Early Morning Beading



Making a teale bead for Naomi

Naomi sat by Mary and me for breakfast.

We were talking about the charm of Red River Cereal: cracked wheat, cracked rye and whole and cracked flax seed.

We were fishing examples of it out of our bowls, at least trying to get her to identify which was the cracked flax seed and which was whole.

She stayed aloof from our discussion, occasionally spooning her own breakfast into her mouth: rice krispies and fruit loops mixed.

She is not allows to just have the fruit loops alone.

Then the 3 of us slipped down to make beads, just a short run on them before the family left for their adventure.

A special moment, to go down to the bead workshop and pick out the colours you want for a bead.



My favourite blue colour

Naomi was gathering sticks of glass together, trying to figure out if teale and blue worked together.

When her colours were chosen, Mary began the bead making, putting the tubes of glass down on the metal stand that allows them to cool.

And she was using the aneal blanket, which allows the bead to cool at a slow rate. I have been told I must not let air in there when I want to peak and see how the bead is doing.

We were chatting, and Naomi was touching all of the tubes of beads, and then picked up the one that was cooling, a nice short one now and when she had it in her hand, she put the hot end to her forehead, using it to help her think.

She had no idea she had let it rest there. The extreme heat only let her think of of one thing – how to cool off that spot on her forehead.

I was running for a cold wet cloth to put there.

Do these colours look good together?

Mary was wondering what had happened.

And Naomi wants to visit the shop more, but she wants to sit back three feet from the bead making bench now.

Then the three of us had some discussions about how women have to learn to work with fire: in the kitchen, in the bead shop,and around campfires at night.

Naomi will be good with the discussion about fires in time, though at first it hurt to think about how that had happened to her.

I had forgotten until right now that little people have been burned with marshmallows and poked with sticks at the camp fire.

Maybe camp fires are out.

And maybe sitting watching your mother make beads is out as well.

Kitchen has to stay. At least so far in the history of womankind that has been a place where we have learned to work with fire in a that doesn't burn us and is useful to others.

Arta