Beachcombing and taiko drums

We finally had a seasonably warm weekend where we live - probably the first one all summer. It was sweltering, so naturally we ran around and complained about the heat.

I found out by chance that the Midwest Buddhist Temple downton was holding a Ginza Festival, so we dragged the Short One with us to attend for a bit on Saturday. The classical dancing was a bit too slow and girly for the SO (although he coveted and eventually came home with a painted fan), but the taiko drums actually held his interest for a good five minutes, which isn't bad for him. I hadn't seen a live taiko performance in many years (and I'm not sure if H. has ever seen one), so it was quite fun. The group that performed, Kogen Taiko, has video clips on its website here, if you are interested.

Today we took the SO to the beach to collect a few rocks and dig in the sand (see blurry pic, above - the best I could do before the SO woke from his nap). I must say, I was impressed by how many nice, smooth, flat stones were on the beach. I'm thinking of collecting a few myself and trying to drill them for jewelry. Anyone have any experience with this? At this point, I have this vague understanding that the stones should be drilled in water, but that's about it (I know - scary, right?). Any advice would be appreciated.

For my part, a little beachcombing yielded a few miniscule pieces of sea (lake?) glass:


Cute, eh? I've put them aside for a future bezel.

Okay, I am being hauled away to play. I will be back later with this week's bead and jewelry links.

Thanks for visiting.