Bears, Bees and Beads--Oh My!

I had a rather exciting lunch break today.  Travis and I went home for lunch, and on our way there we saw a BEAR!  We were behind a big truck and it stopped suddenly in the middle of a curve.  I couldn't figure out why, and then I saw the bear jump over the guardrail.  I kept saying "it's a bear, Travis, it's a bear" and he looked at me calmly, as he usually does when I get excited, and said "you know they're everywhere, right?".  Well, yes, of course I do.  I hear of bears being in people's yards all the time.  But, this is the first one I had ever seen up close and personal here in Wise County!  Naturally, this was the one time my phone was in my purse, so I couldn't get a picture.  Pretty exciting, though.  It wasn't huge--not a cub, but probably not fully grown, either.  A teenage bear!  

When we got home, Trav took Ralph out and when he came back in I saw him throw the leash down.  I looked into our mudroom and saw him jerking his pants off.  I asked what on earth he was doing, and a bee had flown up his pants leg and stung him on the side of his leg above the knee.  It was a honeybee, and thankfully he's apparently not allergic to them.  

This evening was much less eventful, and I had the chance to sit down and do some beading.  I made this lariat...

...and the matching earrings.

I had a hard time capturing the colors in the beads, but there are a lot of purples.  Should have let Hannah take the pictures--she's the expert!