Sweet Sixteen and other birthday musings

It is pretty weird scheduling these posts thinking about what I'll be doing when they actually appear.  Maybe I will be able to make regular internet contact but maybe not and I am lowering my expectations.  It will all be  a bonus! If all goes according to plan, as you read this, I will be in Birtamod with the magnificent ladies of Samunnat Nepal.  It will be warm and getting warmer and we will be making many, many polymer things.  If all goes according to plan.  Or a semblance of a plan, which is usually more realistic here.  There.  Here.When I was making Durga's background, I made these little nuggety beads using the Pearl-Ex powders.  I was never a real fan of Pearl-Ex powders (without ever having tried them) but now really enjoy experimenting with them.  The colours of these beads reminded me of some wonderful tubular pote beads in pewter tones that I'd got at the bead warehouse in Dharan.  I thought they'd look interesting together and didn't want to just string them up (temporarily abandoning my commitment to keeping it simple) I liked the clustered look that the polymer beads had just rattling around on my table and tried to recreate that.  It took a few attempts.  The logistics of getting them to sit in a naturally clustered looking way was not straight forward, and I am still pondering this but in the interests of numerical order (this is necklace # 16), am going with it for the time being!The necklace actually is much longer and sits lower down but time was of the essence getting these ready to schedule so there you go!POSTSCRIPT: And this comes direct to you from Nepal!!  (Where it is extraordinarily hot - what was I thinking?- and I am, in fact, almost about to leave Birtamod for Kathmandu and the start of the journey home.)Today is my dad's birthday so a very, very appropriate day to think about the huge impact he has made on me.  (And to let him know that if he is sad that I am out of the country yet again on his birthday that he is somewhat to blame.)  I find myself explaining again and again here how my connection with Nepal all began SOOOOO many years ago (OK, 35 to be exact) when he and mum took my sister and me here trekking.  We were somewhat dubious about his weird idea I recall but were hooked for life on arrival.My dad is  passionate about nature and the benefits of being in nature for all of us.  He writes thoughtfully and regularly in his blog Our Green Genes about it and most recently has focussed on beauty in Nature and its effect on creativity and inspiration.  Some of the photos in this post are spectacular and (and this is indeed an irony coming from me) his comments about mathematics and beauty fascinating.  Go and visit.  Then go somewhere beautiful and breathe.