Dragon Breeze

I started out with one bracelet and changed it every evening after work and again every morning before work. It was quite eclectic in its colour scheme with each bead chosen for its meaning rather than its colour and I did not bother to think about how it would fit just right with the others on the bracelet.
Lilongwe did not have seasons as we are used to in Europe, the U.S. or Australia (though I have never been to Australia I understand that there is real winter and summer just the other way round). There was a season for planting and a season for harvesting but is was neither the one I grew up with nor its opposite. It was always green, though the trees and bushes lost their leaves around May/June and started to grow them back around September/October - strangely enough -before- the actual rains started (no rain fell from May to end of October/early November). It was mostly sunny and very hot and dry from October through November, hot and humid with partly torrential rain (though always only for a short time, almost never a whole day of rain) from November through February, less rain but still humid from February through May, cooler in June and „cold“ in July and August (still warm during the day with 20plus degrees, no or only a light jacket needed for lunch outside in the shade, but when the sun went down around 18.00 hrs it was cool with cold nights (lots of warming bottles, warm blankets, if lucky a dog in my lap, were needed then as there was no heating in the houses and 10-14 degrees inside the house feels pretty badly cold).
So basically, there was sunshine and relative warmth all year round (with my office being the exception - I wore a thick suit there in July and August as the sun did not reach my windows, and I had an electric heater), and you could mostly wear spring-summer-autumn clothes the whole year round with no real „rules“ as to what went when and what not. You would always see different people wear different styles, different colours, and thus there were also almost no seasonal bracelets as such for me then. (And there was no TB in my life before Lilongwe, so trollwise there is AL (Ante Lilongwe) and BL (Before Lilongwe) )
That changed last year with my move to South Eastern Europe and I celebrate and honour the seasons with my bracelets, now. The seasons here are more extreme - spring almost does not happen here, there was winter and now there is summer (the cherry trees are bearing fruit already). But I pre-celebrated spring when it was still cold because I longed for it

I started to take pictures of those bracelets I really liked when I still only had one and needed to break it apart every day, so that I might re-create them. And looking through them and remembering, there is one theme that has prevailed seasons or not, adapted, sure, but still there and it consists of pale blues and pale grey-browns. It has a balancing effect for me, soothing even.

In spring/summer it looks like this one. In Winter more like the „Raven Lady“ I posted a while back. The theme though is the same: calming, a bit cool (a breeze in summer, more like cold fog in winter), balancing out the colour burst and burning sun in summer (and it burns really hot here in Skopje) and reminding me more of the dawn of a cold yet promising day in winter like the „Raven Lady“.

Long post for a bracelet This bracelet has seen quite a few variations but it finally came together when the lovely white ornament (UU) arrived last week.



These are all TB except the Dora Water Dragon and the Faerybeads Ice Dragon Lock (with ice blue eyes, sorry, the picture could not reproduce this).

Beautiful. I love those colours, and they would definitely be fine for all seasons here too.

What a beauty! I love how you used the different blue shades, the use of the grey wolf and phoenix, your new ornament is stunning and really fits in so well!

I envy you the hot weather you have now, here it is cold, raining and I had to put the heating on, the only alternative would be to go to bed and have the cats snuggle around me... Lilongwe seems to have been a very interesting place to live

Your bracelet inspires me to take my beadbox out, what is the colour of rain?

Trollperle, I always love your designs and this bracelet is no exception. The colors are beautifully pulled together and I loved reading your post. (Thanks for sharing your story). Is that a lab next to your white ornament? What a lovely bead.

Thank you, my Dears

@Catsworld: Lilongwe was a very intersting place, very charming in many ways (lovely and friendly people, very quiet for a capital and at night it had the darkest sky I have ever seen with gazillions of stars (due to almost no street lights even if there was power). It also had a not-so-charming side due to its very poor economy and life became tougher and tougher especially during our last year there. I would have loved to visit the TB Malawi project but only learned about it when we had already left.

@KimboPL: Yes, it is a labradorite - showing off its flashy side

What a beautiful bracelet and thanks a lot for sharing your story behind - I loved reading it again and tried to imagine the feel behind it......

wonderful bracelet and story behind

great story and great bracelet. i love how you placed your labradorite next to your white with silver/brown center ornament bead. they are great paired together in this combo.