The Wayfaring Wordhack

• On Sunday we went to a cookout on the beach for Bruno (one of J's colleagues) and his family. I was my usual social self and within four minutes of arriving, I was off taking photos of interesting trees. I wandered back up the bank and socialized 192 pictures later when the camera started wigging out, as it is prone to do. After making small talk and munching for a bit, I wandered off again with my sketchpad and charcoals and drew. Didn't do anything special. Still just trying to loosen up and not get fussy with details right from the beginning.

• After months and months of waiting and despair, we have a total of three "Golden Nugget" tomatoes ripening on the vine. That's three tomatoes for about 8 plants. Yeah, I'm excited. The cats killed the bell peppers, thyme, parsley, and lettuce. I need to replant, but there's always something else wanting my attention. I am an indifferent gardener.

• Yesterday, while J worked on a video for Bruno, I made a necklace from seeds and seed pods. I think it turned out rather nice. I have had a DremeI for almost a year now and haven't gotten much use out of it because I started by trying to make shell jewelry (thick shells), and I broke a lot of bits.  Next I tried piercing some nice tumbled coral and unfortunately broke bits and coral.  I should've started with seeds first and I wouldn't have been so discouraged for so long. It helps, too, that I finally started using the drill stand that we bought about 3 months ago. Last night, I also chatted with rabiagaleand browsed around on Powell's, Loggia, and Amazon for art books and possible fantasy reads. If anyone has recs, I'm open to hearing them.

• Today, I tried to put some organization into my beach finds. My bedroom door-as-table-as-atelier is still a mess, but I did get several seeds, shells, and pods sorted, sanded, and pierced. I reckon I'll continue cutting, drilling, and stringing things tomorrow. The devil's eyes don't smell too nice when I drill them, and I don't particularly care for the red (too orangey), but someone else might like them.  I mention this because I've decided to try to get enough jewelry together to rent a booth for the Christmas market. Can someone please hound me about that decision so I don't slack off?

• I sketched out another art project idea tonight.  It is funny that now that I *want* to paint and am actually getting ideas, I don't want to begin because I would like to learn more from Marcel first. I know that one learns by practicing, but supplies are so expensive and hard to come by here that I don't want to indulge in experiments. Still, I could work on studies....

• That coral scrape I got the other day was probably from an encounter with a stinging hydroid. The pain lasted for three days. Thankfully it is gone now, but I still have a "burn" mark on my arm.

• A census taker stopped by our house today! We have contributed to stastics on Mayotte. Woot. I was just in the middle of making dessert, so J answered her questions. The first one was: Are you a polygamist? His answer: I would like to be, but my wife won't let me. :P She also asked if we had a boat and when J said yes, she followed up with, "Is it a pirogue with a motor?"  No. "So, it's a pirogue without a motor." Er, no... To which she looks at him in confusion and says, "But you said you had a boat."

Where else but Mayotte? :P