Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: jewelry

(+12 insets!) (Please scroll down to Today's Pictures for inset information) OMG My Eyes! Turn Off the Light! I was awoken this morning to the lights blazing overhead and the beep of power coming on in the house. In my bleary state I thought to myself, "Oh wow, we must have had a power outage." At the same time I was happy that the power was restored before we got up. We'd had a wind advisory last night, though it wasn't windy enough that we noticed. I guess it depended on where you were because the power lines came down somewhere. Starting the Day with Pumpkin Though I was so rudely awoken, it was a good time to get up, so up I popped! Pumpkin and I started our day as usual--she supervising my shower and laughing at me--and we whistled together as I dressed. While I prepared her cage she checked out the extremely interesting space between the bureau and the wall where I'd set her down, turning her head to peer with one eye into the dark abyss that so fascinated her. The funny gronking sounds she made to express her opinion made me laugh, and she followed suit, which made me laugh even more. What a silly bird, and how I love her! :) Downstairs in the kitchen, I deposited Pumpkin onto her custom perch that Steve made--complete with food and water cups--where she enjoyed nibbling on warm, moistened seed-filled bread. While she looked out the kitchen window with great interest, she kept an eye on my activities as any proper supervisor should do. Whistling back and forth, laughing together and making silly sound effects, I made my coffee and got her food bowl ready. She's had this healthy blend for the nearly 20 years of her life with us since she was just 6 months old--a mixture of carrots, celery, bell pepper, corn and apple, topped with wheat berries, red pepper flakes, another piece of bread and a pecan--her glowing feathers and excellent health show that we're doing something right! :) Nothing but the best for our darling feathered child! Soon we returned upstairs so she could have her breakfast. Apparently I wasn't moving fast enough because she strained towards her cage as we approached and hopped off my finger to turn and dance back and forth as I put her food cup in place and closed her cage door. I smiled as she gronked in happiness and dove into her food. What a doll. Before I left the room I opened my laptop to play a music playlist from YouTube that she seems to really enjoy-- "Happy Hawaiian Music" ...but wait... No internet. Hmmm, that was a problem…without her music, Pumpkin gets very fussy and yells very loudly to let us know that her tunes aren't playing. I checked the network and…yep. No dice. What was going on, I wondered. Solving the Mystery of No Internet Wandering into our game room, I noticed our router and modems were off…no power anywhere. Flipping the switch on the power strip didn't do a thing. My computer was on though, but I had no internet. Odd. I wondered if the fuse had popped and some of our devices were on that one? I went to the basement to check the fuse box. Everything was fine there. The last thing I wanted to do was wake up Steve for his assistance but if I didn't, Pumpkin would soon start yelling, which would wake him up in a much less-pleasant way. Cringing inwardly, I opened the door to Steve's bedroom (we sleep separately because he snores and we finally realized it was the best solution so we could get a good night's sleep) and gently roused him. I was relieved that he didn't mind the wake-up as he wanted to start his day anyway. He confirmed the internet situation and was soon in the game room to investigate. Peering at our computer setups, he saw the answer and said, "Two of the three UPS's (Uninterruptible power supply and surge suppressor) are off…must have happened with the power outage." He pressed the power buttons on each of them and they beeped and whirred back to life. A few moments later, everything was back to normal and Life Could Resume! :D Today's Pictures This is my last set from Joseph Stewart State Park--my second set of pictures from my metal-detecting adventure, along with my other treasures from home. My main picture is a bit of a mystery because I'm not exactly sure what it is. Could be the button on a shirt, the closure at the top of a child's pants, or maybe even an earring. There's a little hollow post centered in the back and I cannot figure out what it might be. Pretty though and a fine metal detecting prize to share today! Insets include the other finds at the park--four recent pennies, a gloriously rusty tack, a buckshot ball used with a shotgun which I processed like a planet, and a broken zipper pull that I found buried near our trailer. The pictures I'm sharing from finds at home include plenty of fun prizes! Another view of the Winchester 300 casing, a Hamm's beer can advertising the exciting aluminum can, a bent fence-keeper wire, the largest piece of shrapnel I've found, care of Camp White, a spoon found in the dirt next to our road, a pair of dimes, four bottle caps found at a rest stop at Rogue River, and finally, a motorcycle chain rusted into position! Pam, thank you for the lovely prize you mailed to me…it arrived yesterday and both Steve and I were very touched by your festive gesture. :) Here's hoping that Santa brings you something wonderful towards your recovery! *BIG HUGS on this COLD DAY* from Janet and Steve! Explored on 12/06/19; highest placement #13.

(+13 insets!) (please view large!) For info about the pictures today, please scroll down, down, down to "About Today's Main Picture". And yes, I know, I know…War and Peace…get your coffee or fall asleep! Trip Talk: Metal Detecting is Great Fun! About six months ago my younger brother got his hands on a metal detector, something that I was curious about too. Soon he was sending me pictures of his finds and relating the fun adventures he went on to get them. I couldn’t get enough! I was always asking him for updates--what did he find today?! I just loved the idea of snooping around with an odd-looking device, hearing beeps and then digging up something buried for who knows how long. No matter what Brian found--junk like nails, screws, bottle caps…or extra cool prizes like lost jewelry, coins, or even military medals--I was bouncing up and down to congratulate him on his treasure. A couple of weeks into September, Steve surprised me with an early birthday present…a metal detector! In all truth, he actually didn't have it for me then because he wasn't sure which one I wanted. We decided to get an inexpensive one from Costco to find out how much I liked this hobby. Immediately I was digging up my own treasures, all on our own property! Almost everything was metal junk--nails, screws, wire, lumps of melted metal from past fires in the area--but I also found fun stuff like a dog collar, pennies, nickels and dimes, and even a fork and spoon! Since it was obvious I really enjoyed this hobby, we returned the cheap version and bought a much better metal detector which hobbyists really love. And I love it too! :) Strange Bits of Metal…or Are Those Meteorites? While I was out looking for treasure, I also found bunches of odd, extremely corroded metal fragments. Sometimes as deep as a foot underground but mostly close to the surface or laying on the ground, these bits of metal were spread out seemingly everywhere on our 26 acres. I found them in the meadows and in the forest, on our hill and all around the house. As I continued to dig them up, I pondered what they might possibly be. The only thing that might make sense was shrapnel…but…HOW?! Since when was our property a war zone? The more bits I dug up, the more perplexed I became. Hopping on the internet, I began to look for clues. I knew that our town, White City, was home to the WWII military installation, Camp White, but it didn't answer my questions. It was a dozen miles away and totally remote compared to the bustling area just north of Medford. Then I discovered a popular, nation-wide metal detecting forum which had a place where I could introduce myself. Along with my greeting, I asked if anyone had thoughts about the metal shards featured in the picture I included. I crossed my fingers that somebody could help me out. Lo' and behold, one of the friendly folk spoke up and announced that he knew EXACTLY what I had and where it came from. How could he know so definitively? He lived less than a mile from me and his property was covered in these shards too! Initially believing these strange, heavy chunks to be from a meteor, my new friend wrote to a university professor. Following the advice he got, he bought a test kit which would tell if the fragments were indeed other-worldly. However, the results were negative. Back to the drawing board, he then found out about Camp White and dug further until he discovered the answer we both so badly needed. He was delighted to tell me what he learned! Camp White purchased the entire area where we lived and it was used for artillery exercises! For miles around, the land was heavily bombarded with all kinds of ammunition, missiles, bombs, and the like. After the war was over, an effort was made to use bulldozers to turn the soil in heavily-hit areas and bury much of the shrapnel. One detail shocked me: the area was also littered with unexploded ammunition and signs were erected to warn people of the danger. The last unexploded ammunition was found years ago but it's likely there are more, which is really chilling to think about. Over the years, memories of Camp White's use of the area were gradually forgotten and today it's fair to assume that most residents have no clue what's scattered around on their land, or where it came from. Just like I was saying in my last post, most people--myself included--put history on the back burner and so the rich history of where I live is lost to the majority of its inhabitants. Once Again, History is an Important Key to Full Understanding When I finally learned what I'd been finding on my property, it hit home in a big way for me. I held a piece of shrapnel in my hand and thought about how it came to be here. I read the articles online about Camp White and watched the documentaries I located. For the first time since we moved here a dozen years ago, I finally felt like I knew this place. No matter how many picture's I've taken, or exploration I've done, or people I've met…it was these pieces of metal which gave me a true understanding of where I lived and one of the important stories in its history. It's a funny thing to realize how important history is. It's something we've been told all our lives but it's so easy to brush off and ignore as a waste of time. Especially if you really don't understand WHY it makes a difference to your present self. This lesson added another speck of wisdom to my life and I am so happy to gain this knowledge--and a true reason to learn about history! About Today's Pictures: When Steve and I stayed at Joseph H. Stewart State for a few days, I made sure to pack my metal detector! In fact, I'd made sure that it was ok to use my cool new toy there. (If you're interested, here's the Oregon State Parks page on metal detecting. There are laws against using metal detectors in many places and a million rules about what you can and can't do, what you can keep, what tools you can use, and how to conduct yourself. I was delighted to learn that it was ok to use my detector there because most parks are off-limits. In this park, I was allowed to detect at my campsite and any unoccupied sites on our camping loop. Also, I could snoop around other areas within the loop so long as I was respectful about keeping everything neat and tidy. I had a wonderful time cruising around and digging up all sorts of stuff. Of course I found plenty of junk--nails, screws, wire, aluminum foil, pull-tabs, etc--but I also found neat stuff too! In fact, I found so many fun objects that I'm going to share two sets of pictures over the next few days. Half of each set will include pictures of prizes I found at Joseph Stewart, and the other half will be pictures of stuff I found on our property. You may need to stifle your laughter over the "artwork" I've created from some of this stuff but I couldn't help myself! :D Hopefully you guys enjoy the show! Main Picture: One of the places I snooped around was the wonderful little playground in the center of our "A" Loop, which was a large, beautiful meadow dotted with oaks, maples and conifers. The second I saw that playground I couldn't WAIT to get over there with my metal detector!! In front of one of the swings, I got some high-quality "silver" beeps from my detector and after some digging, I discovered a pretty little bead from a necklace or maybe a bracelet. "OH! I wonder if there's more!" YES, THERE WERE!! As I searched the area, I found four silver-plated oblong ferrule beads and three more of the round, textured beads. HAPPY DAY!! Insets from Joseph Stewart: a bottle cap, hair clip, a child's ring, an electrical spade connector and a button cell battery. Insets from home and nearby: a selection of shrapnel found around our property, a piece I call "Cowboy Art" (a circle of baling wire that somebody squeezed into this fun shape!), a cookie dough press form, a corroded penny, a fish hook and swivel (found at the edge of the Rogue River), a fork (in the front yard! :D), a flattened pencil top and a Winchester 300 casing on end. Pam, I know you expressed an interest in metal detecting, and I don't blame you--it really is a lot of fun. But it can also be really boring when you find a dozen pieces of junk in a row. Or when you dig and dig and can't find the prize! The nice thing about better metal detectors is that you can make it ignore metals common in nails and screws, but you still find the better-quality ones which are made of mixed metals. You can see by my presentation here that I am delighted by my otherwise silly prizes…a grungy bottle cap is cool? YES IT IS!! :D I do wish we could play together with this detector! :D Just imagine the artwork we'd come up with for our piles of nails and screws! :D :D I hope you're having an ok day my dear, my thoughts are with you!! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 11/24/19; highest placement #4.

(1 inset image above) When Steve and I got married, we went to Australia for our honeymoon. We spent a few days in Sydney and then flew up to Cairns for a day before departing for the Great Barrier Reef for 10 days of scuba diving on a live-aboard dive boat. The weather didn't cooperate with us and most of our trip was spent in a torrential downpour. However, we made the best of our time there! One of the two days we were in Cairns, we wandered around and found ourselves in a square busy with a small crafts fair. We had a marvelous time looking around and eventually found ourselves in front of a booth of beautiful polished rocks that twinkled with opals! We were smitten! Neither of us had ever seen opals in any other way than just the opal itself and we thought these polished rocks were prettier than any opals we'd ever seen. The couple there told us about their opal mine, which so far hadn't paid off with the lucrative opals yet, but they were getting these pretty opal-infused sandstones, which polished up very nicely and could be sold. They had dozens and dozens, and a great many were strung on leather strings as adjustable-lengh necklaces. Steve and I knew what our precious souvenir from Australia would be! We spent a long time looking at every one, and the couple were kind enough to allow us to carry them over to the sunshine. In the end, I picked this one because it is smaller and also has beautiful colors in the opal flecks. Steve picked a larger one, equally beautiful. We were so happy with our special Australian presents! And from that day until today, these necklaces have never come off except to replace the waxed leather string. Explored on April 18, 2014. Highest placement, #2.