My goodness. It has been 5 very long years since I have even opened this blog. I thought, this might be a good time to start using SpeedieBeadie again. Things have changed in the past five years. As you can see by the picture above, I have embraced the sewing machine. I started making small bags and pouches last year around July. I found two amazing teachers who share all their knowledge on YouTube. First was Mister Domestic who showed me how to make pouches with zippers, and the second was Sew Sweetness with an amazing community on Facebook. Sara shares many tips and free patterns to folks that want to learn to make bags. I got so involved, that I bought a Juke TL 2010Q and now love to sew on a machine. I've made many bags up to now and have discovered a new obsession for fabrics.

Four years ago, we brought a new Scottie puppy home. We go him from a long time friend who lives in Canada. Chris named his Ziggy after David Bowie's Ziggy Star Dust. He is a crazy little guy who loves toys. He brings out every toy from the basket to sprinkle them all through the front room. He even enjoys using them as a pillow. Sammy likes him, and together they are a joy.

And after 45 years of working, I decided to finally retire. My last night working was 3/5/2020. The next day, the Pandemic was announced and put everyone in lock down. I had to postpone so many adventures I had planned and just stay at home. I have managed to learn to Zoom like almost everyone else and enjoy the very few outing I have felt safe to do. During this time, I have signed up to take multiple classes online and have taken a class doing polymer clay cane making with Layl McDill. I've managed to cover two teapots with hand made canes. Now if I could only figure out how to sculpt.

And, I STILL bead. I took a little break from beading for about 9 months, but with the quarantine still going on due to the Covid-19 pandemic i have picked up beading small dolls again. I made lots of jewelry several years ago and think I might be picking that up again in the near future.

All in all, the past 3 months have been trying, exciting, scary, and relaxing. I hope to keep up with this blog a little more regularly and not have another 5 year gap.