24/7 Chat About Anything

[Gypsy108]

Gypsy, you make gorgeous jewelry!  And it is beautifully staged!  Good luck on your Etsy shop!  I had one for
a while selling herbal salves and balms.  If I end up going full-time nomad I will probably re-open and add jewelry to it.  I've got boxes and boxes of beads and stuff, used to make a lot of pretty things, but I've spent the last 12 years in a job that wore me out physically and mentally and just wasn't able to concentrate on making jewelry.

Thank you VERY much Wanderingsoul  :heart: I could use some of your herbal balms right now !   I know exactly how you feel working a long time job that is wearing you out.....i quit mine a year ago (worked 14 years) at a blood sucking job...it took a toll on me too mentally and physically....i am barely recovering after a year.....what a mistake that was to keep doing stuff that i hated....it literally WILL kill you....making jewelry and doing stuff i love will bring me back to life i hope....now i totally understand about ENERGY and what depletes you of it and what GIVES it to you....the best with your life & endeavors   :heart:

 

[maki2]

Finally got moved to a new campsite, forum friends are nearby to say hello to. I put up my screen room late afternoon but then it got dark so I still have a few more things to get unpacked from my car and setup tomorrpw before I can start back on projects.

Other than some occasional road noise tnat is not all that loud it is a quite enening. No one running generators late in the evening. Nice change from my last camp site.

 

[nature lover]

Cammalu - You are right there are a lot of sad stories in eastern Kentucky. The poverty just eats up families and some of them Try to cover the pain with drugs. Then drugs Bring crime like theft, violence, And even prostitution. That’s a major problem but it’s a minority of the population. I have found some of the nicest people that exist come from poor families in Eastern Kentucky. And those mountains are amazing. The wildlife, wildflowers, and scenic views are just incredible. I don’t like to settle down in any one place now that I have my van but I will be stopping by to see my friends in Letcher and Harlan Counties Kentucky as often as possible. When I get lonesome for Kentucky I play Ralph Stanley bluegrass gospel on my iPad. I have friends that are mountain musicians, the real deal. There’s something about that music that touches me.

 

[bullfrog]

^^^ I don’t know nature lover, timber companies hauled away most of the old forest to build fine houses in the north east, coal companies hauled away a lot of the natural beauty, last time I was home I was thrilled to see a fox until I realized it was drinking from run off out of a coal mine with yellow chemical lining the bottom and upon further examination it was covered with mange and sickly, barely able to wander off under it’s own power. Went to visit an old neighbor lady that had had her aluminum screen door stolen while she was home by someone desperate for money probably for drugs. Several of my old friends I had gone in military service with returned with injuries that the VA had treated with pain killers and hooked them then left them to seek illegal drugs on the street. Many were already dead and gone from sickness due to hard physical labor in hazardous environments of coal mine, steel mills and chemical plants that cover the river valley. Come out to the remote west for a year or so, I can almost guarantee you won’t want to go back.

 

[Cammalu]

Nature lover since you like Bluegrass you might want to come stay a few days at my place. I have camping space and the Bill Monroe homesite is only a few miles away. There is picking at the old barn in Rosine on Friday nights and many pickers having fun.

The international bluegrass museum is just about 30 miles down the road in Owensboro, KY.

I met old Ralph Stanley several times over the years and his boy, Ralph 2 also.

Did you ever watch the Cumberland Highlander show on RFD tv? The main guy, Campbell Mercer is my veterinarian. Lots of history in my area.

 

[nature lover]

Camalu, I have your place and contact information on my list. I’m putting together a book with chapters for each state for these kind of places. You told me at this place before so I’m keeping in mind for when I’m in that area. Thank you for the invite. I never met Ralph Stanley but I’ve been a fan for years. My daughter lives there in eastern Kentucky and she’s only a few miles as the crow flies from the Ralph Stanley Homestead. But to drive there it’s more than a few miles because of the mountains. Some people think that old raspy voice is horrible, it just makes me think of Kentucky feels like home to me.

 

[maki2]

Woke up this morning and started planning in my head which build task I wanted to work on first. Had decided it would be some more of the sewing tasks, I have several of those left to complete and my macine is setup.

Then I opened my email to discover two good sized orders in my Etsy store came in earlier before I woke up. That put an extra big smile in my day. Time to make an omlette for brunch and then get to work.

 

[Gypsy108]

I have found Opals in Nevada and California.  Highdesertranger

do you keep them or sell them ?   I just made a gorgeous opal necklace....photo & video i made don't even show their true beauty....in the sunlight the fire in the opals sparkle like crazy....i will try to upload the video i took...but it doesn't do them any justice......

 

[highdesertranger]

Do you want some? I also have Oregon Sunstone and Banded Obsidian. Highdesertranger

 

[Gypsy108]

Do you want some?  I also have Oregon Sunstone and Banded Obsidian.  Highdesertranger

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I would love to see them all...right now i just buy beads[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] gemstones [/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]ready for making jewelry...i don't know how to make stuff in the rough yet...haha...but i know if i ever make it out there i will go nuts looking at all the beautiful rocks & gemstones and i won't be able to control myself.............[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]the video was too big to upload & i don't know how to compress it....but here's a photo that doesn't do them justice either:[/font]

 

[nature lover]

Hello van dwellers and nomads of all types. In my last post I said I’m putting together a book of sites to camp. That’s not a book to be published that’s a notebook for my own reference I just want that to be clear. So if someone is kind like Camalu who Invited me to her place in Kentucky and others don’t worry that I’m going to publish a book. I just reread that email and thought oh crap. I’m not writing a book I’m keeping a notebook for my own use.

It’s another beautiful day in southern Florida. I have an appointment with the surgeon in a few hours and hopefully I’m getting out of this stupid boot that I have to wear and get shoes that I can really walk in.

I have really taken advantage of cracker barrel here. I have well overstayed my welcome and knew that they would eventually ask me to move on. that happened last evening. I wouldn’t have stayed so long here if it wouldn’t be that is so close to my doctors office and convenient. I certainly never intended to get into the habit of taking advantage of such people and places. But then I never planed to screw up and have part of my foot cut off too. I also love being near this pond and the birds. It reinforces what I knew from the beginning you can’t take advantage of people by over staying in one place. I think it appears to them like you’re trying to live there. I knew that from the beginning and never planed to do it. I hate taking advantage of people as much as I hate them taking advantage of me. I’ve got a find another happy home close to the doctor.

God bless the nomads we sure do need it.

 

[B and C]

Hope your foot heals well NL.

Beautiful jewelry Gypsy.

Been a bit since I updated status.

I am back at the house (I won't call it home) since the end of February to get my shots. Hopefully I can leave the first part of April as I ordered something that is on the slow boat. Put my van in the shop to get it fully Rhino line coated and then painted white. It was really starting to look derelict after the neglect I inflicted on it. It went in yesterday morning and I hope to get it back in around a week. I am going to miss the two-tone paint. Guess I'll be that guy in the white van down by the river now (when I can get back to moving)

 

[bullfrog]

^^^Maybe if there is an RTR arts section next year they can fix that for you! Lol!!!

 

[B and C]

I am definitely not an artsy type person. I like simple! The two-tone was nice while it lasted though. Reminds me that I need to order new Roadtrek decals for it.

 

[user 30781]

I just pulled the trigger on some purple blackout curtains for behind the front seats. PURPLE.

So happy!

Now I need to figure out how to hang them and it's not going to be easy. '97 Grand Caravan.

edit: I'm thinking since I'm going to have the front windows cracked for ventilation anyway, I'll just hook a bungee cord
to the window frame and use binder clips to clip the curtains to the cord.

 

[desert_sailing]

wanderingsoul

I do that withe the black outs in my cab area... but you can string the bungee through the curtains as you would do with a curtain rod. Works just fine for me.

 

[user 30781]

wanderingsoul

I do that withe the black outs in my cab area... but you can string the bungee through the curtains as you would do with a curtain rod. Works just fine for me.

But the bungees have a big hook on the end.  How does that work?  That would certainly be easier.

 

[desert_sailing]

But the bungees have a big hook on the end.  How does that work?  That would certainly be easier.

Great observation.. one I didn't make when purchasing either.
I had to walk it through basically.. once u scrunch the curtain up to get the hook through it is easier.. did take more effort but they are nice and snug now and works better than a rod imHo.

 

[user 30781]

I'll try it, thanks!

 

[jacqueg]

I put up a curtain rod, and find it only marginally convenient (it falls down at the drop of a hat), so I'm going to try this idea too. Only instead of using bungee cords, I'm going to try a rubber tie-down strap. On most of these straps, you could remove the hook using pliers or vise grips, thread the strap through the curtain panels, and then re-attach the hook. If you can't find one strap long enough, just use two and hook them together in the middle.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/The-Per...erall-Length-36-in-in-Black-BSH36BK/203213804