (Roger does not want me name dropping.)  At one time, Roger owned three architect businesses, all the while pursuing his passion of painting.  He told me that he's been painting since he was ten years old, over sixty years!  Just wait until you see his beautiful work. 

Roger has been very busy for the past five or six years driving back and forth between Sacramento and the Mendocino Coast each weekend building his dream home.  By himself!  Here are some of the pictures of his home in progress.  He's a true craftsman, for not only is he building a home but a self efficient home that has wonderful and beautiful details such as real sea shells in the woodwork above the picture windows.  Fine quality hardwoods and stone are used.  He's utilized recycled materials whenever possible.

Where does he live while working on and building this dream home?  At the vacation home of the friend he met in college.  A generous offer indeed.

Roger Bean and his mermaid.  Isn't she gorgeous?

                                                                           
   

Roger is building his dream home.

Unique driftwood address sign

Sea Shell Detail

Gorgeous Fireplace Wood Burning Insert

Beautiful Wooden Front Door

What a warm welcome, no doorbell here.

One of his seascapes

For Jewels

Have about twelve new (old) jewelry boxes that I'm going to be refinishing within the next couple of weeks.  Always look forward to new projects to keep my days occupied.  These jewelry boxes are so much fun to redo.  It's wonderful to see something plain and drab transform into a thing of beauty for others to use and enjoy.  ;)

The Etagere Desk

Disney's Candy Cane Barber Pole

We're pleased to announce the newest barber pole now available in our shop; mikesbarberpoles.etsy.com.
Not this exact one, of course, because this one is being shipped tomorrow morning down to the L.A. area.  It's a beauty, for sure.  It would look pretty cool distressed and antiqued as well.   

Michael hand carved the 9 inch diameter wooden ball on top.  This pole is a hefty one.  Mike made it and I hand painted it, aren't we a team?  ;)

What's Happening Around Here

Accomplished a lot of stuff today. 

1.  Got the stripes painted on the custom barber pole for Disney's new filming set. 

2.  Finished a custom table and will be packing that tonight for shipment.

3.  Michael and I shipped off two large shelves today, a wine rack, a chalkboard and a small barber pole.

4.  Everything is ready for me to antique tomorrow; 5 new projects to get ready for shipment.

5.  Michael made 2 large shelves, several sets of custom letters, several birdhouses and is working on a new project.

Tomorrows goals:

1.  Touch ups and finish the humongous barber pole for Disney, well, for Casey, he's in charge of the set design. ;)

2.  Antique a Van Gogh Cabinet, antique some custom letters that were ordered, antique two more large shelves and one small railroad spike shelf... and I can't think what else right now, my brain is tired.  Got to go give it a rest.

We love our little business and we love our customers.  We're so happy to be doing something we both love to do.  How many people can say they love their job?  Even to have a job in this economy, we're thankful. 

Oh, we're opening another shop with a new company just launched.  More later.  They are still working out the bugs and I've just begun listing a few things.  I'll create a link and will have it here on our site.  Basically, it's the same kind of things in our Honey's Treasures, Honey's Colors and maybe Mike's Barber Poles all rolled into one. 

Got to start painting again, soon.  So many new ideas for landscapes, etc., are floating around in my head and I'm itching to get going.

Antique Lamp Parts

Guess what we'll be making very soon?  Bought these from an old lamp maker's estate sale.

We even have some old glass lamp parts, not shown.  These are going to be so much fun to make, not to mention, beautiful.

New Basket From Scraps of Leftovers

These make great centerpiece baskets, baskets to hold various household items; remote controls, game supplies, etc., desk organizing or hand towels all rolled up and looking pretty sitting on the counter in the powder room.

Can even be used for a clothespin basket.  If you're anything like me, a good old fashioned girl at heart, who loves to hang clothes out in the fresh air and sunshine, you'll love this basket.  It's very fulfilling and satisfying to hang out my laundry on a clothesline to be dried by the summer breeze.  It's therapeutic even, not to mention the reward of such fresh and sweet smelling bedsheets and things.

New Pendants

Each one is cut out by hand from vintage poker cards, antique books, etc..  They're so much fun!

Gusty Day

Yes, it's been breezy around here, making a bit of noise.  Who doesn't love the sound of the howling wind? 

Here's my newest creation, Mr. Tin Man.  Isn't he a cutie pie? 

A Day of Sunshine

Unusually warm weather.  Simply gorgeous, makes me want to pack a picnic and go to the park toting my favorite quilt.  Or the beach.

Alas, we had to work to do, no time to go outside and enjoy the spring like breezes.  We did have all the doors open to let the warm air in the house though...and the garage door was open while we worked out there.

We had been working on some custom orders today and tomorrow is painting and finishing time.  There was plenty of time for me to take apart and sand down two jewelry boxes.  Going to be painting those tomorrow or Monday, hopefully.

No time to make dinner.  Just order a Papa Murphy's Pizza and make a quick salad.  Time to eat!  Ciao! ;)
 

Treasury

Shades of Brown

Quiet Time Sorting Stamps

Spending the day going through a stamp collection.  Comparing, sorting, charting, filing, and putting away neatly in a temporary organizer until my new one arrives.  Trying to remember to use tongs when touching them.  There are some pretty old stamps in this collection and it's proving to be very difficult to determine the value of some.  You can have what appears to be the same stamp but unless you look very closely (which is what I do with a light box and loupe) you won't be able to tell the difference.  One mistake can cost you dearly in value.  Take for example the color red on a stamp.  There's Camine, Carmine Rose, Rose, Reddish, Reddish Brown, Reddish Purple, etc..  It's not easy.

There are three Confederate stamps in this collection.  I need to take them to an expert to have him identify if they are authentic or fake.  Even the fakes have value or so I've been told.  We'll see.

A cold day outside, got my heater going, keeping me nice and warm inside.  Thank goodness our P.G.E. bill wasn't very high this month, considering that we've been using the heck out of it.

Melancholy.  I miss my mother.  I think of Mom quite a bit, not a day goes by that I don't think of her.  It makes me sad, I wish I could just pick up the phone and call her like I used to.  Just a few short years ago, we used to talk a minimum of once per week when she was on her own living in her apartment.  I would call her every week or sometimes a couple of times in a week just to talk about what's going on with things.  I miss that.  Yes, I see her but it's not the same and it's only for short visits.  

She has Alzheimer's disease and things just are not the same any longer.  She is not the same person.  She's not interested in me or what's going on with me...not really.  She cannot remember things we talk about.  Oh, she remembers some things here and there, that's true.  We cannot communicate on a deeper level or at a great length about anything that really matters because she doesn't get the details only bits and pieces.  

It's funny how our brains work.  Just imagine your brain being attacked by something foreign or something like a worm eating your brain.  I cannot even imagine how frightened my mother must have been when she realized what was going on inside her, if she even did have the time to realize.  I'll never know.  She never spoke about deeply rooted fears to me.  She must have kept all of that confusion bottled up inside.  We only had a couple of real meaningful talks about her end of life wishes and that was it.  I never brought it up again once she told me her wishes.  I didn't want to talk about her dying even though I had the basic fear she was going in one way or another.  

Imagine forgetting things, simple things.  Your brain not registering even the simple fact that you need to go to the restroom.  How to do simple tasks and having no desire to take care of your personal hygiene.  Losing things, i.e., she kept losing her earrings.  To become obsessed with clocks and watches and what time it is because you cannot remember even though you just looked at the time a moment ago.  If you're on medication, when you last took your pills (I administered her pills to her) and the possibility of overdosing if you're living on your own.  Your brain not getting the message about the temperature and putting on five layers of clothing when it's a hot day.  The horror of losing your identity and sense of the world around you.

I miss my Mom.

Inspirational Message From a Young Girl

Watch Me

Newly Painted Family Room

A little late in posting these pictures of our family room.  I was bored on Christmas Eve and spent the day painting our little room.  Rearranged the furniture.  Doesn't that always make you feel good to do that?  It does me.  Makes you feel as if you have a new place almost.  With the new arrangement, we now have a quiet little reading spot surrounded by my paintings.  Until the paintings are sold, we'll just enjoy them, then I'll have to paint more.  ;)  Oh, how do you like my thrift store lamp and lamp shade?  I painted the tall standing solid wood lamp base my favorite shade; Sea Glass Green, antiqued it and found the lamp shade at a different thrift store.  A perfect compliment.  See the ducks and birds in the room?  Michael hand carved each and every one!  Isn't he talented? 

Irish Beach Weekend

We were invited to stay at our friend's house in Irish Beach over the weekend for a birthday celebration get together on Saturday night for Don's birthday.  A wonderful homemade supper was prepared:

Appetizers, Minestrone Soup, Salad, Corn Muffins and Wine at Don and Pam's place

and dessert of Apple Bundt Cake with beverage of choice at Jerry and Debbie's place. 

Sunday morning we all drove to a local cafe for breakfast.  Afterward, we went mushroom picking with our good friend.  Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms!  Thanks to Roger, a mushroom expert, we learned how to hunt and identify Golden Trumpet Chanterelle Mushrooms.  Saute in a little butter and serve over egg noodles.  I'm thinking of finding a buyer or two and next year hunting these professionally.  Now that I know what to do and where to look. 

What fun we had! 

Hiking in the forest and the rush you experience when you happen to find these beautiful specimens shining their golden trumpet color against the softly carpeted forest floor.  Slight peppery taste.  Yummy! 

Thanks, Roger!  Here's my little treasure trove of these highly sought after and coveted of mushrooms...

Accident

We went camping over the New Years weekend to Felton, near Santa Cruz.  On New Year's Eve we had just left home all excited about our weekend ahead of us and our 5th wheel got a flat tire, completely blew up on us and shredded to pieces.  Thankfully, we didn't get in an accident and it wasn't raining.  Michael got the spare tire on and we went to the closest tire dealer to where we were, in Concord, and got a new tire and was back on the road within two hours or so.

Had a lovely weekend, it rained the whole time.  Saturday night there was a huge storm and thunder around 1:00 pm.  I was asleep and did not wake up from it, that is, until Michael woke me up to ask me if I was awake and if I'd heard it, to which I replied, "no."  I never did hear it, for it only made one large boom sound and that was the end of it even though it continued to pour.   I love the patter of the rain on the rooftop.  It lulled me back to sleep.

We were camping with my sister in law, Cathy, and her boyfriend, Vince.  They arrived one night before us, on Thursday night in their camper.  Pretty much the whole time it rained, which if you know me, I absolutely love camping in the rain.  I love the rain, period.  We're all cozy in our campers, in the rain.  Drinking hot cocoa and playing cards, and eating.  Isn't that what camping is all about, the food?

Okay, so on to the accident.  We're heading home on east bound 80 last night around 3 pm or so.  The traffic was somewhat heavy but not super slow or anything like that.  We were moving along at a good pace.  About 2 minutes before the accident Michael had been trying to get over into a slower lane (we were in the lane next to the fast lane) but a truck wouldn't let him in.  So, we were still in that lane at the time of the accident.  Cars were going pretty fast all around us.  A woman began to move into our lane in front of us and just then the car ahead of her stepped on her brakes for no apparent reason.  There was no one in front of her to cause her to brake.  Of course, the woman moving into our lane just ahead of us had to brake and Michael didn't have enough time to stop, so we slammed into her and she into the woman that braked in the first place.  Did you get all that? 

So there we were, the three of us, in the middle of the freeway on interstate 80, in commute hour traffic.  The front of our truck buckled up and I was not able to open my door.  Which I did not want to get out anyway because of the danger all around us.  In a short time the highway patrol officer came.  He was able to call for help to stop traffic for all of us to get off the freeway safely, which we did.  I was pretty shaken but had calmed down enough and was able to call for a tow truck to come get our truck.  Thank you AAA.  They towed it for us all the way to our home town which was about 50 minutes from where the accident occurred.

Michael had to unhook the 5th wheel from the truck before the tow truck could take our truck.  Here we were until 6:30 p.m. or so waiting inside our camper playing cards, waiting for our friend, Steve, to come pick us and our trailer up to bring us home.  He was the only one we knew that had a 5th wheel like us and had the capability to tow our trailer.  What a lifesaver he is!  We're going to get him a nice gift certificate to dinner for being such a dear friend and helping us in need.

Thankfully, no one was hurt in the accident.  Just a little frazzled nerves.  In the meantime, we are without our truck, not knowing if they are going to total it or repair it.  We really don't know if the engine is damaged at this point.  The truck did not sound very good when we drove it off the freeway to the side of the exit ramp in Berkeley.  We should know something within a couple of days.      

Free Contest Giveaway!

Please go to Amy's website; Amy McLean to enter the FREE contest to win a FREE pendant or poker protector!

Hurry, contest ends Jan. 5th!  Free to enter, International giveaway!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you some quiet time this holiday season; the whisper of the wind or snow falling softly to the ground, birds singing happily from above, tinkling of wind chimes, laughter of children playing, a kiss from someone dear to your heart, smells drifting from the kitchen to your nose or just enjoying the sparkling lights from the Christmas decorations while sipping your favorite hot drink...

Merry Christmas from Michael and I to you, with love.  ;)

Our grandchildren at the beach

Movie Day!

Went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader today with Shilah, Angelina and Aiden.  What a treat that movie was!  Popcorn and M&M's too!  As always, love Aslan that gorgeous lion.  Also enjoyed how Eustace and Reepicheep's relationship develops into a close bond.  Travel to the edge of the world with Lucy, Edmond and Eustace!  Go see it!  

Just some lovely shots.

Doctor's Buggy For Sale

Doctor's Buggy

Carriage For Sale

U.S. Mail Carriage For Sale

Craft Fair Today

We did another Christmas craft fair today at Nelda Mundy School here in Fairfield.  What nice people!  Everyone!!  Super nice!! 

You gotta hear this story.  I had a really good deal going today, buy one pendant at reg. price, $15- or get two pendants for $20- what a deal, right?  I sold a bunch of pendants today, a great day.  Everyone loved my pendants and I'm so glad.  Women, men, boys and girls of all ages bought them!!

Well, this one little boy had been eying these pendants all afternoon.  Finally he came up to buy one of them and I told him that if he chose two that he could have them both for twenty dollars.  So, he chose the two that he'd been eyeing.  Then he began counting out his wad of cash, all one dollar bills wadded up in his little fists.  He counted one by one and stopped at thirteen.  That was all his money.  He looked up at me with those sweet eyes.  Well, how could anyone resist that?  You tell me.  So, of course he got both pendants and what a treat that was for me to see.  He was so happy!  He made my day! 

Another wonderful day in the life of Honey's Treasures.

The Kiss

One of my pendants were featured in this treasury, I Need a Superhero!

The Kiss