Chief Ten Bears: January 2006

Bead Relief

A typical view of my front yard. It's no wonder why bears hibernate. I think all the errands regarding snow can wait. There's crafty fun to be had indoors.

beads 1

Blah days are ideal for those projects that lie patiently for months, awaiting your resumed interest. The grey light makes the beads on my drafting table look punchy and bright. Let's get beading!

beads 2

Don't mind the grainy photo, I got too close and the camera couldn't focus right. Lampwork dots, fruit and bears may just be some of the most delightful beads around.

beads 3

A sampling of new beads bought through eBay. They're like English sweets; everyone buys them by the bag full to savour as slowly (or quickly) as need be.

beads 4

There's perks to being a packrat. My neck is a bit thicker than it was four years ago and these necklaces need an extra inch or so for comfort's sake. I still have the original filler beads from the time they were made.

Happy Chinese New Year

May the year of the dog bestow to all of us, the affinity to see what fineries life has to offer.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomororw is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Enough Snow Already

pompadour bear

I shouldn't complain; it's not like Whistler got 78" of snow in one weekend. Lots of snowclearing and firewood gathering and less crafting and blogging time for me. Oh well. At least one of my sewing clients forewarned of a spate of work coming my way this week and I'll cram in a few posts before then.

In other news, I'm really chuffed about a $40 gift certificate I won in a caption contest at
Conversations About Fashion.

a used door

Dave was kind enough to bring home a flea market find yesterday, a panel door made of red cedar. From the large crack at the lock holes and top to the warp (as seen from the side) I'm guessing this was an unwitting victim of a B&E. I'm thinking with a little TLC it could be born again as a master bedroom door.

Miscellaneous Crafty

burl

I call it a 'girl's first burl'. This spalted fir root came from the rotten core of the very last log Dave and I pulled out of the Soo Valley last December. When I feel like procrastinating I'll give it a scrape inside and out. Mastercrafters make bowls and jewelery boxes from this stuff. I haven't a clue what it will become yet.

if I had a hammer

My version of mechanical Rock'em Sock'em bear... er, carpenters. As simple as it looks it was pretty difficult to figure out a design by scratch and hew out the legs with a hacksaw.

l'il chicken

This was a decorative lead corkscrew till the screw part broke off in a bottle of wine. It was too nice to throw out so I mounted it on a 2" square bit of wood. I'm an extreme recycler of sorts.

I gave up making one of these damned things and bought one on eBay instead. I can use this bellows to stoke the fire I'm going to make with my lame attempt at one.

Panda Cam Update

Mei's buddha-like patience to such a rambunctious cub is inspiring to me. Most mothers would have to smoke a dozen fatties (or maybe it's just me) to cope with all the biting and wrestling this guy puts out. Aw, they make a lovely family.

Maddox Jolie of the Panda World

Pandas are natural climbers and just like other bear species, panda cubs sleep high in the trees while Momma tucks into her 40 pounds of bamboo stalks a day... except for L'il Bologna Loaf. He's got indoor living arrangements at the Washington DC Zoo.

hugs all around

There's no way you could take a panda cub grocery shopping with you. Disheveled shelves and half-eaten food everywhere.

fur tussle

I can't remember if I was this onery to bathe as a kid. Mei tries her best, even if she has to pin L'il Bologna Loaf upside down to lick him clean ass first.

Favicons are Fun

... if you get around the frustration of figuring out how to do it. I highly recommend the March 2005 issue of Photoshop User for favicon help. The Telegraphics site is handy for directions and more importantly, has a free download of Windows Icon File Format Plug-In. In order for my bear head to show up on your address window you need to 1) delete all Chief-Ten-Bears bookmarks, 2) empty your computer cache and 3) re-bookmark Chief-Ten-Bears. If you're one of those keeners who empties their cache regularly and didn't have my blog bookmarked anyway then you don't need to do a damn thing.

Swap Swag

snowbear swap 1

I sent Rightfoot the sock bear southbound to Theresa of Snowbear fame and a few weeks later I got a northbound parcel in kind.

snowbear swap 2

A lovely array of bear cards and a copy of Snowbear's Christmas Countdown.

snowbear swap 3

These little business cards will make nice gift tags for next year. Thanks a bunch Theresa!

Adopt-A-Tote

anouther gift :)
Originally uploaded by La Fée Coriandre.

My tote give-a-way generated 8 new homes in 5 countries. This lucky bag went to Europe with La Fee Coriandre.

There are still two left! Click the 'free tote' link button in the right side bar for details.

Dana and Lisa (in My Own Time) are sporting theirs in fine form too.

Ode to Otis

Frailty is a hoot of a slasher movie and 'Otis' the double headed axe Bill Paxton used in it stuck with me long after the credits ended. Among other family heirlooms besides wedding dresses and teddy bears, tools are handed down the generations as well. I got my Dad's 50+ year old claw hammer and use it to this day. The axe I've used these last 6 years (and probably much longer) definitely falls in that category and can do for some recognition...

OTIS

There's my little bit of crafting for the week.

By the way, I want to give a big HI to Maureen at Kenmaurscorner. I'm sure it's just as warm in Aussieland as it is wet and cold in Whistler.

Snow to Go

plowing 1

Although we spend a fair chunk of time moving the white stuff, it's way faster to do it yourself that wait for the municipal plows to come along, the few that do that is. There's Dave with the 11hp snowblower. I've tried to push it once but it ended up pulling me and digging large holes in the driveway.

snow branches 1

These are a few of the trees in the front yard. Winter is hard on them and they need a bit of tethering with rope to stay relatively straight. They are lovely to gaze at this time of year.

pink snow

Martha Stewart may consider my Were-Bear as a creative way to serve sherbert at a banquet buffet.

Let's see if Dave's through with the yard...

plowing 2

Not done yet. Until spring comes around, it seems to be an eternally unfinished task.

Parting Shot: Coons!

Urban Raccoons

Check out these fat ass raccoons at Stanley Park in Vancouver. They are huuuge! Somebody must have sprinkled bacon bits on the pavement.

Back in the Groove

snow branches 2

Sorry for the long absence... just when I thought I could tuck into a round of posting, either a foot of snow fell overnight, the fireplace ran out of wood or a friend had a minor emergency that needed my help. I did think about y'all in the meantime and uploaded a whack of new pictures of my whereabouts to blog while I was gone, so many that i had to buy a pro account at Flickr. Stay tuned.

Canada is Amusing

willy whistler

Once a really long time ago, the founding fathers of Whistler tried to adopt a mascot to promote the resort. The best it could muster up was a cartoon marmot that all the locals tried to distance themselves from as far as possible. It's hard to take civic pride in something whose name is one step removed from 'tally whacker' and 'trouser snake'.

Bear Droppings

Who can resist chocolate covered almonds marketed as imitation bear dung? I've had bears crap in my front yard and I can certainly tell you the volume of it could easily fill 20 of these little bags.

Canuck Cash

Our legal tender looks like it came out a Parker Bros. board game. I'd post a pic of our national 'Get out of Jail' and 'Community Chest' cards but I've had to use mine recently.

Panda Cam Update

Outside Play

Apparently the Washington DC Zoo Panda Cam is a smash hit. I, like a lot of other folks all over the world, can't go a few days without checking up on L'il Bologna Loaf and Mei Xiang. December was an especially happening time for The Loaf as he did quite a few things for the first time, like go outdoors.

bamboo lunch

Last month he began to eat solids such as bamboo. Well, maybe eating is an overstatement. It's the Panda equivalent of horsing around with your food. I like the pic of him chewing with one leg in the air.

Sleeping loaf

The business of growing up has L'il Bologna Loaf tuckered out all the time. There is never a moment where he looks less than cute enough to eat.

bong fun

A bunch of new toys were introduced to him over the holiday season. I think he really dug the bong toy the most.

cub in a tub

He's famously good at sleeping. Pretty soon his zoo handlers will have to get him a way bigger tub. He currently weighs about 25 pounds.

Happy New Bear!

Sleeping Grizzly
Originally uploaded by Alberticus.

Linus can't sleep without his 'blankie', in this case a crushed garbage bin. So cute!

(Regular posting will resume sometime this week. Promise.)

dreaming..
Originally uploaded by mizuha.

Meet the sleeping bear who was the inspiration for the guy who invented Speedo Swimwear.

throw me some food...
Originally uploaded by mizuha.

We're playing our imaginary bongos till the real ones arrive in the mail.

Bears in Bern
Originally uploaded by tchelseat.

Few people know of the mysterious brown bears that live in the ruins of Angkor Wat. A troupe of Russian circus bears air bound to California were accidently put on a cargo flight to Thailand and broke free while waiting to be rerouted... to make a story short, they just love it there.