Enjoying the summer from indoors...

We haven't had much of a chance to get out and take pics of the island this summer...I believe June was our last outing to the hotel. Cameron and I take 3 walks a day though..short ones because he doesn't have much energy to expend and definitely does not need to work off any calories. But we do love the fresh air and the chance to talk. I find he opens up more on our walks and it's been really a nice chance for just he and I to have that special time and for him to tell me how he's doing and what he's working on while he keeps himself busy each day trying to deal with his illness.

The weather was awesome on this mornings walk...slightly cold breeze and sprinkles of raindrops..with very warm sun shining through. It felt great. Last night when my husband took a walk with us after dinner..the clouds came after a very hot day. The sky was dark..yet pink. It was very interesting. We got sprinkled on during our walk..but it still felt great.

Here are a couple of shots I can share...this first one was taken in August..it's the view out of my beading room window...



And this second one is of the bananas that grew through our fence from the neighbor. They finally were ready to cut down and are in the garage hanging upside down waiting to ripen. I'm hoping they are apple bananas..they look small enough to be.

Trip to our new acupuncturist

Actually I think he calls himself a naturpathic physician. I'm happy to find Dr. Kern though..so happy he is on my Kaiser insurance. He is looking at Camerons situation much different then the medical doctors are and in a way that I feel makes much more sense. He spent about an hour with us and got to know all of Cameron's issues..illnesses and problems through out his life. It's all connected somehow. Problems can lead to larger problems and he's about treating the cause not just putting a bandaid on the symptoms.

Here's a pic I snapped with my camera phone while Cameron was getting an acupuncture treatment and a laser treatment on his stomach.



We are still following the advice of the medical doctors, Cameron is on steriods right now which is hopefully going to calm down the inflammation and edema in his stomach and colon. But we are anxious to see what Dr. Kern will want us to do. First he has ordered a couple more blood tests that the reg docs did not order. As soon as Cameron feels well enough we will do that. He did have a good day yesterday, but of course it was a Sunday and the lab was closed so we couldn't take advantage of a good tummy day and get it done. Today started off bad, he hasn't thrown up in about 2 weeks..but thats how we started the day. And so now he's hardly eaten and of course I'm thinking about how it's a step back from the wieight I"m hoping he may have gained from having some good eating days. But I've been told this is how gastroparesis is..really with no rhyme or reason. Certain foods will make them sick..but sometimes they are just sick for what seems no apparent reason.

Purple Shell Bracelet

Here is the the last of the bracelets I made last week. A Hill Tribe silver shell bead with purple pearls, labradorite, Swarovski crystals and Hill Tribe silver spacer beads. Look for this in my shop Jonara Blu Maui very soon

Turquoise and Turtles...coming soon!

Here is my latest sea turle bracelet...I've got these two little Hill Tribe silver honus swimming with different types of turquoise and some Hill Tribe silver accents.
Soon to be priced and added to Jonara Blu Maui

Fun new carved wood beads

I picked these up at the last bead show I attended here. I say attended because I totally spaced on the last one and didn't make it. What a bummer..I needed stuff at it too.

These were such a cool find though..the beads are wood...carved and hollow..very different then any wood beads I've ever come across. I've put them with green/brown turquoise, some desert jasper and Hill Tribe silver spacers. It's a larger sized bracelet measuring at 7 1/2" to 8 1/4" with it's adjustable chain and clasp. The charm is a little Hill Tribe silver spotted turtle. It will be uploaded to my shop soon.

Fun with Post it Notes - Colorful!

This is so cool I just had to post it here..I love all the color. I found this at my friend Stefani's blog called And Another Thing...

Fishy earrings to match

Here are the earrings I had planned to make to match the fish bracelet I just posted the other day. I uploaded it to my shop yesterday and it was sold this morning...so I quickly finished making up the earrings and snapped some photos of them so I could offer them to my customer. The pictures are a little washed out because I don't usually take them in such bright sunlight..but I didn't have a choice. Photoshop helped bring back the color in a bit..




If she doesn't want these..then they will be placed in my shop at Jonara Blu Maui

Mine yields on of world's largest diamonds

A friend twittered this today...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26819593/

Pretty little fishies swimming in the bright blue ocean...

I thought I had all these guys lined up..swimming in a circle..but one got away from me (fish are slippery you know) and flipped around. I supposed fish don't normally swim in a circle. So maybe it doesn't matter...what do you think? It doesn't bother me...I don't need everything symmetrical...I just need balance in shape and color. I do think however, that I will restring it and turn the little guy around. Go figure I didn't notice until editing the picture!



Tropical Fish Beaded Bracelet

I hope everyone is well. I do miss all the blog fun I was having...It was a blast! Update on my son...they are thinking he's got an an autoimmune situation going on in the stomache and colon. The white blood cells present are the kind that come because of parasites or food allergies and all that has turned out negative. So he's started a high dose burst of steroids..that lasts 3 days..then taper down the dose for a week..then we see the doc again. Hopefully it will calm his digestive system down so he can eat better. We are very hopeful that between that and a nutritional support program we have him on that we will get him well again :)

I've started creating a little again. It feels really good. I've 3 more bracelets sitting here that I need to make a couple of changes to and then finish off with a clasp. My shop is near empty! I usually have 5 to 6 pages of product and I've only got 3 up..but the last page is all sold. Which is good! I'm not complaining..but I really need to make jewelry and get it in there for the busy shopping season. Now if this heat would just chill out so I could actually breathe in my beading room..I might actually be able to accomplish something.

Hope you are doing well..I will be checking up on your blogs as time allows ;)

xoxo

Jonara Blu Maui

Beach Bride Necklace..

Those who keep up with my blog know I've been busy taking care of my son who was just diagnosed with Gastroparesis. I've not much time to create new jewelry pieces..but have been working it into my schedule again little by little. This piece was made right before we found out. It's the diet that he has to be on that is very time consuming..and different with each patient..so it's a lot of trial and error (and boy does momma feel bad when she feeds her boy something that makes him feel yucky) ..but as we learn things that work for him..I'm able to get a little more time in. I posted this necklace to the shop a few days ago..it's available here: Baby Freshwater Coin Pearl - Beach Wedding Necklace

I'm hoping to pull out some beads to make bracelets tonight and bring them out to the dinning room table where I can see the TV and then I can still spend some time with Cameron. I am so very grateful that I work at home and can be here for him. And I'm grateful for the orders that have still come through. I wish I could hug everyone of my customers..they have made paying for Camerons tests, meds and special diet so much easier. Thank you!! ((HUUUGSSS)) to you all!

Thanks for the posts!

Wow..thank you so much for all the posts and emails I've been getting. I've also joined a yahoo group for Gastroparesis and the support and advice sent to me in emails has been wonderful! I just love the internet!

I'm slowly but surely getting my brain back and making room in the day for my jewelry and internet activities. (I need it for my sanity!) It was important to get a routine of what to feed this poor kid of mine. A lot of it is trail and error, so we are still working on it. But we are finding some things that are working and so I'm getting a little more time to myself rather then spending it all constantly researching.

I'm also having to cook a little more which is probably good for me. Cameron has to eat things that are super easy to digest...blended is best. He needs calories to gain weight so it's an issue of what we get down him plus how much. He can't eat a lot at once because it just sits in his tummy, so he has to eat more often.

Last night we made sweet potato and leek soup. Blended the leek so he could have that. While I love sweet potatos, the soup never sounded good to me. My son was not crazy about the idea..but we don't have a lot of choices. It turned out awesome! I just didn't put in the allspice and the lemon. That seemed wierd for soup. And I had added in the leek from another sweet pot soup recipe that was microwaved. (I didn't want to micro it, he needs his food healthy and not all the nutrition zapped out of it) I added a tablespoon of butter for calories for him and it made it taste even better. It was really quick to make. Here is what I did:

3 sweet potato cut up (they were kinda small and skinny)
1 leek
minced onions
1/2 cube of vegie bullion
1/2 cup homeade chicken broth (make chicken broth for use later and keep in freezer. Chizzled off some to put in soup)
water
3/4 to 1 cup of original flavored almond milk (can use real milk, but it hurts my sons tummy)
dill
salt
pepper
tbsp butter

boiled this in a large heavy saucepan. didn't measure my water, but made enough to be like a small pot of soup. It covered the potatos well. boil till soft. peel skins off potatos. Cool slightly, put in blender and blend till smooth. Put back in pan, add milk, butter and spices to taste. simmer 1/2 hour.

Then we made homeade chocolate pudding. I didn't realize that has eggs in it. So that was more protien for him. Esp since he can't seem to eat just eggs like for breakfast. It was all a hit..he did not get sick last night.

Today we took a trip to the acupuncturist. He hated it..has a fear of needles. But he endured. Came home with a chinese med tincture for nausea and diarreah. Tastes discusting but he doesn't mind it..so thats good! We also go for a short walk after each meal to help move it down. He's started having 'Gerd' issues which have been scary for him not understanding whats going on with his body. but thanks to the support of the group we joined, both of us are understanding his symptoms better and can i can help calm his anxiety down.

I'm looking forward to seeing whats new with everyone...so I will probably be pestering your blogs soon ;-P~~~