Hi! I'm Cathi Tessier...
I've been pretending to be retired for about 18 years now. My hubby and I decided when we were in our mid 50s to quit our jobs, dump the house, give away our belongings and hit the road to explore places and people.
During most of my adult life, I worked in traditional assignments: Cust Svc Rep, Credit Mgr., those kinds of things.
Somewhere on the road, in Quartszite Arizona, I discovered I had a creative side. I caught the bead fever.
Since then, my life has taken off in a new direction, with beads very closely behind wanderlust. More about that later.
During most of my adult life, I worked in traditional assignments: Cust Svc Rep, Credit Mgr., those kinds of things.
Somewhere on the road, in Quartszite Arizona, I discovered I had a creative side. I caught the bead fever.
Since then, my life has taken off in a new direction, with beads very closely behind wanderlust. More about that later.
It's all about the beads - Some of my published works
Project for Break out and Bead Up Collection
Rocks in My Head
I was first introduced to cairns when an RVer friend Lee died, and his wife and friends erected cairns in his memory. For ages, these human-made vertical piles of stones were constructed as landmarks, to memoralize the passing of a loved one, as objects of beauty, or just for the challenge of building one.
I feel a warm glow down deep in the seat of my soul when we are travelling a road and I catch sight of a cairn. I love cairns because I love rocks. (I put shells in this category too).
But wait a minute, which came first, the love of cairns or the love of rocks? Who knows.
I pick up rocks or shells wherever I am - stuff them into my pockets to enjoy later. When I get them home I wash them, then take another look in the sunlight. I can identify the presence of black crystal, quartz and other sparkly stuff. Sometimes a light coat of irridescent nail polish brings out the most glorious rainbow of colors. Other times, I paint them blatantly with gold or purple enamel and give them out to kids who love to keep them in their pocket or just look and feel them. They have sort of a magical quality about them that keep me connected to the earth.
My gardens were and are always filled or outlined with pebbles and rocks that I've collected from different places visited. I once returned from a trip to Hawaii with one piece of luggage filled with rocks. Just rocks and shells.
Last year my friend Judy sent me a whole bunch of river agates from the Oregon Coast. Those little beauties sit at my bead work station and inspire me to try different color combinations in my work. Pics of some of my rocks will follow soon.
I feel a warm glow down deep in the seat of my soul when we are travelling a road and I catch sight of a cairn. I love cairns because I love rocks. (I put shells in this category too).
But wait a minute, which came first, the love of cairns or the love of rocks? Who knows.
I pick up rocks or shells wherever I am - stuff them into my pockets to enjoy later. When I get them home I wash them, then take another look in the sunlight. I can identify the presence of black crystal, quartz and other sparkly stuff. Sometimes a light coat of irridescent nail polish brings out the most glorious rainbow of colors. Other times, I paint them blatantly with gold or purple enamel and give them out to kids who love to keep them in their pocket or just look and feel them. They have sort of a magical quality about them that keep me connected to the earth.
My gardens were and are always filled or outlined with pebbles and rocks that I've collected from different places visited. I once returned from a trip to Hawaii with one piece of luggage filled with rocks. Just rocks and shells.
Last year my friend Judy sent me a whole bunch of river agates from the Oregon Coast. Those little beauties sit at my bead work station and inspire me to try different color combinations in my work. Pics of some of my rocks will follow soon.
Born cooking
My Mom
The Birds (Water and shore birds too)
When I worked in Colorado, at Cherry Creek State Park, I got involved in bird watching. (Squirrels can be fun too, but I've had my battles with them, and to be honest, mostly lost the battle over who the bird seed belongs to).
I can readily identify many different kinds of birds and I have my favorites too. The photo above shows the American Avocet, an elegant and graceful shore bird that makes its appearance late in the summer every year at Cherry Creek State Park when we worked there. They are one of life's simple things of beauty.
Pileated Woodpecker, seen in the Rockies somewhere. I saw that big bird take down a tree stump in a matter of minutes.
Magpies are fun. What antics they can display. The babies are just the cutest things. They look almost full sized at birth, but without the very long tails, they seem quite small.
Cardinal. There's nothing like spotting the velvety red cardinal. Quite majestic.
Flicker
European Starling
Parking Lot Grackle
Eagle
Mallard
Comorant
Ibis
Owl
Roadrunner
Quail (Baby quails are so cute - they run really fast, just seem to glide accross the street following mommy and daddy.
Avocet
Killdeer (They commonly pretend to be injured, laying down with a broken wing, to distract you from their nest.)
Canada Goose
I can readily identify many different kinds of birds and I have my favorites too. The photo above shows the American Avocet, an elegant and graceful shore bird that makes its appearance late in the summer every year at Cherry Creek State Park when we worked there. They are one of life's simple things of beauty.
Pileated Woodpecker, seen in the Rockies somewhere. I saw that big bird take down a tree stump in a matter of minutes.
Magpies are fun. What antics they can display. The babies are just the cutest things. They look almost full sized at birth, but without the very long tails, they seem quite small.
Cardinal. There's nothing like spotting the velvety red cardinal. Quite majestic.
Flicker
European Starling
Parking Lot Grackle
Eagle
Mallard
Comorant
Ibis
Owl
Roadrunner
Quail (Baby quails are so cute - they run really fast, just seem to glide accross the street following mommy and daddy.
Avocet
Killdeer (They commonly pretend to be injured, laying down with a broken wing, to distract you from their nest.)
Canada Goose