BAO Item of the Week (January 15-21)

I've been spending my days surrounded by nuts! Literally.

We place shovel-fulls of these pecans, most of them still in their outer husks

on this expanded metal grate

and then we sort out the de-husked ones and encourage the others to release the husk by vigorously rolling them against the grate to become this

In this form, we can take them directly to the wholesaler where we will receive, rumor has it, almost record high prices this year. It seems that the Chinese have a taste for pecans and have become the greatest importer of the nut. hmmm

At the end of the day, we are rewarded with our glorious New Mexico sunsets.

Tuesday, I worked alone. Wednesday and Thursday, my husband was able to take time off to work with me. Today, I will have to work by myself again, but then Terry will have a long weekend and it won't be quite as lonely an undertaking. I hope we will be done the end of it.

This undertaking is incredibly hard on my back, knees, hands, and wrists...not to mention my sinuses because I am allergic to the dust that is released from the brittle husks. I am thankful that it is a once-a-year adventure.

But you're not here to read about my life as a pecan farmer, are you?  This week, you are in luck, because, while I chose Romantic Rose - Rose Quartz with Peyote Bail

to represent Sand Fibers in the weekly mosaic, EVERY non-pattern item is an item of the week.

Purchase and pay for any non-pattern item in my Sand Fibers store by midnight on Thursday AND mention "BAO" in the Notes to Seller, and I will send you a 10% refund of the purchase price (shipping not included) via PayPal.

And here's a glimpse at the other eight BAO Items of the Week. You can find details on the Bead Art Originals blog:

Also on that blog today is a gorgeous mosaic of our latest color mosaic challenge.
One of our members suggested dark brown/orange/fuchsia as a palette and several of us responded:

Enjoy your Friday! :D Be well and get going...