Last Wednesday ( I know, I’m a tad late reporting this!) Shuttle Atlantis landed safely!  Space Monkeys are now getting ready for their road tour along with the other Beads of Courage beads that went along on the mission.

It was almost as exciting to see Atlantis land as it was when it lifted off.  It’s amazing how far and how fast the Shuttle travels during it’s return — and what a tiny little speck of land it ends up coming to a stop on!

Rumours about that Mike Mercury, Sam Supernova and Ray Gamma are busy writing their memoirs and are currently looking for someone (read local blog owner) to publish them!  Stay tuned if you want to know the REAL story about what went on behind the scenes  on Atlantis’ last official mission into space!

In other news –
I now have a location for my beads in Ottawa — The Glass Shoppe Studio is a brand new venue, owned by Lauscha Lady, Grace Edwards.

Grace's studio at Collonade Rd in Ottawa

Grace has 8 torching stations available at the studio and many classes lined up!  In her shop you’ll find lots of luscious glass – CIM, Lauscha, Double Helix and Vetrofond along with tools, books and magazines.  Grace is showcasing the works of several local beadmakers and mine are one amongst them.

If you’ve ever wondered about Lampworking you NEED to stop by and say hello to Grace!!  She’ll show you wonders you never dreamed of and  you’ll be guaranteed to come away at the very least with lots of new knowledge and maybe a beautiful bead or two!  Perhaps you’ll even decide to give this artform a try yourself!

Now for even more really, Really, REALLY exciting news!!

In August I am going to be taking a three day class with Tom Holland!

Tom Holland's Islamic Folded Bead process

Tom and his wife Sage have been bead making for many years – imagine taking a class about time and space with Einstein, or songwriting with Bono – well it’s a bit like that!

Tom Holland's Warring States

For me, it is especially exciting because Tom has a great interest in ancient beads and has recreated many designs from these.  I think most of the folks who are taking the class would agree – none of us particularly want to turn on a torch – we all just want to watch and listen!!

This is a HUGE accomplishment for Ottawa, I think probably the first time such an Internationally known bead ‘Guru’ has come to town!

I thought it appropriate to add this message to my blog (received via Ham Radio channel last night)-

Mike Mercury to Merrickville Control EST 19:58 May 23

Space Shuttle Atlantis mission STS-132 is proceeding according to schedule.  Docking and un-docking to and from the ISS (International Space Station) has occurred.

Simian Specialist experiments have er… not gone EXACTLY according to plan, more to follow on that.  I will say that it’s a good job that Sam’s experiment involved ball bearings, especially as Ray’s and mine involved banana’s and the search for extra terrestrial life forms.  Please contact Acme Fruit & Veg and tell them to halt all further experiments with the genetically modified fruit ASAP.

Mike Mercury, Simian Specialist on STS-132 signing off for now.

I’ve had a lot of folks show interest in the idea of mini monkeys so I thought I’d make some and put in my ArtFire shop.

The nice thing about Mini Monkeys – apart from their adorable expressions – is their price! At $10 US each who can afford to be without one – or two… or…???  The same care and attention goes into making each of these as goes into my larger monkeys.  You should find that your smile is just as wide regardless of the fact that these monkeys are little smaller.

All of my beads are digitally annealed as they are made and the same holds true for my mini’s.  Since etching is another process and takes time I decided to leave these little guys shiny to help keep their price low.  You, of course are free to etch any monkey that purchase from me!

Here’s a picture you’ll see on my listings showing the position and size of the hole in these unique glass beads.  The hole is large enough to make them so easy to string, and unlike beads with a hole running vertically down the centre they will never flip over on you.  Your little monkey should always be facing forward.

More of these will be in the works and I have another idea I’m working around in my mind for something that might be a challenge for these monkeys in cuteness, I have to see if I can pull it off!

Here’s the link for my ArtFire shop if you want to see who’s currently up for adoption!  Fireseed’s shop on ArtFire

The weather is actually nicer than forecast so I thought I’d wander down town and see what was going on for Canada Day.

Merrickville Rocks!  What better way to spend the day than by the Rideau Canal watching boats, people and listening to great music!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Of course I couldn’t resist checking on some monkees while I was out…. 

Some were still there -

At least one was GONE!

And one had to be rescued as since I hid him yesterday Parks Canada or who-ever trims the bushes had been and done their job!!  I spied the little monkee on the ground and snapped him up and hid him in plain site somewhere else ;o)

Yes, that’s right, six monkees escaped, just in time for Canada Day!

I should explain, these little guys decided it would be fun to have a Canada Day hat parade – the hats were supposed to be red and white, and most of the monkees stuck to this idea. . .

Even little Mokey did  a good job!

Then of course as often happens with monkees something went wrong. . .

OH DEAR!!!  Well it was all downhill from there!!!

Merrickville Monkees would like to wish you a very HAPPY CANADA DAY!!   Some of these monkees are ‘in the wild’ waiting to be found, and some are at David Paterson’s Glass Blowing Studio on the main street.   Oooooh be careful if you are monkee hunting, a little chimp told me there are a couple of PIRATES out there too!!!

If you find a monkee I’d love to hear from you!

Yes!  That’s right!!

A visit to Smiths Falls yesterday resulted in three monkees being set free – the actual location of one them is in THIS PHOTO!!

The Incredible Monkee

Petula Monkee

and Donald Monkee

I wonder if I’ll ever hear from them again?  If you want to know more visit -

WOW!  I couldn’t have had a much better day than that!!

A Monkee found
I was so happy to receive an email from Dominique who let me know that she found Daisy -

Shhhhh, it’s a secret, but Daisy was one of my favourites, I love her cheeky little grin!

Dominique was in Merrickville for supper when she spied Daisy and has now taken her home to Gatineau – I love how these monkees are spreading out across the area!   Mwahahahahah… little do their owners know that on that ‘special date’ all these monkees will leap into action as part of their plan for World Domination!  Thank you for letting me know she’s safe Dominique!

A compliment
David and I were in Brockville yesterday and took half an hour to sit in the park by the river with some Tim’s.  The bench we sat on was right by a walking path so from time to time people – walked by!  One couple came by and we greeted each other as polite Canadians do, then imagine my surprise when the lady commented on how much she liked my necklace!  I was wearing my Goddess bead!  The biggest grin filled my face, but I didn’t have time to say more than ‘thank you’ as they were off along the path.  It did make me feel very special!

A surprise
I went to the post office to mail some things and found that I had a package waiting for me, I thought it was from a Giveaway that I had won, but when I looked closer at the address I realised it was from my good friend Samma !  I met Samma through our little group on the Wet Canvas forum – she’s incredibly talented, her glass work is beautiful – so I couldn’t wait to tear open the package right there and then!  So I did!

I need to take another picture this one does not do it justice, it’s the most beautiful pendant, and each time I look at it I see something different, one moment it’s an island floating in the ocean and the next it’s a bird with wings outstretched – thank you so much Samma!!  I hadn’t realised but my name was one of the winners of prizes donated to the recent Beads of Courage challenge on the Wet Canvas Glass Arts forum.  This is such a wonderful charity – and I’m just glad to be able to donate some of beads to help.

Imagine my delight when I heard the news – not one but TWO of my monkees had been found.

Smiler and Buttons -

Now, I hadn’t hidden them in particularly hard to find places but they were both found by Karen who was on a mission!  I think she had spied them in my blog posting and set off on the trail.  Karen enjoys Geocaching so she’s pretty good at the treasure hunting part!  You can see Karen’s blog here, it’s a delightful read because on her treasure hunts she visits many beauty spots in Eastern Ontario.

Karen emailed me to let me know that she’d found them, she also confided that she felt a little guilty keeping them both and was going to let one of them go again – but for the night, they were both enjoying the warmth and hospitality she offered.

Yesterday Karen let Smiley go!  Yes, he’s the one with the teeth – he might be a little homely looking but he’s lots of fun.  The exciting part of this tale is that Karen didn’t let Smiley go in Merrickville – she took him all the way to BROCKVILLE where he has become part of a Geocache and is patiently waiting for the next leg of his adventure.

This is better than I hoped for!  I figured the monkees would get found and pocketed and if I was really lucky I might hear from one or two people who found them.  BUT to have a monkee continue on an adventure is very exciting – for me – and hopefully for him too!  He could end up anywhere!

If you want to know more about where Smiley is hidden click here!

I thought it was time to check on Captain Courageous!

As you might recall he was let go into the wilds of Merrickville in the middle of a horrible hailstorm.

Before I left home I took a picture of one of our jack-in-the-pulpits

My friend Phyllis had been asking for pictures of Merrickville, so I decided to take my camera with me and snap a few shots along the way.

Here’s the Rideau Canal at Merrickville – I like it when the water looks almost black like this – you’ll see we still don’t have any sunshine.

I took a walk down through the ruins of the old industrial area.

I’ve decided this would make a great submarine for monkees to adventure in!

At the end of the trail you can look across to the boat yard.

Back up to the Canal

Where many more boats than this are usually docked over the summer.

All of this is within a five minute walk of our house, I consider that we are very lucky!

Back over to the main street

and time to head home.

Captain Courageous?

OH YES!!

This is where he was, and he isn’t any more.  I did check the ground in case he’d fallen, but no – he’s off on an adventure somewhere or other!!

Oh while I was out I set three more monkees free.

In one of these pictures is the hiding place of one of the monkees.  It’s not anywhere where you’d need to go messing with private property or digging through anything, so if you are in the area and looking please don’t do that   The three I placed today are located where you can see them if you are looking – you don’t have to move anything to find them.

Happy hunting!

It’s getting close to Giveaway time!! Wanna know who’s up for grabs? This little monkee is the star of my next giveaway.  I’m trying to hatch something a little different.  A treasure hunt – or should we say Monkee hunt! The hunt will hopefully include clues, or a map, or things to find – all virtually of course!  It will also co-incide with the next Monkee Story which involves Merrickville Monkees and adventure on the High Seas! Stay Tuned or Subscribe to my blog or newsletter if you want to know when the next giveaway starts!